Officials who weaponize conspiracism risk believing their own fabrications

Evidence

This is a caution to officials who are politically self-serving fellow travelers in these assaults on knowledge: the conspiracist story “can be an effective political tactic. Believing your own alternative facts, however, is usually not so smart.” — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 273

Categorization

• APHORISMS: A useful tactical warning: weaponized falsehoods can consume their own wielder.
• XREF: connects to: Elected officials know better yet dignify debunked conspiracy claims — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 235; Assessing conspiracist claims requires dual suspension of disbelief and suspicion — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 40; Factual correction of conspiracism usually fails or backfires — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 119 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Evidence that contradicted officials’ plot assumptions unsettled their confidence #expands (0.80)
• New conspiracists assent forcefully without believing or disbelieving their claims #complicates (0.75) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 108
• Assessing conspiracist claims requires dual suspension of disbelief and suspicion #expands (0.72) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 40
• Factual correction of conspiracism usually fails or backfires #complicates (0.72) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 119