The World Gone Mad

[Gord_in_Toronto]

At a couple of public meetings in Toronto around the turn of the last century at which James Randi spoke on the state of skepticism in the world, after he had finished, I asked him from the audience whether he thought things were getting better. On both occasions he thought for a few seconds and said he did think things were improving.

Randi has now left us but I wonder what his answer would be today. A recent report from a survey conducted by the polling firm Leger indicates how bad things now are.

Belief in Conspiracy Theories: A Surprising Find in Canadians and Americans

and

Conspiracy theories are popular in Canada, especially among conservatives: poll

The Earth is flat. We have been secretly contacted by intelligent beings from other planets. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did not land on the moon in 1969. They may sound like bizarre statements, but a new poll suggests a sizable number of Canadians believe in these and other conspiracy theories.

About five per cent of us are flat-earthers, the poll suggests, while 11 per cent say they think the lunar landings were a hoax. And one-third of respondents say they think evidence that aliens have been in contact with our planet is being hidden from the public.

Polling firm Leger surveyed 1,529 Canadian adults and 1,011 Americans between Nov. 24 and 26, asking about their beliefs in several popular conspiracy theories. The poll cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples.

. . . .

In all, 79 per cent of Canadians and 84 per cent of Americans reported believing in at least one of a list of conspiracy theories mentioned in the survey.

I could not download the survey from the Leger website as the download link does not work.

The Dark Ages are returning.

And a disclaimer - I was one of the 1,529 Canadians who participated in the survey so the results can be adjusted accordingly.

 

[Mike!]

I think it's a simple case of, when things get too good, we'll go out of our way to invent something bad from whole cloth to believe in, because there just has to be something bad going on someplace to be afraid of, there just has to be.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

the fact that so many people have so much time to waste on CTs shows what a cushy life they have.

they wouldn't spout their nonsense if they actually thought that the Black Helicopters would come for them .

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

the fact that so many people have so much time to waste on CTs shows what a cushy life they have.

they wouldn't spout their nonsense if they actually thought that the Black Helicopters would come for them .

There's the problem right there. Who is thinking?

Such credulity is doing real damage to the world and society. People are being killed.

Gwyneth Paltrow has 8.3M followers. This forum has a few hundred active members.

 

[Cat Not Included]

I'm...a little skeptical of the alarmism when the article includes this statement:
"Alarmingly, 55% of Canadians and 67% of Americans believe that the media is engaged in information manipulation."

I don't know how they asked the question, but if they asked "Is the media engaged in information manipulation", I would definitely categorize things that Fox, Facebook etc. are known to do as "information manipulation".

 

[Dabop]

Indeed- it depends on exactly WHAT they were asking and how they asked- leading questions designed to push the answerer in a specific direction is common, and has been for decades- so much so it was a common trope in comedy...

Those who watched British comedy from decades ago might remember Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes Prime Minister and one that stuck in my mind is the 'Are you for or against the reintroduction of National Service?' one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ZZJXw4MTA
(only about 2 mins long)

'The perfect balanced sample... see to it, Bernard...'
Indeed...

 

[Puppycow]

I'm...a little skeptical of the alarmism when the article includes this statement:
"Alarmingly, 55% of Canadians and 67% of Americans believe that the media is engaged in information manipulation."

I don't know how they asked the question, but if they asked "Is the media engaged in information manipulation", I would definitely categorize things that Fox, Facebook etc. are known to do as "information manipulation".

Yeah, "the media" is engaged in "information manipulation" by definition.

A question so vague as to be meaningless. Or rather, these terms need to be defined to make the question even slightly meaningful.

 

[Brainster]

The article notes that the poll was not random, so the obvious question is how did they get the respondents? Putting a poll up on Prison Planet will get you quite different results than, say Pharyngula.

 

[The Atheist]

There is still a significant majority of people who believe the universe is run by an invisible sky-fairy.

Thinking the earth is flat is sane in comparison.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

The article notes that the poll was not random, so the obvious question is how did they get the respondents? Putting a poll up on Prison Planet will get you quite different results than, say Pharyngula.

The full report is now on-line here: https://leger360.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Leger_Conspiracy_Theories_Canada-US.pdf

Some of your questions may be answered there. Leger is a pretty serious, well respected firm.

Given the caveats in the report I see no reason to disbelieve the results.

 

[dirtywick]

I'm...a little skeptical of the alarmism when the article includes this statement:
"Alarmingly, 55% of Canadians and 67% of Americans believe that the media is engaged in information manipulation."

I don't know how they asked the question, but if they asked "Is the media engaged in information manipulation", I would definitely categorize things that Fox, Facebook etc. are known to do as "information manipulation".

while it may be open to interpretation of what qualifies as media and what qualifies and manipulation, it's definitely something that's become more widespread and refined recently. social media sites, particularly youtube, the rise of influencers and their ability to reach to target younger groups of people, the lengths and depths they go to to manipulate their audience is pretty sophisticated. i think people are more aware of this as well, but not nearly enough.

 

[Erock]

As someone who spends a small amount of time watching Tiktoks I am sad to confirm that the army of truf has invaded this platform.

Every single video that has a related conspiracy, be it space travel, the ISS, planet Earth, 911, JFK etc. along come the trufers regurgitating the insane conspiracy rhetoric. Sheeple this, faaake that. For somebody so disposed you can get caught up trying to argue with these people in a 2 sentence maximum that doesn't link posts and leaves you frustrated at their stupidity and the inability to make your case.

Truly the world has become a little dumber.