Fear Factor

42

I love crazy people.

I mean, life would be boring without people who are so terrified of anything new that they come up with such irrational ideas to rationalize their fears.

• Contrails contain chemicals designed to control the masses
• Vaccines contain microchips to track people
• Climate change is a hoax
• COVID is a hoax

And, of course, one of my recent favourites, the 5G set of conspiracies, which some helpful individual highlighted on this stop sign behind the beer & wine store across the street from where I used to live.

This particular fantasy baffles me…ok, to be fair, most conspiracy theories baffle me, because they require people to suspend critical thinking completely and descend into lunacy. Even seemingly smart people can believe crazy things, but this particular fantasy?

• 5G is a hazard to your health
• 5G is the cause of COVID-19
• 5G can kill birds and plant life
• 5G acts as an accelerator for the coronavirus
• Virus’ can communicate through the radio airwaves
• The lockdown is a government cover-up to allow 5G installation

Did I miss any?

And I love how the conspiracy minded assume that because false information (that fed their fear based logic) was removed from a website or social media post, that this action somehow validates the original disinformation and makes it more believable.

Why do conspiracy theories spread?

The following is shamelessly lifted from here …..

According to The Conspiracy Theory Handbook, written by Stephan Lewandowsky of Bristol University and John Cook of George Mason University, there are several reasons why conspiracy theories can be believed.

1. A feeling of powerlessness
2. Coping with a threat
3. Explaining unlikely events
4. Disputing mainstream politics

People who feel powerless or vulnerable are more likely to believe and spread conspiracy theories, while they can act as a coping mechanism to explain highly unlikely events, or somewhere for blame to be directed when dealing with threatening situations. Sometimes people need someone to blame, dislike the ordinary or cannot accept the prospect of an unknown. In the absence of knowledge, the imagination prospers.

Lewandowsky and Cook detail the danger of conspiracy theories, but also the circular nature of the paranoid mind. If an aspect of the theory is disproven by evidence, this may well prove the existence of a greater conspiracy theory overarching the smaller tale. It is incredibly difficult to argue against the logic of an individual who is not open to absorbing all the relevant information or accepting that some conclusions might be incorrect.

The mind of a conspiracy theorist should be considered the same as a set of dominoes; if one is pushed, it impacts something else which leads to another scenario. You can’t knock over one theory without adding energy to another.

If you are suspicious a story might be an unvalidated conspiracy theory (though for many it doesn’t take much analysis), the Handbook suggests there might be several clues:

• Contradiction: conspiracy theories often have contradictory claims when you dig into the details
• Overriding suspicion: do you have to suspend belief in numerous other truths to make the narrative work
• Nefarious intent: what is the end game or objective?
• Something must be wrong: many conspiracy theorists have an ultimate belief that something is wrong with society
• Persecuted victim: the conspiracy theorist is a hero for the people, fighting against the machine which is attempting to destroy the theorist
• Immune to evidence: contrary science is claimed to be incorrect
• Re-interpreting randomness: a belief that nothing happens by accident

In the majority of cases, a conspiracy theory can be spotted a mile away, but there are always a few which can seem plausible. And while it can be entertaining to ponder the extravagance of some, it is always worth remembering conspiracy theories are dangerous.

Conspiracy theories plant the seed of doubt, whether it is in science or authority. Today, society should be listening to scientists about the dangers of COVID-19 and how to best combat the pandemic, but there are still some who are wandering into fields and setting fire to the very communications infrastructure used by the emergency services. That could be the difference between life and death for someone’s aunt or grandfather.

What to do to combat conspiracy theories?

This is simple; education.

Some believe the conspiracy theories because they are that way inclined, but others will believe because it is the only explanation available at the time. Fictional detective Sherlock Holmes said; ‘when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth’, which is applicable here.

The telecoms industry has thrust 5G onto society without explaining what it is, why it is different, how it works or why the world needs it. Some might question why money is being spent on 5G when 4G works today, which is a very valid question in the absence of telcos actually explaining user and network trends.

Few consumers will actually know video is rapidly increasing network traffic, which will eventually strain networks and user experience, therefore 5G deployments are a proactive effort to get ahead of the curve. This is about ensuring experience is maintained irrelevant to the increasing tsunami of data which is building.

Perhaps there is an assumption that the consumer does not want to know? Like a car, as long as it does the required job, does anyone care about the intricacies of the engine? But mobile communications is different as it is penetrating into so many different aspects of our lives, including some very sensitive areas such as healthcare and finance.

There are two ways to debunk conspiracy theories; facts and logic. In the case of 5G, the science needs to be presented to demonstrate why these conspiracy theories are nonsense, but to ensure there is not a resurgence, the drivers for 5G need to also be explained. When the general public understand the objectives behind 5G are not nefarious, the conspiracy theories will seem as absurd to everyone as they do to industry insiders.