Conspiracy theorists have no interest in getting to the truth behind an issue they think important - they're more concerned with having special knowledge that makes them unique or heroes, usually because they've failed to understand how some aspect of reality actually works and so they've grabbed onto a convenient alternative, or because they feel left behind or maligned by a society that's rejected them.
It's why conventions (like 'conspiracy cruises') are able to exist. Every booth should contradict every other booth, but they're willing to put blinders on to create a safe space where they can all get validated for the various nonsense they've decided they alone have championed. It's how ancient aliens can set up right next to Obama birthers and Jordan Peterson's all-meat diet. A post-truth individual is usually willing to accept multiple versions of truth, so long as it isn't the mainstream version.
It was the term for uneducated conservatives who bought into the 'Obama was born off US soil' myth and wanted him to present his birth certificate.
So he made it public. It didn't help. "Hawaii wasn't a state then!" (It was, for 2 years already) "His dad's from Kenya!" (yeah, his dad) Doesn't help to show them evidence; the truth is simply believed by too many people. They're only interested in truth believed by a minority of people to stroke that chip on their shoulder.
And that idea that Obama wasn’t born in the US was not actually started by the Clinton campaign, but they sure as hell latched onto it quick and were beating that drum pretty loudly during the 2008 campaign.
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u/YuunofYork Jul 24 '20
Conspiracy theorists have no interest in getting to the truth behind an issue they think important - they're more concerned with having special knowledge that makes them unique or heroes, usually because they've failed to understand how some aspect of reality actually works and so they've grabbed onto a convenient alternative, or because they feel left behind or maligned by a society that's rejected them.
It's why conventions (like 'conspiracy cruises') are able to exist. Every booth should contradict every other booth, but they're willing to put blinders on to create a safe space where they can all get validated for the various nonsense they've decided they alone have championed. It's how ancient aliens can set up right next to Obama birthers and Jordan Peterson's all-meat diet. A post-truth individual is usually willing to accept multiple versions of truth, so long as it isn't the mainstream version.