Conspiracy content

This week, Alex Jones, the right wing conspiracist and walking proof the supplements he flogs absolutely do not work, failed in his final attempt to overturn a $2.2 billion settlement for the families of Sandy Hook victims. 

It is, with any luck, the final nail in the coffin for Jones. But not for this, nor many other conspiracy theories.

There’s nothing new about a good conspiracy. For as long as there have been events that are unexplained or shrouded in secrecy, there have been those who sought to find explanation and meaning. 

But it’s undoubtedly getting worse. 

Covid fuelled medical disinformation and mistrust. Trump and his acolytes peddle rubbish about Medbeds and causes of autism that range from unintentionally hilarious to outright dangerous, often in the same sentence. AI helps supercharge the feedback loop. 

The easy explanation for all of this is that distrust leads people to embrace outlandish views, while the distress of contemporary society contributes to a spiral downwards into ever more ridiculous and dangerous beliefs.

But recent research questions that hypothesis. There is apparently no correlation between psychological distress and conspiracy beliefs. And conspiracy theorists themselves are unaware their beliefs are on the fringe.

This makes it even more difficult to imagine ever breaking the cycle - those who most need to be convinced of something are the least likely to recognise that fact. It also isn’t a minor issue - 10% of Aussies think the reason fluoride is added to the water supply is so the government can make people less intelligent and easier to control.

This is a comms problem with a comms solution. But there must be some kind of conspiracy, because no one can figure out what that solution is.