Quarantine Dangers - Conspiracy Theories

"Conspiracy is the myth of the modern age."

Today begins a series on the dangers that are facing us in a quarantine age.  Beyond the virus, the dangers we are creating for ourselves, informing how we respond to this crisis and how we interact with those around us.

These are dangers that are growing via social media, in particular.  We're at home, we are generally connected for far too much of the day, and we are looking for ways to explain what we are going through.

Think about it, myths existed to explain the world around us.  They told how the world was created, why it rained, how the sun rose and where it went, etc.  They even explained why bad things happened, either as a punishment from the gods or as a result of a god's actions.

When we feel powerless, when we feel out of control, we come up with an explanation for it.  And the most obvious way we explain the world around us today is through conspiracy theories.  The "Men in Black."  Deep-state government.  George Soros.  The Koch Brothers.  The Clinton Assassinations.  The anti-vaccination movement.  9-11 was an inside job.  And so on, and so on.

All based on emotion rather than fact.  All selectively choosing information, ignoring other facts and science, and reacting based on what feels correct.  What fits the narrative that they have created.

Right now, conspiracy is running rampant.

The coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab and was leaked or intentionally released.  Bill Gates created and released the virus so he can profit from the vaccine he is creating.  The future vaccine for this virus will contain a microchip that will be the Mark of the Beast.  The virus deaths are being exaggerated and the media is lying to us regarding the severity as part of a deep state plot to perform a test run of taking over the country and subjecting us to martial law and stealing our rights.

Really?!?

Some of these take the smallest piece of fact and stretch it to the maximum extent possible. They then generate an often outlandish tale of good and evil.  That's really the thing - conspiracies help us make things orderly.  They get there in an overly complicated way, but they are generally very orderly.  This person, this group does this for money, for greed, for power.  It clearly delineates good guys and bad guys in stark black and white terms.

Real life is messier.  People screw up.  They act against traditional motivations.  They play against type.  It doesn't follow a straight line.  "Good guys" do bad things with the best intentions.  "Bad guys" do good things for the wrong reasons.

Further, any conspiracy involving the government gives them too much credit for efficiency.  Just look at how long it took them to come together to approve the stimulus and then to delay it so that our dear leader could sign it and make sure he got his attribution.

Conspiracies require groups of people acting in concert and keeping things secret for far longer than people are actually able to do.  Few people will die to protect the truth.  None will die to protect a lie.

In the current situation, each of the Coronavirus theories above has much simpler, more fact based explanations.

The WHO has found no evidence that the virus was created in a Chinese lab.  Coronavirus, generally, is a very common naturally occurring virus.  This one just mutated to affect us, and some of us greatly.

Bill Gates had the foresight to see that a viral pandemic would be possible in the future and has been working on eliminating malaria for a long time. It would seem natural, given his philanthropy, he would be working to find a vaccine.  And he will be taking a loss in the process.  We should promote this kind of action by billionaires.

Any future vaccine will be necessary to stop the spreading.  No one will take the Mark of the Beast unknowingly.  If you believe that, you need to re-read Revelation.  To take the Mark of the Beast, you will know that you are being required to worship the Beast.

The discussion of the exaggeration of viral deaths is part conspiracy and part misinformation/gaslighting.  It's relying on anecdotal evidence based on a specific location to extrapolate it to the world. "It's not affecting me, so it can't be that bad."

It's our job to combat this.  It's our job to check sources.  To verify the news agency's bias.  If you are getting information from Breitbart, it is less trustworthy than NPR or the BBC, regardless of whether you want to believe this or not.

If you are a Christian, it is especially vital, as we are to be ministers of truth, not conspiracy or misinformation.

I get it, we may not like the truth right now.  We may feel powerless.  We may feel out of control.  But we gain nothing by spreading useless conspiracies. In fact, we risk minimizing people's losses and pain.  We risk actively making the situation worse, by ignoring the actual sound advice we have been given.

Let's focus on the truth, on reality for a while, and promote efforts that bring us together.

A Warning Regarding Your Digital Life - Social Media Quizzes

With social isolation and quarantining the norm, social media usage is on the rise.  People are home, connected to the internet, and looking for ways to entertain and distract themselves.  And with that, particular types of social media activity are on the rise.  Celebrities reading.  Music and singing.  And quizzes.  Lots and lots of quizzes.

The five names that you go by.

The five jobs that you've had.

Favorites.

Graduation pictures.

So many types of quizzes, that they make you pause a bit and wonder what the end of this is.  Then you see reminders like this -

Or even this,


And they are right.  The vast majority of the types of things that are asked for in these questions come up as security questions for your bank account, your credit card, your email, your online bills, etc., etc., etc.

By engaging in all of these quizzes, you are putting out so much personal information that can be used to get around any passwords that you may have on your most sensitive data.  Click on forgot password, hope for a security question by-pass, and viola.

I get it, these are fun ways to engage in social media.  It's fun to learn more about your friends.  It's fun to connect in someway virtually.  But you have to be careful about the ways you do so.

Make sure your accounts have two-factor authentication - i.e. make sure that when you log on you have to input a code from a text or email that you receive.  Text is best because it is most likely you will be the only person with access to your phone.

Limit who you are friends with or interact with on social media.  Only accept friend requests from people that you know.  That you could ask to confirm they were the one to send you the request.

Really evaluate the types of content that you are putting out there.  What private information are you sharing.  Be very selective about what you share.

You have to be careful about what is put online.  It can exist forever, it can be used against you, it can come back to harm you.  It's a great tool, but it is a potentially dangerous one.

That will be the theme of the next few posts.  A series of posts on potential quarantine dangers, focusing on that challenges of each, and why they are particularly harmful in this time.

Conspiracy Theories
Misinformation
Gaslighting

Each are serious issues facing our ability to get through this time together and to minimize casualties.  Each will require recognition and our vigilance online to combat them.

Be safe, be smart.

A Further Warning Regarding Your Digital Life

I've blogged on this topic before, but in light of recent events, it bears repeating.  It is probably a topic I will come back to often, as it is one of the most important reminders that we can give regarding how we live our lives in the modern age.

As an avid comic and pop culture fan, I've been following the news from San Diego Comic Con.  In sorting through the news articles, one of them gave me pause.

James Gunn exits Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after offensive tweets resurface.

For those of you who don't know who I am talking about, James Gunn is an offbeat director that Marvel Studios had hired to helm their Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, to much surprise and success.  James Gunn, at the time, was considered a surprising choice as he previously been associated with work on schlock films for Troma and offbeat cult films like Super and Slither.  And given his association with those type of films, concerns about his type of humor were raised.  Gunn apologized, and the issue seemed to disappear.  And the movie about a little heard of group of superheroes by an offbeat director went on to be a smashing success.  Its sequel did pretty well itself.  Gunn was fast-tracked to helm Vol. 3, announced before the second film was even in wide release.  The films were a success largely due to the uniqueness of Gunn's writing, direction, and soundtrack choices.  Put simply, they were fun.

The news from Friday reveals that Gunn was let go due to offensive jokes from several years ago (at least six years plus) in Gunn's Twitter feed, which were brought to the attention of the Walt Disney Company.  "The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James' Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio's values, and we have severed our business relationship with him,"  Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.

Make no mistake, the tweets are horribly offensive. I would not search them out unless you have an appreciation for the blackest humor on pedophilia, AIDS, the Holocaust and rape.  They are attempts to be provocative in the way that only an immature teenage boy would find funny.

It is also important to note that they are attempts at humor, no matter how bad the taste, they are from over six years ago, and they reflect a style of humor that Gunn no longer uses and an outlook on life that he never possessed.  They are things he has already apologized for and sought to grow from.

And while we can argue as to whether these type of jokes are ever really acceptable, we must recognize that this type of humor has existed for ages.  That one purpose of humor is to voice the thing that should never be said.

These tweets were sought out and targeted by alt-right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and his followers, a key figure in the Gamergate and Pizzagate controversies.  (I also would not recommend digging too deeply into Cernovich on the web unless you want to be sufficiently nauseated).  Cernovich targeted Gunn because he believed Gunn was part of a Hollywood pedophilia ring and his tweets were used as evidence of that fact.  Cernovich ostensibly truly targeted Gunn because Gunn was an outspoken liberal and modern ally to the #MeToo and LGBTQ movements.  This is not the first person Cernovich has gotten fired, nor is the last person Cernovich will be targeting.

I mention all of this to remind everyone.  It doesn't matter if Gunn believes the statements or not, if Gunn stands by them, if they were attempts at humor, if they are raised as part of a smear campaign, or not.  Gunn is being fired because they exist.  And they exist in a medium where it is nearly impossible to completely erase them.  Even if he had deleted them in the past, someone could have still had a screen shot, someone still could have re-tweeted and kept a screen shot of that, they could be archived on the Internet Archive, etc.  There are a million ways that these tweets could keep popping up for years to come.  After all, given the date range, these tweets are in the Library of Congress.  Think about that for a while.

And now this current "outrage" will follow Gunn to any new project he may attempt.  New companies or financial backers are going to have to deal with these tweet, their existence and the controversy created around them in determining whether it is worth hiring or supporting Gunn.  Who knows how his career will fare or how long it will take before this scandal is a tempest in a teapot.  Before his apology can be accepted.

This should be a stark warning to everyone.  BE CAREFUL what you post on social media.  BE CAREFUL what you put out there into the world.  And be EXTRA careful who you give access to it.

That joke you think is funny to post now could end your career down the road.  The strongly held belief you have now may be something that you cringe at in the future and could likewise mean the end of a career or relationship.  That act you thought would be funny to video and share today may be something that is actionable in the future.

While these services help us keep a record of our lives, memories that popup in our feed, we forget they are also keeping an evidentiary record of our statements, actions, and beliefs.  And we are seeing more and more that it can and will be used against us.

Be safe out there.