I recently returned from Kenya with 464 photos on my camera, and as I said to friends and family, “one or two of them are actually quite good.” Of course, the essence of a good photo is to be there, and to snap the one above I had to be in a Land Cruiser, and the lion, while aware of us, needed to be indifferent. As noted by our driver, were I to get out of the vehicle, she would eat me. If this shot were taken from a helicopter above, you would see perhaps five Land Cruisers surrounding the beast. The lion’s attitude reminds me of what is the proper way to view American politics: Studied indifference.
I write a lot, and as with photography, now and then I write something I want to remember, even if no one else cares. Thus the paragraph beneath the fold here, a comment originally addressed to our friend Petra, and modified to include part of her wise response and to remove her personally from it, with respect.
Use of the phrase “conspiracy theory” came about in prominence in 1967 in a CIA memo to agency higher-ups suggesting its use to criticize people skeptical of the Warren Report. Search and you’ll find it online.
Thereafter it began appearing frequently in newspapers, and later in a forgettable book that supposed intellectuals like to cite. It’s remarkable psychology. In practical use (not by media and political officials), it allows people of low curiosity/intelligence to 1) avoid thinking, and 2) to ridicule people who are more curious/intelligent.
So suppose that you are at a gathering of friends and relatives and you forget etiquette and mention that, say, Sandy Hook was a staged event (or in my case, Columbine), one of those at the gathering will react by chanting “coo coo, coo coo” and ask where’s your tinfoil hat. The person doing that ridicule will have no standing, being incurious and a non-reader … a Dunning Kruger mascot. But you lose, and he/she wins. You learn from that episode to STFU.
Ain’t it amazing how well it works? I doff my cap to the guy who wrote that 1967 memo. It is clever beyond the norm.
Piece of Mindful 
I read an interesting short book one time – a local library had it – “Conspiracy Theory in America” IIRC, not sure that’s it. Book not quite what you might expect – it was written by a Florida (?) based professor, whose specialty was the history of said same. It presented a relatively favorable view of “skeptics,” putting them in larger historical context. According to him, the dominant mainstream historians of some decades back, practiced a “conspiratorial” approach to history (and current events I suppose.)
That shifted and their names were forgotten by most, as the field became – what – “an agreed upon lie” as they say. Now were these previous ones truth tellers? I don’t know, but the methodological approach was taken as a natural given – of COURSE powerful minorities have different interests than the public at large, the man on the street thought, and historians ought to question everything.
Nowadays they discover some old trove of letters, and that’s how they can overturn a given narrative.
This professor had a whole chapter on that term “conspiracy theory” and how it came about. Of course he may be misdirecting in his own way, but it was far more fair to skepticism than most academic viewpoints.
LikeLike
The genius was to attach the word “theory” to conspiracy, thereby removing it one step from reality and into the realm of imagination, and one short step further, paranoia.
I wonder myself how the top “scientists” in the field are lockstep in their CO2 nonsense, and wise and powerful enough to close all forums to any who disagree. It’s the same in almost all pursuits … there is a forum called “NextDoor” which allows mindless chatter about wild animals we see in our yards or drivers who misbehave. They have a hard and fast rule, enforced now just as in 2020 … no criticism of CDC or WHO is allowed.
That rule is out of left field, so structured and specific that it is not general or commonly thought, but handed down. Back at the beginning of Covid, NextDoor announced it and then enforced it with vigor.
Why? I might suggest that powers above them warned them that Covid was coming and that universal lockstep belief was demanded … but that is a conspiracy theory.
LikeLike
Man, if I had a nickel for every time someone says, “I”m not a conspiracy theorist, but….”. Incredibly annoying. Typical virtual signaling elite who is confused, and acknowledging said topic makes no sense, but they have no backbone to actually suggest there may be some so-called conspiracy. As in people conspire to dominate others. Why is that so hard to get through people’s heads that powerful people seek in secret to have control and power over others?
Inevitably I reject labels. If you want to call me a conspiracy theorist fine. It just means you are stupid and like cliches. As I have said in other posts, it’s useless trying to have a conversation with people who are constantly labeling everything: right wing, conspiracy theorist, Trump lover.
LikeLike
It’s about not belonging to the others, fallen from faith. That’s a key element, also forming a group of “good” people. Providing an identity. During the ‘rona, there was a movement in Germany called “Querdenken”. Probably controlled opposition, but I digress. The term meaning to “think weird”. Not well known, there’s another meaning, it’s resembling the older term “Querfront”, the unification of the left and right wings. Almost ridiculous, it’s really that obvious in Germany, the divide must be. Ofc we got a German term for conspiracy theories too. IMHO, the main purpose is to provide confirmation to the believers. A seal of approval. Narcissistic supply, just look at these weirdos… That’s why it’s hard, they are the good ones, and right. If you’re annoyed by the prop, you’re not the target group.
LikeLike
Thanks for the feedback, I am extremely interested in the weltanschauung from Europe. My minor in college was German, and I was and am a Teutonophile. Owning VWs, BMWs, Audis, Porsches, German firearms, etc. etc… Which probably not many people have heard of these days, since Germany was unfairly given the label of being Nazis forever after WW2. I I digress…
Europeans seem to be much more “hip” than Americans, as far as awareness in general, and especially about food. I noticed when i was in Thailand this winter the beach resorts, which are full of mostly Russians, and other Europeans, that their legs are as a rule very muscular, and they don’t have excessively fat bodies, like many Americans (of European lineage, and everyone else, like blacks and hispanics – fatness being very common). I realized the reason – in Europe people walk everywhere. In America, in most places, walking, or cycling is very dangerous, and uncommon. Everyone gets around by car. Which is a huge contributor to Marks’ observation that in America fatness and being sedentary is far, far too common
LikeLike
The word “Narcissist” seemed to have shown up around the end of 2024. Nobody was using that word before then. Now seems it’s being used by everyone, somehow to label the bad person in their lives, even if they are the bad person.
LikeLike
Yes, and we can probably trace that to the powers that be, the same people who declared conspiracy theories to the beyond the pale. A narcissist, or arrogant person, is someone who thinks for themselves. How dare they?
LikeLike
You can extrapolate why so called narcissists are targeted. I.e. people who care about their health, and appearance. I have considered if masks come back how to combat that. I am too pretty for a mask – seriously, masks make someone look like a clown. When I see someone wearing a mask now I view them with utter contempt, perpetuating the dystopia of Covid-19.
LikeLike
I see being a conspiracy theorist as step 1 in getting sober in this world of delusion. But as others have said, the baby truthers, aka conspiracy theorists, are subjected to a flood of disinformation to keep them progressing. From slick people like Fletcher Prouty, Alex Jones etc. Getting past that stage is quite difficult because you have to go it alone – you won’t find companions to break through to the other side. However, you will find people who made the other side, whom I include most of the contributors here.
LikeLike
Common insight, curiosity and thoughtfulness are coupled with craziness, Moon Landing hoax with flat earth, controlled demolition with space lasers. “Thoughtful” people, usually just a well-dressed class of moron, do not truck in conspracy theory.
LikeLike
To get to the other side you have to leave your tribe several times. It’s not an easy thing to do.
LikeLike
“I wonder myself how the top “scientists” in the field are lockstep in their CO2 nonsense, and wise and powerful enough to close all forums to any who disagree.”
The intellectual capture of scientific fields fascinates me as well. Especially as an outside observer looking in, I just have to take clues wherever I can find them. Maybe the most helpful single source I’ve ever found on the topic was the book Disciplined Minds. Short, very compelling book. Probably a limited hangout, but still seems to have a lot of insight into the process.
Beyond that, I listen whenever scientists like Ray here on the blog, or various commenters on NakedCapitalism, talk critically about their peers and profession.
Taubes was a major wakeup call to me in Good Calories, Bad Calories. Probably even as scathing as that account of nutrition science is, there’s more to the story, but it still starts to explain it. He also wrote a history of the cold fusion debacle in the 80s, that one can read between the lines a bit if you have some skepticism about the idealized mythology of science.
LikeLike
‘The capture’ of science is no different to the capture of religion. It is simply a requirement of the qualification that you claim you believe in the doctrine. Once you speak out you are no longer part of the priesthood. Of course there are some grounds that can be debated such as how many angels fit on a pin head.
LikeLike
I came across a paper by a scientist in Wyoming that started out by wondering that with all the warming going on, the ice around Yellowstone Lake was stable. She had two choices: Honest inquiry, which might lead to, zounds, perhaps some evidence that warming is not happening, or her fallback, that of course warming is happening, we all know it, and even if there is a lack of evidence now, it will follow later.
She chose the latter course. I concluded that had she not, there would be no more research grants coming her way.
This all goes back to Ike’s speech on the military industrial commplex, where he also warned that science was being taken over by centralized government funding, now a fait accompli. Built into this funding is the ability to force the latest propaganda memes through, i.e., if you want to research Covid or Climate Change, your assertions are predetermined. She is a tiny outpost in a flyover state, but the pressure to conform was on exhibit.
LikeLike
Alex – Good point. The whole mythology of science is that it’s about truth seeking, free inquiry, always questioning, etc. But for the vast majority who enter various fields, they have to regurgitate doctrine until they no longer know how to do anything else. Or can only “play” within narrow prescribed lines. So it would seem anyway.
LikeLike
During covid I heard some great interviews with dissenting scientists – one lady in particular, I wish I remembered her name – a career lab technician who gave a lot of insight into how the sausage gets made. She described being sort of asleep most of her career, or brushing aside doubts. Then in that strange time the scales fell from her eyes.
LikeLike
If you come across the name, please share.
LikeLike
You don’t mean Northern Tracy do you? I liked much of her material, until it veered off into the everything (in Biochemistry) is fake.
LikeLike
No, this lady didn’t have her own site I don’t think. She was just someone with a long career and credentials who “spoke out,” making the rounds on some alt media podcasts at the time. She was kind of a mid level lab technician, and described some of the nature of the hierarchy within research, the big shots, the grunts, the funding imperatives, the black box nature of some of it.
I probably stumbled across her on some bitchute or odyssee channel, where I had been listening to some other interview with a better known alt health researcher. Those pages just have hundreds of interviews though, and I have no idea now which shows or hosts she appeared with. I think at the time I linked it here on POM, buried back in a post from 2022 or 2023 probably.
LikeLike
I will search your comments today or tomorrow. Any finding hints welcome.
LikeLike
Sorry, her name escapes me.. just a needle in a haystack, depending on how well the search function can sort comments..
LikeLike
Maybe searching on “bitchute” or “odyssee” would pick it up from the link to her interview, idk
LikeLike
Jennifer Daniels? I know it’s not her, but I need a little more direction into time frame.
LikeLike
No, not Jennifer Daniels.. I want to say Maria somebody, but that’s probably wrong.
If you are able to limit a search to just my comments, maybe try “lab researcher” or “technician,” I may have talked about her in those terms. I’m very bad with remembering things according to time frames.. I think it was after they had shifted from covid to Ukraine – wasn’t that how they moved on all of a sudden?
At this point it’s probably way over hyped though..! She was not a polished pro communicator, or unloading massive amounts of fully formed theory and insight. Just interesting nuggets about how she evolved over her career and the view from the mid level seats.
LikeLike
Searched back to beginning of 2021, no luck on “Maria”, if anything else comes to mind let me know.
LikeLike
It might have been her that talked about the way in research, if you came across something that didn’t fit the official model, it was an opportunity to invent a theory, ie kludge, to potentially explain the discrepancy. And nobody can really see/ observe this thing directly, so your proposal can be accepted – and merit further funding for research – until you or someone (indirectly) observes something that contradicts your kludge. So then they invent a kludge to explain that problem, in this sub-sub-part of the model. And the whole edifice of complexity is this accretion of brilliant Nobel winning theories that model what may potentially be going on, down at this level nobody can really see..
LikeLike
That’s funny because my boss uses the word “kloogy”, which I am spelling phonetically, to describe suspicious data, or reported data in the literature or from competitors. Which appears to be a offshoot of the word kludge.
LikeLike
Interesting. Well I’d welcome your take on my description there of how scientific knowledge and theory takes shape.. I’m just speculating at second hand, trying to grasp how the system works.
LikeLike
heinz von foesrter let slip the hustle. It’s on YouTube just search ole heinz and “where is reality”
LikeLike
Unleased lab space. Plunging valuations. Layoffs. In Massachusetts, the biotech slump is taking its toll.
Biotech could be a house of cards that folds. If you read the comments it’s shocking how many are negative on vaccines and biotech drugs. Two years ago they would have blocked comments. And RFK believes vaccines are an option. I don’t know what happened, but it’s not 2020 anymore. I’m not sure another pandemic could fly.
LikeLike
That last name, Kennedy, led me to suspect that the man is a planted false leader.
LikeLike