Trump's Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theory

"The voter fraud conspiracy is especially insidious because it cannot be conclusively disproven. Any investigations that find no truth to the allegations can simply and easily be dismissed as whitewashes and cover-ups. The nature of conspiracy theory is such that any evidence that contradicts or undermines the theory is assumed to itself be part of that that cover up. In this way conspiracy theories are self-perpetuating and what in science is called non-falsifiable; that is, they cannot be proven wrong."

Why Trump’s Voter Fraud Conspiracy Matters

Donald Trump And Conspiracy Theories

" Never before has a presidential campaign, from its paranoid messaging to its white nationalist backers, been rooted so deeply in the fever swamps of the right-wing psyche.

"Consider Trump's inner circle: Campaign CEO Stephen Bannon is on leave from Breitbart News, the conservative site he helped turn into a one-stop destination for breathlessly reported stories like "Muslim Prayer Rug Found on Arizona Border" (on closer inspection, the "rug" was probably a track jacket). Trump's deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, a peddler of many of the wildest Clinton conspiracy theories of the 1990s, once made a documentary alleging that Hillary Clinton had murdered a critic's cat. Trump adviser Roger Stone, a former Nixon campaign aide and political dirty trickster, wrote a book claiming that Chelsea Clinton got four plastic surgeries to mask the identity of her real father."

How Donald Trump Became Conspiracy Theorist in Chief

This Must Be Condemned By Democrats

"The temptation to embrace or tolerate irresponsible attacks is a constant for all political parties. And, contrary to what many liberals believe, there’s nothing about conservatives that makes them uniquely susceptible to conspiracy-mongering. Go back a decade or so, and you’ll find plenty of liberals and leftists who trafficked in conspiracy theories about voting machines, just to cite one example."

Democrats must reject Dean’s absurd claim

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article104985306.html#storylink=cpy

Analysis Of A Conspiracy Theory

"One of the key narratives among the supporters and practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), particularly those with a conspiratorial world-view, is the claim that vast portions of the US general populous is being deliberately poisoned by certain corporations, special-interest groups, invested individuals, and the US government."

To supporters of Jill Stein and the Green Party,  not criticizing unsupported conspiracy theories is one reason why she and it are anti-science.

Deconstructing the Conspiracy of Deliberate Poisoning of US Municipal Water

Making Money With Nonsense

"The marriage of conspiracy theories and selling snake oil and pseudoscience is an obvious one. My question, however, is in which direction does the arrow of causation go?"

Marketing Conspiracies and Conspiracy Marketing

Conspiracy Theories Threaten Rational Public Discourse

"This story should put to rest any notions that there is a conspiracy to suppress a cure for cancer, to control your mind with fluoride, to hide a link between vaccines and autism, or to treat Americans as “guinea pigs” for GMOs. If there was any truth to those beliefs, somebody would have uncovered it by now."

Proof That There Is No FDA-Big Pharma Conspiracy to Suppress Cancer Cures

Trump Is The Product Of Republican Anti-Science

Republicans over the last few decades have evolved into the party of anti-science.  Examples of such are here, here, here, here, and here.  In light of this fact, why would anyone be surprised that Donald Trump emerged as the runaway winner of the Republican primary?

The Real Problem With Facebook's Algorithms

Distorting Reality by Boosting Conspiracy Theories

Trump Is Even Worse Than You Might Think

"Trump is an arrogant anti-intellectual. He clearly does not respect accuracy, due diligence, following a valid process, or even getting basic facts right. He does not appear to take the job of president seriously enough to brush up on the basics of policy."

None of the above should be new to anyone paying attention.  However, consider the following:

Conspiracy Theories

I want to summarize my thoughts on the matter of conspiracy theories and include a link that I believe aids in understanding the phenomenon from a psychological perspective.

A Mathematical Look At Grand Conspiracy Theories

"Conspiratorial ideation is the tendency of individuals to believe that events and power relations are secretly manipulated by certain clandestine groups and organisations. Many of these ostensibly explanatory conjectures are non-falsifiable, lacking in evidence or demonstrably false, yet public acceptance remains high. Efforts to convince the general public of the validity of medical and scientific findings can be hampered by such narratives, which can create the impression of doubt or disagreement in areas where the science is well established."

Math vs Conspiracies

Conspiracy Theories Are Not Just Silly

"So conspiracy theories are both tantalizing and dangerous in that they not only spread misinformation, but dampen willingness to take action. Anyone who thinks they're too silly to refute had better think again."

Why I don't let people get away with supporting them.

http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/conspiracy-theories-hamper-fight-against-climate-change

Clever Irrationality

"The theologians cleverly argue that a truth that is "above reason" can't be proven false. Very clever, but not very rational. Such reasoning opens the door to believing that nothing is as it appears to be, that anything that seems to be contradictory may actually be possible. If three can equal one in a single special case, then for all we know, two can equal six and eight can equal four in some other special cases. In some worlds, perhaps a six-sided die has eight sides. Can you prove that such a world does not exist? The world is already full of things that appear to be what they're not (like lots of clever people who appear to be rational). Why add another layer to this problem just to defend an article of faith?"

A great look at irrationality.

http://skepdic.com/essays/anythinggoes.html