We can understand conspiracy theories by studying folklore- Talulah

 Talulah May

Mr. Roddy

IHSS

20 Jan 2021

This article focuses on the structures of conspiracy theories and how they are formed and destroyed. The specific theory they focussed on was a now-debunked, theory called pizzagate. Pizzagate was a theory made during the 2016 election, and it claimed that Hillary Clinton and other parts of the democratic party were partnering up with a pizza parlor to hide and sell kids into a massive sex-trafficking ring. Obviously now these theories have been debunked, but it all started when a fabricated email chain between Hillary and the pizza parlor was spread throughout the internet. This story just proves the point that lies spread faster than the truth and the internet has a lot more false information than real information. So, after this traveled the internet and almost ruined her career a Folklorist, Timothy who is a teacher at the University of Cali, combined his knowledge with computer science and folklore to look at pizzagate on Reddit. He used a computer algorithm to make a chart displaying the different layers and subplots of the story and how they are all connected. This chart also displayed how the conspiracy theory evolved from an email, where Hillary was talking to the pizza parlor about holding an invent, to a widespread lie.  

Conspiracy theories can have real-life consequences, so it’s important for us to understand what is real and what is fake. In relation to pizzagate a man was so convinced the parlor was selling kids into a sex trafficking ring he opened fire at the pizza shop so he could ‘save the kids’. Obviously, there were no kids and the man was arrested, but this just shows the real dangers of conspiracy theories and how much the internet impacts our beliefs. Social media is particularly dangerous because Conspiracy theories thrive on the internet. Some of the reasons they do have to do with the fact that everyone can make a post to the internet, influencers have massive fanbases that will listen to whatever they have to say, and finally, because search algorithms show you what’s most popular not what’s most accurate. Careers can easily be ended, and lives can be put in danger, as we saw with pizzagate, so understanding the roots of conspiracy theories with the help of Timothy’s computer algorithm helps them get debunked, and the one good thing about conspiracy theories is they can be destroyed just as fast as they were created.  

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