The Dangers of Conspiracy Theories, Etc. | Hannah Arendt On Truth And Falsity
Today’s quote from Hannah Arendt is particularly timely as academics (and others) in the West increasingly question some of the most basic biological realities of life, and as AI and other technologies make it increasingly difficult to discern truth from falsity. Here’s the quote:
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”
~ Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951
In the past twenty years there has been a marked movement away from trust in institutions, and this distrust is resulting in increasing social disintegration. This is a very large and complex question and there’s no way I will do it justice here. That said, at least one of the most important contributing factors to the loss of trust in institutions is the increased access to information as well as the democratization of media publishing. While there have always been whistleblowers, there has never been a time when whistleblowing was so easy.
We find ourselves in the unusual position where, on the one hand it has never been easier to expose corruption and to keep those in power honest, on the other hand, it has never been easier to spread conspiracy theories. The problem of course is that while many conspiracy theories end up proving true, most of us lack the ability to discern true conspiracies from false conspiracies. Regardless of one’s political positions, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction (and this is only going to get worse as AI plays a greater role in social life), and we need institutions that we can trust more than ever.
So…what to do? Unfortunately, we cannot stop the world around us from continuing to lose its mind. What we can do is to keep our own minds balanced and healthy! Social contagion is a real thing, and we will need to be increasingly aware of its effect on society (and if we’re not careful, on us). It will help greatly if we can find other folk of like mind, who are also aware of the tsunami of chaos that is headed our way, and who can help us to not overreact to the things that seem “so obvious” to the world around us. When confronted with a new conspiracy theory, it’s usually best to adopt a “wait and see” approach, rather than assuming the worst, (and then passing a potential falsehood on to other people). Another good principle to adopt is to ask oneself what it would take to disprove the conspiracy theory. If there is no way to disprove a conspiracy theory, then regardless of its possible veracity, the inability to either prove or disprove it means that, if not completely rejected, it should at least be set aside until more information becomes available.
Again, I want to emphasize that there are temptations of this sort on both the right and on the left sides of the political spectrum. If we do not protect ourselves from unverifiable and unfalsifiable conspiracy theories, then we will find that our own ability to discern between truth and falsity is compromised, and that our trust in the institutions that help maintain social cohesion continues to be undermined.
Finally, to return to the quote from Arendt, as society’s ability to discern between truth and falsity is compromised, and as trust in the institutions that help maintain social cohesion is undermined, our society becomes increasingly in danger of capitulating to the government’s authoritarian tendencies. Unable to discern truth from fiction, people become increasingly tired and willing to submit to the utopian mirages of totalitarianism.
Another quote from Arendt offers an explanation as to why this is the case:
“Power corresponds to the human ability not just to act but to act in concert. Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together.”
~ Hannah Arendt, Violence
It is when group unity is lost that it cedes power to the state.
OK…that’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this latest foray into the work of Hannah Arendt…as always, stay tuned for more by subscribing and downloading The How Did We Get Here? Reading List…and I will see you soon!