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posted by chromas on Wednesday September 12 2018, @02:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the That's-what-they-WANT-you-to-think dept.

In the Salon

There seems to be a lot of science being thrown at the "Trump Phenomenon." Salon covers yet another, and interviews the author.

A new paper, recently presented at the American Political Science Association's annual convention, suggests a widespread motive driving people to share fake news, conspiracy theories and other hostile political rumors. "Many status-obsessed, yet marginalized individuals experience a 'Need for Chaos' and want to 'watch the world burn'," lead author Michael Petersen tweeted, announcing the availability of a preprint copy.

Truth, in such a worldview, is beside the point, which offers a new perspective on the limitations of fact-checking. The motivation behind sharing or spreading narratives one may not even believe can help make sense of a variety of threatening or confusing recent developments in advanced democracies. It also sheds light on disturbing similarities with outbreaks of ethnic or genocidal violence, such as those seen in Rwanda and the Balkan nations during the 1990s.

Preprint of the paper available at PsyArXiv, here. [DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/6m4ts]


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:06PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:06PM (#733638) Journal

    It's like asking why do people commit arson?

    For some, it is a one time thing, an insurance scam.

    But I'm talking about people in love with committing arson. Who live for watching the burn. What is their malfunction? How similar is it to wanting to watch the entire world, or a nation burn metaphorically?

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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