SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 13 2018, @12:55AM
Well, he was fresh from Reality TV and understands that that is the country America is now He has good, solid experience with manufactured drama and shock value. Couple that with his background as a dyed-in-the-wool New York City real estate asshole (really, they make the bond traders on Wall Street seem like sweethearts), and you have a pretty solid resume for tearing down the self-congratulatory circle jerk that is the Wall Street/DC power elites.
I think that much many of us can agree on. Now, whether he is employing those skills in the cause of destroying America, or saving it, is left as an exercise for the reader.
Washington DC delenda est.