Brian Keeley describes the harmful nature of conspiracy theories in his article “Of Conspiracy Articles,” naming the key parts of conspiracy theories, their attractiveness, their flaws, and their danger. A few things stuck out to me: that evidence against conspiracy theories are construed as support for their theories, and the skepticism of reliable institutions brought out by conspiracy theories. If a conspiracy theory argues that an institution is trying to cover something up, denials—even with evidence—will likely not be accepted by those who have read the conspiracy, because it will just seem like another cover up. That is an interesting thought to me, because it begs the question about how to best combat the spread of conspiracy theories when the theorists will not accept facts and reality. Skepticism in reliable industries can be very dangerous. Keeley points out that conspiracies reveal how much we rely on these institutions’ information, which is certainly interesting, but skepticism in proven science and reliable, trustworthy institutions is incredibly dangerous. For me, anti-vaccination conspiracies and climate change deniers come to mind, both of which are significant threats to the world today. In January, the World Health Organization named vaccination hesitancy as one of the largest global health threats of 2019, and climate change deniers have prevented political action to prevent global warming for years.
I also find it interesting that though this article is ten years old, it is still applicable to the state of conspiracies today. With the internet, conspiracies are more accessible and attractive than ever before, and accessing errant data is even easier. I am particularly concerned about young teenagers—especially middle schoolers, who I am guessing are less likely to read critically—gaining access to dangerous, hateful conspiracies. I have read many articles over the past few years about young, white, male teenagers becoming white supremacists and conspiracy theorists after watching hateful videos and participating in online forums, so I am genuinely concerned about what children can access online. I am against censorship, but I do think dangerous content should not be so accessible.