Sorting fact from fiction in conspiracy theories On November 22, 1963, an emotionally unstable young Marxist and ex-Marine with few friends or job prospects, little respect from organized leftists, and an estranged wife who finally lost patience with his violent outbursts and political fantasies, took his rifle to work at the Texas School Book Depository…
Once caught up in mass hysteria, we don’t even realize we are not seeing things clearly Mass hysteria is the spontaneous manifestation of a particular behaviour by many people. There are numerous historical examples: Middle Age nuns at a convent in France spontaneously began to meow like cats; at another convent, nuns began biting one…
People fear that their government may not have their best interests at heart As the Covid-19 pandemic waned, the World Health Organization (WHO) took a survey to determine what factors led some countries to effectively manage their fight against the disease while others suffered from soaring infection rates and deaths. The usual expected factors, such…
Monkeypox conspiracy videos were viewed 1.5 million times within 30 hours of posting
Conspiracy theories about monkeypox are spreading as fast as the virus itself, mirroring the proliferation of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the University of Alberta. Social media is the biggest driver of the monkeypox “infodemic,” with TikTok at the top of the list, according to Timothy Caulfield and Marco…
Rolando Cubela was a key player in ongoing American plots to kill Fidel Castro
Aged 89, Rolando Cubela died in late August. If you’re wondering who he was, you’re probably not alone. But, at one time, Cubela was an important figure. As the CIA’s man in Havana, he was a key player in ongoing American plots to kill Fidel Castro. Cubela was born in Cuba in 1933, became involved…
Elite influence is no myth
Do you believe “Big events (wars, recessions, elections) are controlled by small groups secretly working against the rest of us”? Abacus surveyed 1,500 Canadians on that question, and 44 per cent agreed. However, the pollster characterized those who “believe dangerous contrarian theories” and “mistrust what media report and what governments say” as “a poison affecting…
Forecasters with the biggest news media profiles are especially bad at predicting the future
Years ago, an elderly couple went to a country fair. The husband was captivated by an animated psychic promising to tell his age and what kind of person he is. He inserted a coin, and the machine sprang to life. The animatronic clairvoyant peered into her crystal ball, mumbled a few words, and pointed to…
If a huge majority of Americans can't denounce what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, the U.S. has big problems
Imagine a country where football players kneeling on the sideline peacefully protesting inequalities in their country are labelled “unpatriotic,” “treasonous” and “sons of bitches” by the president of the country, while citizens who violently storm the nation’s Capitol and break into the House Chamber in an attempt to stop the certification of a presidential election…
We need a lot more ‘we’ people than ‘me’ people – in professional sports and everywhere else
National Basketball Association training camps are in full swing and 50 or so players (of about 530 total) have yet to receive a single COVID-19 vaccine dose. That’s an issue NBA executives and coaches were hoping to avoid. This summer, league officials proposed a mandate requiring all players to be vaccinated against COVID in order…
Aims to help people find credible information online
The problem with combatting the misinformation swirling around COVID-19 is, according to University of Alberta health law professor Timothy Caulfield, that all fronts the fight takes place on are of equal importance. “For a long time there has been this tolerance of pseudoscience and misinformation,” said Caulfield. “But there are recent studies that show once people believe…