Commentary: Why fact-checking and reason can't counteract conspiracy theories or racism
by John L. Jackson Jr., Los Angeles Times
Oct 26, 2020
3 minutes
![](https://article-imgs.scribdassets.com/2pb70us0e887sbcq/images/fileMO0M3K8E.jpg)
Conspiracy theories are brilliant. They really are. In an evil genius kind of way. They tell us so much about humanity's incredible creative powers. We concoct debilitating and distorted social worlds and then those creations torment us, smothering us as they travel the super-charged speedways of social media.
Some people liken conspiracy theories to superstition, little more than the byproduct of manipulation and soft thinking â mixed with a dash of self-interest. Others might imagine them as a kind of stylized cultural or political critique, a way of articulating dissent far afield
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