Conspiracy Theorists & Language

When an uninitiated person wanders on a conspiracist website, one of the first things he will notice is the strange jargon. Terms like false flags, cointelpro, psyops, etc., being thrown around all over the place. In this respect, conspiracy theorists are no different than other subcultures. They all have their particular language, their slang, which defines much of their identity. What's particular, thought, is that conspiracists do not get their vocabulary from media items, but rather media non-items, things that lack a name and a clear definition in the media.

I think that's an important point. Conspiracists have the tendency to define their own language. When they come across a concept which has no popular name, they tend to look for one, either finding an obscure term or creating a name entirely out of the blue. For them, reality makes language and not the other way around. Just because a concept is undefined doesn't make it any less real.

reply to post by Cathcart


First, false flag isn't a CT term. It's been around for awhile. If it hadn't, it would probably be called false machine-gun or something...just sayin'.

Second, people always make up new words to explain something that doesn't exist. Words also get mixed up and languages become intertwined. Where I live there are many Spanish speakers and there is a mix of language...some words are even made up. That's the nature of human language.

It really has little to do with cultures or subcultures but more to with the tendency of human beings to personalize language. That's why we have so many languages in the world and dialects.

Unfortunately CTers are not bright enough to coin their own terms, so they take legitimate expressions and try to shotgun them on every topic they come across.

OMG False flag? Illuminati infiltration into Freemason government industrial complex!!!! This is all cause the Fed is inflating fiat currency and GOOOOOOOOOLD> RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL






*Poops pants.

Cointelpro and psyops are both terms coined by the military, but agreed they do not appear regularly in common vernacular, and would be foreign to the uninitiated.

What's more dangerous is using words that do not really describe what they are supposed to describe. This happens a lot in science. For example, the word 'space' has connotations attached to it that suggest emptiness/nothingness, but we understand better now that space is anything but empty.

Science has many, many words that replace the words "I don't know." Dark energy, dark matter, both words interchangeable with "I don't know." Even gravity and inertia - both words used to describe something that everyone on the planet is familiar with, but no one really knows what they actually are, or how they work.

Language is flawed, and when I'm speaking with someone who is not familiar with concepts like false flags, and other terms that don't exist in their personal vernacular, I try to replace them or eliminate them with concepts they already understand.

I like where your head's at. Keep up the good work!

"conspiracists do not get their vocabulary from media items, but rather media non-items, things that lack a name and a clear definition in the media. "

Can you kindly explain the term "non-media items" please?

Peace

boncho
Unfortunately CTers are not bright enough to coin their own terms, so they take legitimate expressions and try to shotgun them on every topic they come across.

OMG False flag? Illuminati infiltration into Freemason government industrial complex!!!! This is all cause the Fed is inflating fiat currency and GOOOOOOOOOLD> RON PAUL RON PAUL RON PAUL






Is this entire post your attempt to convey insult toward individuals who question dubious Gov activity ? If it is sarcasm, I get it. If you are honestly stating " CTers are not bright ............ " Perhaps you might assist them with words more appropriate to the unique situations they encounter. Of course it is just a suggestion.
Cheers

False flag came about during the heyday of pirates operating in the New World when Pirate ships would hoist a National flag to come abreast of an unsuspecting victim.
It was then the skull and bones was hoisted.

I suppose this makes the naming of the Yale Skull and Bones society an honest gesture.
About the only honest gesture they or their members ever made.

Of course, all the CT vernacular isn't necessarily new or original, it's just outside public usage. That's why I also mentioned "obscure terms" in my OP. Reviving old military slang seems to be quite popular in that respect.

Ranong

Can you kindly explain the term "non-media items" please?

By "media non-items", I mean concepts that are so foreign to MSM that they do not even have a name.

Take the rise of an international political elite, for example. The signs pointing to this are rather plain. Most people could probably spot them. Problem is, there's no mainstream expression to convey that meaning. This elite bears no official name, their rise to power happens through an unnamed process, there's no clear definition for the change that is happening in international politics. The closest you can find is "globalization", but for most that's just an economic/cultural expression. There's no exact word in public usage. So people cannot discuss that concept in everyday conversation. And thus it goes by, ignored and unopposed. But talk to CTs and they will give half a dozen names for that cabal and its activities.

Same could be said for the fear-mongering by MSM, the constant barricade of security menaces to keep people in panic, ect. People are not that dumb. They plainly see that MSM is exagerating, that someone, somewhere, tries to induce fear on purpose. But is there a popular word for what the MSM is doing? What's the common word for that? How do you go about explaining this in public usage? Hell, for most people, even the word "propaganda" is just associated with Stalinism and whatnot, it bears no meaning to contemporary media. Because this tactic is undefined, it becomes ignored.

reply to post by Cathcart


You are creating this subculture. You are seeing what you want to see.
But I gave you are star and flag because I want people to read my reply.

I have always found the pejorative "conspiracy theorist" to be quite the enigma.
Because it is essentially a "catch-all" term that places someone that questions the official recalling of events as invalid into a compartment that can be continually minimized.
The term in itself is used to discredit anyone simply questioning the official beliefs being promoted by supposedly official and recognized main stream news sources (Whatever that means. I suppose it reflects what the majority believe, but think about this- Out of everyone out there, half of them are below average).

I am a skeptic, and simply because I am a skeptic, people like you want to stereotype me into a pejorative little compartmentalized description of 'conspiracy theorist', but get this-
You are calling someone like me a 'theorist' when I DON'T believe something.

Do you know what a theory is?

Generalized stereotypes reek of misinformation, and I am being nice when I say that.

reply to post by kyviecaldges


Wait, was my post pejorative? If that's the case, then you have my apologies. I wasn't trying to denigrate or minimize anyone, sorry if it came out wrong. I just used "conspiracy theorists" because that's a popular word (see the name of this board, for example).

By the way, who are "people like me"? Just curious.

Cathcart
reply to post by kyviecaldges

 

Wait, was my post pejorative? If that's the case, then you have my apologies. I wasn't trying to denigrate or minimize anyone, sorry if it came out wrong. I just used "conspiracy theorists" because that's a popular word (see the name of this board, for example).

By the way, who are "people like me"? Just curious.

edit on 21-11-2013 by Cathcart because: (no reason given)

Then it's mis-information.

What your OP did was create a subculture of "conspiracy theorist" while you posit your theory on language.
It was an interesting theory, but what it did was reinforce the idea that a subculture of "conspiracists" exist.

"People like you" are people that assist in the reinforcement of a culture of people called conspiracy theorists.
Period.
That is all.

I don't believe most of what is promoted by the mainstream.
That is not because I promote another idea, but because I personally believe that we have been deliberately un-educated. We are a nation of poorly taught outcome based learners that are taught through a schedule of reinforcements what the outcome should be.
What we should think.
We are not taught how to think but what to think, and when people like you write threads that discuss the subculture of "conspiracy theorists" without even going so far as to define what one is, then I say that people like you have been the victim of mis/disinformation and unintentionally reinforce the status quo.

I question the status quo.

Do you see the difference?

kyviecaldges

I have always found the pejorative "conspiracy theorist" to be quite the enigma.
Because it is essentially a "catch-all" term that places someone that questions the official recalling of events as invalid into a compartment that can be continually minimized.

Agreed. However, as pointed out, it's a term that people are applying to themselves.

The "language" issue cuts both ways. You now have a subculture using a shared vocabulary and ideology that doesn't necessarily represent a more accurate representation of reality but instead is used to identify with fellow "true believers."

So, unfortunately, the term "conspiracy theorist" does increasingly describe a set of people with specific beliefs. And as more and more nonsense is added to the canon it makes it easier and easier to discredit anyone who disagrees with any official narrative.

Conspiracy theorists is a label made by others who don't challenge the current view of history to denigrate those who do.
We are truth seekers first and foremost, and there is no bond between us other than a common interest in establishing facts from fiction.

Asktheanimals
Conspiracy theorists is a label made by others who don't challenge the current view of history to denigrate those who do.
We are truth seekers first and foremost, and there is no bond between us other than a common interest in establishing facts from fiction.

Thank you.

Truth Seeker is absolutely the best term to use, but if people actually used that term instead of "conspiracy theorist" then it would make those of us who refuse to commit to an idea that is simply supported and reinforced by the status quo without logical assessment of validity to be intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and informed individuals...
Rather than borderline personality, self-centered and misinformed angry young men and women who just want to protest and talk about psyops, false flags, and disinformation. (featuring the oxford comma)

I don't think that the OP would convey quite the same message if we were to be called a subculture of truth seekers rather thank conspiracists, and the premise was to discuss the language that we commonly use while seeking the truth.

Maybe it's me, but that sounds sooooooo different than what was proposed in the OP.

I actually like that idea.
And honestly, the discussion of language and method used to discover truth is taught by the trivium and I have a link in my signature that will lead joe status-quo to this very same thing.

reply to post by Cathcart


When someone I know becomes interested in the things I talk about sometimes, one of the very first things I do is give them a list of about 20 or so words and I tell them to look up each one online. When they come back I have another list of about 30 different, more complex words to look up.

The trouble is, nobody ever becomes interested in the things I talk about. Or rather, I never talk about anything interesting. So I will have to own up to that when the time comes and people ask me why I didn't warn them.

I do think a list of words, places, names, events, etc... would be a simple and direct way to pass along information to somebody who is not in the loop. And the best part is they are doing the research themselves and forming their own opinions about it. It is much better when people come to the conclusion on their own that we are Not in Kansas anymore, Toto... Once they have learned enough terms in the terminology, then you will just be able to have a conversation with their newly enhanced lexicon.

quote......" Same could be said for the fear-mongering by MSM, the constant barricade of security menaces to keep people in panic, ect. People are not that dumb. They plainly see that MSM is exagerating, that someone, somewhere, tries to induce fear on purpose. But is there a popular word for what the MSM is doing? What's the common word for that? How do you go about explaining this in public usage? Hell, for most people, even the word "propaganda" is just associated with Stalinism and whatnot, it bears no meaning to contemporary media. Because this tactic is undefined, it becomes ignored. "

I believe the term Disinformation is what you are looking for.

Disinformation is a type of untrue communication that is purposefully spread and represented as truth to elicit some response that serves the perpetrator's purpose.

Disinformation is sometimes confused with misinformation but the two are distinguished by their intention. The purpose of disinformation is to deceive. Although misinformation is also false, it is presented as truth only because the communicator does not have the facts straight.

There was a time, not too long ago (relatively speaking), that governments and the groups of elites that controlled them did not find it necessary to conscript themselves into wars of disinformation.

Propaganda was relatively straightforward. The lies were much simpler. The control of information flow was easily directed. Rules were enforced with the threat of property confiscation and execution for anyone who strayed from the rigid socio-political structure. Those who had theological, metaphysical or scientific information outside of the conventional and scripted collective world view were tortured and slaughtered. The elites kept the information to themselves, and removed its remnants from mainstream recognition, sometimes for centuries before it was rediscovered.

With the advent of anti-feudalism, and most importantly the success of the American Revolution, elitists were no longer able to dominate information with the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun. The establishment of Republics, with their philosophy of open government and rule by the people, compelled Aristocratic minorities to plot more subtle ways of obstructing the truth and thus maintaining their hold over the world without exposing themselves to retribution from the masses. Thus, the complex art of disinformation was born

The same tactics are used by "shills" as we "conspiracy theorists" call them.

reply to post by boncho

Unfortunately CTers are not bright enough to coin their own terms, so they take legitimate expressions and try to shotgun them on every topic they come across.

Conspiricy Theoristers (CTers)...are you serious?
You mean Conspiricy Theorist's right?
Is the English language really that hard to grasp? Who was it that you said uses made up terms?