the terrorist attacks of 911 provoked a wide range of responses it's difficult to find the words to describe the feeling in New York City today including at least one sophisticated piece of misinformation a viral internet documentary series called loose change when Loose Change came out it was a GameChanger Loose Change proposed a number of unproven and false conspiracy theories including the suggestion that the US government was behind the attacks journalist Jonathan Kay has written extensively on conspiracy theories he explains these were the first people who took the conspiracist culture of the internet and said let's
turn this into something that looks like fairly slick entertaining and because it's entertaining people are going to watch it and because it's slick video people are going to think it's authoritative they're not going to think it's like some weird guy who's on the street corner just like handing them some Amateur hour leaflet Loose Change may have satisfied a need for people during an unsettling time as social psychologist sander Vander Linden explains conspiracy theories are attractive for people on a psychological level for a variety of reasons they they feed into what we call existential needs so
our anxieties and worries about death and and the State of Affairs and and the the world and the future um so sort of these existential threats um and so you know whenever they tie into that it helps calm people down it gives people a sense of agency and control over their lives a simple narrative to hold on to a simple explanation for otherwise seemingly complex and random events do you even know what we're talking about ma'am you read a report 4 years ago and you think you know what happened K says the medium was particularly
effective at carrying its message around the time of 911 when you saw well produced video it was authoritative back then it was very difficult to make a good video it was good to get good digital video and it was a special skill to edit it the film's persuasive power had more to do with its production values than its arguments or information when I tell people that lose change um I tell people to try and be aware of like how much they're being affected by the music it's like sort of like the techno but it has
kind of an ominous sound to [Music] it it seems a very long bow to me but are you sort of suggesting that that this worked in the favor of the Bush Administration oh absolutely absolutely and most of the argument isn't being done with words most of the argument is being done with images and music Loose Change garnered millions of views and thousands of DVD sales K says that today a film like that might not get the same views or make the same waves if Loose Change came out now I don't think people will watch it
cuz no one has a 90 minut attention span anymore the best way now would be to do a podcast that's what people do now but thanks in part to the success of that film and others like it the hunger for conspiracy theories has only grown and we want our freedom and we want Justice and we're going to get it while it was once reserved for the fringes of society now it's becoming mream and at least 50% of Americans believe in one conspiracy theory if not if not multiple a plane did not hit fil in seven
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