Conspiracy Theories and the Perils of Government Error Correction
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
LSU Law Journal for Social Justice & Policy
Abstract
At the broadest level of abstraction, conspiracy theories are based around the belief that powerful groups or individuals are shaping events for their own benefit, often to the detriment of ordinary people. Conspiracy theories range from the mundane, such as the belief that professional wrestling is fake, to the bizarre, such as the belief that the government is controlled by lizards disguised as humans, to the hateful and harmful, such as the belief that Roma kidnap women and children to prostitute them or sell their organs. While it is true that “[j]ust because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you,” most conspiracy theories “are easily and objectively provable as false under whatever practical standard a reasonable person could demand.”
Publication Date
1-1-2023
Recommended Citation
Chauvin, Noah C., "Conspiracy Theories and the Perils of Government Error Correction" (2023). Faculty Scholarship. 74.
https://cwldc.widener.edu/facscholarship/74
