Comment on [deleted]
scarabic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
A while back I caught my Arabic relatives from the old country trading a Facebook article about how 7 of the 9 US Supreme Court justices were Jewish, proving that the US is a puppet of the Jews. I had to use the translate feature to understand what they were talking about, but they all speak English and I showed them definitive evidence of the religious affiliation of every justice, demonstrating that they were not 7/9 Jewish.
They said “okay maybe not.”
I said “So maybe the US isn’t a puppet of a Jewish conspiracy?”
They said “oh no, it definitely still is.”
People are 100% out there manufacturing disinformation to advance their agendas, and for Russia and China, the polarizing rancor in the US is an agenda unto itself.
And we are incredibly susceptible to this. It will only change with critical thinking skills among the general populace. I forged mine in the decades prior to the internet even existing. I have zero notion how anyone forged theirs today, growing up in a roiling soup of disinformation.
KevonLooney@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Your relatives have a “desire to believe” that Jewish people control the US government. You can’t disprove desire, just each individual belief that arises from it.
Your best bet is to point their desire out to them. Maybe ask if there is anything that would disprove it. When they say “no”, leave it at that. Let them realize that their belief is based on opinion not fact.
This only works with people with whom you have a good relationship.
scarabic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
That’s good advice. Realistically they have a whole trove of things they would throw at me, many of which would be… what’s that word for when you can’t disprove something conclusively?
Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Russell’s Teapot?
scarabic@lemmy.world 1 year ago
“unfalsifiable” is what I was reaching for - that’s a good example of it for sure.