Audience Capture is the process of mimicking another influencer's strategy and messaging so as to gain some or all of their audience share. What does this mean for the US political situation and how should this shape our decisions?Linkshttps://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/26/ron-desantis-texas-border-mexico/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Wordshttps://newrepublic.com/post/177373/watch-vivek-ramaswamy-embrace-every-disgusting-right-wing-conspiracy-theory-can-think

In what ways are conspiracy beliefs psychologically addictive?  Can a person get a "good feeling" from a turn down the rabbit hole that they would want to experience a second time?Linkshttps://news.uchicago.edu/story/scientists-studied-brains-more-800-prisoners-heres-what-they-foundhttps://www.jta.org/2020/04/07/ny/memory-plays-tricks-about-mengelehttps://www.dailydot.com/debug/amanda-moore-undercover-far-right/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Buffalo_shootinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory#Frazzledriphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wachowskishttps://culteducation.com/group/1289-general-information/35734-anti-trump-cult-expert-mistakes-porn-for-highly-sophisticated-mind-control.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_CampbellStephanie Kemmerer's List of [email protected] Information Integrity AlliancePodcasts: Escaping the Rabbit Hole podcast: “How a Former Conspiracy Theorist Escaped the Rabbit Hole.” Conspirituality podcast: “Recovering from Conspiracy Theories”The Q Dropped podcast: “I Escaped the Rabbit Hole”Pursuing Truth podcast: Ep 29 “Conspiracy Theories” Recovering from Religion: Ep 146: “Exiting the Rabbit Hole: From Red Pill to Recovery” True Crimespiracy podcastThe Doug Stanhope podcast Ep. 440: “Tim Dillon's Underpants and Other Conspiracy Theories” Point of Inquiry: “Behind The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist” Adventures In HellWQrld Ep 43: “Cuba, Tuck, France and Audits with Existential Dread Locks” "Found Money" Poker & Politics and Steph's series debunking, "Loose Change." D.O.U.B.T. - Discussing Our Unusual Beliefs Together - video podcast with former QAnon follower, Jitarth Jadeja and former conspiracy theorist Brent Lee Articles: Chatting "Even the Podcast Is Afraid" with Jared Ordis - Rue MorgueThe Unexplained Files - WikipediaSteph's Patreon articlesSteph's AIPT Comics author page and articlesSteph's Free Inquiry author page and article Steph's Skeptical Inquirer author page, articles and presentation “I’m a Former Sandy Hook Truther, Believe Me When I Say Alex Jones is Dangerous”IMDBPresentations and Panels: Presentation for the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix: "What Conspiracy Theories Steal from Us." Panel: Secular AZ - Secular Summit 2022: “When Reason Prevails” Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science A Very QAnon Christmas - New York City Skeptics

LinksDr Dan Wilson - Is there DNA contamination in COVID vaccines? No.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q61OPhZ3eO8https://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2024/01/20240103-halt-use-covid19-mrna-vaccines.pr.htmlhttps://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccine-00093510https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-hires-del-bigtree-anti-vaccine-activist-communications-director-rcna131859RFK Jr gets confronted about antivax claims in interviewhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4vP4GdHhoA

The human mind creates models and symbols to represent everything that it "knows". When these are models of tangible items it is clear what the mind is doing. But when it comes time to represent intangible things it is a little less clear. Very often we use comparisons between tangible and intangible things to assist in communicating to each other what we think of the intangible things. In this way, it is possible that there is a bridge that can be built in the mind between the tangible and intangible. I call this Pseudotangibility. In this episode I discuss with Stephen Mather the possibility that pseudotangibility might be assisting people to believe in unreal things. This is a continuation of our previous conversation from episode 66 of this podcast.

What does it mean to be a zealot? How do we measure a person's zealotry? Do we exaggerate ideas when they support the things we are zealous about? Do some of us openly and knowingly lie about things simply because it supports our ideas?

What is Magical Thinking? Why do humans think magical things are real? How does this occur? Why is it that a person who leaves behind a magical belief is often more likely to start believing a new one? Is a soul an intangible vessel for your life essence? Or is a soul merely an illusion of consciousness?

Do we want to live in a world where politicians can freely fake images and videos without regard for consequences? If we don't, what could we possibly do about it? The American Information Integrity Alliance (AIIA) is attempting to create a set of social norms for how public officials should treat the ability to create fake video content. The "No Fakes" Pledge is an initial step that could help avoid some of the worst outcomes available to us in the foreseeable future.Linkshttps://infointegrity.us/https://infointegrity.us/the-%E2%80%9Cno-fakes%E2%80%9D-pledgehttps://prismmetanews.substack.com/https://www.bellingcat.com/https://www.axios.com/2023/05/25/desantis-super-pac-adds-fake-fighter-jets-launch-video

Some people in our world have adopted a system for navigating the world that is less related to which concepts or rules they wish to live by and more related to which people they wish to support or oppose. The absolute enemy is usually a political figure which a person opposes in all things. The AE cannot, by definition, ever do anything correct and, again by definition, everything the AE does is bad. The absolute ally has the opposite properties. Everything the absolute ally does is good and right and nothing they've ever done is wrong. In the past 15 years or so, every leader of both Canada and the US has, at one time or another, been cast by someone as "attempting to destroy the country." I don't actually think any of them have wanted this specific goal, though some may have been somewhat indifferent to the outcome of their country. In other situations, people use absolutism to manufacture an answer. This is done with the assistance of a logical fallacy called "bifurcation". By speaking about a topic in absolute terms it can lead a person to think there are only two choices: either they have to be absolutely *for* the thing or absolutely *against* the thing. Bifurcation is the idea that a problem or decision point has only two viable outcomes. Usually a grifter will introduce both and then attempt to make one unpalatable so as to push people toward the decision they prefer.Linkshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXEvjRt8uRg

Why are credit cards marketed to students who have no jobs? Why do student loans survive bankruptcy? Why are payday loan offices open so late? Why doesn't paying rent positively affect your credit rating? Is our system of credit and debt negatively affecting upward financial mobility? We discuss all of these questions while we openly fight about how the banking system works.

NotesCharles Eisenstein is an author of New Age nonfiction. His ideas about nonduality are influential in New Age circles but conflict heavily with reality. I examine one of his core beliefs about science being a religion in this episode.Linkshttps://charleseisenstein.org/videos/video/is-science-a-religion/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity