Investigative journalist James Ball is no stranger to bullshit. In his 2017 book, Post Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World, he explains how the political left and right tend to exist in an ecosystem of bullshit.
James is also author of The Other Pandemic: How Q-Anon Contaminated the World, which explores the pervasive nature of misinformation and conspiracy theories (aka “bullshit”) in contemporary society. In his work, James argues that both political left and right are susceptible to such falsehoods, highlighting that intelligence and prior success in uncovering actual conspiracies can make individuals more prone to believing in new ones. He emphasizes that societal distrust in mainstream media and institutions fuels the spread of misinformation. Currently, James is working on a new book while also covering UK politics and pursuing a law degree, doing a thesis on AI and human rights. He engages in discussions on various platforms, including the right here on the Plutopia podcast, where he discusses his views on the media, conspiracies, and the influence of digital platforms like 4chan and YouTube on public perception and behavior.
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James Ball:
I think people have a tendency to think that only their political opponents get into conspiracies and only stupid people get into conspiracies. And my experience, and I’ve checked and there’s some quite good research supporting this, is peer reviewed, but hey, there’s a million replication crises right now. Clever people are the people who get pulled into conspiracies, especially clever people who have been right when the world has suggested they’re wrong. People who’ve had a breakthrough theory or people who have exposed an actual conspiracy. Lots of investigative journalists become conspiracy theorists because being right is dangerous. When people stop trusting or stop buying mainstream media, we say we must change the people. The people are wrong, our product is just as good as it ever was. And that manifested all sorts of strange ways, because I think there is a habit of confusing, this is how we’ve always done it, with this is good and how it should be done. You know, I think especially the US media confuses traditions with values or with quality.
Relevant Links
Wendy Grossman’s review of Post Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World: https://www.zdnet.com/article/post-truth-book-review-the-facts-about-alternative-facts/
Wendy’s review of The Other Pandemic: How Q-Anon Contaminated the World:
https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2023/10/26/review-the-other-pandemic/
net.wars on Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger:
https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2023/09/29/the-two-of-us/
Workshop on the Economics of Information Security:
https://weis.utdallas.edu/
Wendy’s review of Culture Warlords, by Talia Lavin is an exploration of the online far right.
Here’s my review: https://www.zdnet.com/article/culture-warlords-book-review-into-the-heart-of-online-darkness/
