Roger B. Rensvold: We can't beat the credulity of conspiracy theorists with logic because it is beyond logic… so we must contain its spread.

At a recent rally, people held aloft signs reading “Q-anon;” the label for a conspiracy theory that has President Trump working with Robert Mueller to crush an international ring of pedophiles led by the Clintons. Barking mad? Yes. But while the conspiracy may be fantasy, its consequences are as real as clubs and bullets. People who heretofore have felt marginalized and ignored now feel important. They feel like insiders. That feeling of belonging is more valuable to them than empirical facts.

If this short piece has any takeaway, it is this: Conspiracy theorists are lost. Reasoning with them is futile. Defense of lies is ego defense.

“What is to be done?” Only simple things; but as von Moltke the Elder wrote about war, “Even simple things are very difficult.”

The first thing to do, is to ignore. Attempts to debunk a lie can spread it further than ignoring it. Identify and contain those who internalize the lies. Neutralize and marginalize them. Treat them like the victims of a dangerous, contagious disease, such as typhoid. Build up the forces of truth and keep the faith. “Road to Damascus” moments are rare, only occurring when the tensions between one’s beliefs and lived experiences become intolerable.

If 49 percent of our citizens are benighted and 51 percent are enlightened, the situation is not hopeless; but only if the enlightened are united and mobilized.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/readersforum/roger-b-rensvold-we-can-t-beat-the-credulity-of/article_13660def-c263-585f-9019-a075eefe1d44.html

Define 'Projection'…