John Oliver (HBO Last Week Tonight): "Proportionality Bias"
https://www.youtube.com/embed/0b_eHBZLM6U
Explanation: https://www.youtube.com/embed/0b_eHBZLM6U?start=277&end=331 Concept: "In recent years, several studies have found that conspiracy believers tend to be more susceptible to cognitive biases (e.g., conjunction fallacy, proportionality bias, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportionality_bias agency detection bias, etc.). The aim of this work is to review such literature, systematizing these concepts in a unifying framework of conspiracy mentality as a set of biased cognitive processes, which categorizes cognitive biases in two classes: those that contribute to belief formation and those that contribute to belief updating. Drawing on several empirical results, this paper summarizes the role of cognitive biases in conspiratorial thinking, offering some insights for future research and raising questions about the possible weaknesses of this approach" (Gagliardi, L., 2023). Example: The 2020 conspiracy theory film 'Plandemic' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plandemic http://trigg.gr/tag/2020_PlandemicDocumentaryTheHiddenAgendaBehindCovid19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_THIlNDzxg Criticism: "This video is an interview with Dr. Judy Mikovits, a Ph.D. virologist and former head of the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) from 2006-2011. In this video, she makes a litany of accusations and assertions around various issues relating to virology, vaccines, and COVID-19. The narrative touches on many individual issues, but the major theme appears to be that a cabal of scientists/doctors and industry leaders are creating and releasing viruses to the public in order to profit off of vaccine treatments for those viruses" (Davidson, W. S., 2020). Concept: 'Churchillian Drift' e.g. http://trigg.gr/t/47367 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchillian_Drift Bibliography: Pelkmans, M. (2024). "Suspicion and Evidence: On the Complexities of Online Truth-Seeking in Times of Uncertainty." Social Anthropology/Anthropologie Sociale 32: 1–19. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378787201_Suspicion_and_Evidence_On_the_Complexities_of_Online_Truth-Seeking_in_Times_of_Uncertainty Gagliardi, L. (2023). "The role of cognitive biases in conspiracy beliefs: A literature review." Journal of Economic Surveys 39: 32–65. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376959136_The_role_of_cognitive_biases_in_conspiracy_beliefs_A_literature_review Davidson, W. S. (2020). 'Comments on: Plandemic Documentary: The Hidden Agenda Behind COVID-19 by Mikki Willis'. https://homepages.uc.edu/~davidswm/Plandemic%20documentary%20rebuttal.pdf
