Hacker News with Generative AI: Conspiracy Theories

Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? (nytimes.com)
In a climate-controlled bunker in an unremarkable building in rural Aberdeen, Idaho, there are shelves upon shelves of meticulously labeled boxes of seed.
Poor sleep may fuel conspiracy beliefs, research suggests (medicalxpress.com)
A new study from the University of Nottingham has revealed that poor sleep quality may increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs, with depression likely playing a key role in this relationship.
The Canadian roots of Elon Musk's conspiracist grandpa (cbc.ca)
Raised in Saskatchewan, Joshua Haldeman was a tech-utopian, politician and apartheid fan
The CIA is a Terrorist Organization [video] (youtube.com)
PARANOIA SANS a self-censoring, conspiratorial typeface (fleg.de)
Moon Landing: PARANOIA SANS is a self-censoring, conspiratorial typeface that will automatically redact more than 150 words popular in conspiracy myths/theories.
Why is there so much [deleted] on Reddit, they clearly didn't delete themselves? (ycombinator.com)
I can't ask this question on Reddit, because I have serious suspicions and the moderators banned me for fun when I registered on my LanskoyK account. If you open these questions on the Internet by searching on Reddit itself, the main answers are deleted along with the users, it's the same in politics, and not only there.
Memes are a key tool for extremist communities and conspiracy theories (elpais.com)
Memes are not just a simple game of images and text, with more or less irony or grace. According to the Institute for Digital Safety and Behaviour (IDSB) of the University of Bath in the UK, they are the main “internet language for communicating narratives in simple, shareable formats,” “cultural representations” that unite and involve groups. But this popular communication tool is not harmless.
Ukraine's $500B rare earths scam:they don't exist, and we should know [video] (youtube.com)
The FBI's lab leak investigation (vanityfair.com)
In the five years since the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in Wuhan, China, a bitter international debate has raged among scientists, politicians, and journalists over the virus’s origin and who is to blame for the more than 7 million deaths it’s caused worldwide.
A son spent a year trying to save his father from conspiracy theories (npr.org)
About a year ago, my dad bet me $10,000 that he could foretell the future.
Theory on Jack Dorsey Is Satoshi (twitter.com)
Belief of Aliens Derailed This Internet Pioneer's Career. Now He's Facing Prison (bloomberg.com)
One day in August 2021, Joseph Firmage walked into a video production studio in Salt Lake City and declared that he was going to change the world.
There is No Antimemetics Division (wikidot.com)
The Zizians (2020) (zizians.info)
Attendants of the 2019 CFAR alumni reunion were shocked to arrive at Camp Meeker only to be turned away by police. The venue was occupied by five masked protesters in black robes. Surrounding them were several police cruisers, SWAT, and a helicopter. The figures who were reportedly there to protest had made themselves seem too sinister, and the police response was based on the procedure for dealing with a mass shooting.
Forgeries, Fakes, and Phantom Time (historytoday.com)
According to some, written history began in the 14th century. It may seem ridiculous, but the Phantom Time conspiracy theory has serious implications.
Trump orders release of last JFK, RFK, King assassination files (yahoo.com)
US President Donald Trump ordered the declassification Thursday of the last secret files on the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, a case that still fuels conspiracy theories more than 60 years after his death.
Better digital literacy can help reduce climate and disaster conspiracy theories (theconversation.com)
In recent years, the proliferation of conspiracy theories amid escalating climate disasters and their aftermath has become an alarming trend.
Why They're Forcing Electric Cars on Us [video] (youtube.com)
Soon to be out of a job Meta's fact-checkers battle wildfire conspiracy theories (cnn.com)
"Project Russia," Unknown in the West, Reveals Putin's Playbook (washingtonspectator.org)
Between 2005 and 2010, a set of books called “Project Russia” was distributed to high-ranking officials in the Russian government and other influential thought leaders. The books offered a detailed program of spiritual warfare against Western democracies culminating in “controlled global collapse” and the establishment of a “supranational” state headed by a Prince-Monk who “best understands the world.” The plan described is ultimately a program for subjugating the world, which would also be united together in a single religion.
The consensus on Havana Syndrome is cracking (theatlantic.com)
After long denying the possibility, some intelligence agencies are no longer willing to rule out a mystery weapon.
Heritage Foundation plans to 'identify and target' Wikipedia editors (forward.com)
The Heritage Foundation plans to “identify and target” volunteer editors on Wikipedia who it says are “abusing their position” by publishing content the group believes to be antisemitic, according to documents obtained by the Forward.
The Rise of the French Fry Cartel (jacobin.com)
Flat Earthers Went to Antarctica to Look at the Sun. What Happened (sciencealert.com)
In a surprise conclusion to a project dubbed The Final Experiment, several well-known believers in a non-spherical Earth have had a change of heart.
The Ghosts in the Machine – Spotify's plot against musicians (harpers.org)
Spotify, I discovered, not only has partnerships with a web of production companies, which, as one former employee put it, provide Spotify with “music we benefited from financially,” but also a team of employees working to seed these tracks on playlists across the platform.
Flat Earther admits he was wrong after traveling 9K miles to Antarctica to test (themirror.com)
In a surprising turn of events, a well-known flat-earther conceded that his long-held conspiracy theory was incorrect after embarking on a 9,000-mile journey to Antarctica.
What Is Project Blue Beam? Conspiracy Theory Erupts over Drones (newsweek.com)
The recent surge in mysterious drone sightings across the United States has sparked a resurgence of the Project Blue Beam conspiracy theory, which claims the global elites plan to fake an alien invasion.
Sold-out farm shops, smuggling, safety warnings: US battle over raw milk grows (theguardian.com)
Unpasteurised milk, seen as both anti-government and anti-corporate, soars in popularity among conspiracy theorists and new agers
Left-wing conspiracy theories and 'missing' votes in wake of Trump election win (skeptic.org.uk)
My subject of interest is conspiracy theories. I’ve written 20 articles for this site and only a few are about something other than conspiracy theories. I’ve never really encountered a lack of material for the subject; conspiracy theories exist about everything and anything. In the course that I teach on the subject, I initially had to focus on the “greatest hits” of conspiracy theories: Moon landing deniers, JFK assassination theories, 9/11 “truth”, and the then growing Flat Earth movement.
Congressional Republicans conclude SARS-CoV-2 originated in a lab leak (arstechnica.com)
A textbook example of shifting the standards of evidence to suit its authors' needs.