When I saw a post by COVID-19 antivax quack and crank Dr. Peter McCullough, I knew that I had to start out general, rather than specific. His post? The very title alone was enough to sell me: “Conspiracy Theorist” Recoined “Rational Theorist” in Battle Against the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex.
Whenever discussing conspiracy theories, I like to refer to a very useful primer on the concept intended for lay audiences, specifically an e-book on recognizing conspiracy theories and countering conspiratorial thinking published by Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook, The Conspiracy Theory Handbook. They identify seven characteristics of conspiratorial thinking, after first pointing out the key differences between conventional and conspiratorial thinking:
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Will [coiner Monica] Smit’s attempt to rebrand conspiracy theorists as “rational theorists” work? I doubt it. Why? First, the term “rational theorist” is clunky and unlikely to catch on, no matter how much cranks try to use it or make social media hashtags out of it. Second, conspiracy theorists have long been trying to rebrand themselves as rationalists, in particular as “critical thinkers.” It hasn’t worked before, and there’s no reason to think that changing the preferred term to “rational theorist” will work now.
