Wikileaks' Julian Assange and Conspiracy Theories
By Michael Collins "I'm constantly annoyed that people are distracted by false conspiracies such as 9/11, when all around we provide evidence of real conspiracies, for war or mass financial fraud." Julian Asange, Wikileaks, July 19 (Image right) John Young was one of the co-founders of Wikileaks. He quickly left the organization in disagreement with some of its policies (CNET). Young was a natural choice for Wikileaks since he has operated a leak website, CRYPTOME, since 1996. "These essays on conspiracies by Julian Assange (me@iq.org) were retrieved today from his website iq.org. The essay titles indicate an entirely different take on conspiracies than that indicated by Assange in his 9/11 comments. State and Terrorist Conspiracies me @ iq.org November 10, 2006 Conspiracy as Governance me @ iq.org December 3, 2006 In the second essay, Conspiracy as Governance, Assange outlines the centrality of conspiracies to maintaining elites. "Attacks on conspiratorial cognitive ability.
The Self-Attribution Fallacy
Intelligence? Talent? No, the ultra-rich got to where they are through luck and brutality. By George Monbiot. Published in the Guardian 8th November 2011 If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. The findings of the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, winner of a Nobel economics prize, are devastating to the beliefs that financial high-fliers entertain about themselves(1). Such results have been widely replicated. So much for the financial sector and its super-educated analysts. In a study published by the journal Psychology, Crime and Law, Belinda Board and Katarina Fritzon tested 39 senior managers and chief executives from leading British businesses(3). The psychopathic traits on which the bosses scored so highly, Board and Fritzon point out, closely resemble the characteristics that companies look for. This is not to suggest that all executives are psychopaths. This is now changing. It felt like history being made. 3. 4.
Rhetoric
Painting depicting a lecture in a knight academy, painted by Pieter Isaacsz or Reinhold Timm for Rosenborg Castle as part of a series of seven paintings depicting the seven independent arts. This painting illustrates rhetorics. From Ancient Greece to the late 19th century, it was a central part of Western education, filling the need to train public speakers and writers to move audiences to action with arguments.[4] The word is derived from the Greek ῥητορικός (rhētorikós), "oratorical",[5] from ῥήτωρ (rhḗtōr), "public speaker",[6] related to ῥῆμα (rhêma), "that which is said or spoken, word, saying",[7] and ultimately derived from the verb ἐρῶ (erō), "say, speak".[8] Uses of rhetoric[edit] Scope of rhetoric[edit] Scholars have debated the scope of rhetoric since ancient times. Because the ancient Greeks highly valued public political participation, rhetoric emerged as a crucial tool to influence politics. However, since the time of Aristotle, logic has changed.
Logical Fallacies
Political consulting
Political consulting, beyond the self-evident definition of consulting in political matters, refers to a specific management consulting industry which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns. This article deals primarily with the development and nature of political consulting in the United States. Though their most important role is arguably in the development and production of mass media (largely television and direct mail), political consultants advise campaigns on virtually all of their activities, from opposition research and voter polling to field strategy and get out the vote efforts. Origins[edit] The practice of consulting has several early antecedents. In the subsequent years, political consulting has grown in importance and influence and has extended its reach to campaigns at all levels of government in the United States, and beyond. Nature of work[edit] Political consultants act as public relations specialists, salespeople and managers. Criticisms[edit]
Fallacies
Dr. Michael C. Labossiere, the author of a Macintosh tutorial named Fallacy Tutorial Pro 3.0, has kindly agreed to allow the text of his work to appear on the Nizkor site, as a Nizkor Feature. Other sites that list and explain fallacies include: Constructing a Logical Argument Description of Fallacies In order to understand what a fallacy is, one must understand what an argument is. There are two main types of arguments: deductive and inductive. A fallacy is, very generally, an error in reasoning.
Media manipulation
Media manipulation is a series of related techniques in which partisans create an image or argument that favours their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies and propaganda techniques, and often involve the suppression of information or points of view by crowding them out, by inducing other people or groups of people to stop listening to certain arguments, or by simply diverting attention elsewhere. In Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, Jacques Ellul writes that public opinion can only express itself through channels which are provided by the mass media of communication-without which there could be no propaganda.[1] It is used within public relations, propaganda, marketing, etc. While the objective for each context is quite different, the broad techniques are often similar. As illustrated below, many of the more modern mass media manipulation methods are types of distraction, on the assumption that the public has a limited attention span.
Sophisme
Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Un sophisme est une argumentation à la logique fallacieuse. C'est un raisonnement qui cherche à paraître rigoureux mais qui n'est en réalité pas valide au sens de la logique (quand bien même sa conclusion serait pourtant la « vraie »). À l'inverse du paralogisme, qui est une erreur dans un raisonnement, le sophisme est fallacieux : il est prononcé avec l'intention de tromper l'auditoire afin, par exemple, de prendre l'avantage dans une discussion. Souvent, les sophismes prennent l'apparence d'un syllogisme (qui repose sur des prémisses insuffisantes ou non-pertinentes ou qui procède par enthymème, etc.). Origines du mot[modifier | modifier le code] Le mot sophisme dérive du latin sŏphisma, lui-même issu du grec σόφισμα (sóphisma) : « habileté », « invention ingénieuse », « raisonnement trompeur ». Exemples[modifier | modifier le code] Dans l'emmental, il y a des trous. Plus il y a d'emmental, plus il y a de trous. Tout ce qui est rare est cher,
Fear mongering
Fear mongering (or scaremongering or scare tactics) is the use of fear to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end. The feared object or subject is sometimes exaggerated, and the pattern of fear mongering is usually one of repetition, in order to continuously reinforce the intended effects of this tactic, sometimes in the form of a vicious circle.[citation needed] Examples[edit] Campaign advertisements[edit] "Daisy" advertisement As the firestorm rages, a voice-over from President Johnson states, "These are the stakes! Another fear-mongering classic occurred during the 1988 presidential campaign ad featuring a frightening mug-shot of convict Willie Horton. Product advertisements[edit] See also[edit] References[edit]
