Conspiracy Pyramid T-Shirt

Conspiracy Pyramid: -----: What can government do about conspiracy theories? Among the things it can do, what should it do? We can readily imagine a series of possible responses. (1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing. (2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories. (3) Government might itself engage in counterspeech, marshaling arguments to discredit conspiracy theories. (4) Government might formally hire credible private parties to engage in counterspeech. (5) Government might engage in informal communication with such parties, encouraging them to help. Each instrument has a distinctive set of potential effects, or costs & benefits, & each will have a place under imaginable conditions. However, our main policy idea is that government should engage in cognitive infiltration of the groups that produce conspiracy theories, which involves a mix of (3), (4) & (5). Cass R. Sunstein (Administrator of the Office of information & Regulatory Affairs) Adrian Vermeule (professor of law at Harvard Law School) Conspiracy Theories January 15, 2008