Activity 4 - Mapping the conspiracy world

The theoretical aspect of this activity is to be able to spot the connections between different conspiracy theories.
Some of them are connected and draw upon other theories for validation and legitimacy.
The idea is that many conspiracy theories need a prior understanding and adherence to a specific worldview in order to be believable, so by spotting the connections it can be easier to argue against them and spot logical fallacies.

Description
Group different conspiracies into groups to look for differences, similarities and patterns.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this activity, learners will achieve the following learning outcomes in terms of:
  • Learner will be able to place different conspiracy theories into topics.
  • They will be able to quickly place a conspiracy theory into a topic thereby understanding its scope. They will also be able to spot the connections and patterns between different conspiracy theories in order to find out if they are isolated theories or part of a broader pattern.
  • They will develop an understanding of which theories are connected to each other and if those connections are perceived or real.

Materials needed for implementation
For each group is needed:
  • The Conspiracy Cards printout (only one sheet per class)
  • The Conspiracy mapping sheet (one per class)
  • Scissors

Time required
20 min.
Minimum / Maximum group size
Class exercise
Level
Advanced - requires the knowledge from the activities:
  • Believe it or not! Conspiracy ranking
  • How do we view the World? - Understanding your own worldview
  • Devil's Advocate Game

Introduction
The trainer starts by presenting the activity to the whole class. By presenting the conspiracy mapping sheet on the projector screen or by writing the categories on the whiteboard.

They then present the conspiracies one by one and the whole class decides where to put them - or if they don't fit in any of the categories. 

Start with an example of a conspiracy theory that seems unlikely to be true on its own, but other theories can build on the same ideas, and together they seem to explain each other. An example could be the Ancient Aliens theory. On its own its seems unlikely and difficult to prove, but combine it with Ancient astronauts and Pyramids, or even Hollow Earth, and you have a fuller picture with evidence and history and cosmology.

Find other examples of this using whatever ideas come up in the classroom.
Activity description
1. Trainer presentation and instruction.
1 minute.

2. Share the conspiracy mapping sheet on the board and go through the list of conspiracy theories grouping them into the topics This is a collective discussion with the whole class.

3. When they have been grouped the trainer leads the discussion of finding out the patterns between any of the theories. Which ones are connected to each other, and as a side point if those groups of theories are connected to a specific worldview.
10 minutes.

4. Sometimes you have to build a BIG narrative of many different theories in order to create validation for a theory, but this has the implication that “everybody is in on it” and that is not very likely.

5. Discuss if there are any connections between the theories in each topic. Build as many BIG narrative combining the theories as you can, and then discuss if ALL of the narrative has to be true for the single theories to be true, and if this is a likely scenario.
10 min.


After the discussion, talk about that even though you seem to have more information and evidence by combining theories you really haven’t learned anything new - you have just made a more complex narrative that is even harder to prove. Any evidence that one of the theories are wrong will prove the others wrong as well, but usually people just make up new theories to put in that place. In the end, it doesn’t matter if anything is true anymore, because you get trapped in the rabbit hole of all the theories in combination.
Debriefing
Reflective questions are always a good idea for a debriefing.

Q: Did you gain a bigger picture understanding after this exercise?

Q: Did you come to see some of the theories in a different light?

Q: Did you change your mind about some of the theories?

Q: Do you realise that even though you seem to have more information and evidence by combining theories you really haven’t learned anything new - you have just made a more complex narrative that is even more difficult to prove.
Adaptation to online mode
This exercise is difficult to do in an online setting. This can be done with group discussions but the discussion will be freer flowing in a physical classroom.
Further resources
No further resources needed.
References
- The conspiracy cards were created by asking ChatGPT to make a list of common conspiracy theories.
- The Critical Balance Conspiracy Map
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