| What is the “rabbit hole”? In the words of Mick West: “The phrase comes from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. Alice enters the bizarre Wonderland by following a white rabbit down a hole. In recent times a more specific usage has arisen, derived from the 1999 film The Matrix, where at a crucial point Morpheus offers Neo a choice. He can either take the blue pill and return to a normal life, or take the red pill and “see how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo, of course, “takes the red pill,” and the “rabbit hole” leads him to discover the true nature of the world. He “wakes up” from his programmed illusion of comfortable, bland monotony into a brutal yet genuine struggle for existence, a messianic battle against evil, manipulating overlords. This terminology has been directly adopted by various conspiracy communities. The rabbit hole is seen as a good place to be, a place where the true nature of the world is revealed. Beliefs in different conspiracy theories tend to reinforce each other, cutting a person off from other people, until they surround themselves with a like minded crowd. This has been a well-known fact for a considerable period of time. What is more problematic, however, is the fact that social media tend to produce a very similar effect for any kind of strongly held belief. So how to help people out of the rabbit hole, if almost everyone is stuck in one? There are a few steps that could help, although no universal solution is available. The decision in what kind of theories to believe is ultimately a personal one – no amount of external pressure could force a person to change their convictions. The role of an external person – a friend, teacher, youth worker, parent – can be only one of a partner. We can listen, discuss, provide information, reach out a hand – but it is up to the other person to take it. Below you will find a list of training activities you can implement with your class/young people with the purpose of gaining knowledge and abilities dealing with various aspects related to conspiracy theories. |
 |
What is a conspiracy theory?
The information bubble
Why do we believe in conspiracy theories?
Fact checking
What is critical thinking?
How to escape the rabbit hole?
Activity 5 - Outsmart them all!
Actions have consequences, all our actions aim at creating the consequences we desire, but it is a mistake to believe that all consequences must have been intended by someone. Things do not happen because somebody has perfect control over events and made them be as they wished. Reality is a battlefield where competing intentions interact with each other and with pure chance, and the result is very far from anyone’s intentions. Some are more successful than others in reaching their goals, but no one is able to realise them completely.
This is why learners can benefit from simulation games where they can try out how conspiring to achieve a secret plot actually feels like. Mafia is a role-playing game in which players are divided into two teams: Citizens and the Mafia, who compete against each other. For the Citizen players, the task is to stop the Mafia before it eliminates them. Mafia members have to hide their identity and pose as Citizens in order to manipulate the other team towards self-destruction. It is in each player's best interest to maintain his or her innocence by accusing and interrogating their fellow suspects, until all members of the opposing team are eliminated from the game.
Description
The learners engage in a role-playing game, where a small informed minority tries to destroy the uninformed majority.
Learning Outcomes
After completing this activity, learners will:
- become aware of the factors which help and hinder conspirators
- learn to discover manipulation in a social context
- become engaged with practicing critical thinking;
Materials needed for implementation
- flipchart and markers
- a deck of cards
- paper
- pens
Time required
80 min.
Minimum / Maximum group size
6 - 16 person
Level
Beginner (no prior knowledge required)
Introduction
You can start by asking participants to identify what are the factors that help conspirators mislead their victims, and what helps people defend themselves from conspiracies. You can list the two types of factors on the two sides of a flipchart.
Then explain to participants they will have the opportunity to try out for themselves if these factors work by engaging in a role-playing game called Mafia, invented in the Soviet Union in 1986. They should observe other players carefully, paying attention to the nature of the conversations - intonation, looks, etc.
- Helpful factors (userul for normal people)
- Harmful factors (useful for conspirators)
Then explain to participants they will have the opportunity to try out for themselves if these factors work by engaging in a role-playing game called Mafia, invented in the Soviet Union in 1986. They should observe other players carefully, paying attention to the nature of the conversations - intonation, looks, etc.
Activity description
The game is played in 3 rounds: a Sunrise phase, which takes place only once, and a day/night cycle.
1. Sunrise Phase
From the deck, take as many cards as there are players according to the following list:
6-7 players = 2 black cards + all others red
8-10 players = 3 black cards + all others red
11-13 players = 4 black cards + all others red
14-16 players = 5 black cards + all others red
Inform the players of the number of the black cards included.
The first step is to divide the players into two teams. Each player gets one card from the prepared and shuffled deck, secretly looks at the card's color and returns the card to the deck. Then everybody closes their eyes and lowers their heads. The trainer starts counting aloud. After number 5, s/he continues to count silently until 15, then s/he resumes counting aloud until 20. During the silent period, the players who got black cards, should open their eyes, raise their heads, and look at each other, then close their eyes and lower their heads again. Accidental or purposeful peeking by red card holders should be discouraged. On count 20, everybody should open their eyes. The Mafia are the players who saw each other and therefore know each other. The Citizens are the players who saw nothing, don't know each other, and don't know who the Mafia members are. The only advantage of the Mafia is that they know each other. Citizens have to suspect everybody, but they have an advantage of being the majority. The main struggle during the next phase will be between the informed minority and the uniformed majority.
2. Day Phase
In the day phase, any participant is allowed to talk. At any moment, they may put another player in the "accused" position. S/he should provide grounds for the suggestion why they believe the other person to be with the Mafia. Everyone, including the accused, has a right to argue. When the accuser asks for a vote, everyone should vote by raising their hands. If the majority of the players (not counting the accused) votes "guilty", the suspected player is "sentenced to death" and s/he is out of the game. If the accuser fails to get a majority, the game continues with the same number of players. Accusations may happen any number of times during the discussion. Players who are eliminated from the game do not reveal their identity until the end of the game and should not try to help others who are still in the game. There is no way to know the team identity of the "dead" unless you have the next phase.
After the discussions have finished, the night phase begins.
3. Night Phase
The Night is the only phase when players can find out if all Mafia members have been eliminated. Everyone takes a pen and a piece of paper, and secretly writes on them. The paper and pens should be the same for everybody. Citizens must write "citizen" on the note, while members of the Mafia must write the name of the person, whom they want to eliminate from the game. After that, everybody puts their notes in the middle and the trainer reads them. The number of the notes with names will reflect the number of surviving Mafia members, so the players will know if they have "killed" a Citizen or a Mafia member during the day. If the same name appears on all Mafia notes, the named person is "murdered" and is out of the game. If there are differing names, nothing happens.
The game ends when there are no names listed during the Night or all Citizens have been eliminated.
60 min.
1. Sunrise Phase
From the deck, take as many cards as there are players according to the following list:
6-7 players = 2 black cards + all others red
8-10 players = 3 black cards + all others red
11-13 players = 4 black cards + all others red
14-16 players = 5 black cards + all others red
Inform the players of the number of the black cards included.
The first step is to divide the players into two teams. Each player gets one card from the prepared and shuffled deck, secretly looks at the card's color and returns the card to the deck. Then everybody closes their eyes and lowers their heads. The trainer starts counting aloud. After number 5, s/he continues to count silently until 15, then s/he resumes counting aloud until 20. During the silent period, the players who got black cards, should open their eyes, raise their heads, and look at each other, then close their eyes and lower their heads again. Accidental or purposeful peeking by red card holders should be discouraged. On count 20, everybody should open their eyes. The Mafia are the players who saw each other and therefore know each other. The Citizens are the players who saw nothing, don't know each other, and don't know who the Mafia members are. The only advantage of the Mafia is that they know each other. Citizens have to suspect everybody, but they have an advantage of being the majority. The main struggle during the next phase will be between the informed minority and the uniformed majority.
2. Day Phase
In the day phase, any participant is allowed to talk. At any moment, they may put another player in the "accused" position. S/he should provide grounds for the suggestion why they believe the other person to be with the Mafia. Everyone, including the accused, has a right to argue. When the accuser asks for a vote, everyone should vote by raising their hands. If the majority of the players (not counting the accused) votes "guilty", the suspected player is "sentenced to death" and s/he is out of the game. If the accuser fails to get a majority, the game continues with the same number of players. Accusations may happen any number of times during the discussion. Players who are eliminated from the game do not reveal their identity until the end of the game and should not try to help others who are still in the game. There is no way to know the team identity of the "dead" unless you have the next phase.
After the discussions have finished, the night phase begins.
3. Night Phase
The Night is the only phase when players can find out if all Mafia members have been eliminated. Everyone takes a pen and a piece of paper, and secretly writes on them. The paper and pens should be the same for everybody. Citizens must write "citizen" on the note, while members of the Mafia must write the name of the person, whom they want to eliminate from the game. After that, everybody puts their notes in the middle and the trainer reads them. The number of the notes with names will reflect the number of surviving Mafia members, so the players will know if they have "killed" a Citizen or a Mafia member during the day. If the same name appears on all Mafia notes, the named person is "murdered" and is out of the game. If there are differing names, nothing happens.
The game ends when there are no names listed during the Night or all Citizens have been eliminated.
60 min.
Debriefing
After the game ends, participants discuss why mistakes were made and what made the Citizens more vulnerable. Players with Mafia roles share what helped and challenged them in their conspiracy.
10 min.
10 min.
Adaptation to online mode
While online versions of the game exist, such as Mafia, Werewolf, The Town of Salem (https://www.blankmediagames.com/TownOfSalem/ - available for free), or Among us, it is recommended that the activity takes place in presence to make sure that all the benefits of face-to-face communication.
Further resources
The Prinston ruleset of the Mafia game:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140517121933/http://www.princeton.edu/~sucharit/~mafia/
https://web.archive.org/web/20140517121933/http://www.princeton.edu/~sucharit/~mafia/
References
Popper, Carl (1963) The Conspiracy Theory of Society. In: The Open Society and its Enemies. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press.
The original Mafia ruleset by Dimitry Davidoff:
https://web.archive.org/web/19990302082118/http://members.theglobe.com/mafia_rules/
The original Mafia ruleset by Dimitry Davidoff:
https://web.archive.org/web/19990302082118/http://members.theglobe.com/mafia_rules/
