From straight-up bonkers QAnon conspiracy theories to your average #FreeBritney supporter—where is the line between completely unhinged, to harmless speculation based on factual evidence?
A new viral chart has divvied it up for everyone’s reference.
“Conspiracy theories are everywhere and people don’t understand how harmful they are,”Abbie Richards wrote this tweet.
She also added: “I made the original Conspiracy Chart over a year ago. An update was long overdue. This is the 2021 version.”
Richards made a pyramid graph. She sorted it by the top, which represents the most dangerous and outrageous theories. She also arranged the graph by the bottom, or, as Richards calls it, “the ones that are”. “detached from reality.”
These beliefs include QAnon and Holocaust Denial. Alex Jones would love to hear more about the theory that Sandy Hook is a fake.
Conversely, towards the bottom of the chart, you’ll find theories that are “grounded in reality.”
This includes the idea that Big Tobacco lied to us about Watergate, Project Mockingbird and cancer.
I’d argue that most of us would be able to agree on the level of insanity each of the theories we see on either end of the chart is, so it’s the entire middle section where things get more interesting.
The “Reality Denial”Richards defined section as the theories “unequivocally false but mostly harmless,” you’ll find theories ranging from ‘Stevie Wonder isn’t blind’ to alien abductions to the belief that the Titanic never sank.
This chart was created by one person. However, there were many different interpretations. Check out the below:
“according to this chart, if you disagree with the government or believe that rich people and ethnic groups cooperate to attain or maintain political power, then you are less sane than somebody who believes that we live in a simulation and greta thunberg is a time traveller,”One Twitter user wrote.
Another argument was that they found this chart useful, writing: “This is sensible and genuinely useful.”
Hasan Piker also shared his thoughts. “the ‘leaving reality’ part is just true.”
“Everyone who disagrees with me is a conspiracy theorist: The child’s guide to internet discourse,”One more.
Jack Posobiec even shared a parody of the chart Republicans made.