Introduction to the series on paranoid perspective as a working method Dear Reader, today we begin an unusual series. This isn’t a series directly about conspiracy theories, although it is related through paranoia and a paranoid approach. The topic is broad, so today, I’d like to introduce you to the concept of controlled paranoia and show its benefits, risks, and ways of control. So, let me take you on the long-promised journey into a world that can create not only overinterpretations and false leads but also, as I will show in this first article of the series, can become a working method under certain conditions.

To all fans of political conspiracy theories and those following the situation in the US, I highly recommend the English-language podcast series BBC The Coming Storm (link), which returns for its third season on September 11, 2024. In the first episode, Gabriel Gatehouse delves deeper into the world of American conspiracy culture. On the eve of the US presidential elections, Gatehouse explores how millions of Americans came to believe that their democracy has been taken over by a mysterious elite known as the Deep State.

Introduction: Do Portals and Newsrooms Really Care About Defending Media and the Ethos of Journalism? Many of you may have heard solemn expressions of support for the protests by journalists and creators regarding the implementation of the EU copyright directive. There’s talk about the end of true journalism and news portals, about an unfair fight, and the struggle to survive in the market. All of this is expressed in alarmist and very serious tones.

The dominance of Google, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Facebook contributes to the rise of conspiracy theories. Therefore, today’s article, though not strictly about conspiracy theories, is an essential element of the ongoing discussions at dadalo.pl. On July 3, 2024, the Polish branch of Google responded in a letter to the creators’ protests concerning the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market and legislative amendments. This fragment complements an article I will publish regarding hypocrisy.

Podcast Interview with Kwaśniewski In today’s fragment, a short topic. I was listening to a podcast on Spotify: Aleksander Kwaśniewski: everyone is accusing everyone of being an agent where the former president stated that the current witch hunt and mass accusations of people being Russian agents are part of political warfare, and one cannot say that Law and Justice is pro-Russian or, as I understood, controlled by Russia. Aleksander Kwaśniewski: We’ll see what the outcome will be.

For the past six months, I have been gathering materials for my articles on various conspiracy theories surrounding Law and Justice (PiS), particularly the overarching conspiracy theory suggesting that PiS is a pro-Russian party, allegedly founded and controlled by Russian intelligence services. Today’s article kicks off a series on conspiracy theories surrounding PiS. In this article, I will focus on Dawid Wildstein’s article Tusk Repeats Smolensk: Dawid Wildstein on Layered Propaganda published on niezalezna.

I haven’t written about conspiracy theories related to planned obsolescence in products before. Today’s example is worth examining to show that some theories, when falsifiable (verifiable), can turn out to be true. In such cases, they stop being conspiracy theories and become simple facts. This is what happened with the dishonest practices and collusion of appliance manufacturers. What is Planned Obsolescence? Planned obsolescence is a strategy used by manufacturers to design products in such a way that they have limited durability or become obsolete after a certain period.

The elections to the Polish Sejm and Senate in 2023, as well as the 2024 local elections, brought not only a wave of emotions but also a flood of disinformation and conspiracy theories that exploded in social media. Confederation politicians took the lead here. Based on the analysis and observations of @Nocny_Pingwin, we present a catalog of selected individuals who actively propagated conspiracy theories during the pre-election period. The aim of this post is to show how disinformation can influence public opinion and how important it is to approach online content critically.

Introduction to Conspiracy Fragments In today’s inaugural fragment, we will tackle information that electrified internet users in the second week of May. A solar storm and the solar wind reaching Earth were said to be the cause of increased aurora borealis activity. According to scientists, this could be observed in Poland and many other places around the world. Unfortunately, cloudy skies thwarted our observation plans. Theory in Social Media Conspiracy theories quickly started to appear on social networks, questioning whether the solar storm generated such a phenomenon.

Today’s article was created after 3 months of activity and contact with activists and community workers. I must admit that this activity caused my absence from the blog. I won’t be able to publicly boast about my successes. Conversations with activists and people involved as local community workers resulted in a series of texts, the first of which I present today. The Case of Adam Pustelnik: Cognitive Biases in Practice Let’s start with cognitive biases resulting from a lack of technological knowledge or low technical skills.