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Vermeule in 2008 wrote that conspiracy theorists cultivate "paranoid cognition" among their followers to isolate them & make outsiders appear "sinister" (full text below)
After @ChronicleReview *invited* me to pen a critique of AV, he suggested I was "obsessed" & stalking him 1/ https://twitter.com/jasonwblakely/status/1356349290411528193
After @ChronicleReview *invited* me to pen a critique of AV, he suggested I was "obsessed" & stalking him 1/ https://twitter.com/jasonwblakely/status/1356349290411528193
2/ He also went on to joke with his followers that I should be told by my Uni to write on other topics (in the last year I have a book, many articles, talks etc that make no mention of Vermeule).
In his 2007 piece AV calls this tactic "sinister attribution"
In his 2007 piece AV calls this tactic "sinister attribution"
3/
Vermeule is widely known for blocking all who criticize him (or even follow his critics).
Yes, this is unkind. But it's also a tactic. As AV wrote in 2008: conspiracy theorists "attribute personalistic motives" & "overestimate the amount of attention they receive"
Vermeule is widely known for blocking all who criticize him (or even follow his critics).
Yes, this is unkind. But it's also a tactic. As AV wrote in 2008: conspiracy theorists "attribute personalistic motives" & "overestimate the amount of attention they receive"
4/
As AV put it, conspiracy theorists will intentionally segregate "themselves in a physical or informational sense, in order to protect their beliefs from challenge by outsiders."
Having attributed sinister motives to a critic, AV is happy to let his followers spread the myth
As AV put it, conspiracy theorists will intentionally segregate "themselves in a physical or informational sense, in order to protect their beliefs from challenge by outsiders."
Having attributed sinister motives to a critic, AV is happy to let his followers spread the myth
5/
Yes, it's unpleasant to have a bunch of twitter followers snapping your pic, calling you a creeper, etc
I am a father. Husband. Neighbor. I spend more time daily changing diapers than thinking about Adrian Vermeule.
But then--I do criticize him! That's what can't be accepted
Yes, it's unpleasant to have a bunch of twitter followers snapping your pic, calling you a creeper, etc
I am a father. Husband. Neighbor. I spend more time daily changing diapers than thinking about Adrian Vermeule.
But then--I do criticize him! That's what can't be accepted
6/
Will shortly return to my twitter hiatus & ongoing work on renaissance humanism & St Thomas More. Godspeed!
For anyone wishing to read full text of Vermeule (& Sunstein) on Conspiracy Theories, available here. Interesting read in light of the times! https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/law_and_economics/119/
Will shortly return to my twitter hiatus & ongoing work on renaissance humanism & St Thomas More. Godspeed!
For anyone wishing to read full text of Vermeule (& Sunstein) on Conspiracy Theories, available here. Interesting read in light of the times! https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/law_and_economics/119/
7/
Postscript: I was reminded that @HarvardParity & others published a letter (cited in my original essay) documenting AV's use of his Twitter account to make "false, violent and discriminatory statements."
Worth a few minutes of unhappy reading here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cUndEtTmFYVdRZ-tC56Iz4C_2AV7ITOMF54BPocgGL8/edit
Postscript: I was reminded that @HarvardParity & others published a letter (cited in my original essay) documenting AV's use of his Twitter account to make "false, violent and discriminatory statements."
Worth a few minutes of unhappy reading here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cUndEtTmFYVdRZ-tC56Iz4C_2AV7ITOMF54BPocgGL8/edit
