The first step should be to acknowledge that this is a conspiracy theory in the classical sense of the term conspiracy theory. Finding numerical patterns as evidence for Illuminati influence is a classical trope and lines up with it’s own kind of paranoid epistemology.
Telling these kinds about conspiracy theory about how the far right operates is common for certain actors on the left. If you want to believe in this numerology-based conspiracy theory, than you should likely first think about how you want to relate in general to numerology-based conspiracy theories as a reference class.
It’s possible that some numerology-based conspiracy theories are indeed true but it’s easy to come to bad conclusions which conspiracy theory-based thinking. The fact that it’s left-wing conspiracy theories doesn’t make them more likely.
There are multiple other issues at play here:
(1) The first question is whether or not Kennedy is posting his own Twitter messages. For many presidential candidates that’s not the case.
(2) It should be relatively easy to check whether or not the 88 days are indeed the correct number which comes out of the Biden administration or a number that comes out of the Kennedy campaign. If the number comes out of the Biden administration it might also be purposefully picked as a trap.
(3) Kennedy is seeking the Democratic nomination. If he knew the association of the numbers, which lines up with the ascertain that he used them as a dog whistle, it would be a dumb political move as it decreases his support in the demographics that matter for his campaign.
I don’t think this really maps directly to “numerology based conspiracy”. It’s not that relevant that the symbology happens to be numbers. To me, this would be a numerology-based conspiracy if 1488 wasn’t already an established white supremacist dog-whistle/signal, and the conspiracy theorist invented the connection to explain why those particular numbers were used. But this kind of signalling is effective for the same reason it’s dangerous to draw a conclusion based on it alone: there are lots of plausible reasons for 14 and 88 to come up that aren’t related to signalling nazi ideology which makes it easy to dismiss as numerology.
I think your reasons for being skeptical are right. And this is the exact type of statement where I would expect this coincidence to pop up. Both are a reasonable number of days for bureaucracy to take, the large discrepancy between them is required for the complaint in the tweet to happen in the first place, and I would expect the number of days to be very specific rather than a round number.
“Person running the twitter account did it without any approval from the campaign” is the most likely explanation to me if it isn’t a coincidence. Although Biden admin taking exactly 88 days to get Kennedy to say 88 when complaining is a quality counter-conspiracy.
And this is the exact type of statement where I would expect this coincidence to pop up. Both are a reasonable number of days for bureaucracy to take, the large discrepancy between them is required for the complaint in the tweet to happen in the first place, and I would expect the number of days to be very specific rather than a round number.
I agree with this. Although I will note people are claiming it actually took 56 (IIRC) days for them to get back to him.
666 for example is a well-established number in the bible as well. Those self-professed Satanists that do exist care about it. It’s not conspiracy theorists who made up that 666 has meaning for some people. You do find 666 appearing on T-shirts as well.
Looking at actual neo natzi and white supremacist pages/formus shows quite extensive usage of 14 & 88 symbology, and explicit explanations of the same, so your first point is factually inaccurate.
The term “conspiracy theory” comes pre-loaded with the connotation of “false” and you cannot use those words to describe a situation where multiple people have actually agreed to do something.
Setting aside the object level question here, trying to redefine words in order to avoid challenging connotations is a way to go crazy.
If someone is theorizing about a conspiracy, that’s a conspiracy theory by plain meaning of the words. If it’s also true, then the connotation about conspiracy theories being false is itself at least partly false.
The point is to recognize that it does belong in the same class, and how accurate/strong those connotations are for this particular example of that reference class, and letting connotations shift to match as you defy the connotations where appropriate.
If you try to act like a conspiracy theory “isn’t a conspiracy theory” when it’s true, then you have to write your bottom line before figuring out whether it’s true or not, and that doesn’t actually work for coming to correct beliefs.
Just don’t use the term “conspiracy theory” to describe a theory about a conspiracy.
Popular culture has driven “false” into the definition of that term, and wishful appeals to bare text doesn’t make that connection go away. It hurts that some terms are limited in usability, but the burden of communication falls on the writer.
The first step should be to acknowledge that this is a conspiracy theory in the classical sense of the term conspiracy theory. Finding numerical patterns as evidence for Illuminati influence is a classical trope and lines up with it’s own kind of paranoid epistemology.
Telling these kinds about conspiracy theory about how the far right operates is common for certain actors on the left. If you want to believe in this numerology-based conspiracy theory, than you should likely first think about how you want to relate in general to numerology-based conspiracy theories as a reference class.
It’s possible that some numerology-based conspiracy theories are indeed true but it’s easy to come to bad conclusions which conspiracy theory-based thinking. The fact that it’s left-wing conspiracy theories doesn’t make them more likely.
There are multiple other issues at play here:
(1) The first question is whether or not Kennedy is posting his own Twitter messages. For many presidential candidates that’s not the case.
(2) It should be relatively easy to check whether or not the 88 days are indeed the correct number which comes out of the Biden administration or a number that comes out of the Kennedy campaign. If the number comes out of the Biden administration it might also be purposefully picked as a trap.
(3) Kennedy is seeking the Democratic nomination. If he knew the association of the numbers, which lines up with the ascertain that he used them as a dog whistle, it would be a dumb political move as it decreases his support in the demographics that matter for his campaign.
I don’t think this really maps directly to “numerology based conspiracy”. It’s not that relevant that the symbology happens to be numbers. To me, this would be a numerology-based conspiracy if 1488 wasn’t already an established white supremacist dog-whistle/signal, and the conspiracy theorist invented the connection to explain why those particular numbers were used. But this kind of signalling is effective for the same reason it’s dangerous to draw a conclusion based on it alone: there are lots of plausible reasons for 14 and 88 to come up that aren’t related to signalling nazi ideology which makes it easy to dismiss as numerology.
I think your reasons for being skeptical are right. And this is the exact type of statement where I would expect this coincidence to pop up. Both are a reasonable number of days for bureaucracy to take, the large discrepancy between them is required for the complaint in the tweet to happen in the first place, and I would expect the number of days to be very specific rather than a round number.
“Person running the twitter account did it without any approval from the campaign” is the most likely explanation to me if it isn’t a coincidence. Although Biden admin taking exactly 88 days to get Kennedy to say 88 when complaining is a quality counter-conspiracy.
I agree with this. Although I will note people are claiming it actually took 56 (IIRC) days for them to get back to him.
666 for example is a well-established number in the bible as well. Those self-professed Satanists that do exist care about it. It’s not conspiracy theorists who made up that 666 has meaning for some people. You do find 666 appearing on T-shirts as well.
Looking at actual neo natzi and white supremacist pages/formus shows quite extensive usage of 14 & 88 symbology, and explicit explanations of the same, so your first point is factually inaccurate.
The term “conspiracy theory” comes pre-loaded with the connotation of “false” and you cannot use those words to describe a situation where multiple people have actually agreed to do something.
Setting aside the object level question here, trying to redefine words in order to avoid challenging connotations is a way to go crazy.
If someone is theorizing about a conspiracy, that’s a conspiracy theory by plain meaning of the words. If it’s also true, then the connotation about conspiracy theories being false is itself at least partly false.
The point is to recognize that it does belong in the same class, and how accurate/strong those connotations are for this particular example of that reference class, and letting connotations shift to match as you defy the connotations where appropriate.
If you try to act like a conspiracy theory “isn’t a conspiracy theory” when it’s true, then you have to write your bottom line before figuring out whether it’s true or not, and that doesn’t actually work for coming to correct beliefs.
Just don’t use the term “conspiracy theory” to describe a theory about a conspiracy. Popular culture has driven “false” into the definition of that term, and wishful appeals to bare text doesn’t make that connection go away. It hurts that some terms are limited in usability, but the burden of communication falls on the writer.