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.
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.