2011-05-09
Explanation
This comic is titled "How to Be a Conspiracy Theorist" and lays out the process in four satirical steps. Step 1, "Collect Information," shows a man in the dark fixating on the phrase "Moon Landing" and noting that "Land? The moon'''s not a land. It'''s a planet. Something'''s going on here, and I'''m the only one who sees it!" This parodies how conspiracy theorists seize on trivial linguistic details as if they reveal hidden truths. Step 2, "Find Connections," demonstrates the absurd chain-linking logic: "Moon has four letters. Fore is what you shout in golf. Golf was invented in Scotland. Scottish descendents created McDonald'''s. Donald is a cartoon duck, and you know who didn'''t duck in time? Abraham Lincoln." This perfectly captures how conspiracy theorists connect unrelated facts through superficial associations to create the illusion of a meaningful pattern.
Step 3, "Build a network of connections so vast that the removal of any particular link can'''t affect the overall structure," shows a conspiracy web connecting topics like "No Moon Landing," "Bigfoot," "Hypnotherapy," "Illuminati," "Secret Assassin," "Cosmetics," "Elderpsychology," and other nonsensical terms. The key insight here is that conspiracy theories are designed to be unfalsifiable -- the web is so interconnected that debunking any single claim doesn'''t collapse the overall theory. Step 4, "Having used thousands of data points to disprove the consensus, substitute your unsubstantiated speculations," shows the final irony: after doing enormous work to cast doubt on established facts, the conspiracy theorist replaces them with something even less supported. When asked "So, what DID happen?" the answer is: "Chinese Shadow Congress was hiding the Soviet-Werewolf Hybrid Program." When pressed with "How do you know?" the reply is simply: "I got a hunch."
The votey bonus panel shows an anagram demonstration: "Proof that Elvis is alive and a warlock? ELVIS -> LIVES -> EVILS" -- a final jab at the kind of wordplay-as-evidence reasoning that conspiracy theorists employ, where rearranging letters is treated as meaningful proof of supernatural claims.