There’s been a complete lot of misinformation spreading round currently, particularly with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, and on Sunday evening, John Oliver used Last Week Tonight‘s first present again after a three-week hiatus to speak concerning the flood of harmful conspiracy theories which have sprung up across the virus.
Oliver took time to stroll by means of some widespread conspiracy theories — the JFK assassination, Princess Diana’s demise — as a approach of explaining why and the way individuals find yourself believing these items. “They assist clarify a chaotic, unsure world and attraction to the human impulse to what’s referred to as proportionality bias,” he mentioned, earlier than expressing his outrage towards a number of the loudest coronavirus conspiracy theorists. With all that mentioned, Oliver additionally famous that it is value making an attempt to cause with the individuals in your life who could also be falling for the conspiracy theories, somewhat than attacking them.
“What specialists say is that the best approach to strategy somebody isn’t by shaming them for believing one thing, or overwhelming them with counter-evidence, however to try to be empathetic, meet them the place they’re, and nudge them to suppose a bit extra critically,” Oliver mentioned, acknowledging that he is probably not the perfect messenger for everybody, which is why he enlisted some very reliable celebrities to assist encourage individuals to search out out the place their info is coming from.
In effort to the touch each doable demographic, Final Week Tonight introduced Alex Trebek, John Cena, Billy Porter, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Rudd collectively for movies you’ll be able to present your conspiracy idea believing family members. The celebrities inspired curiosity concerning the disaster, with Trebek saying, “If no one ever requested questions, Jeopardy! could be a really, very bizarre present, would not it?” However, Porter warned, “It’s important to watch out, as a result of there’s plenty of convincing trying sh– on the web, and most of it ain’t true.” All of them urged viewers to suppose critically and to do analysis about the place their information is coming from, with Cena summing all of it up very nicely: “You have got widespread sense. Belief that a part of your mind to information you as you educate your self throughout this troublesome time.”
When you’re seeking to begin a dialog with somebody about conspiracy theories, Final Week Tonight has helpfully put all of the celeb debunking movies up over at The True True Truth.
Final Week Tonight with john Oliver airs Sundays at 11/10c on HBO.
Final Week Tonight with John Oliver