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SteelJ's avatar

It's the power of magic words. Certain words and phrases are known to have superpowers to shape behavior and voting patterns, like "racist", "homophobe", "xenophobe", "conspiracy theorist", and "white supremacy". All they have to do is call any person parting from AMA guidelines "quacks" and "charlatans" and presto - the sheeple won't listen, even if it kills them. Amazing but true.

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rolandttg's avatar

Don't forget "You're not my doctor".

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SteelJ's avatar

Yes, they have more. "Fringe", "Debunked" are effective. "Disinformation" and "Misinformation" were powerful for a while, still are with the most gullible half or so of the public. The less stupid among us just shake their heads because they know who really spreads the lies.

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Leskunque Lepew's avatar

So true

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SteelJ's avatar

The power of these words is such a crazy phenomenon, and shows so clearly the weakness of most minds, that it's surprising the topic isn't discussed a lot more. I've read "conspiracy theorist" was a CIA creation after they tested various methods of persuasion and found that phrase was incredibly effective. Most readers here have probably heard the same.

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