Had a convo with a work colleague today. Started innocuously enough, talking about places we been on holiday. Next thing I know it's heading into conspiracy theory territory. They believe that the whole "15 minute city" thing means people won't be allowed to travel more than 15 mins from their home.
Did point out that the concept has been used extensively throughout Europe for years already, but I think there's a lot of work to be done there still.
Will keep chipping away.
@Nimthiriel Thing is, this guy isn't thick or anything. And he's a genuinely nice bloke.
My impression is that where we used to have a bunch of different news sources that were *relatively* objective, we now have a wider variety, some of which deliberately and mostly consistently promote a very distorted view of the world.
Given that, for most people, our knowledge of politics comes from media of one sort of another, a false but seemingly consistent narrative is going to snare some people.
@66ALW99 The mindset that causes someone to hear "We will make a city that is easy and fast to navigate, where services are accessible" and translate that to "you won't be allowed to travel outside your block."
@AskTheDevil I did point that out, that all the sources he gave were either interpretations/extrapolations of information by people who stood to gain by misrepresenting it, or were factual but could be misconstrued.
Think it's going to be a long-term thing. It's basically a whole worldview that needs to be unravelled, and parts are based on legit distrust of govt/politicians.
@66ALW99 How do grown adults end up believing this kind of thing, not even looking it up?