When events in the real world challenge our preconceived beliefs, most of us experience a sense of cognitive dissonance; the intellectually honest amongst us ultimately adjust our beliefs to account for these inconvenient truths. Others respond by inventing their own realities in which these truths are deemed falsehoods.
Adjusting your beliefs to fit reality can be a challenging task. But those who reinvent reality to fit their preconceptions face their own set of cognitive challenges — particularly when the inconvenient truths keep coming.
Even if you’re a world-class fabulist like Mike Cernovich, who has built his own personal fake news empire pandering, first to Gamergaters and then to Trump fans, by feeding them elaborate falsehoods that reinforced their beliefs. Remember the “Sick Hillary” myth that helped to contribute to her defeat? Cernovich was the primary promoter of that bit of nonsense, and has stuck with it even as an obviously not-on-the-verge-of-death Hillary has reappeared on the political scene.
But pimping fake reality ain’t always easy. Consider the mental gymnastics Cernovich has gone through this week in attempting to explain away events in Syria.
He began his mental gymnastics routine after news broke that Syrian dictator Assad had launched a gas attack on his own people. Cerno started by retweeting several “skeptics” who insinuated that the attacks were “fishy” if not an outright “hoax.”
He then picked up the “hoax” charge himself, blaming the attack on “deep state agents” possibly in league with ISIS, and energetically promoting the #SyriaHoax hashtage that had originated in Russia.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/849840640816893952
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850079263956938752
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850100719482949632
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850106538274332672
One of the sources of Cerno’s new belief? Noted geopolitical analyst Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams.
Cerno faced his next instance of cognitive dissonance when his beloved Donald Trump launched a real airstrike in response to the allegedly fake attack. Cerno could only conclude that the otherwise darn near perfect president has a “soft spot” for children — ignoring Trump’s unwillingness to allow Syrian refugees, including children, to enter the US.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850244948528054272
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850414783878774784
How exactly anyone other than Assad could have used an airfield controlled by Assad’s forces to launch this “fake” attack is not exactly clear.
When people began raising questions about possible Russian involvement in the gas attacks — hardly an outrageous line of inquiry given that Russia is allied with Assad — Cerno cried “false flag.”
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850406688339316736
While many on the Alt-Right have abandoned Trump in the wake of the Syria attack, Cerno remains a supporter, apparently convinced that Trump is a well-meaning dupe of ISIS and the “deep space” whose only crime is his excessive love of children, even Syrian ones.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850423864911740928
Or maybe it’s all the fault of United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and her, ahem, “globalist” pals?
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850419840560930816
Damn those “globalists” forcing him to appoint Haley!
Cerno somehow managed to also blame “babies and betas” for, well, I’m not exactly sure what.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850430889028755456
Meanwhile he continued to absolve Assad for his crimes.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850423213880352768
He demanded answers from his critics:
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850431690094690304
But when his critics tried to challenge his bizarre assertions with facts, he simply refused to listen. (Cerno is in blue in the exchange below.)
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850431310434783232
Meanwhile, he continued to hope that Trump had some incredibly complicated secret plan that would make the Syria strike a brilliant strategic move rather than a “mistake.”
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/850437067578277888
In a post on Medium, Cerno laid out the most persuasive defense he could come up with for his “hoax” claim — and it turned out to be a formally recognized logical fallacy, the “argument from incredulity.”
In what world does Assad, who is 51, make the most catastrophic mistake of his life by bombing children with poison gas? Even in prison, those who murder children are killed. Harming children isn’t merely the act of a maniac. It’s a level of deprativity even violent criminals will not countenance.
Consider the following meeting occurs. Assad is at his table, surrounded by his generals and most trusted advisers. He has finally defeated ISIS. Syria is stable. The U.S. is considering a major aid package. As he smiles with pride, a general speaks up… “Imma let you finish, but first I have to say that we need to gas children with poison gas.”
If you’re laughing, good. You should. It’s absurd to believe Assad would gas children.
Never mind that Assad is fighting a civil war (or rather a number of civil wars) against an assortment of enemies on Syrian soil, so that any civilian killed in attacks by his troops will by definition be “his own people.” Never mind that Assad has been using chemical weapons and committing other atrocities for years.
And never mind that there does indeed seem to be a “grim logic” to his seemingly inexplicable targeting of civilians, as the New York Times has explained:
For years, at least since it began shelling neighborhoods with artillery in 2012, then bombing them from helicopters and later from jets, the Syrian government has adopted a policy of seeking total victory by making life as miserable as possible for anyone living in areas outside its control.
Government forces have been herding defeated opponents from across the country into Idlib Province, where the chemical attack occurred. Starved and bombed out of their enclaves, they are bused under lopsided surrender deals to the province, where Qaeda-linked groups maintain a presence the Syrian military uses as an excuse to bomb without regard for the safety of civilians. …
Dr. Monzer Khalil, Idlib Province’s health director, said such extreme tactics aimed to demonstrate the government’s impunity and to demoralize its foes.
“It makes us feel that we are defeated,” said Dr. Khalil, whose gums bled after he was exposed to scores of chemical victims on Tuesday.
Cernovich wonders what kind of depraved monster would do this to his own people? The answer is simple: A depraved monster like Assad, who has been doing just this for years.
Cernovich, of course, refuses to even consider such inconvenient truths, which he could have discovered with a single Google search for “assad bomb civilians.” But why would he? His fame and influence is built on his ability to deny reality, selling convenient falsehoods to those who care more about pushing a compelling narrative than they do about telling the truth.
But…but…he is a manly man of the manosphere, and it is impossible for him to be wrong! If he can’t conceive it, it obviously can’t be real!
Hashtags…how do they work?
Seriously, I’m not on twitter, but it seems like he uses a different one for each tweet. Shouldn’t he be consistent, or is there some method I don’t understand?
Oh, and
Styria is in Austria!
But if Trump is such a mega manly alpha male who is a 4D chess master godking, how does he keep getting fooled by the deep state/illuminati/Jews or whatever?
I thought they voted for him because he was going to drain the swamp?
I’ve known people who have done tours of duty in Iraq, people like Cernovich do all of this, globalist rubbish-talk, behind his computer screen with zilch knowledge. Schadenfreude – pleasure at the misfortune of others; some people say this happened on election night, believe me, it is happening with the alt-right meltdown now and I think its hilarious. It also goes right by these folks that Trump has just met with the King of Jordan and the Egyptian President.
Trump’s Alt Right supporters dont want to face the truth. He used them to get elected and had no intention of ever doing anything they wanted. Making them rage or deny that they were lied to is priceless.
Ok, but what do I say to the uber leftists who think the REBELS did the sarin attacks?
What in the blue blazes is the “deep state”?
@Alex
Actually having this convo in a different thread. Bottom line, this is exactly what they wanted. Now they have it, they’re crying foul. But, when Trump said he’d bomb the shit out of em, they were more than happy to cheer it. What they truly don’t want to admit is that they weren’t lied to, and they believed the truth cos they liked it
@Merry
Nothing. Such people aren’t worth talking to
@dslucia
The illuminati but government sanctioned. Basically, if the CIA were omnipotent
“You’re not smart enough to read me.”
Shut the fuck up, snowflake.
@dslucia, Axecalibur:
Don’t forget that “deep state” when used by the alt-right often carries anti-Semitic connotations as well, especially when paired with “globalist”.
“deep state” == every thing is a false flag, aimed at whatever the so-called “deep state” is really after. Apparently, despite the supposed massive secrecy and control of information the deep state has, what they want is easily understood(!?).
Aims of the “deep state” are supposed to be things like “war in the Mid East, because the DS wants it, not because there are other reasons like psychopaths in charge of several different armies for multiple decades”, “terrorize the public into accepting serious civil liberty violations, again through false flag ops to make the public think that something other than the DS is doing it”… basically a seriously conspiracy theory version of everything, starting with 9/11 and everything else.
If you accept that there’s a “deep state” out there with this much power and control, then ALL conspiracy theories have a serious possibility in your mind of being actually physically true. Including that we didn’t really have people landing on the moon in 1969.
To cross conspiracy theories a bit… I suspect the deep state idea is actually sponsored by Putin, as part of the standard Soviet dis-info campaign.
DA JOOOOOZ. What else?
Mike Cernovich would stub his toe and blame Jewish people for designing such nefarious furniture.
Hey, guys? First off, Cernovich is, as expected, spouting idiocy.
Second, I’ve managed to engage, of all things, a #GGer in Youtube comments. His approach to responding to me seems to be the same way those in the manosphere approach YouTube videos: overly long and nonsensical.
haap ma. (There is a reference here.)
I clicked around in Juicebro’s twitter yesterday and saw that he’s getting some pushback even from the other Nazis. I think they’re about to split up into two groups called Real Alt Right and Original Alt Right.
Hey I found out that you can make your own Pokémon cards!
I’m sure that the people of Sweden and Kentucky stand shoulder to shoulder with the proud, grieving citizens of Styria. In these times of difficulty, solidarity is what gives us hope.
Careful now. Mikey is a reality-warping twit-sorceror, whose work during the election made hilary ill. If he wants trump to have been duped by the deep state, why then the deep state will spring into being fully formed from his own mind and everyone who mocked him will be wished into the cornfield.
I wonder if anyone was dense enough to use the 4D chess thing unironically.
IP: where is that template located? Looks like something that can be a lot of fun in the right hands. (Hehehe >:) )
And as chess games go, I think a four-player chess set would be more fun than this alleged 4D thing everyone claims Trump’s doing.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-player_chess
I have a set like that in my possession someplace. Just don’t have anyone in my life to play it with right now. 🙁
@MerryMagdalen
The first thing to say is, we know the Syrian government has had the facilities and stockpiles and ability to use chemical weapons. There is little or no evidence that the rebels do. So to anyone who insists that the rebels must have done it, on what basis do you make that claim?
The main reason I hear is the one Cernovich used. It is that the use of chemical weapons invites western intervention, so it makes more sense for the rebels to do it and make the world think it’s the fault of the regime. Why would Assad himself use them if it could provoke military intervention against him? But that is assuming that Assad actually believes western powers are bent on regime change and ready to seize on any pretext to carry that out. If, on the other hand, he calculates that they are not serious about removing him, then his priority must be to use whatever means of terror is at his disposal to maintain power. And once the Trump government basically indicated that they had no interest in removing Assad from power, it seems likely that he accordingly considered that to be a green light to go all out in that respect.
Isn’t all chess four dimensional? You have an 8 x 8 board; the horseys can jump over stuff and you have to think into the future at least a few moves.
@Redsilkphoenix
It’s actually an app I downloaded for Android. I’m sure it’s available for iPhone as well.
@Redsilk: saw a 3-player circular chess board once…
@Iseult
If “smart” is a measure of one’s tolerance for bullshit, then I’m a proud idiot.
@Alan
Always thought 4D chess was just like regular chess but with Drink, Doobie, Dumbassery and maybe Dice.
@Nequam Fascinating, and I would totally want to play that– but how would you keep it from immediately exploding into a bloodbath between the adjacent rooks?