Crank magnetism

{{Bronze}}[[File:Handgenerator W.Gurlt.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The [[Equivocation|good kind of]] crank magnet.]]{{psychology}}{{hatnote|Not to be confused with [[Magnetic water treatment|crank]] [[Magnetic field therapy|ideas]] about [[Magnet|magnetism]].}}
{{cquote|A [[sovereign citizen]], a [[creationism|creationist]], an [[vaccine hysteria|anti-vaxxer]], and a [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]] walk into a bar. He orders a drink.}}
'''Crank magnetism''' is the condition where people become attracted to multiple [[crank]] ideas at the same time. Crank magnetism also denotes the tendency {{---}} even for otherwise "lone issue" cranks {{---}} to ''accumulate more'' crank beliefs over time. You know that old saying about not being so [[Open minded|open-minded]] that your brain falls out? People with crank magnetism didn't pay attention to that. Crank magnetism is an important stepping stone on the path towards [[Fractal_wrongness|being wrong ''all'' of the time]]. Its opposite is the [[stopped clock]] (which is when otherwise overly [[Credulity|credulous]] people actually find some crankery that they ''won't'' believe in, and may even actively denounce it).

==History==
{{cquote|Once you learn ''that'' truth, you become less resistant to learning ''more'' truth, so I learned about [[fluoride]] and [[chemtrails]].|||Mike Arnold, having protested outside the CDC '''every day''' for '''seven years''' (as of September 2025)<ref>[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/antivax-rally-cdc-rfk-jr-maha/ ''Anti-Vax Activists Staged a Rally Exactly Where an Anti-Vax Gunman Killed an Officer Last Month''], ''Mother Jones''</ref>}}
The physiologist and blogger [[Mark Hoofnagle]], writing in the Denialism blog in 2007, coined the term "crank magnetism" to describe the propensity of cranks to hold ''multiple'' irrational, unsupported, and/or ludicrous beliefs that are often unrelated to one another, referring to [[William Dembski]] endorsing both a [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]] and one of [[Peter Duesberg]]'s [[HIV/AIDS denialism|non-HIV]] weird theories.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120503083043/http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/06/crank_magnetism_1.php Crank Magnetism] by Mark Hoofnagle (June 28, 2007 9:29 AM) ''Denialism Blog'' (archived from May 3, 2012).</ref> He related this to the [[Dunning-Kruger effect]] and a general inability of cranks to recognize (in)competence in both others and themselves; unable to see both when they themselves make a poor case, and when others do, they accumulate and combine ideas sloppily over time.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120509131920/http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/04/unified_theory_of_the_crank.php Unified theory of the crank] by Mark Hoofnagle (April 30, 2007 11:00 AM) ''Denialism Blog'' (archived from May 9, 2012).</ref>

A coincidental similarity to an older esoteric idea exists. According to the [[Fourth Way]] teaching of {{wpl|George Gurdjieff||,}} first taught in the 1910s,{{efn|Initially taught in Russia in the 1910s, the [[Fourth Way]] teaching spread to Europe and the U.S. in the 1920s.}} esoteric knowledge changes a person, creating a "magnetic center" inside which makes the person attracted to more. [[Woo-meister]]s of great knowledge and being are especially magnetic and attract magnetized students. (The ''wrong'' kind of teaching may however lead to a "black magnetic center", which pulls in the wrong direction.)

==Examples==
{{cquote|[[Kosher]] Food does not have any [[GMO]] in it??  [[Antisemitism|Interesting isn't it.]]|||Upvoted YouTube commenter "Zyzyzx Zyzer"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150820155031/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuXNMkBJbNg It's under an Alex Jones and [[David Duke]] "debate", of course (Jones manages to come across as saner when next to Duke)]</ref>}}
Take your average [[tax protester]] in the [[United States]]. There's a very good chance such a person will also be one or more, or possibly ''all'', of the following: a [[Christian]] [[fundamentalist]], a "[[biblical literalist]]", a [[white nationalist]], an [[Antisemitism|anti-Semite]], a [[neo-Confederate]], a [[sovereign citizen]], a [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]], a [[birther]], a [[Tea Party movement|teabagger]], a [[creationist]], a [[Climate change denial|climate change denier]], a [[gun nut]], an [[MRA]], a [[Ayn Rand|Randroid]], an [[Austrian school]]er, a [[gold standard (economics)|gold standard]] advocate, a [[homophobe]], a [[militia movement|militia nut]], a [[COVID-19]] denialist, a [[cryptocurrency]] enthusiast, a [[QAnon]]er, a [[targeted individual]]…

Several other people follow the "crank magnet" mindset:
*[[Michelle Bachmann]] — [[Global warming conspiracy theory|Global warming conspiracy theorist]], crypto-[[birther]], [[creationist]], [[Reparative therapy|thinks she can cure the gays]], [[Islamophobe]].
*[[Glenn Beck]] — [[Conspiracy theorist]], [[global warming denialist]], [[young earth creationist]].
*[[Ben Carson]] - [[Young Earth creationist]], [[homophobe]], [[Islamophobe]], [[pro-life]], [[historical revisionist]], [[science]] denialist, and has promoted a number of [[quack]] medical treatments in the past.
*[[Jack Chick]] — Like David J. Stewart, except he can ''draw'', muthafuckaz.
*[[Blair Cottrell]] — [[Australia]]n right wing activist, [[Neo-Nazism|Neo Nazi]] and former leader of the now defunct far right cult [[United Patriots Front]], men's rights activist, homophobe, misogynist, promoter of conspiracy theories including the [[New World Order]] and [[white genocide]].
*[[David Dees]] — Ostensibly a political cartoonist. Has endorsed every [[conspiracy theory]] known to humanity, and several that have not yet been documented. [[Ron Paul]] supporter.
*[[Mark Dice]] — Might actually be crazier than Jones. Just take our word for it.
*[[Louis Farrakhan]] — antisemite, homophobe, UFO believer, 9/11 truther, opposed to race mixing, anti-Mason, [[scientology|scientologist]]
*[[James Fetzer]] — [[9/11  truther]], [[Holocaust denier]], believes moon landing were faked, JFK conspiracy theorist, believes [[Sandy Hook]], Parkland, and [[2017 Las Vegas shooting|Las Vegas]] [[mass shooting]]s were staged, wants to end [[the Fed]], [[Ron Paul]] supporter, and believes in an [[International Jewish Conspiracy]].
*[[Angelo John Gage]] — [[Neo-Nazi]], [[Antisemitism|anti-semite]], [[anti-vaxxer]], [[Islamophobe]], [[eugenics]] supporter, [[neurolinguistic programming]] practitioner, [[homophobe]], [[Third Position]]ist, and [[white genocide]] believer.
*[[George Galloway]] — [[Darfur]] [[genocide]] denialist, excuse-maker for [[North Korea]] believes in [[International Jewish Conspiracy|Zionist control of the press]], admirer of [[Alex Jones]] and [[Gilad Atzmon]].
*[[Gamergate]] — Anything that falls under the big tent of "[[Cultural Marxism]]". Conspiracy theories! Antisemitism! Anti-feminism! [[8chan]] used as a source! It's got it all!
*[[L. Ron Hubbard]] — He created [[Scientology]]. Enough said.
*[[David Icke]] — The anointed son of crank magnetism and of the grand [[Conspiracy theory#Unified Conspiracy Theory|unified conspiracy theory]]. The sum of humanity's worst fever dreams contained in a single [[British]] vessel.
*[[Immortal Technique]] — [[Homophobe]], [[Transphobia|transphobe]], anti-[[GMO]], believes in the [[New World Order]], [[anti-vaxxer]], [[9/11 truther]], and believes that a cure for [[AIDS]] exists and is being held back by the [[Powers That Be]].
*[[Tatsuya Ishida]] — [[SWERF]] and [[TERF]], [[antivaxxer]], [[QAnon]]er, promotes the "gays are groomers" [[conspiracy theory]], defends [[January 6]] rioters and [[Ye]]'s [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] comments.
*Ian Jacklin — kickboxer / actor, turned cancer coach, who says [[David Icke]] ''"really knows what's going on"''. Get your [[Fun:Conspiracy theorist Bingo|conspiracy-theory bingo cards]] ready and listen to Ian being interviewed here.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150612095037/http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/2015/06/be-reasonable-episode-029-ian-jacklin/ Ian Jacklin interviewed in 2015]</ref>
*[[Alex Jones]] — [[Conspiracy theory#Unified Conspiracy Theory|You name it, Jones has already exposed it, developed an even crazier theory, and proven that every other crank talking about it is a disinfo agent working for Them.]] ''[[Wake up]], [[sheeple]]!'' Jones has a "relationship" with Trump.<ref>[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/trump-alex-jones-conspiracy-illegal-votes After the Election, Trump Maintains His Bizarre Relationship with Conspiracy-Pushing Website: His claim of millions of illegal votes is straight from the 9/11 truthers of "Infowars."] by AJ VicensNov (28, 2016 4:24 PM) ''Mother Jones''.</ref><ref> This is why people are terrified when Trump says he has an "open mind".</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/us/politics/donald-trump-visit.html Trump, in Interview, Moderates Views but Defies Conventions] by Michael D. Shear, Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Maggie Haberman (Nov. 22, 2016) ''New York Times''.</ref>
*[[Draft:Andreas Ludwig Kalcker]] — [[Water powered car|HHO "water engine"]], [[Scalar wave|free "scalar" energy]], [[Miracle Mineral Supplement|MMS (Chlorine Dioxide) cure-all]], [[Hulda Clark|Hulda Clark-esque hypothesis that autism is caused by parasites]], [[Cansema|"black salve" DIY skin-cancer treatment]], [[Big pharma|alleges suppression by "Big Pharma"]], ([[Giza pyramids|also a "pyramidiot"]] and [[Ufology|interested in UFOs]]).
*[[Charlie Kirk]] — Believes in the [[Great Replacement]] conspiracy theory and [[COVID-19]] [[conspiracy theories]], [[anti-vaxxer]], [[Atheophobia|atheophobic]], [[racist]], [[transphobic]], makes [[antisemitic]] and [[rape]] jokes, 
has an abnormally small face
.
*[[Miles Mathis]] — from [[birtherism]] to [[9/11]] to π being 4.0, he has never met a conspiracy claim that he didn’t like. Except for [[flat earth]], because I mean c'mon, that shit's delusional!
*[[Cynthia McKinney]] — [[Conspiracy theory|Conspiracy theorist]] on multiple grounds, particularly [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming]].
*[[Elon Musk]] — [[Transphobic]], promotes [[Pseudoastronomy|terraforming]], [[Simulated reality|believes that we live in a simulation]], [[COVID-19 denialism|has denied the seriousness of COVID-19 (the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2)]], promotes [[Cryptocurrency|cryptocurrencies]], and is vehemently anti-[[union]].
*[[Gary North]] — [[Austrian school]] follower, [[Christian Dominionist]], [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming conspiracy theorist]].
*[[Candace Owens]] — [[Transphobic]], [[anti-vaxxer]], [[Xenophobia|xenophobic]], believes in [[COVID-19]] [[conspiracy theories]], [[Climate change denialism|climate change denier]], [[authoritarian]] who opposes freedom of the press, thinks that masculinity is "decaying", believes in [[moon landing hoax]] conspiracy theories.
*[[Ron Paul]] — [[Goldbuggery|Gold Standard advocate]], [[Goldbuggery|global warming denialist]], [[creationist]], [[Austrian school|Austrian school follower]], [[racist]], [[homophobe]], [[Global warming conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]].
*[[Katie Pavlich]] — [[Conspiracy theory|Conspiracy theorist]], [[DDT]] nuttiness, [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming denier]], [[Global warming conspiracy theory|gun nut]].
*[[Melanie Phillips]] — Promotes [[Intelligent Design]], [[Global warming denialist|denies man-made global warming]], and thinks [[Anti-vaccination movement#Autism|vaccines cause autism]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Hoofnagle|first=Mark|title=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090508094808/http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/melanie_phillips_crank_magnetism_in_acti.php Melanie Phillips: Crank magnetism in action on evolution and vaccines]}}</ref>
*[[Larry Sanger]] — Promotes [[global warming denial]], [[QAnon]] follower, [[anti-vaxxer]], believes in [[COVID-19]] [[conspiracy theories]], [[homophobe]] and [[transphobe]], and promotes 2020 [[Voter fraud|election fraud]] conspiracies and [[2021 U.S. Capitol riot|January 6th riot]] denialism.
*[[David J. Stewart]] — [[Biblical literalist]], [[9/11 truther]], [[misogynist]], [[Big Pharma]] lunacy, [[Global warming conspiracy theory|global warming conspiracy theorist]], [[High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program|HAARP]]/NORAD, the [[Illuminati]], has called [[Obama]] the [[Antichrist]].
*[[Donald Trump]] — Since 
crazies
 conspiracy theorists tend to rabidly and dogmatically support anybody who will espouse their beliefs, Trump panders to [[Birthers|any]] [[Anti-vaccination movement|insane]] [[Climate change denial|idea]] [[Reparative therapy|he]] [[White supremacy|can]] [[Wind turbine syndrome|find]] in order to gain that idea's proponents as indefatigable followers. These [[sheeple]] then cross-pollinate and start taking on each other's madness, culminating in the perfect storm of lunacy that is [[QAnon]].
*[[Roosh V]] — [[manosphere]] proponent, [[Rape apologist|has argued for the legalization of rape]], and also has embraced [[Kevin MacDonald]]'s [[International Jewish conspiracy|anti-Semitic theories]].
*[[Varg Vikernes]] — Once upon a time a black metal musician, but these days a [[Neopagan|neo-Paganist]], huge racist, convicted murderer, [[anti-vaxxer]], homophobe, [[prepper]], etc. Doesn't like [[democracy]], [[capitalism]], or [[socialism]]; thinks we'd be a lot better off basically [[Anarchy|destroying society]] and living in tribes.
*[[Matt Walsh]] - [[Homophobe]], [[transphobe]], [[mental illness denial]]ist, [[genocide denial]]ist, [[pro-life]], pro-[[colonialism]], [[theocrat]], [[anti-vaxxer]], [[misogynist]], [[global warming denialist]], [[racist]], and [[Great Replacement]] believer.
*[[Rick Wiles]] — Over the top, insane conspiracy theorist and far-[[right wing]] [[fundamentalist]] [[Christian]] nut. His "TruNews" radio show attracts only the most paranoid and crazy cranks.

==How?==
{{cquote|Individuals acting in a secretive fashion are often involved with [[UFO]]'s or other [[paranormal phenomena]], e.g. telephone explosions."|||Excerpt from ''Unidentified Flying Outrage''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150909190746/http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/File:Grampa_vs._Sexual_Inadequacy_24.JPG Wikimedia Commons: Screengrab of a young boy holding up this elusive tome]</ref> (chapter ''Unexplainable Behaviour'')<ref>This is mentioned at about 10½ minute into the episode.</ref> by the head of the [[Pseudoscience|Spaceology Department]] at the [[Diploma mill|Correspondence College]] of {{wpl|Tampa}}<ref>[http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Grampa_vs._Sexual_Inadequacy Simpsons Wiki: ''Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy'']</ref>}}

You would think that one odd or crank belief would be enough to satisfy people. Consider it a small character flaw, an homage to the irrationality of the human condition (or a reaction to the reality that ''some'' conspiracy theories are actually ''true'', such as the tobacco companies' coverup of the health hazards of cigarettes). However, people who like conspiracy theories usually like ''lots'' of them. Creationists are most likely to be on the [[right wing]] and credulous in general, while a [[New Age]]r is likely to hold beliefs from every corner of the spiritual globe. This suggests that there must be an underlying mechanism or ideal that attracts people to these ideas ''in general'', rather than just the merit of the individual beliefs themselves. People fond of the theory of [[memetics]] would recognise this as a [[Meme#memeplexes|memeplex]] (a complex array of ideas of cultural significance that work together to reinforce each other) where a central idea allows others to attach themselves very easily.

One study, ''NASA faked the moon landing—Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax: An Anatomy of the Motivated Rejection of Science'', gave evidence that climate change denial correlated with [[moon landing hoax|denial of the moon landing]], [[9/11 conspiracy theories]], and endorsement of ''laissez-faire'' free markets:<ref>Stephan Lewandowsky, Klaus Oberauer, Gilles Gignac. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120728023426/http://websites.psychology.uwa.edu.au/labs/cogscience/documents/LskyetalPsychScienceinPressClimateConspiracy.pdf "NASA faked the moon landing—Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax: An Anatomy of the Motivated Rejection of Science."] ''Psychological Science'' (in press)</ref>

:This provides empirical confirmation of previous suggestions that conspiracist ideation contributes to the [[anti-science|rejection of science]]. Acceptance of science, by contrast, was strongly associated with the perception of a [[Scientific consensus|consensus among scientists]]. 

Another study titled ''Dead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories'' managed to show that not only will cranks be attracted to and believe in numerous conspiracy theories all at once, but will continue to do so even if the theories in question are completely and utterly incompatible with one another.<ref>Michael J. Wood, Karen M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton. [https://web.archive.org/web/0/https://www.academia.edu/1207098/Dead_and_alive_Beliefs_in_contradictory_conspiracy_theories "Dead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories"] ''Social Psychological and Personality Science'' (in press)</ref> For instance, the study showed that: ''"[…] the more participants believed that [[Princess Diana]] faked her own death, the more they believed that she was murdered [and that] …the more participants believed that [[Osama Bin Laden]] was already dead when U.S. special forces raided his compound in [[Pakistan]], the more they believed he is still alive."''<ref>Michael J. Wood, Karen M. Douglas, Robbie M. Sutton. [http://images.derstandard.at/2012/02/22/dead%20and%20alive.pdf "Dead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories"] ''Social Psychological and Personality Science'' November 2012 vol. 3 no. 6 767-773. DOI: 10.1177/1948550611434786.</ref> The study therefore appears to indicate that conspiracists do not notice (or even care) about the glaring logical discrepancies that arise from being attracted to several, mutually incompatible, conspiracy theories, just as long as the theories somehow contradict the "official" version of what happened (see section "Conspiracy nuts" below). In the words of the authors: ''"Hierarchical regression models showed that mutually incompatible conspiracy theories are positively associated because both are associated with the view that the authorities are engaged in a [[cover-up]]"''.

To any rational observer of normal brain chemistry, this indicates a fundamental flaw in the mindset of your average conspiracist, somehow making him unable to notice incorrect and illogical thinking both in himself and others. Instead, conspiracists appear to [[Denialism|continually reject objective reality]] and [[Cognitive dissonance#Resolving dissonance|be blind to the contradictions that arise]] from the [[doublethink]] in which they engage [[Cognitive dissonance|to uphold their own irrational]] [[worldview]]. The same also appears to be true for all their ongoing, ridiculous [[prediction]]s which continually fail to come true; see for instance [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwURLwd8pEA Alex Jones].

===Conspiracy nuts===
{{main|Conspiracy theory}}
What does drive a conspiracy theorist to simultaneously believe the [[JFK assassination conspiracies]], the [[moon landing hoax]], and anything claimed by the [[9/11 conspiracy theories|9/11 truth movement]]? All of these conspiracies are united by a common thread: distrust of the "official" or "government endorsed" story. This leads the believer to attach other conspiracies as well. Someone with a distrust of the government will likely reject any and ''all'' stories or reports directly issued by state agencies or other authorities that are seen as part of the establishment. Thus, ''any'' conspiracy will seem more plausible to the conspiracy theorist because [[Confirmation bias|this fits with their worldview]].<ref>Ted Goertzel. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/3791630 Belief in Conspiracy Theories.] ''Political Psychology'', vol. 15, no. 4, 1994.</ref>

===Creationism===
{{main|Creationism}}
Creationism, and activism to promote it in schools (like the "[[Teach the controversy]]" campaign), often goes hand-in-hand with right-wing ideas such as [[global warming|global warming denial]]. These two positions are mostly politically motivated, and holding them requires the active rejection of known fact. The links between global warming denial and creationism are less obvious than with conspiracy theories. However, both seem to hold the view that science is merely the opinion of one group (often assumed to be politically motivated) and can be voted away.  If enough people believe something, it [[Argumentum ad populum|must be true]]. Thus, common arguments for skepticism of global warming and [[evolution]] often revolve around "56% of Americans reject it, so it must be false". 

Creationism and global warming denial can also be linked with anti-government conspiracy theories. As the US government is officially [[secular]] under the [[Establishment Clause]], the [[religious right]] are likely to hold anti-government sentiment.

===Alternative medicine===
{{main|Alternative medicine}}
All that holds the various strands of alternative medicine together is simply not being mainstream medicine, and the theories may in fact completely contradict each other; yet practitioners and followers of one brand, such as [[homeopathy]], will frequently find value in others, such as [[chiropractic]] and [[vitalism]]. They may consider themselves united against the common enemy of [[Big Pharma]]; [[vaccine hysteria]] in particular is a symptom of this mindset.

In February 2010, the [[Skeptical Inquirer]] published an article, "The One True Cause of All Disease" by Harriet Hall,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/one_true_cause_of_all_disease/ |title=The One True Cause of All Disease |author=Harriet Hall |work=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=34.1 |date=January / February 2010}}</ref> dealing with this phenomenon. In keeping with crank magnetism, alties tend not to recognize contradictions between their practices, and rarely dispute one another's methodologies or claims (though there are exceptions).<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120409045317/http://www.natural-wellness.us/about-homeopathy/pseudo-homeopathy/</ref>

===Men's Rights Activism===
{{main|Men's rights movement}}
It's funny that in a movement which disparages media bias, the most prominent, visible, and recognizable members include a '[[Breitbart|journalist]]' who blamed [[video games]] for [[Elliot Rodger]] and thinks [[homosexuality]] and "[[transgender]]ism" are mental disorders, plus an embezzler who believes [[Radical feminism|radfems]] control the [[UN]].<ref>David Futrelle, [http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/09/17/milo-yiannopoulos-nutty-broads-made-me-gay-and-will-drive-most-men-to-sexbots/ "'Nutty broads' made me gay, and will drive most men to sexbots"], ''[[We Hunted the Mammoth]].</ref><ref>[[Paul Elam]], ''[http://www.avoiceformen.com/mens-rights/united-nations-to-the-world-kill-those-faggots/ A Voice For Men]'' ("…the real focus for feminists is to get another white, western woman elected to a lucrative and powerful position so that she can return favours to the sisters that got her there"). '''Note''': Even ''[[Infowars]]'' hasn't been brave enough to pull that one out of their ass yet.</ref> Overall, they sound a bit confused about [[feminists]], since they are describing traits common to all [[democratic]] societies when they talk about the vast, subterranean web of "feminist" influence.<ref>Tom DeCastella, [http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17907534 "Just who are men's rights activists?"], ''BBC News Magazine''.</ref><ref>R.S. Benedict, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150812093557/https://unicornbooty.com/exporting-hate-how-western-mras-and-anti-gays-promote-rape-and-murder-in-the-developing-world/ "Exporting Hate: How Western MRAs and Anti-Gays Promote Rape and Murder in the Developing World"].</ref>

==Vindication of all kooks doctrine==
Anti-[[creationist]] blogger The Sensuous Curmudgeon coined the more unwieldy term "vindication of all kooks doctrine" to describe a similar phenomenon.<ref>[http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/discovery-institute-the-mask-falls-away/ Discovery Institute: The Mask Falls Away], The Sensuous Curmudgeon</ref> The Curmudgeon described it as the idea that a crank in one field will view the perceived victory of a crank in another field against the "[[big science|scientific establishment]]" as validating their own crankery. He gave the example of the [[Discovery Institute]] latching onto the [[Climategate]] incident. [[Orac]] of [[Respectful Insolence]] saw fit to call it the "vindication of kooks" corollary to the law of crank magnetism.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/11/30/the-vindication-of-all-kooks-corollary-t/ The "vindication of all kooks" corollary to the principle of crank magnetism], Orac</ref>

==Cultic milieu==
[[File:XKCD Jet fuel.png|thumb|right|The antidote.]]
In academic sociology, a similar notion to crank magnetism exists, namely Colin Campbell's concept of the '''"cultic milieu"''', which attempts to show a network and shared culture and literature that exist between various clusters of [[cult]]ic groups and views.<ref>Campbell, Colin. [https://jurneywrites.wordpress.com/2021/11/27/the-cult-the-cultic-milieu-and-secularization/ The Cult, The Cultic Milieu, and Secularization]. ''A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain'', SCM Press London, 1972.</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |editor-last1         = Kaplan
 |editor-first1        = Jeffrey
 |editor-link1         = Jeffrey Kaplan (academic)
 |editor-last2         = Lööw
 |editor-first2        = Heléne
 |title                = The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=CjIYNrOO24IC
 |publisher            = Rowman Altamira
 |publication-date     = 2002
 |isbn                 = 9780759102040
 |access-date          = 15 November 2021
 |quote                = In 1972--a period of social upheaval much like today--sociologist Colin Campbell posited a 'cultic milieu': An underground region where true seekers test hidden, forgotten, and forbidden knowledge.
}}</ref>
The initial impetus for a variety of groups (as diverse as [[Church of Scientology|Scientology]] (founded in the 1950s), the [[Human Potential Movement]], the [[Jesus Freaks]], and the turn towards [[alternative medicine]]) was the shared oppositional [[New Left|left-wing]] subculture of the 1960s and 1970s, while in the 1990s, the [[Militia movement|militia]], [[Posse Comitatus]], and [[Tax protester|tax-protest]] movements drew on a shared milieu of an oppositional right-wing subculture. This can also cause ''exceptions'' to crank magnetism; a randomly-selected [[Astrology|astrologer]] is likely to also believe in [[woo]] like [[homeopathy]], but unlikely to believe in [[Young Earth Creationism]], since YEC is part of a different milieu (one that often outright ''opposes'' all [[fortune-telling]] other than [[Biblical]] [[prophecy]] as [[witchcraft]], at that).

Michael Barkun's 2003 book ''[[A Culture of Conspiracy]]'' traces the history of certain [[Unidentified flying object|UFO]] and [[New World Order]] conspiracy theories. He finds that these theories and communities were originally distinct, but that certain bookshops and magazines would sell and advertise books of both genres. He traces the gradual synthesis of the two as, thanks to figures like [[David Icke]] and Jim Keith, ideas from each milieu started to invade the other. As a result, by the 2000s, the two communities had converged into a single right-wing counterculture, routinely referring to [[Area 51]], [[reptilians]], [[Project Monarch]], [[Satanism]], [[black helicopters]], and [[FEMA concentration camps]] as being part of the same conspiracy canon. He describes the process as "improvisational [[millennialism]]", where people pick and mix (and remix) from existing conspiracy theories to invent their own synthesis of ideas that would seem to be mutually exclusive to non-believers (e.g. combining fundamentalist Christianity with [[Western esotericism]], [[New Age]] ideas, and Eastern religions), but are united in this particular memeset by being [[Shoehorning|shoehorned]] into the believers' ideas of good and [[evil]]. When such theories share the same transmission channels (bookshops, magazines, [[website]]s, etc.), synthesis becomes even easier.

===Occulture===
A related concept is that of '''"occulture"''', a neologism combining "occult" and "culture", popularized in academia by Christopher Partridge.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Partridge
 |first1               = Christopher
 |author-link1         = Christopher Partridge
 |orig-date            = 2004
 |chapter              = Occulture
 |title                = The Re-Enchantment of the West
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=g05THJPH5xUC
 |volume               = 1: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture and Occulture
 |location             = London
 |publisher            = T & T Clark International
 |publication-date     = 2005
 |page                 = 62
 |isbn                 = 9780567082695
 |access-date          = 15 November 2021
 |quote                = In this chapter we [...] suggest the existence of an 'occulture'.
}}</ref>
It describes the conglomerate of subcultures and shared reservoir of hidden, rejected, and oppositional beliefs and practices associated with a wide variety of spiritual movements. This includes a great deal of what Michael Barkun calls "suppressed knowledge", which inherently links with conspiracy thinking, through the idea that [[the powers that be]] want to keep others ignorant and misinformed. Similar to Barkun's idea of the cultural scene of "improvisational millennialism", but broader than millennialism, occulture is also a broad experimental "place" where beliefs and other cultural contents mix and can be combined by adepts in innovative ways.

Contents flow in both directions between occulture and {{wpl|popular culture}} over time, as concepts enter the mainstream and become more "ordinary" in (for example) artistic forms, and the mainstream inspires the fringe to develop new ideas and themes. Since the age of the web in the 1990s, the mainstreaming of occulture has accelerated, a development tied to the rise of "[[conspirituality]]" (conspiracy-spirituality). The rise of conspirituality is in large part the growth into more visible prominence of so-called "dark occulture" beliefs.<ref name=consrec>Asprem, Egil & Dyrendal, Asbjørn. (2015). 'Conspirituality Reconsidered: How Surprising and How New is the Confluence of Spirituality and Conspiracy Theory?', ''Journal of Contemporary Religion''. 30. 367-382. 10.1080/13537903.2015.1081339. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282176020_Conspirituality_Reconsidered_How_Surprising_and_How_New_is_the_Confluence_of_Spirituality_and_Conspiracy_Theory Postprint copy.]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Project Blue Beam]]
*[[Salem Hypothesis]]
*[[Horseshoe theory]]
*[[E. Calvin Beisner]]
*[[Roy Spencer]]
*[[Kookmobile]]
*[[QAnon]]

==External links==
* Creationism and global warming denial demonstrate crank magnetism:
:*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150413085224/http://religiondispatches.org/creationism-and-global-warming-denial-anti-sciences-kissing-cousins/ Creationism and Global Warming Denial: Anti-Science’s Kissing Cousins?], Lauri Lebo
:*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080101101421/http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2006/07/the_creationist_consensus_on_g.php The Creationist Consensus on Global Warming], [[ScienceBlogs|Deltoid]]
:*[http://www.sciencemeetsreligion.org/blog/2010/03/creationism-global-warming-denial-and-scientific-integrity/ Creationism, global warming denial, and scientific integrity], David H. Bailey

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Crank magnetism]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]

Categories: Crank magnetism, Pseudoscience, Psychology, Conspiracy theories