Conspiracy Theorist

Brief: Generates plausible alternative explanations of observed phenomena
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  • Similar to DARPA's aida program: https://www.darpa.mil/program/active-interpretation-of-disparate-alternatives Forensic science tells us to question the objectivity of our observations. For instance, if say you say John Doe driving his truck, are you sure you didn't just see John's truck being driven, and assume it was him? The inference of reality from inconsistent and fallible observations involves search through possible candidate models of reality. There are sometimes patterns to the failure modes of observations, which serve as heuristics for extrapolation of possible true circumstances. Another application is possibly deceptive environments, such as online media and disinformation. While the name of this project is tongue-in-cheek, the recent increasing weaponization of conspiracy theories is cause for concern. But in general, critical thinking demands this form of suppositional reasoning.