{"id":14020,"date":"2023-12-03T10:14:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T04:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/dom-jolys-new-book-on-conspiracy-theories-books-entertainment\/"},"modified":"2023-12-03T10:14:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T04:44:38","slug":"dom-jolys-new-book-on-conspiracy-theories-books-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/dom-jolys-new-book-on-conspiracy-theories-books-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Dom Joly’s new book on conspiracy theories | Books | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ad_1]\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Dom<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/p>\n

Dom Joly digs up conspiracy theories in new book (Image: Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\n

They are, fairly obviously, not questions that trouble the vast majority of us: Does Finland exist? Is the Earth really flat? Where is the US government hiding aliens? But, as Dom Joly attests, a significant number of people spend an inordinate amount of time pondering such mysteries, often online.<\/p>\n

And the comedian turned travel writer now counts himself among them, for purely scientific reasons you understand. His side-splittingly funny new book, The Conspiracy Tourist, investigates this strange and disturbing world. It\u2019s a total hoot from page one but, as Joly warns, the rise of the conspiracy theorist comes amid a decline of public trust in science-based facts and institutions. And that\u2019s something we ignore at our peril.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s saying governments and corporations haven\u2019t done terrible things, haven\u2019t been a***holes,\u201d he says when we meet. \u201cBut everyone seems to get the wrong end of the stick, to the extent that doctors are the new bad guys. I mean, come on\u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong>
Mystery deepens as family who fell from balcony could be mass suicide <\/strong>
Detectives who probed Diana’s crash conspiracies <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It was Joly\u2019s growing anger at the anti-vaccine, anti-science lobby going viral on social media during the pandemic that inspired the new book. \u201cAll through lockdown I found myself online, like everyone, and arguing more and more \u2013 especially with anti-vaxxers,\u201d he explains. \u201cAnd it really p***ed me off because I had a very good friend in hospital on a ventilator, and these f***ers were saying the Covid virus didn\u2019t exist. So I\u2019d argue with them constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

For many conspiracy lovers, it turns out, the global pandemic proved ground zero.<\/p>\n

Hoaxes, counterfactual claims and general wackiness went into overdrive, hyped by computer algorithms and cynical social media companies. And the truth certainly wasn\u2019t helped by the likes of Donald Trump and his \u201calternative facts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it set Joly off on a global road-trip \u2013 to Finland first, naturally, of which more shortly; then Roswell, New Mexico, searching for aliens; Newfoundland; and even Glastonbury \u2013 to test the theories and meet some of the folk he\u2019d been arguing with online. Joly continues: \u201cI thought, \u2018Do these people really believe it? Or are they doing it just to get clicks, just to be shocking?\u2019 So I really wanted to look them in the eye and say, \u2018Do you genuinely believe this?\u2019 If you do, that\u2019s really interesting, or do you just not give a f***?\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

One of the greatest, certainly the strangest, examples is the idea Finland, the country, doesn\u2019t actually exist. Joly\u2019s research led him to a long-lost post on internet site Reddit where people shared the weirdest things their parents had taught them.<\/p>\n

A contributor called Jack claimed he\u2019d been told the country had been \u201cfabricated\u201d in 1918 by Japan and Russia so they could exploit the fish stocks in that part of the Baltic Sea. He didn\u2019t believe it himself but\u2026 And, after that, people suddenly started doubting the existence of Finland (population 5.6million).<\/p>\n

Travelling to Finland with his Canadian wife Stacey, who tells him it\u2019s the dumbest thing she\u2019s ever heard, Joly admits: \u201cI was 99.9 per cent sure she was right but, if I was to take a proper look at conspiracy theories, then I needed to open my mind, discard my lifetime of institutional brainwashing and embrace everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today he adds: \u201cIt\u2019s a classic example of how conspiracies often start as a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

You\u2019ll have to read his book to discover whether Finland does, in fact, exist but (spoiler) the Jolys did visit Finnish capital Helsinki \u2013 or at least so he claims!<\/p>\n

Another classic is modern flat-Earthism which was reignited by a couple of stoned US academics trying to come up with the maddest idea possible. Incredibly, it\u2019s now split into two factions: those who believe the Earth is a disc, and so-called \u201csquare\u201d flat-Earthers,<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a splinter group who believe the Earth has four corners; Hydra in Greece, the Bermuda Triangle, Papua New Guinea, and an island called Fogo in Newfoundland,\u201d Joly says. \u201cSo I went to Fogo and I found a square flat-Earther and took him on a road trip to the edge of the world.\u201d Hiring a fishing boat, ostensibly to take them to the \u201cedge\u201d, the man accused Joly and their captain of \u201cgoing round in circles\u201d when they couldn\u2019t find it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a really smart guy who somehow got lost down some internet algorithm,\u201d says Joly. \u201cHe didn\u2019t want to be proved wrong \u2013 because suddenly you\u2019ve had your whole belief system and your whole life questioned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
Become an Express Premium member<\/header>\n
    \n
  • <\/g> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Support fearless journalism<\/li>\n
  • <\/g> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Read The Daily Express online, advert free<\/li>\n
  • <\/g> <\/clippath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Get super-fast page loading<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    Is that why people cling to such strange ideas in the face of reality then?<\/p>\n

    After all, the Finland and flat-Earth conspiracies might amuse us but, dig deeper into the netherworld and it quickly goes dark: from the idea 5G mobile phone masts caused Covid, to deeply unpleasant claims victims of a brutal US school shooting were child actors, the whole incident staged to promote gun control. \u201cIf I learned anything from my travels, it\u2019s that s*** happens,\u201d says Joly. \u201cLife is chaos but, as humans, we don\u2019t like chaos, so we try and make order and conspiracy theories give you that. If terrible things happen, it\u2019s not random, someone\u2019s behind it. It\u2019s not your fault. But it also gives you this secret knowledge and you feel empowered.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Unsurprisingly, in Joly\u2019s view, the US is the spiritual home of the conspiracy theory.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt\u2019s a very American thing,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s an anti-elitism, anti-expert feeling in America which comes from mistrust. They\u2019re a rebel nation, born out of revolution and hating \u2018the Man\u2019. Most Americans think King George is gonna come smashing in their door. That\u2019s in their DNA, so I think conspiracies particularly appeal to them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cIt\u2019s similar to cults and religions. If you argue with them they just retreat. So you can\u2019t change them. Because they\u2019re obsessed, you can\u2019t possibly have enough facts to out-argue them. It\u2019s like a religion because it becomes your tribe, your identity, it\u2019s very difficult to get out of it.<\/p>\n

    \u201cSocial media is a massive part of it \u2013 it gives you a tribe and it feeds you crazy s***. I\u2019m not normally my own quoter, but my favourite line from my book is that, \u2018in the old days, every village had an idiot, but now they all join each other\u2019. Before, you kind of kept a bit quiet about these sorts of views. Now they\u2019re emboldened.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Of Jones in particular, Joly fumes: \u201cCan you imagine anything worse than your tiny kids being shot somewhere like Sandy Hook, then to have people hound you online saying they didn\u2019t actually die? So much so that one of the parents had to move house about 10 times because he got so harassed. And that is coming entirely from people like Alex Jones, who are making s***loads of money off it. It\u2019s just beyond despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Sadly, he didn\u2019t manage to get face-to-face with Jones, 49, though not from a lack of trying, having doorstepped him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cI was doing a rubbish Louis Theroux and I suddenly saw Alex Jones in the background and tried to ask him a question,\u201d Joly says.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThen the guy at the door pulled a handgun and I walked away very fast. You suddenly think, \u2018What the f*** am I doing? They could probably legitimately shoot me!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

    Joly, who admits rather sadly he\u2019s unlikely to change minds, finds the suggestion there\u2019s a global conspiracy among the elite especially funny. \u201cI\u2019ve met politicians, I\u2019ve met powerful people, I\u2019ve met journalists,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cNone of them could organise a parking system that works, so how can they secretly run the world? Conspiracies about a shadowy elite have given them so much more credit than they deserve.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBut the book wasn\u2019t about trying to change people\u2019s minds and it\u2019s not really a scientific discovery of conspiracies.<\/p>\n

    \u201cEssentially, it\u2019s a funny romp through a really weird world but, along the way, I do make some serious points.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Joly has had a fascinating life and career. Born in Beirut in 1967, the son of a British archaeologist, he attended school in Lebanon before completing his education in the UK and reading politics at the University of London. After becoming a star with Trigger Happy TV on Channel 4 \u2013 several strangers a day still shout \u201cI\u2019m on the phone,\u201d at him, he admits \u2013 he created This Is Dom Joly and World Shut Your Mouth. More recently, he has appeared on reality TV, including I\u2019m A Celebrity, and fronted documentaries. He has two children, Parker, 22, and 19-year-old Jackson, with wife Stacey and lives in the Cotswolds.<\/p>\n

    The Conspiracy Tourist is a gift of a documentary. Joly, whose previous books include The Dark Tourist \u2013 catchlined \u201csightseeing in the world\u2019s most unlikely holiday destinations\u201d \u2013 is hopeful it will come to the small screen. After all, he points out, conspiracies are all around us. As for what we can do about it, he\u2019s not so sure.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIf you think about what\u2019s happening in Gaza, when the [Al-Ahli] hospital was recently hit, the Israelis said it was a Hamas rocket, and Hamas said it was an Israeli bomb, and both sides will believe their truth. And that\u2019s it. In the old days, you used to be able to find out what actually happened. Now people just go \u2018No, that\u2019s our truth, and you\u2019re lying\u2019. And it\u2019s terrifying. And then with AI approaching as well, where you\u2019re gonna deep-fake people…\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    It\u2019s the extremes of ideology he finds the most terrifying. \u201cI mistrust anyone who thinks they\u2019re right,\u201d Joly adds. \u201cI\u2019m not right. I don\u2019t know a thing. And today the worst thing a politician can do is change their mind and be a \u2018flip-flopper\u2019. But that\u2019s the politician I want. I want someone who can admit, \u2018I think I\u2019m wrong, and I\u2019ve changed my mind\u2019. It shows you\u2019re thinking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cMy ambition was to meet a flat-Earther. I wanted to sit across the table and ask, \u2018You genuinely believe the Earth is flat?\u2019 which I did twice. They weren\u2019t what I expected. You tend to think they\u2019re all thick but they\u2019re not. If anything, they\u2019re quite smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Another thing Joly, 56, who found fame with hidden camera show Trigger Happy TV in the early noughties, quickly discovered was that no matter how crackers something might sound, there\u2019s always someone, somewhere who\u2019ll take it seriously.<\/p>\n

    Indeed, many conspiracy theories started life as online jokes.There\u2019s even a name for this phenomenon: Poe\u2019s Law, an internet-era adage claiming it\u2019s impossible to parody extreme views because a minority will take the send-up at face value.<\/p>\n

    Or, to put it more simply, as Joly tells me: \u201cYou can\u2019t outcrazy crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

      \n
    • The Conspiracy Tourist<\/em> by Dom Joly (Little, Brown, \u00a322) is out now. Visit expressbookshop.com or call Express Bookshop on 020 3176 3832. Free UK P&P on orders over \u00a325. Tickets for Dom Joly: The Conspiracy Tour stage shows in February and March 2024 are available via domjoly.tv<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      [ad_1] Dom Joly digs up conspiracy theories in new book (Image: Getty) They are, fairly obviously, not questions that trouble the vast majority of us: Does Finland exist? Is the Earth really flat? Where is the US government hiding aliens? But, as Dom Joly attests, a significant number of people spend an inordinate amount of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1023],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}