{"efta_number": "EFTA00838582", "page_count": 3, "url": "https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00838582", "pdf_url": "https://epstein-data.com/pdf/EFTA00838582.pdf", "pages": [{"efta_number": "EFTA00838582", "page_number": 0, "text_content": "From: \"jeffrey E.\" <jeevacation@gmail.com> \nTo: Ed < \nSubject: Re: My review today in wsj of conspiracy theories \nDate: Sat, 19 Dec 2015 14:28:32 +0000 \ncould i pay you to organzie my story into a coherent presentation. . probaly a six- 9 moth job. \nOn Fri, Dec 18, 2015 at 10:36 PM, Ed c \n> wrote: \nThey're Not Really Out to Get You \nBy EDWARD JAY EPSTEIN \nDec. 18, 2015, Wall Street Journal \nConspiracy, a word derived from the Latin \"to breathe together,\" has been a salient part of the darker side of \nrecorded history ever since some 60 conspirators in the Roman senate, including Brutus and Cassius, plotted \ntogether to assassinate Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Nowadays the \"C\" word does not always sit well with \njournalists, who commonly employ it in conjunction with \"theory\" to describe paranoid distortions of reality. \nEven so, a criminal conspiracy is not a rare phenomenon. Not only was a foreign conspiracy responsible for \nthe monstrous 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center (as well as the previous attempt to blow it up in 1993) \nbut, according to the Center on Law and Security at Fordham University, over 90% of routine federal \nindictments for terrorist attacks since 9/11 contain at least one conspiracy charge. The government's pursuit of \nconspiracies is by no means limited to terrorism. Conspiracy charges are the rule rather than the exception in \ncases brought against businessmen accused of fixing prices, evading environmental regulations, using insider \ninformation or laundering money. \nBut there are also pseudo-conspiracies that exist only in a delusionary or misinformed mind. And some of \nthem achieve a huge following. In Pakistan, according to public opinion polls, a majority of the population \nbelieves that the 9/11 attack was staged by President George W. Bush to launch a war on Islam. The claim that \nthe 1969 moon landing was faked is still around. Just two days ago a crew from a Russian TV channel rushed \nto my apartment to interview me about a viral post on YouTube in which the deceased director Stanley \nKubrick supposedly made a deathbed confession to having filmed the landing in a Hollywood studio—even \nthough everything about the post, including a fake Kubrick, was untrue. \nWhy people believe in pseudo-conspiracies is the focus of Rob Brotherton's fascinating book \"Suspicious \nMinds.\" Mr. Brotherton, an academic psychologist, advances the thesis that the belief in pseudo-conspiracies \nproceeds from the \"quirks and foibles\" in the way that the human brain, or at least some human brains, process \nevidence. He lucidly reviews studies showing common defects in the brain's wiring, such as the bias that \nselects evidence to confirm rather than undermine a pre-adopted thesis. \"We seek what we expect to find,\" as \nMr. Brotherton puts it. Relatedly, \"biased assimilation\" causes us to \"interpret ambiguous events in light of \nwhat we already believe.\" \nDiscussing Richard Hofstadter's 1964 essay \"The Paranoid Style in American Politics,\" Mr. Brotherton \naccepts Hofstadter's characterization of proponents of politically motivated conspiracy theories as \"paranoid\" \nand suffering from \"a psychic phenomenon\" that prevents them from seeing the absurdity of their position. But \nhe disagrees with Hofstadter that this condition affects only a small number of people on the fringes of society. \nFor Mr. Brotherton, \"conspiracy theories thrive in the mainstream.\" \nUntil the controversy over the validity of Warren Commission's 1966 report on the Kennedy assassination, the \nphrase \"conspiracy theory\" had a more neutral meaning, suggesting a plausible yet unproven claim about \nmultiple actors in a single event. Only in the aftermath of the Warren Commission did it become a derogatory \nterm used to suggest theories that subvert conventional wisdom. To those who doubted the commission's \nfinding that a single gunman killed Kennedy, Earl Warren became, Mr. Brotherton's says, the \"figurehead in a \nvast cover-up.\" \nEFTA00838582\n", "char_count": 3985}, {"efta_number": "EFTA00838582", "page_number": 1, "text_content": "It is not easy to find an objective criterion that distinguishes the inquiry into a real conspiracy from one that \nchases a pseudo-conspiracy. Both types rely are the eyewitnesses, documents and forensic evidence. The best \nthat Mr. Brotherton can offer on this score is to cite Stewart Potter's famous comment on pornography: \"I \nknow it when I see it.\" In the context of suspicious minds, though, one person might see a plausible case for a \nconspiracy and another only outlandish connections. The distinction is in the mind of the beholder. \nMr. Brotherton offers a sample list of conspiracy theories, including ones alleging that Abraham Lincoln was \nassassinated on the orders of his vice president; that the moon landing was faked; that Area 51 in New Mexico \nis home to extra-terrestrial technology under government auspices; that President Obama is \"a communist \nMuslim from Kenya.\" Such theories are meant to show that suspicious minds leap to absurd conclusions. \nThese are chosen because there is no evidence to support them. \nThe picture changes, however, if we consider, for example, the theory claiming that Lincoln's assassin, John \nWilkes Booth was part of a larger conspiracy backed by the Confederacy. On April 14, 1865, at about the same \ntime that Booth shot Lincoln, one of his associates stabbed Secretary of State William Seward and another \nstalked Vice President Andrew Johnson with a loaded gun. The military commission appointed by President \nJohnson, after hearing 371 witnesses testify and after examining Confederate bank transfers and cipher \ncommunications, concluded that the three attacks were part of a conspiracy sponsored by the Confederacy and \nconvicted eight of Booth's associates, four of whom were hanged. Here we have a conspiracy theory \nproceeding not from crackpots but from a government commission backed by the new president and most \nmembers of Lincoln's cabinet. \nClearly the defects in the brain's wiring that lead to crazy theories may lead to the confirmation of theories that \nare adopted by rational people. Indeed, the confirmation bias can work in contradictory ways: confirming not \nonly conspiracy theories but the impulse to reject them in favor of conventional wisdom. Can this defect be \ncorrected? Here I am reminded of a Woody Allen's absolutely brilliant 1996 comedy \"Everyone Says I Love \nYou,\" in which the once-liberal son of a New York liberal family starts spouting conservative theories until a \ndoctor solves the problem by restoring the proper flow of oxygen to his brain. The movie has a happy ending \nwhen the son goes back to spouting his family's liberal theories. While Mr. Brotherton offers no such remedy \nto our brain's defects, he does offer a thought-provoking analysis and an appealing guide to thinking about \nconspiracies, real and imagined. \n—Mr. Epstein most recent book is \"The Annals of Unsolved Crimes.\" He is currently writing a book about \nEdward Snowden. \nhttp://www.wsj.com/articles/theyre-not-real ly-out-to-get-you- 1450471512 \nHappy New Year \nEd \nwww.edwardjayspstein.com \nplease note \nThe information contained in this communication is \nconfidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may \nconstitute inside information, and is intended only for \nthe use of the addressee. It is the property of \nJEE \nUnauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this \ncommunication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited \nand may be unlawful. If you have received this \ncommunication in error, please notify us immediately by \nreturn e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com, and \nEFTA00838583\n", "char_count": 3584}, {"efta_number": "EFTA00838582", "page_number": 2, "text_content": "destroy this communication and all copies thereof, \nincluding all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved \nEFTA00838584\n", "char_count": 124}]}