Got Chaos?

Created
Mon, 03/04/2023 - 23:00
Updated
Mon, 03/04/2023 - 23:00
Wanting to “watch the world burn” is a type Speaking of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), I won’t this morning. Much. At The Garden of Forking Paths, however, Brian Klass offers study results that might address her type. Movie buffs know Alfred Pennyworth’s speech from The Dark Knight in which he offers Bruce Wayne an explanation of The Joker’s motivations: Some men just want to watch the world burn. Researchers find it is a type, actually. Alfred was right: The researchers—Michael Bang Petersen and Mathias Osmundsen from Aarhus University in Denmark, and Kevin Arceneaux from Sciences Po in Paris—focus on a specific behavior to create a typology of “Need for Chaos” individuals. Specifically, they focus on those who share “hostile political rumors,” which they note, “portray politicians and political groups negatively and possess low evidential value.” In plain speak, they like spreading malicious political lies. Jacob Wohl, for example. He pleaded guilty to telecommunications fraud in Ohio in October over a robocall scheme to convince targeted Black voters that voting by mail would risk “giving your private information to the man.” Wohl and an accomplice each received two years of probation, $2,500 in fines, and 500 hours of community service registering voters. Or right-wing influencer Douglass Mackey, convicted Friday. He conspired in 2016 to disseminate ads encouraging Black voters to “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.” The Department of Justice notice adds, “On or about and…