INFOGALACTIC, PIZZAGATE, AND RED PILL HOAXES

   It's been a few weeks since we last wrote about Infogalatic. Readers might recall that Infogalactic was a project initiated by Game/Red Pill cult blogger Vox Day and a few of his toadies to rewrite Wikipedia articles from their 'Alpha' perspectives. The Alphas believe that Wikipedia is censoring their contributions, because their editors insist on things like supporting sources and facts.

   Infogalactic had somewhat disappeared from what little public attention it had until the Pizzagate controversy drew it some more recent attention in the Manosphere.

   So we checked in with Science Fiction blogger Camestros Felapton, who has been keeping with Infogalactic and many of Vox' other antics. In 2013, Vox was booted out of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization; hence members feel obligated to keep an eye on him before he does further damage to their cause. Camestros noted in his most recent article on Infogalactic that, outside of the Manosphere and a few other Radical Right echo-chambers, Infogalactic has gotten no traction among the general public whatsoever. In fact, the project seems to be shrinking, with fewer editors actually re-scripting Wikipedia; the Infogalactic blog itself hasn't even been updated since late October.

    Over the last several months, Camestros has done an excellent job of exposing Infogalactic's pseudoscientific and history-revisionist claims. But in his December 3rd article, The Alt-Right and Misogyny, Camestros explains why programs like Infogalactic and other Red Pill cutouts are so pernicious socially:

    "Misogyny has been the gateway for the Alt-Right to recruit young men into a racist movement. The current Alt-Right has deep and continuing connections with 'men's rights' style movements as well as supposed pick-up artist (PUA) groups and dodgy 'self-improvement' and pseudo-psychology. In each case, there is a strong element of the Alt-Right playing on the sexual insecurities of young men. At the same time, the Alt-Right have tended to prefer nationalism and racism to self-define their movement...yet women are the most consistent personal targets of Alt-Right campaigns. Anti-women viewpoints (including views that promote or legitimize sexual assault) are central to their messaging. Even their anti-immigrant propaganda is centered on sexual fears---often phrased in terms that imply that women are territory or property at risk of being stolen from white men."

     Camestros is exactly right; psychologists of the past were well-aware of the deep connection between political/religious extremism and sexual maladjustment. Vehicles like Infogalactic are 'gateways' disguised as online encyclopedias to lure the unwary into the Red Pill Cult. This is why there has been a flurry of Manosphere articles lately praising Infogalactic's coverage of Pizzagate. The idea is to draw in Pizzagate proponents by expressing sympathy for their views (in contrast to the alienation Pizzagaters are experiencing) and then converting them to their other ideas. It's a typical cultish tactic; and the same tactic that the Red Pills have employed to suck in Men's Rights Activists, Gamergate theorists, and others before.

     In short, Infogalactic never had a chance of replacing Wikipedia; and it probably was not intended that it should---at least not in the short run. It was designed to serve as a recruiting tool, to draw more men into a movement which could never stand on its own merits.