The concept of “gaslighting” seems to be increasingly appearing in the media and public life. In this webcast I discuss The meaning of gaslight and explain how exactly it works. Gaslighting is a particular way in which someone is driven crazy because of being presented with conflicting views of reality, a sort of “confusion of tongues” that is made worse nowadays because of all the ways that the MAGA Right have undermined the authority of institutions that people normally rely on to adjudicate truth claims, institutions like science, government, religious institutions, and the judiciary. Gaslighting was first described as a form of child abuse but is now considered, tragically, the way things are and the way they’re supposed to be.
