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Before the internet, these ideas traveled through word of mouth, late-night radio shows, and tabloid magazines.
People whispered about UFO crashes in the 1940s. They debated whether Bigfoot is real. The stories spread slowly, but most people have heard them.
But now, they move at lightning speed.
“It is easy to find and share conspiracy theories on social media. People who are interested in conspiracy theories can find them almost immediately and they can spread rapidly,” Dr. Karen Douglas tells Bored Panda.
Dr. Douglas has spent more than a decade studying conspiracy theories, how they start, and why they persist.
“Once conspiracy theories are out there, they are difficult to quell, especially when some of the facts are still unknown. Even after that, once people believe in a conspiracy theory, it is often difficult to convince them otherwise.”
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Believing in conspiracy theories doesn’t automatically mean someone is crazy. It’s often related to how people think and make sense of the world.
Research suggests that people are attracted to conspiracy theories when one or more fundamental psychological needs are frustrated, says Dr. Douglas.
“The first of these needs are epistemic, related to the need to know the truth and have clarity and certainty. The other needs are existential, which are related to the need to feel safe and to have some control over things that are happening around us, and social, which are related to the need to maintain our self-esteem and feel positive about the groups that we belong to.”
She believes that people might be attracted to conspiracy theories to try to satisfy these needs and to cope with difficult situations.
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Big events such as pandemics, wars, elections, and extreme weather create uncertainty. And conspiracy theories offer simple answers with someone to blame.
“This perspective essentially means that anyone can fall into conspiracy theories if the circumstances are right. This is perhaps one explanation why we tend to see a lot of conspiracy theories when things happen like assassination attempts, important elections, sudden controversies surrounded by secrecy, or during pandemics,” says Dr. Douglas.
“People are looking for ways to understand what is going on and they don't like the uncertainty that often surrounds unfolding events. Also, a simple explanation is often not very appealing. People assume that there must somehow be a bigger explanation, or more going on than people know about.”
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Surveys over the past few years suggest a large percentage of people believe at least one conspiracy theory.
Most Americans, at least 54%, believe that Lee Harvey Oswald definitely or probably did not act alone in assassinating John F Kennedy in 1963.
One in five or fewer think it's likely true that the government is using COVID-19 vaccines to microchip Americans.
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While many of these alternative narratives may seem like harmless stories shared online, their impact can stretch far beyond casual conversation.
“Conspiracy theories do have consequences, and can affect people's, intentions, and behaviours. Conspiracy theories historically have been linked with prejudice, genocide, risky health behaviour, climate denial, and more recently some disturbing behaviour related to QAnon and COVID-19 conspiracy theories,” says Dr. Douglas.
She believes they can turn people away from mainstream politics and science in favor of more extreme political views and anti-science attitudes. “For some people they might just be entertaining and harmless fun, but in many cases, they are potentially much more dangerous.”
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Dr. Douglas says, in conversations with people who believe in conspiracy theories, that it is important to remember these people can sometimes feel quite alienated.
“In a conversation with them, it would not be constructive to be hostile, or behave in a way that ridicules them. This dismisses their views and might alienate them even further. It is therefore important to keep calm and listen.”
“Another thing to bear in mind is that strong conspiracy believers will have done their homework — that is, they usually know a lot more about the topic than other people do. So, when you get into a conversation with someone who believes strongly in a conspiracy theory, it is quite difficult to change their mind, or even to keep up with the discussion, because it always seems like they are one step ahead,” she adds.
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Many conspiracy theorists also believe that they are critical thinkers who are trying to uncover the truth, "whereas others are still in the dark, or are 'sheep' who believe everything they are told, says Dr .Douglas.
“One strategy therefore might be to appeal to this value and ask the conspiracy believer to critically think about their information — Where did it come from? Who said it? Is this information reliable? This might uncover flaws in the conspiracy theory and you might be able to challenge them this way.”