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I See Conspiracies 31

Conspiracy theories:

Here's what drives people

to them, no matter how

wacky

by William Cunnings

Wake up, sheeple.
Right now, there are networks of
passionate and committed people across the
world working to subvert some of our deepest-
held beliefs and upend the established world
order.
They're called conspiracy theorists.
They walk among us. They could be your
friends, neighbors or loved ones. Who knows?
You may even be one yourself.
There seems to be a conspiracy being
"uncovered" all the time these days, and no
matter how outlandish they may be they seem to female, rich or poor, well educated or not. psychological function for people trying to cope
have no trouble drawing in ardent believers. To some extent, the human brain is with large, stressful events like a terrorist attack.
Despite the prevalence and wired to find conspiracy theories appealing. People "need to blame the anxiety that
pervasiveness of conspiracy theories, the People are highly evolved when it comes to the they feel on different groups and the result is
reasons people are drawn to them is a relatively ability to draw conclusions and predict frequently conspiracy theories," van Prooijen
new area of study for psychologists. consequences based on sensory data and said, defining the term as a belief that "a group
Jan-Willem van Prooijen, an associate observation. But sometimes those same of actors is colluding in secret in order to reach
professor at the Department of Social and processes can lead to oversimplifications and goals that are considered evil or malevolent."
Organizational Psychology at VU University misperception through what psychologists refer "People don’t like it when things are
Amsterdam, said research into the phenomenon to as "cognitive bias," van Prooijen said. really random. Randomness is more threatening
has really only taken off in the last seven years. Among the cognitive biases Van than having an enemy. You can prepare for an
According to University of Chicago Prooijen and other psychologists believe enemy, you can’t prepare for coincidences."
political science professors Eric Oliver and contribute to the appeal of conspiracy theories Conspiracy theories also appeal to
Thomas Wood, in any given year roughly half are: people's need to feel special and unique because
of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy - Confirmation bias: People's willingness to it gives them a sense of possessing secret
theory. Their 2014 study found that 19% of accept explanations that fit what they already knowledge, according to a study in the July
Americans believed the U.S. government believe. 2017 edition of Social Psychology.
planned the 9/11 attacks to start a war in the - Proportionality bias: The inclination to believe
Middle East, 24% believed former president that big events must have big causes. Real conspiracies
Barack Obama was not born in the United - Illusory pattern perception: The tendency to
States, and 25% believed Wall Street bankers see causal relations where there may not be any. Of course, sometimes conspiracies turn out to
conspired to cause the financial crisis that began Yet there are factors that make some be real.
in 2008. Those are high numbers considering people more or less inclined to accept President Nixon tried to cover up the
there is zero evidence to support any of those conspiracy theories. Watergate break-in; the Reagan administration
theories. People with greater knowledge of the sold arms to Iran to illegally fund the Contra
And a whopping 61% said they do not news media are less likely to believe conspiracy rebels in Nicaragua, and the CIA really did test
believe the official conclusion of the Warren theories, according to a new study, “News LSD on unwitting U.S. citizens.
Commission that Lee Harvey Oswald acted Media Literacy and Conspiracy Theory Of course, one thing those conspiracies
alone in assassinating President John F. Endorsement,” in the current issue of have in common is that they all came to light.
Kennedy, according to a 2013 Gallup poll. The Communication and the Public. And that is almost certain to be the case with
number has not dropped below 50% since “It’s significant that knowledge about any large plot like those imagined by conspiracy
Gallup began polling on the subject just after the news media — not beliefs about it, but theorists.
the 1963 tragedy. knowledge of basic facts about structure, Yes, conspiracies exist, but the real ones
President Trump himself has expressed content and effects — is associated with less usually don't fit the Hollywood mold of films
a belief in at least two of the above conspiracies likelihood one will fall prey to a conspiracy like The Parallax View, The Manchurian
at one time or another. He was the most vocal theory, even a theory that is in line with one’s Candidate or Oliver Stone's JFK.
proponent of the baseless claim that Obama was political ideology,” co-author Stephanie Craft, a They imagine "a secret government
not born in America, and during the 2016 University of Illinois journalism professor, told employing hundreds of people that operate with
Republican primary campaign, Trump implied the Columbia Journalism Review. supreme efficiency, everybody having the
Sen. Ted Cruz's father was connected to Oswald Oliver believes the greatest predictor of capability of James Bond and never making an
and the Kennedy killing. Trump has also said people's likelihood to accept conspiracy error," said Gerald Posner, author of Case
climate change is a Chinese-manufactured hoax theories is the degree to which they rely on their Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the
meant to hurt U.S. industry. His characterization intuition over analytical thinking. Assassination of JFK. Posner began the book a
of Russian election meddling as a "made-up "They go with their gut feelings. believer that the mafia was behind the
story" designed to discredit his election victory They’re very susceptible to symbols and assassination, but his research led him to
was deemed 2017's lie of the year by fact- metaphors," he said. conclude that the Warren Commission was right
checker Politifact last week. and Oswald acted alone.
Conspiracy theories as coping
Everyone's a suspect mechanism?
(Continued on Page 32)
Conspiracy theorists can be conservative, One reason for the pervasiveness of conspiracy
liberal or any other political stripe — male or theories is that they serve an important