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Wht People Believe in Conspiracies 49

Who believes in How Internet Conspiracy

conspiracies? New Theories Go Viral - And

research offers a theory Get People To Believe

Them, Too

Conspiracy theories have been cooked
up throughout history, but they are by Rebecca Heilweil
increasingly visible lately, likely due in
part to the president of the United In 2016, at an Orlando nightclub Pulse, as police
and the media attempted to process what would
States routinely embracing or creating
turn out to be country's deadliest mass-shooting,
them.
networks of people were already developing
their own alternative narratives.
Union College "Orlando shooting was a hoax,"
proclaimed one tweet. Another tweet echoed
Given that any particular conspiracy theory is that sentiment. "More Orlando shooting Hoax -
unlikely to be the subject of mainstream proof - same actors in Sandy hook & Boston
consensus, what draws people to them? Marathon Fake bombing - gun take away
New research by Josh Hart, associate agenda." Before the ink was dry on morning
professor of psychology, suggests that people editions, many had already constructed their
with certain personality traits and cognitive own version of the Orlando shooting that bore
styles are more likely to believe in conspiracy little resemblance to reality.
theories. The research was recently published in Conspiracy theories are nothing new to
the Journal of Individual Differences. the human imagination, of course, but the speed
"These people tend to be more and ubiquity of Twitter and other social media
suspicious, untrusting, eccentric, needing to feel platforms provide fertile ground for alternative
schizophrenia, but it does not imply a clinical
special, with a tendency to regard the world as narratives - especially for violent events. In the
diagnosis. Hart's study also showed that
an inherently dangerous place," Hart said. "They fever swamps of conspiracy networks, the
conspiracists had distinct cognitive tendencies:
are also more likely to detect meaningful shooting Sandy Hook Elementary never
they were more likely than nonbelievers to judge
patterns where they might not exist. People who happened, the nightclub shooting in Orlando
nonsensical statements as profound (a tendency
are reluctant to believe in conspiracy theories was part of an orchestrated plan to take away
known as "BS receptivity").
tend to have the opposite qualities." guns, or a CIA plot, and the Boston Marathon
In turn, they were more likely to say that
Bombing was a “Zionist conspiracy." Twitter is
nonhuman objects -- triangle shapes moving
Hart and his student, Molly Graether '17, a platform where conspiracists can promote their
around on a computer screen -- were acting
surveyed more than 1,200 American adults. alternative narratives to the headlines of
intentionally.
Participants were asked a series of questions mainstream media, gaining recognition and
"In other words, they inferred meaning
related to their personality traits, partisan bent exposure.
and motive where others did not," he said.
and demographic background. They were also University of Washington professor Kate
So what does this all mean?
asked whether they agreed with generic Starbird is studying how conspiracy theories
"First, it helps to realize that conspiracy
conspiratorial statements, such as: "The power propagate online. Her latest work focuses on
theories differ from other worldviews in that
held by heads of state is second to that of small Twitter, and the emergence of conspiracy
they are fundamentally gloomy," Hart said.
unknown groups who really control world theories after mass shooting events. What she
"This sets them apart from the typically uplifting
politics," and "Groups of scientists manipulate, found on the social media site is an "alternative
messages conveyed by, say, religious and
fabricate or suppress evidence in order to media ecosystem” - a complex network of bots,
spiritual beliefs. At first blush this is a
deceive the public." individuals and domains that birth, orchestrate
conundrum. However, if you are the type of
Previous research has shown that people and promote conspiracy theories that undermine
person who looks out at the world and sees a
gravitate toward conspiracy theories that affirm online readers' trust in information.
chaotic, malevolent landscape full of senseless
or validate their political view: Republicans are While conspiracy theories have emerged
injustice and suffering, then perhaps there is a
vastly more likely than Democrats to believe the from human imagination for centuries, Twitter is
modicum of comfort to be found in the notion
Obama "birther" theory or that climate change is now a home for alternative narratives of crises.
that there is someone, or some small group of
a hoax. Democrats are more likely to believe Starbird, who presented her findings at the
people, responsible for it all. If 'there's
that Trump's campaign "colluded" with the Collective Intelligence Conference this June,
something going on,' then at least there is
Russians, Hart said. wanted to understand the perfect storms that
something that could be done about it."
Some people are also habitual popularize absurd conspiracy theories online.
Hart hopes the research advances the
conspiracists who entertain a variety of generic The conference was aimed at fostering
understanding of why some people are more
theories. For example, they believe that world discussion between researchers hoping to
attracted to conspiracy theories than others. But
politics are controlled by a cabal instead of promote the public good.
he said it is important to note that the study
governments or that scientists systematically Because commonly-held standards for
doesn't address whether or not conspiracy
deceive the public. This indicates that understanding news is declining, making it
theories are true.
personality or other individual differences might increasingly more difficult to determine the
"After Watergate, the American public
be at play. credibility of information, the internet has
learned that seemingly outlandish speculation
Hart and Graether wanted to build on become particularly vulnerable to the spread of
about the machinations of powerful actors is
this research by testing how much each of disinformation. Conspiracy theories are born
sometimes right on the money," he said. "And
several previously identified traits could explain from growing suspicion that institutions like the
when a conspiracy is real, people with a
generic conspiracy beliefs. By examining government and the mainstream media cannot
conspiracist mindset may be among the first to
multiple traits simultaneously, the pair could be trusted, producing “claims that the events
pick up on it while others get duped.
determine which ones were most important. didn’t happen in the way that you think,"
"Either way, it is important to realize that
"Our results clearly showed that the Starbird said. []
when reality is ambiguous, our personalities and
strongest predictor of conspiracy belief was a
cognitive biases cause us to adopt the beliefs The All New ‘X’ Zone TV Channel
constellation of personality characteristics
that we do. This knowledge can help us Searching For Answers
collectively referred to as 'schizotypy,' Hart said.
understand our own intuitions." [] Demanding The Truth
The trait borrows its name from
www.xzonetvchannel.com