Why People Believe In Conspiracy Theories

from the gotta-believe-in-something dept

The internet has certainly helped both foster and debunk various conspiracy theories, but it still doesn’t explain

why people gravitate towards and then cling to conspiracy theories on a regular basis. Some new research, however, has said that people feel the need to link major events to a major cause. The human brain doesn’t want to believe that a major event could be caused by a lone random person.


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Comments on “Why People Believe In Conspiracy Theories”

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6 Comments
acb (user link) says:

My theory on the subject

My theory is that tendency towards conspiracy-theory explanations of events is part of the same psychological phenomenon as tendency to believe in gods; a fundamental human bias towards explaining things through conscious planning or intelligent design. Which probably had some evolutionary advantage in the ancestral hunter-gatherer environment.

gary says:

Re: My theory on the subject

Having a conspiracy theory proven correct once in awhile is enough to leave that thought in your mind that there is some statistical probability that a crack pot’s conspiracy theory just might be right.

When people said that California electricity prices were being driven by a coporate conspiracy, I didn’t beleive them at the time.

dorpus says:

Oh and

Conspiracy theory of the day: as I flew here (Tokyo) from San Jose, I noticed that the national guardsmen (who used to be there) were absent. My conspiracy theory suggests that the national guardsmen have all been sent off to war in Iraq, in spite of all the media posturing about “high orange” alerts. Police and fire departments all over the country are having staff shortages as well.

I wear navy blue cargo pants, navy blue t-shirt, and have a flat top crew cut, so I was able to get through security in both places instantly. Maybe they thought I’m a navy SEAL. :p Wish me luck at tonight’s concert!

Chuckles the Birthday Clown says:

Conspiracy Theories!

It’s because they’re true!!! It’s all TRUE!!! Aliens, CEO’s and the government are all standing side by side on the grassy knoll looking at the face like carvings on Mars…. but they aren’t drinking diet sodas because everyone knows aspartame causes shrinkage of the testicals and ovaries!

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