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A condescending smile towards the townsfolk, “the authorities are hiding”, “in fact, everything is much more complicated” – it’s hard not to get annoyed when dealing with a conspiracy theorist. Perhaps we will be less angry if we understand why it is so tempting to see a conspiracy in everything.
Christopher French, Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths College London, UK, explains that there are several reasons why some people see a second and a third and a fifth layer in events that apparently have no hidden agenda.1. In the course of evolution, people learned, due to the large size of the brain, to understand reality as a complex dynamic system, to see the casual connections of phenomena, which made it possible for them to predict the course of events over long periods of time, and this is a huge evolutionary advantage. However, in some cases, the mechanism responsible for identifying connections between phenomena is hyperfunctioning – and we come up with hidden causes of events where they actually do not exist.
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- A conspiracy theory is born from distrust of reality
“All this is very clearly seen in the events of September 11, 2001,” adds philosopher Quassim Cassam. “It is not enough for citizens to explain that several hundred tons of metal crashed into buildings at a speed of about 300 kilometers per hour, which led to the collapse, they want to see this as the machinations of their own intelligence.”2.
In addition, we tend to believe more evidence and evidence that supports the point of view we already have. Conspiracy theories, as a rule, arise around tragic events: deaths and disasters. In the course of reporting these events, especially in the first hours and days after they have taken place, errors and inaccuracies are bound to occur, and a person who is inclined to see conspiracies everywhere will always refer to these contradictions in order to strengthen his position. So, in the early reports from the scene 14 years ago, such confusion reigned that statements like: firstly, “look at these newsmen, they changed their testimony along the way, it’s clear that they are hiding something”; and secondly, “but there was an assumption that this was actually a detonation of charges inside the building.” And it doesn’t matter at all that the first case is the natural way the media works, and the second assumption was rejected after a couple of hours.
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- We don’t trust anyone?
We also tend to believe that great events are caused by equally great causes. That is why the rumors around the death of John F. Kennedy flourish so much: the assassination of the most charismatic US president in the twentieth century simply cannot be the work of one person. For the same reason, “merely” hijacked planes cannot explain such an incredible tragedy.
And finally, the projection mechanism plays a huge role: we transfer our ideas about people and the world to others. In other words, the one who spreads gossip himself, weaves intrigues at work and always looks for a hidden motive in the actions of other people, tends to believe that the whole world behaves the same way.
All of the above does not mean that any theory that suggests that some part of reality is the result of the secret actions of the government (Masons, aliens) is a priori wrong. However, it is important to understand that for a conspiracy theorist, the truth does not matter. He is simply sure that “we were all deceived.”
1 See C. French “Why Do Some People Believe in Conspiracy Theories?” Scientific American, online publication June 11, 2015.
2 For more on conspiracy traits, visit mindhacks.com