The Earth is flat after all
The world is being flooded with conspiracy theories. I don't think this is a specificity of the times we live in, though, even though populism, which has been growing in recent years, is eager to reach for them.
Conspiracy theories have accompanied humans since time immemorial, and there is no indication that this will change.
The Holocaust did not happen, Jews are pursuing a plan for world domination, vaccines are dangerous to humans, global warming was a fabrication, genetically modified food is unhealthy, 5G transmitters destroy human brains, the Smolensk disaster was caused by Russians, the Polish local elections in 2016 were rigged, Bill Gates created the coronavirus, and American Democrats stole victory from Trump – these are just some of the theories that find wide crowds of believers.
Conspiracy theories usually concern important events, phenomena, or famous people, and their proponents most often delight in disasters, crises, diseases, and pandemics.
Conspiracists – as the sowers of conspiracy theories are often called – always need an official version of events, which they deny by hiding true information, concealing facts. They love official but unexplained, not fully explained or questionable information, for which I quickly find simple and catchy explanations. Their main tools are manipulation, understatement, undermining facts, rhetorical questions.
It is impossible to find a conspiracy theory that serves a positive cause, and conspirators always have bad intentions, although very often they give or try to give the impression that they are doing only good, caring about people, their health, safety and well-being.
It is not uncommon for conspiracy theorists to don priestly robes, proclaim that they are carrying out a divine plan, and that their actions have much in common with religion.
In reality, there is always some kind of profit behind the actions of conspirators. At a minimum, they are driven by the desire to attract attention, to exist, to be in the spotlight, but worse and more often, their motivation is money and power.
You will never convince a conspirator. He will always respond to logical, proven and coherent arguments with a message that is not entirely logical, not entirely proven and not entirely coherent.
People are easily subject to conspiracy theories, regardless of age, gender, education, worldview, or beliefs. This is probably because they provide simple and quick answers to difficult questions, explaining problems, failures, and defeats. Theoretically, the more educated a person is, the less likely they should be to succumb to conspiracy theories, due to their lower tendency to accept simple solutions to complex issues. However, looking at many of my friends, I have serious doubts about this hypothesis.
According to research, among people who are prone to conspiracy theories, left-wingers believe that everything is controlled by corporations and the wealthy, while right-wingers believe that everything is the fault of scientists and the left. Moreover, according to researchers, those who rely more on intuition and imagination in life are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than those who prefer hard evidence and facts and are prone to analytical thinking. Other factors that predispose to conspiratorial thinking include: lack of a sense of security, belonging to a minority, low self-esteem and the belief in an external locus of control.
There probably isn't much that can be done about the phenomenon of conspiracy theories and their adherents. Which of course doesn't mean that one shouldn't try. I myself have often engaged in heated discussions and attempts to debunk conspiracies during meetings, beers, parties or trips. However, the older I get, the more I am convinced that it is best to simply laugh at it.
