The Power of Conspiracy Theories
The Power of Conspiracy Theories
Be Careful- Conspiracy Theories Can Infect Anyone
We are in 2024, an election year, a year I call “the Year of the Precipice” for our democracy. To better equip Americans to exercise their civic duty this year, we have begun a series in Democraticus examining important ways of thinking and belief systems that can have a major impact on our democracy’s future.
Conspiracy Theories are Part of a “Long Game”
We have been taking a journey to gain an understanding of the disinformation that an authoritarian unleashes on an unsuspecting citizenry in a democracy. It is a “long game” beginning with a constant bombardment of lies, propaganda, manipulative tricks like false analogies and logical fallacies. As our critical thinking begins to suffer in terms of distinguishing between actual reality (i.e., facts) and the authoritarian’s false reality (aka lies), we are easily gaslighted and drawn into the authoritarian’s created world of a “mythic past, shared victimhood, grievances and then, into conspiracy theories.
Once we begin accepting the authoritarian’s false reality and his conspiracy theories that accompany it, that is when we know we have arrived in what Author Kurt Andersen calls “fantasyland”.[1] With that arrival we now live in a false reality that is the authoritarian’s, not actual reality that is undergirded by facts. And whether we realize it or want to acknowledge it, we have walked away from democracy in order to accept the authoritarian’s dominance, what he wants us to think, and his rule.
Conspiracy Theories Begin in One’s Mind
However, as large as conspiracy theories apparently can get, they all must start with the individual. That is what their power stems from. In the previous Democraticus post we examined how conspiracy theories work on a macro (i.e., national) scale. Now we will look at conspiracy theories from the individual perspective and how they can infect and control one’s mind. And beware, Americans at all levels of this society, of all educational backgrounds, races, and of different socio-economic backgrounds are susceptible to them. No one is immune.
Crisis, Conspiracy, and the Human Mind
The human mind is for each of us a unique and complex organ which makes the impact of conspiracy theories different for each of us. For that reason, it is helpful to attempt to zero in on the question of how and why conspiracy theories can affect us individually?
Jennifer Latson, writing for Psychology Today, has explored the answers to that question by trying to understand a conspiracy theorist’s mind, and why, especially now, so many people are drawn to conspiracies. Setting aside a lack of historical knowledge or diminished critical thinking ability as causes of our willingness to embrace conspiracies for a moment, Latson asked this question, “…why are so many people becoming preoccupied…with threats that have no grounding in reality?”[2] Latson maintains the answer to that question is:
“Studies show that conspiracy theories tend to snowball during times of crisis, when fear is rampant and clear explanations are in short supply. They appeal in part because they offer a straightforward narrative and someone to blame.”[3] (emphasis mine)
Those “times of crisis” do not have to real, only perceived as such in order for us to begin seriously considering a conspiracy theory.
Conspiracy Theories Can Thrive in Uncertain Times
Social psychologist Sander van der Linden (who researches conspiracies at Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Lab) expands on this premise:
“You see this kind of boom in conspiracies whenever there’s political or social unrest throughout history. A lot of conspiracies detract from scary themes in the world. Climate change, coronavirus. It’s just another way to deny reality and having to think about your own fragility in the world. It’s an escape for people who are not so tolerant of uncertainty.”[4] (emphasis mine)
Conspiracy theories can provide a person a “belief framework, even if it’s a negative one.”[5] Ben Radford, a folklorist and psychologist with the Center for Inquiry (which studies conspiracies and hoaxes), puts it this way: “…It tells people the world isn’t random. The world is going to hell, but there is some master plan. People take comfort in that, in a sort of perverse way.”[6] According to Vox’s Aja Romano, this belief framework has an “epistemic benefit” that provides “order” and “understanding” to the person’s mind. The epistemic benefit is especially important, given the rise in polarization across the ideological spectrum. Vox’s David Roberts has called this trend “…’tribal epistemology’ in which “information is evaluated based not on conformity to common standards of evidence”, but on whether your community or “tribe” advocates for it.”[7]
Conspiracy Theories Can Make Us Feel We Belong
There are two other benefits for the individual stemming from belief in conspiracy theories. There is an “existential benefit”- the conspiracy theory believed in distracts one from facing their fears during periods of social and political turmoil. There is also a “social benefit”. The conspiracy theory provides a person with a “community of similarly disaffected thinkers who can validate one another’s anxieties and shared worldview.”[8] These benefits accruing to someone with a conspiracy mindset become what Romano calls “self-reinforcing belief systems”, which helps fuel these conspiracy theories’ rapid-fire spread, particularly political ones. [9]
Conspiracy theories also have an “emotional byproduct” in that they can create a feeling in the audience that they have “arrived at profound new realization about the world on their own”. As van der Linden puts it: “…they think they’re thinking more critically, when in fact they’re thinking less critically.”[10] But, as Romano explains, the person’s conspiratorial thinking does not stop there. “Once someone has accepted one far-fetched conspiracy theory, it often becomes easier to accept others. Even in cases where two conspiracy theories contradict each other, many conspiracy advocates will believe both of them- because they’ve found an even deeper rationale to explain the inconsistencies. This is the genesis of what Romano calls a “conspiratorial worldview”- one in which there are many conspiracies in the world at once or one vast conspiracy that runs the entire world.[11] “And before you know it,” said van der Linden, “they’re wrapped up in this worldview where everything is a conspiracy.”[12]
Conspiracy Theories Can Govern Our Entire Life
Conspiracies can absorb even deeper into a person’s mindset, as Romano notes: “Many people who believe in conspiracy theories often don’t just accept the theory as truth- they allow it to influence their entire life.”[13] As one that studies conspiracies and their believers, van der Linden states, “…We sometimes refer to [conspiratorial groupthink] as a quasi-religious worldview. It’s not religion, because it’s not institutionalized, but it has all the features of extreme religious groups.”[14] Conspiracy can affect families when they reach this stage explains Romano: “One quasi-religious trait is how conspiracy theories seem to rapidly change the lives and relationships of their advocates. Across the US, families and friendships are increasingly becoming divided over QAnon or similar conspiracy theories”[15]
The “Promise” of Conspiracy Theories- Control
Proportionality of the conspiracy to the particular event that seems out of control produces another element of conspiracy receptiveness to emerge for an individual- control. Imhoff explains further that: “Conspiracy theories make a very tempting promise: Just stop the villain and you get your life back. That’s what we all want.”[16] Latson adds a note of caution about ascribing an individual’s conspiracy theory receptiveness solely to crises. In other words, conspiracy theories do not need only a crisis to germinate and spread. This is due to a mindset some people have called the “conspiracy mentality”. This “conspiracy mentality” correlates “…with particular personality traits, including low levels of trust and an increased need for closure, along with feelings of powerlessness, low self-esteem, paranoid thinking, and a need to feel unique.”[17] (emphasis mine)
Fear, a need for control, wanting clear, easy answers to events that seem out of control (and are actually complex), the desire to find someone or a group to blame, as well as the fact that many of us have personality traits that make us more receptive to conspiracy theories- all these are elements that influence an individual’s willingness to embrace a conspiracy theory. But, there is one more factor, one that can make the conspiracy theory quite dangerous, especially in an election or in a pandemic- mistrust.
Conspiracy Theories’ and Trust
External forces such as racial and social inequity, which erode our trust in authority figures can, according to Latson, serve as a catalyst for conspiracy theories. In making this argument, Latson quotes UCLA psychiatrist Joseph Pierre who says: “Most ‘conspiracy theorists’ aren’t theorizing so much as they’re looking for answers and finding ones that resonate with the mistrust that got them searching in the first place.”[18] Therein lies what is perhaps the greatest danger of a conspiracy theory. As Latson contends, people with a conspiracy mindset mistrust nearly everyone, especially experts. During a pandemic or an election, this a recipe for major societal problems that only confirms the conspiracy theorist’s mindset as it leads “…to an erosion of credibility that puts scientists on the same level as someone who just posted a video on YouTube.”[19] Commenting on the dangerous criticality of the conspiracy theorist’s mistrust, Imhoff says:
“If I trust the scientist and you trust the guy on YouTube, there’s no common ground between us. And having a shared understanding of reality is essential to society. Without it, there is no truth anymore. That’s a huge danger.”[20]
Conspiracy + Fear + Feeling Loss of Control + Mistrust = Possible Violence
Latson expands on this dangerous mistrust even further, saying that conspiracy thinking is correlated “with a tendency toward violent thoughts and fantasies, and to some degree, with real violence.”[21] She quotes Joseph Uscinski, a University of Miami political scientist who found that people “…who were generally inclined to believe in conspiracy theories were twice as likely as nonbelievers to agree that violence was an acceptable form of political protest.”[22]
If the reader needs proof of conspiracy theorists’ willingness to use violence for political protest, look no farther than QAnon. Writing for The Washington Post, Drew Harwell et al wrote that the January 6th insurrection “…illustrated how the paranoid conspiracy theory QAnon has radicalized Americans, reshaped the Republican Party and gained a forceful grip on right-wing belief…QAnon’s prominence at the Capitol raid shows how powerful the conspiracy theory has become and how quickly it has established a life of its own.”[23] One of QAnon’s central tenets of a pending “storm” (i.e., a Trump induced civil uprising), occurred on January 6, 2021. Harwell points out that there were plenty of QAnon “devotees” at the January 6th insurrection who “…joined with extremist group members and white supremacists at the Capitol after finding one another on Internet sanctuaries.”
Misinformation and a Leader’s Endorsement- the Fuel of Conspiracy Theories
“Modern misinformation” allows conspiracy theories to flourish, as Romano observed earlier. Today, with our technological misinformation pipeline, conspiracy theories do not just exist, they thrive, flourish, and are profitable- financially and otherwise. Among the most famous of the “for profit” spreaders of conspiracy theories is the host of the far-right alarmist show, Infowars, Alex Jones. There are many others, including Teal Swan and Dave Hayes.[24] In terms of “political profitability”, former President Donald Trump leads the way in terms of someone who has profited politically from conspiracy theories and social media, says Romano.[25]
Radford adds, “Like him or hate him, Trump has used and benefited from and promoted conspiracy theories in a way no other president has.”[26] According to Romano, “Researchers have found that when Trump publicly endorses a belief, his followers become more likely to support it, regardless of whether or not it is supported.”[27]
Conspiracy Theories Distract Us From Democracy
Even though social media misinformation fueled conspiracy theories are dangerous due to their attractiveness to those who may be willing to make their political protest becoming violent, that is not the only danger they represent to our nation’s democracy. There are two more dangers associated with conspiracy theories that, arguably, are equally as dangerous to democracy as physical violence. First are the damage conspiracy theories can do to a citizen’s personal view of democracy. On that point, Gerson believes conspiracy theories:
“…distract from other important issues. Conspiracy theories can encourage cynicism and apathy about the political enterprise. They can undermine democratic dialogue. And conspiracy theories can undermine a belief in truth itself. They elevate the arguments that serve your side, no matter how absurd or destructive they become. They honor what is useful above what is real and right.”[28] (emphasis mine)
Second, and based on recent events, conspiracy theories are dangerous to a democracy due to how easily authoritarian leaders use them to sow societal unrest. The conspiracy theory can be used to get an individual’s to pursue their own interests at all costs without any consideration for what is in the best interests of the greater good for all Americans. Kendzior quotes Hofstadter in making this extremely concerning observation:
“In a populistic culture like ours, which seems to lack a responsible elite with political and moral autonomy, and in which it is possible to exploit the wildest currents of public sentiment for private purposes, it is at least conceivable that a highly organized, vocal, active, and well-financed minority could create a political climate in which the rational pursuit of our well-being and safety would become impossible.”[29] (emphasis mine)
Yet again, Hofstadter, writing these words over fifty years ago, seems almost prescient.
The Pleasures of Conspiracy Theories
There is one more reason we Americans need to understand the power of conspiracy theories to shape our involvement in our democracy. It is the power and personal hold that a conspiracy theory can have on our individual psyche because the conspiracy is providing us with pleasure and satisfaction. It is a personal pleasure or satisfaction (or both) derived from the clarity regarding our world or a certain aspect of it that we have not been able to gain any other way. The pleasure of that “perception” is based on our newly acquired perspective or a new insight we believe we have gained from the conspiracy theory. For that reason, it is not something we wish to release or let go of easily. This is why facts that dispel a conspiracy theory do not matter for many people, and will not convince them to let go of their belief in it.[30]
The Conspiracy Mindset Pattern Begins to Emerge
A pattern of common elements that motivate individuals to absorb conspiracy theories emotionally and intellectually as being real now begin to emerge- fear of a real or perceived crisis or turmoil that seems out of control, as well as our human tendency to want clear answers about current circumstances. Plus, we have a need to blame somebody or some group. Certainly, a worldwide pandemic is “…particularly fertile breeding ground for such thinking”[31], says Roland Imhoff, a social psychologist at Germany’s Johannes Gutenberg University. According to Imhoff, “…in the
face of pandemic-level panic, our minds have a tendency to seek explanations that match the intensity of our feelings.”[32] He elaborates:
“To say that the whole world has come to a halt because a teeny-weeny virus jumped from a bat to another animal and then to a guy in a Chinese market seems too insignificant an explanation. But a conspiracy theory that has thousands of people in cahoots? That seems proportional.”[33] (emphasis mine)
Is There a Conspiracy Theory Most Damaging to Our Democracy?
Even acknowledging the apparent power of the pleasure and satisfaction that conspiracies can have over an individual, make no mistake- the embracement of conspiracy theories, not only by many Americans, but by oligarchs at the highest level of our government, has put our democracy in its greatest jeopardy since the Civil War. And yet, the reader may not realize it, there is one type of conspiracy theory that is proving to be the most damaging of all to our democracy. Stay tuned, we will examine that next…
We will continue exploring topics like this gone that are not given near enough time and emphasis in our civic education efforts, if they are even taught at all. Democracy is so important. But it’s hard to keep, and it’s easy to lose. It’s up to us, and only us, to protect it. Support democracy, become a Democratist! Spread the word!
[1] Fantasyland, How America Went Haywire: A 500 Year History, by Kurt Andersen, pp. 480, Copyright 2017, Random House, New York, New York.
[2] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/202011/the-mind-conspiracy-theorist
[3] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[4] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[5] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[6] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[7] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[8] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[9] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[10] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[11] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[12] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[13] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[14] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[15] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[16] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies in Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[17] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies in Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[18] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies in Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[19] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[20] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[21] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[22] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[23] “QAnon Reshaped Trump’s Party and Radicalized Believers. The Capital Siege May Just Be the Start”, by Drew Harwell, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Razzan Nakhlawi, and Craig Timberg, The Washington Post, January 13, 2021, at 11:00a.m. EST, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/13/qanon-capitol-siege-trump/
[24] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[25] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[26] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[27] “Conspiracy Theories, Explained, by Aja Romano, Vox, November 18, 2020, 8:00am EST, Ibid
[28] “Spreading Conspiracy Theories Undermines Belief in Truth Itself”, by Michael Gerson, Daily Herald, Northwest Suburbs Edition, August 13, 2019,
[29] Hiding In Plain Sight, The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, by Sarah Kendzior, pg. 186, Ibid and The Paranoid Style in American Politics, by Richard Hofstadter, pg. 65, New York: Random House, 1964
[30] “The Intoxicating Pleasure of Conspiratorial Thinking”, by Virginia Heffernan, Wired, April 25, 2022, https://www.wired.com/story/conspratorial-thinking-qanon-beliefs
[31] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies In Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[32] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies in Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid
[33] “The Mind of a Conspiracy Theorist, Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracies in Times of Crisis?”, by Jennifer Latson, Psychology Today, November 3, 2020, Ibid