Why People Fall for Conspiracy Theories
An Anonymous Coward writes:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-people-fall-for-conspiracy-theories/
Think of a conspiracy theorist. How do they see the world? What stands out to them? What fades into the background? Now think of yourself. How does the way you see things differ? What is it about the way you think that has stopped you from falling down a rabbit hole?
Conspiracy theories have long been part of American life, but they feel more urgent than ever. Innocuous notions like whether the moon landing was a hoax feel like child's play compared to more impactful beliefs like whether vaccines are safe (they are) or the 2020 election was stolen (it wasn't). It can be easy to write off our conspiracy theorist friends and relatives as crackpots, but science shows things are far more nuanced than that. There are traits that likely prime people to be more prone to holding these beliefs, and you may find that when you take stock of these traits, you aren't far removed from your cousin who is convinced the world is run by lizard people.
[...] "It's not like most beliefs are arrived at through some sort of pure logic. The world is not a bunch of Spocks running around deducing everything," said Joseph Uscinski, a professor of political science at the University of Miami who has studied conspiracy theories. "It's just not how people operate."
[...] Every one of us has a brain that takes shortcuts, makes assumptions and works in irrational ways. The sooner we recognize that, and stop treating loved ones who have adopted conspiratorial beliefs as lost causes, the better we may be at curbing the beliefs that threaten our democracy and public health. We're all human after all. Well, except for the lizard people.
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