{"id":3670,"date":"2020-04-11T20:50:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T00:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/?page_id=3670"},"modified":"2020-08-26T16:47:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T20:47:15","slug":"understanding-conspiracy-theories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/science-or-superstition\/chapter-4\/4-3\/understanding-conspiracy-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"&#128203; Understanding Conspiracy Theories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We tend to think of conspiracy theories as a modern phenomenon, a product of our hyper-connected world of social media and home video production. But conspiracy thinking has ancient roots and seems to be based on a set of automatic mental defense systems that get activated in times of great uncertainty and social stress. It is no wonder that in the midst of the current medical crisis we are all facing that conspiracy thinking would thrive. The first article here looks at this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"embedly-card\"><h4><a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/syndication\/2020\/04\/08\/why-pandemics-are-the-perfect-environment-for-conspiracy-theories-to-flourish-coronavirus\/\">Why conspiracy theories flourish during pandemics<\/a><\/h4><p>A bioengineered virus, a genetic mutation induced by 5G technology, a big pharma conspiracy, a plot single-handedly masterminded by Bill Gates or Georges Soros. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, conspiracy theories have spread like the virus itself. The whiff of the conspiracy that inevitably seems to trail pandemics is nothing new.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"\/\/cdn.embedly.com\/widgets\/platform.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In keeping with the widespread and deeply rooted nature of this mode of thinking, there are general patterns that conspiracy theories tend to exhibit. These are outlined in this short video from the BBC and in more depth in the last article which deals with the psychological patterns that are manifest in conspiracy thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"video\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/ideas\/videos\/three-ways-to-spot-a-conspiracy-theory\/p07j9sjk\/player\" width=\"500\" height=\"440\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"overflow: hidden\" allowfullscreen frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"embedly-card\"><h4><a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/technology\/2013\/11\/conspiracy-theory-psychology-people-who-claim-to-know-the-truth-about-jfk-ufos-and-9-11.html\">The Fascinating Psychology of Conspiracy Theories<\/a><\/h4><p>To believe that the U.S. government planned or deliberately allowed the 9\/11 attacks, you&#8217;d have to posit that President Bush intentionally sacrificed 3,000 Americans. To believe that explosives, not planes, brought down the buildings, you&#8217;d have to imagine an operation large enough to plant the devices without anyone getting caught.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/cdn.embedly.com\/widgets\/platform.js\" charset=\"UTF-8\"><\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We tend to think of conspiracy theories as a modern phenomenon, a product of our hyper-connected world of social media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":915,"menu_order":431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3670","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3670"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4672,"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3670\/revisions\/4672"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.6worlds.net\/science-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}