Conspiracy Theory

And we're back.... I have come across too many interesting ideas lately that I want to share, so I'm giving this another go.

I came across an editorial today that talked about people's propensity to believe in conspiracies. Sure, most of us are mostly rational - but we also believe in something bordering on the fringe. Conspiracies like Area 51, or mind control, theories about the Kennedy assassination, or that Jews control Hollywood abound. One of my favorites is in a vast right wing conspiracy led by George W. Bush. Now, I may not have been his biggest fan, but I doubt that. How could a man who sometimes struggled to put together a complete sentence have managed a vast conspiracy?

So the question I would like to propose is why millions of Americans, myself included, find ourselves drawn to these conspiracy-based stories and irrational beliefs, even when we know them for what they are?

According to Wikipedia, "Psychologists believe that the search for meaning is common in conspiracism... and may be powerful enough alone to lead to the first formulating of the idea. Once cognized, confirmation bias and avoidance of cognitive dissonance may reinforce the belief. In a context where a conspiracy theory has become popular within a social group, communal reinforcement may equally play a part."

I would like to add to that. I hypothesize that the reason conspiracy theories have such a hold over us is because they allow us to believe that someone else is in control. To be precise, if there is a secret society (such as the Masons, the Opus Dei from the Davinci Code, or even a secret branch of government) controlling everything from behind the scenes, then they are to blame when things go wrong.

It's not society's failings, it's theirs. It's not the elected government, it's the people running top secret projects that screwed up. If this is true, then we as a society do not have to take responsibility. I do not have to take responsibility.

And that is a much better reason to believe in conspiracies than just because it's a good plot line. It's also comforting to know that this mess isn't our fault.