Why do people believe conspiracy theories?

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

We have many threads here covering various conspiracy theories, but none asking why someone would believe in them.
As a qualifier, when I say "people" I'm not referring to lolcows. They believe conspiracy nonsense because they're either lunatics or complete morons. I'm referring to otherwise normal, everyday people who happen to believe that 9/11 was an inside job, the moon landing was faked, the Illuminati and/or the Bilderberg Group secretly rule the world, or anything that came out of Lyndon LaRouche's mouth.
Why would an otherwise normal person believe something usually associated with lunatics standing on street corners holding "The End is Near" signs?

 

[TFT-A9]

1. Occam's Razor and Hanlon's Razor are both largely ignored.
2. It's a very unique and pleasurable form of mental masturbation to think you've got some grand conspiracy all figured out and you're so much smarter than all the sheeple around you.
3. Every once in a great while those crazy fucking conspiracy theories turn out to be completely, unequivocally CORRECT.

 

[Marco Fucko]

All conspiracy theories are true, though.

 

[Denmark Mafia]

Because conspiracies exist since ancient times.

 

[Syaoran Li]

If I were to wager a guess, I'd say it's done out of a need to think the world is a lot more secure and controlled than it actually is, a sort of reassurance (or as @Homoerotic Cougar-kun would put it, mental masturbation)

Honestly, this probably would've been the main reason before the 2010's.

Plus, some people talk about conspiracies because they find it fun and interesting to research and follow as opposed to a thing they sincerely believe in. I'm a firm believer in Hanlon's Razor and Occam's Razor, but I'll admit conspiracy theories are morbidly fascinating.

However, I think the increasingly common phenomenon of normies believing in conspiracy theories or things that are a hallmark of conspiracies is because of how utterly batshit insane the world has become in the last decade or so.

It doesn't help that in the past five years, a lot of weird shit has happened that lend credence to the possibility of conspiracies in general, and then you have major events like Obamagate, the various Project Veritas leaks, the Finders documents, the mysteries and bizarre media coverage (or lack thereof) of the Las Vegas shooting, and the downfall of Jeffrey Epstein that revealed a lot of conspiracy theories were at least partly true or were at least not as far-fetched as it seems and had a basis in true events.

 

[Monika H.]

They have too much free time.

 

[Dick Justice]

I don't think this can really be fairly discussed because "conspiracy theory" has become a byword for "absurd and patently false tinfoil hat shit", a remarkably convenient and effective character assassination of opinions that may or may not actually be batshit insane.

Spoiler: obligatory xkcd from when xkcd was still good

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

If I were to wager a guess, I'd say it's done out of a need to think the world is a lot more secure and controlled than it actually is, and this probably would've been the main reason before the 2010's.

Plus, some people talk about conspiracies because they find it fun and interesting to research and follow as opposed to a thing they sincerely believe in.

However, I think the phenomenon of normies believing in conspiracy theories or things that are a hallmark of conspiracies is because of how utterly batshit insane the world has become in the last decade or so.

It doesn't help that in the past five years, a lot of weird shit has happened that lend credence to the possibility of conspiracies in general, and then you have major events like Obamagate, the various Project Veritas leaks, the Finders documents, the mysteries and bizarre media coverage (or lack thereof) of the Las Vegas shooting, and the downfall of Jeffrey Epstein that revealed a lot of conspiracy theories were at least partly true or were at least not as far-fetched as it seems and had a basis in true events.

And let's not forget all the conspiracies that have arisen from the Coronavirus outbreak, from China using it as a bio-weapon, the US or [insert other country here] having created it, end time theories involving either the bible or space or this being the start of the NWO even though government officials like Trump and Boris have both come close to getting it at this point. In most of these cases, I think it's either people profiting off the uncertanties of the times, or the nutjobs out there trying to spin a narrative that some people end up believing because of the lack of evidence to prove otherwise (this is especially true with anything involving China). Of course, most of these I've seen come from either tabloids, social media or 4chan and Reddit, none of which are exactly bastions of sanity to begin with.

As for a more generalized answer, I don't think i could give one. Everyone reacts to conspiracy theories differently and not everyone believes in the same ones. People need stories, and when the media isn't being transparent enough or no one is telling their sides of the story either accurately or at all. That leads to speculation, thus leading to conspiracies and theories based on them.

tr;dl: People are stupid and want answers, and fake answers are better than no answers.

 

[New Sun]

Because most people want a rational explanation to events that maybe could be attributed to a fifth column, being this a random, a government agency, a supranational entity, or just a small group of well connected people. Also, some of the aforementioned groups enjoy a status of complete media blackout. I mean, yes, some people know about groups like Bilderberg and there's a yearly chimpout whenever they gather. However, things like Le Cercle, Dutroux Affair, and many things that could fit the deep politics spectrum are largely avoided by the press. For more info visit wikispooks.

Also, while you might become aware of nasty and dreadful situations, humans love uncovering mysteries.

 

[Fascist Frederick]

Because people lie and sometimes it's really hard to tell which ones are lying and which ones are telling the truth.

 

[Woke Blue Muttlema]

Conspiracy theorists are for the most part the only people pointing out something, usually come to fields that have barely any cientific involvement and for the most part cannot be disproved easily.
Rate me whatever but the ones that persist the most are the ones that have a bit of truth in them.

 

[DumbDude42]

prior to snowden, people would call you a paranoid conspiracy theorist for worrying about intelligence agencies spying on you over the internet

also, in the past, governments have done some real crazy shit and gone to ridiculous lengths to cover it up.
see: COINTELPRO and MKULTRA in america
see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zersetzung in east germany

my point is: the idea that government will engage in conspiracy-like behavior to further its own agenda is not crazy or absurd. it has happened in the past, multiple times, across many different countries and types of government. believing that nothing like this could ever happen in the present is laughably naive.

 

[Equivocal_Iki]

Hey I know this is a little out there, but I think the NSA tracks everyone's activities and saves them in a database.

Also half of all conspiracy theories are used to discredit the other half.

 

[Fascist Frederick]

Because shit like this exists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods

Sure this one never happened. But it could have. And just think, if it had happened, it would be a "conspiracy theory" to believe that it was a false flag.

 

[HeyYou]

Because some of them turn out to be true. Every dumb stupid conspiracy about the CIA doing shady shit during the Cold War was true, for instance.

 

[Chonburi Flaps]

Each one that does turn out to be true just reinforces the beliefs of those that think they are real. Project Sunrise as an example. If people believed that and say, the moon landings being fake. Confirmation of one would (in their minds) automatically confirm the other.

 

[DecimatedFerret]

Because the world is wierd as shit and bizzare events that cant be easily explained happen all the time.

 

[CatParty]

People are stupid

 

[NIGGER ASS PEE POOPY RAPE]

the idea that a "free" country like America would lock everything down and force everyone to wear masks was a crazy conspiracy theory a few months ago.

 

[The Last Stand]

My favorite conspiracy theory of all time is that the Earth is flat.

Despite clear cut evidence that it's not.