Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories have been around since the beginning of time. We may, or may not, believe in superstitions and many stories that were designed to explain phenomenon that are not easily understood. Our governments don't always play these things straight either. If a narrative matches their agenda then they may be happy to let these ideas run their course. More recently there has been an attack on science, "facts" and media sources, with claims that they are not truthful. Maybe some of these attacks are fair as we gradually lose faith in what we believe to be true, or not. We know that social media spreads these ideas rapidly because of the algorithms that are designed to satisfy our particular needs. By default, if we want more information on a particular topic it will be fed to us. And 45% of people who believe Covid-19 deaths are being exaggerated by the authorities get a lot of their news on the virus from Facebook, more than twice the 19% of non-believers who say the same. 56% of people who believe that there's no hard evidence coronavirus exists get a lot of their information from Facebook, compared with 20% of those who reject the conspiracy theory. Sixty percent of those who believe there is a link between 5G and Covid-19 get a fair amount or great deal of their information on the virus from YouTube. There is a profile of conspiracy theorists or followers that shares these ideas prolifically. We need to understand this mindset and why some are more attracted to conspiracy than others.