Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy Theories
"People, particularly those with authoritarian tendencies — on either the left or the right — desire simple explanations for complex phenomena that flatter their existing beliefs. And the darker the allegation, the more noble an ‘independent journalist’ or Facebook user can feel in their crusade against mainstream notions of truth.” David Neiwert [1]
A conspiracy theory is a belief that some effect, event or trend either did not happen in the way reported or as commonly understood, or that some powerful, covert and usually malevolent organization was responsible, or it didn't happen at all. Some conspiracy theories are true, but many turn out to be false.
A new book, ‘Escaping the Rabbit Hole’ (Sept 2018) argues that false conspiracy theories are a major problem for society: “They hurt society by distracting from the very real problems of corruption and decreasing genuine participation in democracy” and "they hurt individuals by affecting their life choices, like money, health, and social interactions." The book discusses the nature of the problem and why people get sucked in, and what pragmatic things can be done to help individuals escape the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.
Page Content
1 Classis Conspiracy Theories
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" Groucho Marx
Here are some classic examples of false conspiracy theories:
Holocaust Denial: Despite overwhelming evidence and an apology from Germany, revisionists claim that nearly 6 million Jews were not killed by Nazis during the Holocaust. Most do not deny that Jews were interned in prison camps; rather, they argue that the number of deaths was greatly exaggerated, and that those pictures of emaciated people and bodies stacked in piles were actually of Czechs, Poles and Germans who died of typhus (which was rampant in the camps).
Moon Landings Faked: It is claimed that the 1969 Moon landings, and those that followed, were faked by NASA. This is one of the most persistent conspiracy theories of the 20th century. This is despite substantial evidence to the contrary (including moon rocks brought back to Earth and manmade objects left on the moon). Some believe that Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey) was hired to produce the footage...
On the 50th anniversay of the Moon landing The Guardian
published an excellent review
of how the Moon Landing Conspiracy Theory started and how it evolved. As it said: "It took 400,000 Nasa employees and contractors to put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon... but only one man to spread the idea that it was all a hoax." The name of that man was Bill Kaysing...
You can also find many pieces online that explain what evidence there is for the Moon landing. Watch this short video.
JFK: Following the assassination of John F Kennedy, shot in Dallas in November 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and accused of the crime, but before he could stand trial he himself was shot dead. Official investigations failed to turn up evidence of a conspiracy, but theories implicating everyone from Jackie Kennedy to the KGB continue to circulate.
CIA & AIDS: Since the Center for Disease Control & Prevention
first reported incidences of HIV/AIDS in 1981, rumours have persisted that the deadly virus was created by the CIA to wipe out homosexuals and African Americans. Another theory is that the government deliberately injected gay men with the hepatitis-B virus during experiments in 1978. The prevailing view in the scientific community is that the HIV virus jumped from monkeys to humans some time during the 1930s.
9/11: There is a widespread belief that the hijacking of planes by al-Qaeda, to crash into the World Trade Center
and Pentagon
in September 2001, was 'an inside job', orchestrated by the US, possibly to secure the oil reserves in the Middle East. Almost 3,000 died. Another theory is that the building's owners were responsible for the event. (They stood to gain $500m from insurance.)
This conspiracy is also known as the 9/11 Truth Movement: adherents vehemently dispute the mainstream account of the attacks; many hold that, if government insiders didn't actually plan the attacks, they may have known they were imminent and did nothing to alert others or stop them. On Sept 11th 2019 Snopes
has published a useful list of theories.
The Great Replacement
is a far-right conspiracy theory
which states that the white Christian European population at large is being systematically replaced with non-European people, specifically Middle Eastern, North and Sub-Saharan African populations, through mass migration and demographic growth. It associates the presence of Muslims in France with potential danger and destruction of French culture and civilization.[2]
Gender Conspiracy: People who believe in the gender conspiracy theory
think that a gender ideology is a secret plot by powerful people to hurt their in-group – for example, the Catholic church. This is in fact how most conspiracy theories work. In line with this reasoning, academics and activists who emphasise that gender is not only a biological phenomenon, but also a psychological one, are seen as enemies of human nature.
Vaccination: The theory that the pharmaceutical industry mounted a cover-up of a link between vaccines and autism took hold with the publication a fraudulent paper by Andrew Wakefield in 1998. The resulting anti-vaccine movement must bear some blame for increased rates of infection and death from measles and other infectious diseases in the US, Germany, Romania and elsewhere. Another vaccine conspiracy theory is the common belief in Nigeria that the World Health Organization
added HIV or a sterilizing agent to polio vaccines. This has resulted in a decrease in vaccination and an increase in polio cases. [3] For a fascinating insight into the possible origins of the anti-vaxxer movement see below.
Global Warming / Cimate Change: Over a third of Americans (including Donald Trump) believe that man-made global warming is a hoax (Gallup, 2013). They allege that the science behind climate change has been invented or distorted for ideological or financial reasons. An article in The Conversation
convincingly debunks five of the main arguments often used. [See also the Global Climate Coalition]
QAnon: Followers of this conspiracy — sometimes referred to as ‘The Storm’ and ‘The Great Awakening’ — believe that a secret ‘deep state’ conspiracy is plotting against President Trump and his supporters. [Q is a reference to top-secret 'Q clearance'.] They have accused numerous Hollywood actors, politicians, and other high-ranking officials of engaging in an international child sex trafficking ring. [4]
2 Conspiracies About Religion
There have been many conspiracy theories about religion. Here are a few:
- Pope John Paul I was assassinated ─ he died just 33 days after being elected. The official cause of death is said to be a heart attack...
- Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children
- The Vatican is preparing for an alien invasion — it is alleged that UFOs were spotted during the Notre Dame fire, and that “aliens are now planning an attack on another cathedral!”
3 Real Conspiracies
"Given a handful of dots, our pattern-seeking brains can't resist trying to connect them… But [then] if you had claimed, in the early 1970s, that a hotel burglary was, in fact, a plot by White House officials to illegally spy on political rivals and ensure President Nixon's re-election, you might have been accused of conspiracy theorising." Rob Brotherton (Suspicious Minds)
Of course, not all conspiracies are false: politicians have regularly been caught conspiring with vested interests to help cover up covert activities abroad, or to bury embarrassing or illegal events at home, or perhaps to pass favourable legislation, approve investments, or whatever, in exchange for gaining political advantage or for campaign contributions or bribes.
Here are some classic examples:
- In 1953 the CIA staged ‘false flag’ operations to bring down the Iranian government;
- President Nixon tried to cover up his Administration’s involvement in the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Watergate and was forced to resign.
- In 1974 the CIA mounted an audacious $500 million plan ('Project Azorian') to retrieve a lost Russian nuclear submarine from 3 miles down in the Pacific. It put out a story that the recovery vessel, The Glomar Explorer, was going to collect mineral nodules. (The project failed when the lifting gear snapped.)
- The invasion of Iraq (in 2003) was justified on the basis of a ‘dodgy dossier’ that claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, and politicians on both sides of The Pond tried to cover up the fact that their 'evidence' was highly suspect.
4 Why Do So Many Believe Conspiracy Theories?
Recent research suggests that even highly rational people buy into conspiracy theories, and that they do this as a way of reacting to uncertainty and powerlessness. For an analysis of this and other psychological factors see Douglas et al.
Alex Jones & Info Wars
One of the masters of conspiracy theory is Alex Jones of InfoWars. In Sept 2018 the New York Times
published an exposé on Jones and his operation, entitled 'Conspiracy Theories Made Alex Jones Very Rich. They May Bring Him Down.' The article described how Jones uses often bizarre stories and claims to sell (mainly health and survival) products which raise millions of dollars for his secretive operation. The piece starts with a video
of Jones in action.
Amongst other claims, Jones denies the Sandy Hook School shooting, and says that 9/11 was an inside job...
The original anti-vaxxers
Gareth Williams has described some of the early factors that may have led to the development of sceptcism about vaccination. Writing in The Economist
[Aug 2019] he notes that: "Since the dawn of vaccination there has been a war of disinformation, propagated by both sides. The anti-vaccinationists have lied, bent statistics, invented scare stories and buried facts that undermine their case. They have committed crimes against medicine, science and humanity, and exposed millions to the dangers of preventable infections."
"The other side may be guilty of far less heinous crimes, but it is not blame-free. The evangelistic desire to spread the benefits of vaccines as widely as possible led pro-vaccinationists to play down the risks, giving fuel to arguments against vaccination. Jenner’s invention has saved countless lives, but the bloody-mindedness of him and his followers ended up creating a culture of mistrust that lingers to this day."
Professor Williams recalls that "one physician claimed that vaccination could transmit bovine traits: affected children bellowed, ran around on all fours and, if the medical artist could be believed, developed distinctly cow-like facial features. Astonishingly, the belief that vaccination could turn children into cattle took hold in England – a mass delusion that was lampooned by the cartoonist James Gillray."
5 Videos About Conspiracy Theories
Please Note: This section is under development.
Ross Kemp interviews Professor Quassim Cassam: Conspiracy Theories
Quassim Cassam is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. In his 'Conspiracy Theories' Prof Cassam argues that conspiracy theories are forms of propaganda and their function is to promote a political agenda. Although conspiracy theories are sometimes defended on the grounds that they uncover evidence of bad behaviour by political leaders, they do much more harm than good, with some resulting in the deaths of large numbers of people. [11 Feb 2021; 50:52 mins]
Three ways to spot a conspiracy theory
The list of conspiracy theories is endless. But why - and how - do they take root? There are three key ingredients to look out for.
[video; 31 July 2019; 5:01 mins]
The Parents Going To War With Anti-Vaxxers On Facebook
Anti-vaxx activists have used Facebook and other social platforms for years to spread misinformation about the so-called “dangers” of life-saving vaccines. But a new brand of pro-vaccination parents aren’t taking this lying down.
Around the country, they’re heading to Facebook to do battle with these ideas at their source, refuting myths and spreading scientific facts in online “echo chambers.” It’s not a fair fight. That’s because while most parents vaccinate their kids and move on, anti-vaxxers tend to be very vocal about their decision, and that plays out on Facebook. [video; 27 Nov 2019; 6:04 mins]
Coronavirus: How to talk about conspiracy theories
"Conspiracy theories have thrived during the pandemic. Maybe you even have a friend or relative who’s brought one up in conversation. How can you talk to them without starting an argument – or sending them further down the rabbit hole?
The BBC's specialist disinformation reporter Marianna Spring brought together a dad who got in touch with her about a coronavirus conspiracy theory and an expert in the field. They discussed fact and fiction, and demonstrated some tips on how to talk about conspiracy theories. [video; 14 Jul 2020; 4:38 mins]
Is there anything wrong with this page?
If you would like to comment on the content, style, or the choice or use of material on this page, please use the contact form. Thank you!
Notes
1 'Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to counteract the conspiracy theories that are killing us'
2 The Christchurch shooter entitled his manifesto, ‘The Great Replacement’ —taken from the 2012 book Le Grand Remplacement by Renaud Camus.
3 There may be rational and coherent arguments around the topic of vaccination safety, but that is not
the same as the activities and posts from some anti-vaxxers who view national and international vaccination programmes as a conspiracy on the part of Big Pharma.
4 This conspiracy appears to have started in October 2017 with a post on the anonymous, unmoderated imageboard 4chan
by someone using the handle 'Q'. According to Wikipedia, the theory has been widely characterized as baseless and evidence-free.
