Distrustful Minds. What Attracts Us to Conspiracy Theories

Everything is not as we are told: there is a hidden side to reality, a universe of secret plans and covert operations. This is a familiar way of thinking for people who tend to distrust official information. Thus, legends are born about how things were "really": about the filming of the Moon landing in a movie studio in Arizona and pharmaceutical lobbying, about genetically modified foods and the events of September 11, 2001, about the Egyptian pyramids, aliens, reptilians, political conspiracies, and a new world order. But it is not only uneducated people and marginal figures who believe in these tales—presidents and Nobel laureates are also powerless against conspiracy theories. Analyzing conspiracy theories and their consequences, Rob Brazerton, a leading expert on the psychology of conspiracy theories, does not try to discern where the truth lies and where fiction begins. He is interested in why conspiracy theories are so appealing to us, and he finds the explanation in human nature. And the journey into our inner world is more exciting than the most improbable stories of how the world works.