Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A while ago, I made a video about illiteracy, and one of the comments on the video was that the opening statistics were incredibly depressing, even for me. *Ahem* 10% of Americans believe that the Earth is possibly flat. 12% of Americans believe that the US government is mandating fluorescent light bulbs because they make people easier to control. 35% of Americans believe that the FDA and the drug companies in America are sitting on the cure to cancer.
So what causes some people to be more susceptible to belief in conspiracy theories? There appear to be a number of cognitive, social, cultural, political, and historical factors involved. As ever, it's complicated. Here, I explore some of the scientific research on these factors.
Intro 00:00
Current Statistics 00:52
conspiracy or Conspiracy Theory? 01:45
When Conspiracy Theories are dangerous 06:22
Who is susceptible? 09:45
Economic/cultural factors 10:16
Evolutionary factors 10:40
Personality, cognition, group cohesion 12:43
Anxiety, lack of control 17:22
Pattern recognition 19:20
Conclusion 24:50
Patreon: patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: twitter.com/grockallschmidt
Sources:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9299316
npr.org/2014/06/04/318733298/more-americans-than-you-might-think-believe-in-conspiracy-theories
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6238178
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1368430221993907
arstechnica.com/health/2023/07/borax-is-the-new-tide-pods-and-poison-control-experts-are-facepalming
independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/vaccine-detox-borax-debunk-b1957263.html
pforlife.com/borax-conspiracy.html
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797612457686
books.google.com/books?id=nglaEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-87075-001
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103121001487
apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/06/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories
apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000392.pdf
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22001051
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886911001036
psypost.org/2022/04/people-who-endorse-conspiracy-theories-tend-to-be-more-religious-and-this-may-be-due-to-ideological-overlap-63020
psypost.org/2022/08/republicans-and-democrats-are-equally-susceptible-to-conspiracy-theories-study-finds-63630
scientificamerican.com/article/people-drawn-to-conspiracy-theories-share-a-cluster-of-psychological-features
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5900972
psychologistworld.com/superstition
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5900972
A while ago, I made a video about illiteracy, and one of the comments on the video was that the opening statistics were incredibly depressing, even for me. *Ahem* 10% of Americans believe that the Earth is possibly flat. 12% of Americans believe that the US government is mandating fluorescent light bulbs because they make people easier to control. 35% of Americans believe that the FDA and the drug companies in America are sitting on the cure to cancer.
So what causes some people to be more susceptible to belief in conspiracy theories? There appear to be a number of cognitive, social, cultural, political, and historical factors involved. As ever, it's complicated. Here, I explore some of the scientific research on these factors.
Intro 00:00
Current Statistics 00:52
conspiracy or Conspiracy Theory? 01:45
When Conspiracy Theories are dangerous 06:22
Who is susceptible? 09:45
Economic/cultural factors 10:16
Evolutionary factors 10:40
Personality, cognition, group cohesion 12:43
Anxiety, lack of control 17:22
Pattern recognition 19:20
Conclusion 24:50
Patreon: patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: twitter.com/grockallschmidt
Sources:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9299316
npr.org/2014/06/04/318733298/more-americans-than-you-might-think-believe-in-conspiracy-theories
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6238178
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1368430221993907
arstechnica.com/health/2023/07/borax-is-the-new-tide-pods-and-poison-control-experts-are-facepalming
independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/vaccine-detox-borax-debunk-b1957263.html
pforlife.com/borax-conspiracy.html
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797612457686
books.google.com/books?id=nglaEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-87075-001
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103121001487
apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/06/why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories
apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000392.pdf
sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22001051
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886911001036
psypost.org/2022/04/people-who-endorse-conspiracy-theories-tend-to-be-more-religious-and-this-may-be-due-to-ideological-overlap-63020
psypost.org/2022/08/republicans-and-democrats-are-equally-susceptible-to-conspiracy-theories-study-finds-63630
scientificamerican.com/article/people-drawn-to-conspiracy-theories-share-a-cluster-of-psychological-features
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5900972
psychologistworld.com/superstition
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5900972
