Earlier this year, completely unexpectedly, I got caught up in a social media episode that ended up with me being personally attacked. What happened to me is now old news and, like most fairy tales, there was a happy ending.
In a series of ripostes to my unpleasant experience I drafted several blogs on: Why can social media be toxic? (https://timboatswain.wixsite.com/website/post/why-can-social-media-be-toxic); No to Bullying (https://timboatswain.wixsite.com/website/post/no-to-bullying); and, now I think about it, one of my favourites, 'Idiots' - Cognitive Bias and Stupidity, (https://timboatswain.wixsite.com/website/post/idiots-cognitive-bias-and-stupidity).
Underlying the accusations made against me there were some bizarre ideas that fall into the category of conspiracy theories, which were subsequently exposed and demolished in the new local news magazine St Albans Times (https://stalbanstimes.co.uk/past-issues/ Issue 13, 27th April).
Back in April 2020, I wrote a piece about Conspiracy Theories and Evolutionary Psychology as a response to the wide range of conspiracy theories flying around about the Covid 19 pandemic. I thought I would revisit the topic because, out of the blue, I had become embroiled in conspiracy theories relating to St Albans and myself.
To recap, just what is a conspiracy theory, and are they on the rise? The nub of the thinking behind a conspiracy theory is a belief there is a group of people, usually a powerful sinister elite, or organisations, who are involved in secret, and harmful plots or cover-ups. There is often a perceived hidden agenda or purpose behind the powers that be's intentions or actions. The 'believers' in a conspiracy theory will advance an alternative narrative to the establishment's official explanation concerning both the motives and the version of events.
A cardinal element for believers in conspiracy theories is how 'the other' manipulates or suppresses information and is covertly working to deceive 'us' from understanding and preventing the exposure of the true malign goals behind the other's actions. Given the nature of politics, conspiracy theories are ripe in current affairs as there is often skepticism towards official explanations of a range of phenomena from specific happenings, like assassinations or terrorist attacks to more general events like natural disasters or extraterrestrials visiting the Planet. Examples of such conspiracy theories are the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, where it has been claimed that he was not killed by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone, but was the victim of a plot involving the CIA, the Mafia, or some other group; another favourite conspiracy theory relates to the secret society of the so-called Illuminati, a powerful elite who control the world through a variety of nefarious activities, such as orchestrating wars and revolutions.
Conspiracy theories can be harmful in all sorts of ways: by undermining trust in government, media, or the scientific community. They can lead to irrational behaviour, sometimes resulting in violence against those purported to be behind the conspiracy. The spread of disinformation can have a negative impact on society: for example, the ludicrous claim that Bill Gates was using the Covid vaccinations to inject people with microchips to control their behaviour. This led some people to refuse to get vaccinated which increased their risk of getting ill or even dying from the virus. There is also the danger of further damaging people who are already struggling with mental health problems, as conspiracy theories can reinforce negative thinking patterns, making it difficult to cope with stress and promoting paranoia.
On the other hand, it is also true that some conspiracy theories turn out to be correct. The Roman emperor Domitian (CE 81-96) was known for his paranoia and the ancient sources record the number of innocent people, who ended up being executed, falsely accused of plotting against him. However, he is also reported to have said, “No one believes in a conspiracy against an emperor until it has succeeded”, and, sure enough, he ended up being assassinated through a conspiracy. Perhaps the most notorious true modern political conspiracy is the Watergate Scandal which led to the resignation of the US President, Richard Nixon in 1974. It involved a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. The break-in was carried out by members of Nixon's re-election campaign, who were attempting to steal information about the rival Democrats. The term "Watergate" has become synonymous with any major political scandal, so the suffix "-gate" is now often added to a conspiracy or scandal to suggest that it is a major or significant event. The latest British happening to get 'gate' attached to it is Partygate, not so much a conspiracy but more a scandal when government officials held parties during the COVID-19 pandemic when such gatherings were banned. The scandal led to the resignation of several ministers, the toppling of Boris Johnson both first as Prime Minister and, now with the publishing of the report of the public inquiry, his resignation from Parliament.
Earlier on I asked the question, are conspiracy theories on the rise? The recent polls that have been conducted seem to suggest that people in the West do believe conspiracy theories are higher today than 20 years ago. Most academic surveys also suggest this is because of the role of social media in propagating conspiracy theories. The BBC's first-ever Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent, Marianna Spring, has stated, "Conspiracy theories have become normalised in the UK". As a consequence of her investigations into online hate, she can claim to be one of the most trolled people in Britain.
How worried should we be with this apparent proliferation of conspiracy theories? The historical evidence is that they have always been with us but now we live in a 'global village', there is much greater access to fake news and misinformation. There is an anthropological explanation as to what lies behind the generation of conspiracy theories: the theory suggests they are connected to the human tendency, or even need, to find meaning and understanding in random events. Not necessarily a reassuring explanation but one that does demonstrate that conspiracy theories are part of human nature. Thanks to modern media, however, we are bombarded with all sorts of information, which is often conflicting and disturbing. Conspiracy theories, therefore, can be emotionally helpful by providing a sense of knowledge, understanding and control in a world that is often unpredictable and chaotic: the arbitrary nature of life creates instability and loads of questions when we crave answers, even if they are nonsense!
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