Conspiracy belief stems from universal human meaning-making rather than outsider pathology

Evidence

Over and over, I found that the people involved in conspiracy communities weren’t necessarily some mysterious “other.” We’re all prone to believing half-truths, forming connections where there are none to be found, finding importance in political and social events that may not have much significance at all. That’s part of how human beings work, how we make meaning, particularly in the United States today, now, at the start of a strange and unlikely century. … Still: we are the suspicious and the conspiracists are us, and there are more of us all the time. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 32

To understand why people believe things that are at odds with all provable truths is to understand how we form our views about the world and the resultant world we have made together. The riotous profusion of conspiracy theories in America shows us something about being American, even about being human—about the decisions we make in interpreting the complexities of our surroundings. Over and over, I found that the people involved in conspiracy communities weren’t necessarily some mysterious “other.” We’re all prone to believing half-truths, forming connections where there are none to be found, finding importance in political and social events that may not have much significance at all. That’s part of how human beings work, how we make meaning, particularly in the United States today, now, at the start of a strange and unlikely century. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 32

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the ‘not some mysterious other’ framework found in other writing on how we demonize out-groups — relates to the reader’s interest in dismantling victim/scapegoat dynamics. — connects to: Conspiracy functions as an alternative epistemology when interpretation has no ground truth — , The Braided Reading EPUB: 5-Year…, 105; Conspiracy beliefs erode democratic participation and breed extremism — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 287; Conspiracy theories convert vague existential dread into manageable concrete fear — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice: How to Communicate…, 702 (+15 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 32

Broader Connections

• Conspiracy functions as an alternative epistemology when interpretation has no ground truth #corroborates (0.88) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 105
• Conspiracy theories convert vague existential dread into manageable concrete fear #expands (0.85) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 702
• Unofficial social admission barriers breed outsider belief in hidden conspiracies. #expands (0.78)
• Conspiracy theories usually aim to name an enemy, not to build a coherent story. #qualifies (0.75) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 64
• Conspiracy beliefs erode democratic participation and breed extremism #complicates (0.72) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 287
• Conspiracy worldviews corrode the shared trust reality depends on. #complicates (0.72) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 137