Extreme cause-effect asymmetry in disasters breeds conspiracy theories

Evidence

It is scarcely surprising that an event as traumatic as September 11, amplifi ed as it was by the anthrax letters, should have given rise to talk of conspiracies. That propensity was increased by the apparent asymmetry between cause and effect in 9/11. That is, the effects were immense: great skyscrapers suddenly turned into rubble, thousands of people were killed without warning, citadels of business and government were suddenly made vulnerable. And yet the causes appeared minuscule: nineteen unknown men armed only with box cutters, from an organization that few Americans had ever heard of. The same lack of proportion between cause and effect had spawned conspiracy theories before, as when the drifter, Lee Harvey Oswald, assassinated a handsome, glamorous president at the height of his fame. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 880

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A compact theory of conspiracy-attraction — the visceral mismatch between nineteen men with box cutters and collapsing towers — that could organize thinking across many cases of conspiratorial cognition.
• XREF: connects to: The ‘everything is connected’ principle turns ordinary business links into conspiracy architecture — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 842; Conspiracy theories primarily assign blame rather than explain events — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 972; Over-elaborating a conspiracy produces an undefeatable adversary — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 1070 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Over-elaborating a conspiracy produces an undefeatable adversary #expands (0.72) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 1070
• Conspiracy prophecies are designed to feel inflated because their function is to spread panic #expands (0.72) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 750
• Conspiracy theories primarily assign blame rather than explain events #complicates (0.70) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 972