People readily believe they alone have uncovered hidden conspiracy truths.

Evidence

We need not suppose hypocrisy, since the capacity for self-delusion is endless, and men are always prone to believe that they have discovered the esoteric truth that some conspiracy or other has kept hidden. If the attitude in the chansons was a deliberate lie, it was a successful one; and the fact that we can speak of the attitude of the chansons, as something well-marked and identifiable, distinct from other attitudes, is itself evidence that it was the achievement of a consistent liar. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1769

Categorization

• SEED: Mechanism for why conspiracy theories feel true to believers could anchor an essay on the psychology of religious/ethnic libel propagation.