by WASHINGTON (AP) – Conspiracy theories have a long history.
People have always speculated about secret motives and plots as a way to understand their world and avoid danger.
These days, however, conspiracy theories and those who believe them seem to play a large role in politics and culture.
Republican Donald Trump he expanded conspiracy theories about climate change, elections, voting and crime, and showed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. His lies about his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden prompted the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, an event that quickly gave rise to his own conspiracy theories.
On the left, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has used conspiracy theories about vaccines to pay for his own campaign for the presidency this year.
Conspiracy theories are also profitable for those who stumble upon unfounded medical claims, investment proposals or fake news websites.
The Associated Press has examined the history of conspiracy theories in the United States.
Interviews with experts in technology, psychology and politics provide insight into why people choose to believe and spread conspiracy theories, and how those beliefs affect our mental health, politics and society.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest takeaways from the investigation:
A LONG HISTORY
Conspiracy theories exposed social tensions long before the American Revolution and the birth of US democracy.
Just as now, the early conspiracy theories reflected the popular concerns of the day. In the years immediately following the American Revolution, rumors and hoaxes swirled around dark plots by the Illuminati and the Freemasonry, suggesting that these secret organizations were trying to control the republic.
Similarly, modern-age conspiracy theories often reflect uncertainties about technology, immigration and government overreach. The stories about the UFO cover-up, microchips in vaccines or the September 11, 2001 attacks are all examples of being an inside job.
While the specific claims in many of these stories can be unpacked, the stories reflect concerns that are shared by millions of people.
“We are the stories we tell ourselves,” said John Llewellyn, a professor at Wake Forest University who studies conspiracy theories and why people believe what they believe.
WHY PEOPLE WANT
People are hungry for information that will help them protect themselves and help them make better decisions for the future. This information, along with personal experiences, upbringing and cultural perspectives, creates a worldview that helps people make sense of larger events and forces in their lives.
Disasters, elections, wars and even the results of sporting events can shake our perspective, and give us an explanation. Sometimes that means accepting the facts. But sometimes it is easier to accept another explanation.
Conspiracy theories can act as a shortcut to understanding. They fill in the gaps of understanding with speculation that often reveals more about the inner faith of the believer than the events themselves. Conspiracy theories suggesting that vaccines are being used to implant microchips in people, for example, reflect concerns about technology, medicine and government power.
With the internet, false claims and conspiracy theories can travel further and faster than ever before. Social media algorithms prioritize content that evokes strong emotions, such as anger and fear.
Facing the demons
The AP interviewed dozens of current and former conspiracy theorists to understand what led them to believe. They consistently said that conspiracy theories offered them a sense of power and control in a seemingly random and chaotic world.
“The pieces just didn’t fit,” said Melissa Sell, a conspiracy theorist from Pennsylvania who began to doubt the official narrative of history after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut.
They spoke of the growing lack of trust in democratic institutions and the media, and of a gnawing feeling that they were being ripped off. The world of online conspiracy theories provided answers, with a built-in community of like-minded people.
“I was suicidal before I got into conspiracy theories,” said Antonio Perez, a man from Hawaii who was obsessed with 9/11 conspiracy theories and QAnon until he decided they were interfering with his life. But when he first discovered other conspiracy theories online, he was very sorry. “It’s like: My God, I finally found my people!”
TURN IDEAS INTO ACTION
Polls show that almost half of Americans believe in a conspiracy theory and that those beliefs are almost always harmless. But when fringe views affect a person’s job or relationships, they can lead to social isolation. And when people put their conspiracy theory beliefs into action, it can lead to violence.
In recent years, conspiracy theorists have tried to shut down vaccination clinics, attacked election officials and committed murders they say were motivated by their faith. The January 6 riot is probably the most striking example of how conspiracy theories can lead to violence: Thousands of people who stormed the Capitol and fought with the police were caused by Trump’s election lies.
Such rapidly spreading disinformation fuels extremist groups and incites mistrust — a particular concern in a year of major elections in the US and other nations. Russia, China, Iran and other enemies of the US have worked to increase conspiracy theories as a way to further destabilize democracy. The ability of artificial intelligence to quickly create similar video and audio does not add to the challenge.
“I think the post-truth world may be a lot closer than we want to believe,” said AJ Nash, vice president of intelligence at ZeroFox, a cybersecurity firm that tracks disinformation. “What happens when nobody believes anything anymore?”
PROFIT ON THE TREE
As long as there have been conspiracy theories, people have tried to cash in on them. A century or more ago, peddlers went from town to town selling tonics and pills that they said could cure any problem. Today, sales happen online. Business is booming.
There are supplements that claim to reverse aging, bogus treatments for COVID-19, T-shirts, investment scams that claim a new financial order is just around the corner.
The AP took a hard look at conspiracy theories surrounding medbeds, which are futuristic-looking devices that believers believe can reverse aging and cure a long list of ailments. According to claims circulating online, the US military is hiding the technology from the public but that Trump, if he wins another term as president, will make it available for free. For people who are desperate for help with a medical condition, the claims can be too overwhelming to ignore.
“There have always been hucksters selling medicine, but I think it’s accelerating,” said Timothy Caulfield, a professor of health policy and law at the University of Alberta who studies medical ethics and fraud. “There are certain forces driving that: of course the internet and social media, and a lack of trust in traditional medicine, traditional science. Conspiracy theories are creating and fueling this lack of confidence.”
