EXTRA: Why Do We Believe Conspiracy Theories?
My guest appearance on Holy Post
We all believe conspiracy theories, at least from time to time.
Sometimes conspiracy theories even turn out to be true!
Yet, more and more today seem more and more prone to believing and advancing sinister, secretive explanations for the chaos of this crazy world. Social media makes it even easier to spread these stories--and that’s not always good.
Here’s my 10-minute (or so) stab at explaining what is at the bottom of our love for these stories. Thank you to Holy Post for the opportunity! Listen/watch here:
Well said! In the second chapter of 'Orthodoxy', titled "The Maniac" G. K. Chesterton points out that sanity involves accepting the messiness and uncertainty of life, that it is the unbalanced who seek out 'logical' explanations for everything. This long quote is especially pertinent:
'The madman's explanation of a thing is always complete, and often in a purely rational sense, satisfactory. Or, to speak more strictly, the insane explanation, if not conclusive, is at least unanswerable; this may be observed specially in the two or three most common kinds of madness. If a man says (for instance) that men have a conspiracy against him, you cannot dispute it except by saying that all the men deny they are conspirators; which is exactly what conspirators would do. His explanation covers the facts as much as yours... The lunatics's theory explains a large number of things, but it does not explain them in a large way. I mean that if you are I were dealing with a mind that was growing morbid, we should be chiefly concerned not so much to give it arguments as to give it air... suppose it were the case of a man who accused everybody of conspiring against him. If we could express our deepest feelings of protest and appeal against this obsession, I suppose we should say something like this: "Oh, I admit you have your case and have it by heart, and that many thing do fit into other things as you say. I admit that your explanations explains a great deal; but what a great deal it leaves out! Are there no stories in the world except yours; and are all men busy with your business?... But how much happier you would be if you only knew that these people cared nothing about you! How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it; if you could really look at other men with common curiosity and pleasure... You would begin to be interested in them, because they were not interested in you. You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theatre in which your own little plot is always being played and you would find yourself under a freer sky, in a street full of splendid strangers."'
Excellent! I saw the little snippet you posted on IG. I did not realize there was more. So good.