Conspiracy theories have existed all over the world, throughout the ages. In ancient times, there were fanciful explanations, such as a Jew attracting the evil eye in Alexandria. Nazi ideologies fed on conspiracy theories.
Social media is a breeding ground for conspiracy theories. There are people who think the earth is flat, that the end of the world is coming, the anti-vaccine crowd. These are people who defy natural laws and simple observation. It is beyond comprehension. It’s tempting to make fun of them, to call them morons, which reinforces their idea that the world is against them and that they’d be better off sticking with like-minded people or resorting to drugs.
Yet there’s not much difference between conspiracy theories and the content of religions. Yet we don’t treat them in the same way. You don’t mock someone who says Jesus miraculously multiplied a small amount of food to feed a large crowd.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized need. He believed that science should take an interest in religious need. The hold of cults over humans was ridiculed by science. The supernatural explanation has been ridiculed. Research is needed to better understand why people need supernatural explanations. By killing God, people have been left in need.
Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences d’Abraham Maslow: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295816.Religions_Values_and_Peak_Experiences
He was ridiculed by the scientific community. Science stopped being interested in these questions.
In their lives, people feel at a loss because of terrible illness, crop failure, forest fires and so on. They have no control over the situation, and no faith in the natural world. Their hope is that something can bend the laws of nature and protect them.
According to Maslow, the human brain must be capable of taking action in the face of a terrible situation or obstacle. Conspiracy theories and religions enable us to act: we can pray, fight aliens, etc.
To fight conspiracy theories, we need to resume research into human brains and find out why we have this need for the supernatural. On the other hand, we need to reduce the number of people who feel they’ve reached their limit, who have lost hope. Having an entourage of friends and family helps to find solutions. We need to stop displacing people. We need more professionals to support people who are difficult to live with, so that they are less isolated. We need to improve education so that people are better able to find solutions or know where to look for them. We need to strengthen social security and social services to help them. It’s paradoxical that we no longer have any hope of living in a century in which science has provided so many solutions to problems that didn’t have any, and made so many social advances. In California, if you lose your job, you end up on the street. Life becomes hopeless. If there were unemployment insurance, people wouldn’t be so afraid.
It’s unethical to make fun of someone with a disability. It’s cruel to make fun of people who break down and believe in the supernatural, instead of helping them. It’s a disorder like any other. Let’s not forget that the number of suicides is on the rise.
Théories du complot, complotisme et conspirationnisme – CIC Info: https://cic-info.ch/informations-utiles/fiches-thematique/theories-du-complot-complotisme-et-conspirationnisme/
