Conspiratorial Thinking Part 1

when two or more things happen at roughly the same time purely by chance but seem to have a connection. 

• Coincidence

• Confirmation Bias

The tendency to perceive meaningful cause-and-effect patterns and other connections between unrelated events.

• Illusory Pattern Perception

• Institutional Cynicism

The idea that the simplest explanation is usually true

The belief that institutions like governments and corporations are always acting in dishonest ways and cannot be trusted. 

• Illusory pattern perception

• Institutional cynicism

Why do people seek out conspiracy theories?

• Comfort/Community/

  Confirmation Bias

• COINTELPRO/Coins/

  Comfort

• COVID-19/Conspiracy Videos/College Classes

• Conspiracy Videos/Confirmation Bias/Comfort

The process of having research evaluated by other experts in the same field to make sure its methodology and findings are accurate

• peer review

• superstition

The natural tendency of people to readily accept claims that agree with or reinforce their existing beliefs, and to find reasons to dismiss claims and evidence that contradict or complicate their beliefs in some way.

• Coincidence

• Confirmation Bias

Looking only for things in ways that are likely to confirm what you already want to believe or think is true and that will not typically result in information that conflicts with the belief you’re trying to prove.

• Motivated reasoning

• peer review

The desire to interpret events and information in a way that builds a stable, accurate and consistent way of understanding the world, even when those interpretations might actually not be true.

• Epistemic motivation

• Existential Motivation

The mental discomfort of having a deeply held belief challenged or drawn into question by contradictory information. People often respond to this by seeking out information to ease the discomfort — even if that information is false.

• Cognitive Biases

• Cognitive Dissonance