Cuanon Is an Example of a Community of Conspiracy Theories

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The number of conspiracy theories in circulation and the number of people who believe in them are both about the same they've always been. But what is new is the internet, which has returned con piracy theories to the main stage of public discourse during a time when public discourse is undergoing a revolution. People locked in this distrust community will go looking for sources that better firm their attitudes and beliefs. If those sources betray them in some way, they will go further and further into the fringe until they have abandoned the sources that other people trust for information.

When we talk about conspiracy theories we tend to focus on what people believe instead of why, and, more importantly, why they believe those things and not other things. In this episode, we sit down with two psychologists working to change that, and in addition, change the term itself from conspiracy theory to conspiracy narrative, which more accurately describes what makes any one conspiracy appealing enough to form a community around it and in rare cases result in collective action.