The HBS hosts discuss conspiracy theories and what motivates people to believe in them. 

The word “conspiracy” derives from the Latin con- (“with” or “together”) and spirare (“to breathe”), and it seems like more and more people are breathing in the thin air of dubious explanations and bonding together over them. From Q-Anon to flat earthers to anti-vaxxers to climate change deniers to people convinced that a pedophilic, blood-drinking, sex-trafficking, deep state cabal is orchestrating our lives, conspiracy theories have captured the hearts and minds of many in the 21st C. United States. Is this new? Should we worry? And what really happened to Jeffrey Epstein?

Leigh M. Johnson take the lead in this episode’s conversation and, together with co-hosts Rick Lee and Charles Peterson, tries get to the bottom of what motivates people to believe in conspiracy theories. We take a brief tour through the history of conspiracy theories before getting to their benefits (making the world seem to make sense) and harms (too many to list), and then confronting the 800lb internet gorilla: QAnon. We also try to tease out the difference between believing in a conspiracy theory and “conspiratorial thinking,” and we consider what Thi Nguyen’s thoughts on echo chambers and epistemic bubbles might tell us about conspiracy theorists.

We also share the conspiracy theories that we (sorta) believe in!

Check out the links below to ideas, thinkers, and issues mentioned in this episode:

• A brief history of QAnon
• The excellent 6-part HBO documentary series Q: Into the Storm
• Talia Lavin on QAnon’s blood-drinking obsession: “QAnon, Blood Libel, and the Satanic Panic” (The New Republic, 2020)
• Moira Donegan on QAnon’s pedophilia obsession: “QAnon conspiracies believe in a vast pedophile ring. The truth is much sadder.” (The Guardian, 2020)
• Kevin Roose, “How ‘Save the Children’ Is Keeping Qanon Alive” (The New York Times, 2020)
• Greg Jaffe and Jose A. Del Real, “QAnon-induced conspiracies are tearing families apart” (The Washington Post, 2021)
• Melinda Wenner Moyner, “People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features” (Scientific American, 2019)
• Kevin Dolak, “How the Controversial Website 8chan Became Central to the QAnon Delusion” (Oxygen, 2021)
• Ian Hainowitz, “No One is Immune: The Spread of QAnon through Social Media and the Pandemic” (Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2021)
• C. Thi Nguyen, “Escape the echo chamber” (Aeon, 2018)
• C. Thi Nguyen, “Echo Chambers and Epistemic Bubbles” (Episteme, 2020)
• Josh Compton, “Inoculation theory in the post-truth era: Extant findings and new frontiers for contested science, and conspiracy theories” (Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2021)
• Major Garrett, “Capitol riot exposes reach of QAnon disinformation” (CBS News, 2021)
• The CRAP test for Evaluating Websites t
• Joshua J. McElwee, “Pope Francis suggests people have a moral obligation to take coronavirus vaccine” (National Catholic Reporter, 2021)
• President Nixon’s “The Great Silent Majority” speech (1969)
• William Paul Simmons and Sharon Parsons, “Belief in Conspiracy Theories among African-Americans: A Comparison of Elites and Masses” (Social Science Quarterly, 2005)
• Sean Illing, “If you want to understand the age of Trump, read the Frankfurt School” (Vox, 2019)
• Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks (1952)
• Jeff Rivers, “The NCAA must face up to its own corruption and fix its big-time sports problem” (The Undefeated, 2018)