Failure to apply critical thinking skills, skepticism and false equivalency could be reasons people embrace conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories are nothing new and it’s not unusual for people to jump and embrace them during stressful times, like the current realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hot-button conspiracy theory taking hold during this crisis is a so-called “documentary” on YouTube, called “Plandemic.” It features an activist and controversial researcher, Judy Mikovits.

People often believe outlandish conspiracy theories in times of stress – and they do so to find a way to rationalize what feels out of control and what is happening in the world, writes Marshall Shepherd in a May 7 article in Forbes magazine.

He cited a 2019 study published in the “Journal of Personality,” which found that “belief in fake news is mostly driven by the inability to reject weak claims.”

Shepherd also referenced a 2015 study presented at the conference “Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on World Wide Web” that showed the spreading rate, probability to verify a hoax, gullibility and a person’s belief system are key factors in how quickly viral misinformation spreads on social media.

Shepherd outlines a few factors he has found that can play a role in the spread of conspiracy theories, after more than two decades as a scientist, testifying before Congress and monitoring social media.

Those factors were:

    •    Lack of or failure to apply critical thinking skills

    •    Dunning-Kruger Effect (overestimate of one’s knowledge of particular topics)

    •    Healthy skepticism because of previous events (See Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments)

    •    Sharing content without reading it and the inability to grasp the credibility of the source (Everything on the Internet is credible, right?)

    •    False equivalency. While healthy skepticism and careful thought should be always be given in science, many people mistakenly give equal weight to counter arguments when there is often a clear consensus on the other side.