I thought I'd look for something explaining the insanity of the conspiracy theorist crowd after reading
this. Fortunately, I found this article from
Psychology Today yesterday. It's a compelling explanation and IMO spot-on.
For one thing, conspiracy theories help us cope with distressing events and make sense out of them. Conspiracies assure us that bad things don't just happen randomly. Conspiracies tell us that someone out there is accountable, however unwittingly or secretly or incomprehensibly, so it's possible to stop these people and punish them and in due course let everyone else re-establish control over their own lives. Conspiracies also remind us that we shouldn't blame ourselves for our predicaments; it's not our fault, it's them! In these ways, believing in conspiracies serves many of the same self-protective functions as scapegoating.
There's lots more in the article...
