“Trust the plan.”
In one of the most iconic photos from the attempted coup on the U.S. Capitol in January, one of the first men to breach security stands hands outstretched, mouth open in a shout. He’s wearing a t-shirt with an airbrushed American flag and eagle circled by the letter “Q,” the words “trust the plan” written across the chest.
This is a nod to Qanon, the far-right conspiracy group that believes, among other things, that there’s a satanic pedophile ring run by liberal elites. Cannibalism is happening too, because why not?
The slogan “trust the plan” refers to the fact that Qanon’s leader, an Internet troll calling himself Q, makes predictions about the world, and none of the major ones have come true. Q’s followers believe that that’s part of the plan.
How could you ever possibly argue with that? It’s insanity on a level that most of us can’t conceive of. If you have a leader making predictions that don’t come true, and his followers believe that’s part of the plan? No amount of facts/data/pleading/cajoling will ever convince them but they’re wrong. You’re the idiot because you don’t believe Hillary Clinton ate a baby’s face. You’re probably part of the conspiracy!
A friend and I were talking about Qanon a few weeks ago, and I said something to the effect of “it’s a shame Qanon takes so much attention away from actual pedophilia and sex trafficking.”
“That’s kind of the point though, isn’t it?” My friend replied. “For you to fight the real problem, you have to be able to see that it’s happening in your own backyard. Admitting that abuse is committed behind closed doors by trusted adults (some in your own community) is much less glamorous than imagining it’s all put together by a ring of villains.”
“Fighting sex abuse in your community is hard, and usually not glamorous. It’s much more fun and easy to see an international cabal of wrongdoers whom you can only fight by posting on Facebook than it is to try to stop people you know from abusing their children.”
Damn. That’s the heart of it, isn’t it? The world is much more fun if Santa Claus is real. It’s much more satisfying to believe that the government planned 9/11 than it is to think about a U.S. history of irresponsible foreign policy that culminated in angry people doing something horrible on domestic soil, after which we went to war for private oil interests.
So what is it that’s happening in a QAnon believer’s head? I wanted to go a little deeper, so I started reading and listening to the work of Karen Douglas, a researching psychologist at the University of Kent who’s been studying why conspiracies exert such a powerful hold on people’s minds. To make sure we’re on the same page, here’s Douglas’s working definition of a conspiracy theory:
“explanations for important events that involve secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups”
Without further ado, here are five things that might tempt someone into a conspiracy and keep them there.
An Unfulfilled Need for Uniqueness
One of the things that makes conspiracies so compelling is the fact that the information they offer is seen as privileged and secretive. It’s being “hushed up” by the elites, and only you and a select few others know the truth! Other people are “sheep.” People have a need to be unique, to show the world that they matter in their own way. If that need is not met, a conspiracy theory becomes very appealing. In a conspiracy, you and a chosen few others must save the world from the string-pulling deep state by posting on social media! Awesome. Much more fun than the drudgery of political action, like the sheep are doing.
The Need to Explain a Feeling of Powerlessness
Douglas’s research showed that people who feel powerless in their own lives are much more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. Why? Because it’s a way of explaining powerlessness away. Some big, shadowy puppet-string-pulling organization like the Illuminati easily explains why people feel powerless.
The fact that a few billionaires are openly controlling the world through money and special interest does not explain our feeling of general powerlessness nearly as well.
Epistemic Motives
We build up worldviews from the time we open our eyes to the day we die. We often see patterns where none exist, and we hold on to them. To question our beliefs is to question ourselves, and it’s easier for most of us to do mental gymnastics to avoid that fate.
The more mundane a true explanation for something is, the more complex the conspiracy has to be. Some conspiracies require degrees of cooperation and competence on the part of powerful people that are unimaginable when we look at our current governments, yet the conspiracies still thrive!
Take the flat earth conspiracy for example. If it were true, it would require most of the world’s powerful people and scientists and engineers and service network operators to be lying to us, for… For what? A conspiracy theorist can always fill in the gaps because continuing to keep the belief is what matters to them, not what’s true.
Existential Motives
We need to feel like we have some sense of agency over our lives, as individuals and as members of groups. If we feel anxious or unempowered, if we are missing a sense of control in our lives, a conspiracy theory can fill in the gaps.
Here’s the kicker though: conspiracies do nothing to boost a sense of control. Studies that have exposed people to conspiracies experimentally have shown that they suppress people’s feelings of autonomy and make people less likely to take action to reclaim their autonomy. People who believe conspiracy theories become less likely to participate in political processes, and less likely to put energy towards non-conspiracy organizations. Why would they? The whole world’s conspiring against them.
Social Motives
The desire to belong is one of the most powerfully ingrained human needs, so if your in-group believes something, you are much more likely to believe it as well. However, the research shows that it goes a step further. Conspiracy theories allow the person who believes them to see their in-group as moral and just and to foist the blame for their own problems on shadowy, evil forces beyond their control.
Your social standing in society matters as well. People on the losing side of elections are more likely to believe conspiracies. People who have low socioeconomic status are much more likely to believe conspiracy theories, something partly attributable to a lack of education.
Regardless of whether you’re in an at-risk group, we’re all susceptible to conspiracy thinking. To make sure that you’re not falling for these and adding to the noise, there are several steps you can take.
Make sure you’re getting your media from an unbiased source, preferably publically funded (not funded by advertising).
Sit down and do some very honest introspective journaling about what you want to believe. These are your pressure points. Be on the lookout for easy information that confirms what you believe in an uncomplicated way.
Don’t overconsume news. Be selective about your process. It’s better to follow charities on the frontlines of the issues you care about on social media than it is to let the news be blitzed into your face at any time of day.
Stay on the lookout for your biases. Always question why you believe something, and to go further, question why you want to believe something.
Be very, very wary of simple explanations for complex issues.
Share this post