I have recently read a few books about conspiracy theories in an attempt to understand why they are so prevalent and why people believe them – see here and here for reviews of this type of book. I listened to Rob Brotherton’s book Suspicious Minds on audio, read by Charles Constant, to see if he had any more answers than anyone else I have read.
The author looks at the history of conspiracy theories and considers why they can be dangerous to society, but the narrative is mainly about trying to discover why people buy into theories which are demonstrably false and why someone who believes one conspiracy theory is likely to believe others.
The author shows that there are a number of reasons why conspiracy theories are believed. His main point is that our minds believe certain things to be true and that we are unhappy when we can’t fit a big event or happening into that pattern. For example, he argues that people believe that Princess Diana was murdered because to die in a car crash isn’t a big enough event for such a notable woman. People are fearful of things beyond their control, and they want to understand what is happening, so they fit events into an existing way of thinking. He also argues that we are all guilty of conspiracy theory thinking to one degree or another.
This is an excellent book which doesn’t portray those who believe conspiracy theories as unhinged but shows how their circumstances, history and way of thinking can encourage them to embrace things which are demonstrably false. He uses a lot of conspiracy theories as examples but they are not included to show their defects but to illustrate how people think and why they might believe this.
This book will encourage you to think more clearly about what you believe and why you might hold those views. Sadly, it has no answers as to how conspiracy theories can be challenged and eradicated – presenting the facts to theorists will not work, and the author explains this. I thought that this was a useful and interesting book.
Anne Is Reading 