SMOKE, MIRRORS AND TINFOIL HATS
Where there’s smoke there’s fire…
We all saw it, either in person or on the news. Flames up to 30 metres high. The Skytower surrounded in a black haze. Firefighters blasting water from all angles. There’s no denying Auckland lost its collective shit when SkyCity’s (almost finished) Convention Centre went up in smoke.
Every TV channel, newspaper and Instagram story covered the ordeal – explained as a careless workplace accident involving some chill fella leaving a blowtorch on. But for those of us with a slew of suspicious Facebook “friends”, there was more to it. From insurance fraud and toxic cover ups, to smoke and mirror media storms, there were all sorts of theories thrown among the tinfoil hat community.
So how does one end up breaking away from the mainstream and buying into such seemingly outlandish tall tales?
The suspicious mind.
Conspiracy theory: a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot.
While the psychology under the tinfoil hat is complicated, researches have done their damndest to understand it and have found three drivers for such believers.
The first is epistemic, the need for understanding and consistency. The world can be confusing. So naturally, when we find a hole in the fabric of our truth, we seek to join the dots. Long mysterious clouds become ‘chemtrails’, poisoning the masses to keep us stupid. True or not, if there’s no acceptable explanation, we’ll find one.
Existential is the second driver – the need for control. We’re more likely to believe conspiracies if we’re anxious about the future. You see it all the time. No matter how many tragic shootings we hear about, the fear of a policed state and firearms being confiscated stops many from backing gun control laws. If threatened, we cling to anything that make us feel safe, snuggly and secure.
Finally, theorists buy into tall tales for social reasons. That classic ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality. These sorts of conspiracy theories make people feel better about themselves and their own social group. Secret societies and the elite are a common enemy to blame for the current state of the world. If things aren’t going your way, blame the Illuminati.
I’m not crazy. YOU’RE crazy.
Don’t get me wrong. Countless conspiracy theories have actually turned out to be true. The Dalai Lama really did work for the CIA. American scientists militarized the weather in the ‘70s. And we’re all on the same page about 9/11 by now, surely?
But there are way more out there that are too crazy to hold any truth. No matter the real story, it’s easier to change facts to match your beliefs, than change your beliefs to match the facts.
And even if facts aren’t forthcoming, is it really that far-fetched to believe some numpty left a lit blowtorch unattended?