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this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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Explain Like I'm Five
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Conspiratorial thinking.
Many people are motivated by a need to feel superior to others, have a strong distrust of authority, and/or feel that acceptance of a belief system is a requirement of their internalized group identity.
I think it's a bit more nuanced than that. Conspiracies are real, they happen constantly. They're often right there out in the open, with paper trails and direct confirmation in interviews. They're just nuanced and not fun to think about
And here's one of my favorite: the government intentionally boosts dumb conspiracy theories so people will dismiss real ones
True - I think it's a combination of those personality traits, social pressures, and a desire to believe that leads to irrational conspiratorial/superstitious thinking.
They're afraid of a simple truth: they don't matter.
In the grand scheme of things, none of us do. Not even those "remembered" by history. A person is so much more than a name or the deeds they accomplished, but none of that will last beyond your death. Not for any of us.