Rising gas prices spark bizarre conspiracy about Biden and EVs
Don’t blame the Ukraine war, I guess
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili(show all)Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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Can such theories prove to be dangerous?
Conspiracy theories are as old as time.
According toKaren Douglas, professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, there are various psychological factors that motivate people to believe in such theories: the desire to know the truth, the need to have control over what’s happening, and the feeling of self-importance.
And what better way to achieve all that than to make connections between disparate events that the rest just don’t notice?
The danger lies in how conspiracy theories can now spread like wildfire. Professor Douglasexplainsthat while it’s uncertain that social media has caused an increase in the number of conspiracy theories floating around, they have changed the way people access this information, share it, and get consumed by it.
Naturally, everyone’s entitled to believe whatever they want — it’s a democratic principle, after all. The problem is when such deluded and (most importantly) ungrounded beliefs circulate on the web, and shift the focus from a real human tragedy to national politics.
