Conspiracy Theories
This week, I chatted with Rob, a man with a mission to get to the heart of the anomalous psychology of people who are at the mercy of conspiracy theories. This is an area of great interest and great overlap in a great many areas. As a student of History and Psychology, I find conspiracies everywhere; not just in space but in time.
Historically, conspiracies pop up all over the place. Nero used conspiracy theories about Christians in order to use them as a scapegoat for the fire which all but destroyed Rome; a conspiracy was invented and expanded upon in order for Pope Urban to convince the great and the good to stop fighting each other and instead make an armed pilgrimage, a Crusade as it was later known, to the Holy Land; Witches became the brunt of conspiracy theories and the ideas that these marginalised people, on the edges of society, were in some way in league with the devils and responsible for all the great horrors of society- a conspiracy theory given great weight by by eschatological underpinnings of the eras cosmology. The conspiracies of the Jews that Hitler believed in, and the conspiracies of the religious that drove many of the horrors of Stalin, could also be included. History is awash with conspiracy theories that have gotten out of hand, conspiracies that have led to great evils and terrors. One could even argue that wherever you see a great atrocity, you can find a conspiracy theory behind it.
Spatially, nothing has changed. Conspiracy theories still abound and still surround our culture. We are lucky in the west where most conspiracy theorists are dismissed as 'tin hat wearing lunatics' and generally laughed, but other parts of the world aren't so lucky.
Take certain parts of Africa, for example. Currently in the grip of one of the most terrify government sanctioned sets of conspiracies in history; be it the hunt for child witches or the persecution of homosexuals and those that harbour them. Almost all of these 'faith based' conspiracies that have become, or became, government sanctioned, lead to persecution and loss of life on a massive scale, be they secular or religious at their core.
Rob's work is desperately needed in a world where conspiracies can destroy whole civilisations and destroy human rights; where such theories can lead to demonisation and prejudicial out-grouping for nothing other than an dislike for the other, and a need for the in-group to increase its self esteem.
Rob's work is very interesting and long overdue. I can't wait until results start to appear.
