Some people are habitual conspiracy thinkers – there’s a plan behind everything, and it’s usually malevolent. One scientist set out to understand who is likely to ascribe to these theories.
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Articles on Conspiracy theories
Displaying 1 - 20 of 62 articles
Ever since the philosopher Karl Popper popularised the expression in the 1950s, conspiracy theories have had a bad reputation. But is it justified?
The reverberations of JFK's assassination can still be felt to this day in the paranoid and racialised politics of the American right
New research shows how 'teleological thinking' means that conspiracists are more likely to also be creationists.
This is the real reason you believe in superstitions.
Conspiracy theories have always existed but the internet fuels them in new ways.
Family members of Sandy Hook victims sued media personality Alex Jones over his claims that the killings were a hoax they participated in. Current law makes their lawsuit unnecessarily hard to prove.
Conspiracy theorists have an à la carte attitude to data and trust, so what can scientists do about it?
Conspiracy theorists are commonly seen as fundamentally irrational, with an all-encompassing obsession. But new research suggests they may have quite different motivations, beliefs and attitudes.
Proof of time travel, false memories or a parallel universe? A look at the wacky world of the 'Mandela Effect'.
Some journalists have claimed that 'thousands' of documents which have gone missing at the National Archives are proof of 'history theft'. It's probably just old-fashioned incompetence.
Dealing with a co-worker or manager who says demonstrably false things can be a challenge, particularly at holiday office parties. Here's a guide to handle a colleague in denial.
Easy experiments that show the Earth is round.
In the minds of many, the assassination remains a tragedy cloaked in mystery. How does this lack of closure – and the general distrust it fomented – resonate in American culture and politics today?
It's been a good year for conspiracy theorists, so they say.
Intuition is just one of many factors that shape what you believe.
To succumb to conspiracy is to be human.
Rational arguments and myth busting often won't help you change the mind of a conspiracy theorist. But there are other ways.
Some people have objected to childhood vaccination since it was introduced in the late 1700s. And their reasons sound remarkably familiar to those of anti-vaxxers today.
They're not just about aliens and moon landings.
Top contributors
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Chair of Cognitive Psychology, University of Bristol
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Lecturer in Critical Thinking, Curriculum Director–UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland
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Professor of Organisation Studies, University of Bristol
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Reader in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Cognitive and Parapsychology, Manchester Metropolitan University
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Research Assistant Professor, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University
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Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University
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Associate Professor of Communication, The Ohio State University
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Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University
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Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University
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Professor and Director of Doherty Epidemiology, University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Research Associate, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University
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Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry, University of Hull
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Lecturer in Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Sheffield
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Associate Professor and Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology
