There are so many wonderfully ludicrous conspiracy theories out there: the Moon landing was a hoax, Covid-19 is fake, 9/11 was an inside job, the Royal Family are lizards, the Earth is flat… It’s quite the smorgasbord of nonsense.

Conspiracy theorists are often people who haven’t had much opportunity to develop strong critical thinking skills. Though, to be fair, even clever people can end up believing utter rubbish. (We only need to look at religion to see how intelligence doesn’t always protect against daft ideas.)

Believers in conspiracies tend to have an inflated sense of their own insight. They love the feeling of being part of a special group who “really knows what’s going on.” Unfortunately, ignorance mixed with overconfidence is the perfect environment for wild, unsubstantiated beliefs to flourish.

Why are people drawn to this stuff? Mostly, it’s about wanting certainty. It’s oddly comforting to think there’s a clear (if implausible) explanation for everything, rather than facing up to uncertainty or the complexity of reality. Believing in secret plots gives a sense that, even if the world is out of your control, someone is in control, even if it’s the imaginary villains behind the curtain.

Conspiracies also offer belonging. People on the fringes of society often adopt these ideas as a way to boost self-esteem and feel part of an “enlightened” group, even if that enlightenment involves thinking 5G masts are out to get us.

It’s honestly depressing to see how this thinking spills over into serious issues like climate change or pandemics, where lives are at stake. During Covid, conspiracy nonsense was everywhere. People falling over themselves to show just how badly they misunderstood basic science. It would have been funny if it weren’t so dangerous.

And of course, in the conspiracy mindset, anyone or any evidence that contradicts the theory is automatically “part of the conspiracy.” It’s a perfect self-sealing loop: unfalsifiable and immune to reason. You can’t win an argument against a worldview that’s designed to make itself bulletproof to facts.