User:Elominius/Unhappy people tend to become conspiracy believers


 * Why do people believe into conspiracy theories?

The primary reason for believing into conspiracy theories is unhappiness and loneliness and unfulfillment in life.

Regardless of whether the theories are true or not, healthy and happy people have no reason to occupy themselves with conspiracies. They have no reason to browse political and conspiracy theory websites and get angry. Why would they? They have more enjoyable things to do, such as outdoor activities with friends. It's the people who feel that they have been hurt, it's the people with a sense of injustice who are likelier to perceive conspiracies.

From Wikipedia:Conspiracy_theory: The most consistently demonstrated characteristics of people who find conspiracy theories appealing are a feeling of alienation, unhappiness or dissatisfaction with their situation, an unconventional worldview, and a feeling of disempowerment.

Blaming external circumstances is the psychologically easy way out. The fault is not with oneself but "something outside ones control". Sure, people don't always get to decide their life circumstances (see Dealing with injustice), but blaming external forces is futile and doesn't help. It is like holding the fist at the sky out of anger for bad weather.

To someone who believes into an impending world takeover, wouldn't it be wise to enjoy life in the meantime instead of fretting so they will be able to think to themselves "at least I enjoyed the days before" if it actually happened?