Virus Thoughts: Why the COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory Continues

Providence, Rhode Island >> Daniel Roberts has not been vaccinated since he was 6 years old. There were no boosters or tetanus vaccinations. His parents taught him that inoculation was dangerous, and when the coronavirus arrived, they called it a hoax. According to them, the vaccine was a real threat.

So when a 29-year-old Tennessee man shot COVID-19 at his local Wal-Mart last month, it felt like an achievement. A break with his past.

“500,000 people have died in this country. It’s not a hoax,” Roberts said of a conspiracy theory accepted by family and friends. “I don’t know why I didn’t believe everything myself. I think I chose to believe the facts.”

Psychologists and false alarm experts say why pandemics create so many conspiracy theories and people avoid masks, social distances, and vaccines as the world struggles to break the grip of COVID-19. I am studying whether it became.

They see a link between COVID-19’s belief in falsehood and its reliance on social media as a source of news and information.

And they conclude that the COVID-19 conspiracy theory survives by providing a false sense of empowerment. By providing hidden or secret explanations, they give believers a sense of control in situations that would otherwise appear random or frightening.

The findings will affect not only the pandemic response, but also the next “infodemic” used to explain the misinformation crisis of COVID-19.

Former US surgeon General Richard Carmona, who served in the George W. Bush administration, said: “The mask will be a symbol of your political party. People say vaccines are useless. The average person is confused: who do I believe?”

According to a June Pew Research Center survey, about one in four Americans believe the pandemic was “definitely” or “probably” intentionally triggered. Other conspiracy theories focus on financial restrictions and vaccine safety. Increasingly, these unfounded claims are causing real-world problems.

In January, anti-vaccine activists were forced to close a vaccine clinic at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for a day. In Europe, dozens of cell towers have burned due to strange claims that 5G wireless signals are causing infections. Elsewhere, hundreds died after pharmacists destroyed vaccine doses, health care workers were attacked, and consumed toxins advertised as a cure. These are all due to the falsehood of COVID-19.

According to Helen Lee Bouygues, founder and president of the Paris-based Reboot Foundation, the most popular conspiracy theory helps explain unacceptably complex and noisy events. Is often. age.

Such theories often appear after important or horrific moments in history, such as the moon landing, the September 11th attack, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Extensive plots, including the CIA, mobs or others, are easy to digest.

John Cook, a cognitive scientist and conspiracy theorist at Monash University in Australia, said: “Random explanations like bats and the fresh market are not psychologically satisfying.”

Cook said that this motivation is so strong that people often believe in contradictory conspiracy theories. According to Roberts, for example, parents initially thought that COVID-19 was associated with the cell tower before determining that the virus was actually a hoax. He said the only explanation they didn’t enjoy was from a medical professional.

Distrust of science, institutions, and traditional news sources, as well as support for pseudoscience, is deeply linked to a stronger belief in conspiracy theory.

Confidence in U.S. institutions has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus, proposed bleach as a cure, and erroneously from leaders like President Donald Trump who undermined his administration’s own experts. Further impaired by the statement.

Analysis by Cornell University researchers has determined that Trump is the greatest driver of false coronavirus claims. Studies also show that conservatives are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and share false information about COVID-19.

Carmona said he was talking to a group of executives about the coronavirus when a man recently declared that the Chinese government and Democrats had caused a pandemic to hurt Mr. Trump’s reelection.

“We are really in trouble when people start believing in their facts and rejecting what the other side says,” he said.

Common distrust of American institutions has helped unite several groups behind the banner of the COVID-19 Conspiracy Theory. They are a far-right group upset by the blockade and Mask’s orders, anti-vaccine activists, and supporters of QAnon who believe that Trump is in a secret war against a powerful conspiracy of demon cannibalism. is included.

In addition to gaining insight into the COVID-19 conspiracy theory, researchers are thinking about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to talking to friends and family who have accepted unfounded claims.

And they are finding possible solutions to the wider problem of false information online. This includes stronger efforts by social media companies and new regulations.

Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms have long faced criticism that they allow false information to thrive. They are more proactive in responding to false information on COVID-19, suggesting that the platform can do more to curb false information on other topics such as climate change. Said Cook.

“It shows that it’s a matter of will, not innovation,” Cook said.

It may be more difficult to tackle the attraction of our species to conspiracy theories. Teaching critical thinking and media literacy at school is essential, according to experts, as the Internet grows only as a news source.

In recent years, a concept called inoculation theory has been attracting attention. This involves training people to think more critically about information using online games and tutorials.

An example: Researchers at the University of Cambridge are playing the online game Go Viral! is created. This teaches players to create their own misleading content.

Studies show that games increase resistance to false information online, but like many vaccines, the effect is temporary, and Cook says, “How do you give booster shots?” I’m wondering.

At some point, these games could be advertised or advertised in prizes before online videos as a way to regularly vaccinate the general public against false information. ..

“The real solution is education,” Bouygues said. “COVID has shown how dangerous false information and conspiracy theories are, and we have a lot to do.”