Module VIII·Article II·~2 min read
Conspiratorial Myths: Structure and Function
Mythology of the 21st Century: Digital Gods and Network Legends
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What Conspiracism and Myth Have in Common
Conspiracy theories are not a pathology of outcasts. They use the same cognitive mechanisms as myths: the search for hidden forces explaining surface chaos; personification of evil (secret elites, reptilians, the “deep state”); a narrative about knowledge inaccessible to the majority.
Umberto Eco (“Foucault’s Pendulum”, essays on conspiracism) analyzed: conspiratorial thinking relies on “narrative thinking”, which seeks connections between events. This is the same thinking that created myths—just applied to political reality without critical scrutiny.
The “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is a forged document created by the Russian okhrana in 1903. Hitler read and quoted it. Millions believed. This demonstrates the real danger of conspiratorial myths: they can mobilize real violence.
The Cognitive Basis of Conspiracism
Apophenia is the tendency to see patterns where there are none. This is not a mental disorder—it is a basic cognitive function. Evolutionarily, it is advantageous to see a “lion in the bushes” even if it is just the wind. The “false lion” error is cheaper than the error of missing a real lion.
Conspiratorial thinking is apophenia applied to social events. Major events (9/11 attacks, Kennedy assassination, COVID pandemic) do not seem explainable by “random” causes—such events must have “big” causes. The “disproportionality error”—we look for a cause commensurate with the consequence.
Psychological functions: conspiracism gives a sense of control (if I know the “real” causes, I control the situation), a special identity (I am one of the “awakened”), social belonging (a community of the “knowing”).
How to Counter Conspiratorial Thinking
Critical thinking against conspiracism: demand falsifiability (what evidence would convince you that you are wrong?), check sources, understand the difference between correlation and causation, apply “Occam’s razor” (the simplest explanation is preferable).
This does not mean that conspiracies do not exist. They do exist—Watergate, the CIA in Chile, corporate cover-ups of product dangers. Critical thinking is not a denial of all conspiracies, but the application of evidentiary standards.
Question for reflection: Recall a moment when you believed an explanation that later turned out to be false. What cognitive mechanisms made this explanation convincing? What helped you reconsider it?
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