An acquaintance of mine has warned me many times of impending doom and gloom. He warned, for instance, “On March 3rd, Biden will nationalize all the banks. You will lose all your money in Canada and the US.” March 3rd came and went. No such thing happened. John, (not his real name) assured me that the event had been postponed but would occur soon.

What I find puzzling, and in a way frightening, is that no matter how often such forecasts do not materialize, he never wavers in his beliefs and sources. John has never met a conspiracy claim he did not instantly subscribe to. He never questions their veracity or reliability and vigorously resists my doing so. Yet, he is a smart man, educated, and holds a good white-color job. When not plugging his most recent conspiracy theory, he appears and acts like the next person. Normal.

Conspiracy theories describe secret plots by powerful and malevolent groups. They share the conviction that information is being concealed from the majority of people to harm, impoverish, and subjugate them.

Conspiracy theories are widespread, can significantly affect people’s lives, and are largely driven by negative emotions. The profusion of sympathetic websites and the sheer number of credulous user posts dealing with a particular conspiracy topic reinforce the impression that a credible claim has been made. As Robert Caldini, puts it in his excellent book, Influence: Science and Practice, “we determine what is correct by finding out what other people think is correct.”

Conspiracy claims like Pizzagate, in 2016, when proponents claimed that Comet Ping Pong, a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., was a meeting ground for satanic ritual abuse, find a receptive audience with people who subscribe, often quite unconsciously, to nativism, racism, and xenophobia. They........

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