Student Research Guide SPQ25/ Dangers of Conspiratorial Thinking

• Conspiratorial thinking causes people to view the world with suspicion and attribute benign events to corrupt underground plots.
• Social media has increased the number and harm of conspiracy theories by promoting them more than facts and truth on their platforms and by offering monetization to their creators, giving them an incentive to disinform the public.
• Once they reach people on social media, they are also more likely to be relayed to them in echo chambers, causing a spiral of conspiratorial thinking.
• People tend to fall for them because of the small ways they are vulnerable (such as confirmation bias, patternicity, etc.) and how conspiratorial thinking offers solutions. 
• Conspiracy theories have become much more dangerous due to their burst in popularity, and the people who have been taken advantage of by that are now willing to fight for them.
• Conspiracy theories also often target institutions such as journalism, science, schools, or health organizations, making the very people who believe in them vulnerable.
• Conspiratorial thinking also largely targets minorities and vulnerable people, treating them as if they're the enemy or something to be feared.
• Conspiracy theories are difficult to debunk because people who believe in them may only think of it as trying to "conceal the truth" due to confirmation bias.

Some advice I would give to future researchers would be to be careful when finding sources outside of databases, as they are often influenced by conspiracy theories themselves. In my research, I came across a lot of webpages and sources that were defending or trying to prove conspiracies rather than talking about them as a whole. Though these were interesting to read to get an idea about the people who believed them, they didn't include any resources I could use for my research, as most of them were based on claims or simply theorizing. In contrast, the databases and scholarly websites (such as Google Scholar) had much more useful information discussing the psychology of conspiracies, their causes, and their harms.

In reflection, this topic was a little difficult to work with, as many of the resources online were conspiracy theories and not about conspiracy theories. However, I was able to find a lot of great evidence and takes on the subject which supported my claim. The most interesting part for me was learning about how a conspiracy theory can progress from something online to real-world violence. When a conspiracy gains even a small following online, it can become almost a cult of people who are willing to defend and fight for it, even when it's not backed by any evidence. It was very intriguing (and anxiety-inducing) to learn about. After investigating my topic closely, it changed from "how can we debunk conspiracies" to "how can we prevent them," because I think the real harm lies in the newer conspiracy theories coming out all the time. The theories surrounding the JFK assassination or the moon landing might be harmless today, but ones surrounding current issues, especially with social media, can bring a lot of danger. Now that I'm finished with my research, I am happy with what I was able to accomplish, and I feel much more prepared when facing claims online.

In conclusion, conspiracy theories have been covertly harming the public for decades, without being taken seriously by the government or media. The obvious solution for stopping them would be to prove them wrong and slow the spread of misinformation, but they are difficult to stop or debunk without backlash from the people who believe them. However, there are some ways we as a society could use to protect ourselves from their influence. To stop the spread of conspiracy theories, social media platforms should take accountability for the sharing of misinformation on their platforms. Employing protection such as fact-checking claims before they get out of hand could help immensely. Systems of education can also contribute by teaching media literacy and helping people understand how to recognize and avoid false information. Most importantly, preventing conspiracy theories starts with the individual. People can protect themselves from the influence of conspiracy theories by using some simple steps to ensure a claim is true. Before sharing on the internet, check the source of information, compare it to other evidence, and when in doubt, choose not to post. Conspiracy theories currently hold a lot of influence on the public with little to no protection, but by acknowledging the danger they present, it is possible to protect people and the public from their harm.