recent psychological study revealed scientists were able to pinpoint the mindset that enables people to believe in bizarre and farfetched ideas.
Dr. Sebastian Dieguez of the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, explained that the same attitude that makes people believe in Creationism is one that causes people to believe Alex Jones’ conspiracy theories, The Independent reported.
French and Swiss scientists found a previously undiscovered link that conspiracy theorists are more likely to think “everything happens for a reason” and thus, things that happen are “meant to be.” The approach is one remarkably similar to the way creationists view the evolution of humans and animals.
“Although very different at first glance, both these belief systems are associated with a single and powerful cognitive bias named teleological thinking, which entails the perception of final causes and overriding purpose in naturally occurring events and entities,” said Dieguez.
Teleological thinking means someone will agree with something such as, “the sun rises to give us light” or “bees exist to ensure pollination.” It’s a way of thinking typical when children are learning about the world around them. Yet, some adults never grow out of it.
Scientists approached 150 students for interviews and compared it to data from a larger study of 1,250. It was there that they found the link between creationism and conspiracy theories.
“By drawing attention to the analogy between creationism and conspiracism, we hope to highlight one of the major flaws of conspiracy theories and therefore help people detect it, namely that they rely on teleological reasoning by ascribing a final cause and overriding purpose to world events,” said Dr. Dieguez.
Alex Jones is a peddler of such theories like all mass shootings are “false flags” and the infamous PizzaGate conspiracy that resulted in a man shooting up a local pizza parlor.
