Belief in conspiracies and religious faith – one mode of thinking

What is it about?

Conspiracy theories are flourishing. The most successful are the QAnon-, Soros- and Bill Gates-conspiracy narratives. In fact, they are myths, and belief in them is indistinguishable from religious belief. Their narrative pattern can be traced back to the Revelation of John via the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. At the center is a transcendent power. Psychology and thinking are those of religious faith. The findings of neurobiology and psychobiology can reveal that the psychology of these myths follows our biological programs and that their thinking reflects our memory architecture. We possess two modes of thinking, an egocentric, irrational, emotion-guided mode and a cognitive, rational mode. Our thinking is always a mixture of both modes, with the mixing ratio depending on the degree of reflection of our consciousness and our emotional state. In religious faith, the first mode dominates.

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Why is it important?

In times of fantastic conspiracy "theories", the question comes up again and again: how can people believe such things? On the basis of the operating principles of human cognition it becomes understandable that irrational thinking is more "natural" than scientific thinking. In times of crisis, people yearn more for emotional balance than for reason. That is, what the belief in conspiracies but also religious faith offer.

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