We Cannot be Negligent of the Dangers of Conspiracy Theories
On Sunday, Feb. 11, Kansas City Chiefs scored a stunning last minute victory against the San Francisco 49ers in a nail-biting match, winning Super Bowl LVIII in an event that became the most watched television event in American history, surpassing the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. As Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is now engaged in a highly publicized romantic relationship with pop icon Taylor Swift, this event also attracted many people who may not be usual football fans, making this game a record-breaking event.
However, it was perhaps exactly because of Swift’s relationship with Kelce, the game was plagued by a variety of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories even before the game began. Swift and Kelce have both inadvertently maligned certain people for their own reasons; Swift for endorsing Democrats and Kelce for supporting and promoting the COVID vaccine.
Starting in January, when the Chiefs became the finalist to the Super Bowl, Fox News host Jesse Watters showed a clip from 2019 NATO conference, where Swift’s name was cited as a influential celebrity, and claimed that this is evidence she has been used as an “asset” by the Pentagon’s “psy-op unit.” This claim spread like wildfire in the right-wing media ecosystem, where many hosts and commentators began to take this claim seriously and entered a state of fever pitch in late January, when prominent right-wing media figures claimed in unison that the game would be rigged in favor of the Chiefs, so that Swift can publicly use this occasion to endorse Biden for President in the 2024 election and sway the election to his favor, and that somehow this is coordinated between the White House, the Pentagon and the CIA.
After the Chiefs won the game in a last-minute surprise, the endorsement that certain people were waiting for did not happen; Taylor Swift celebrated the victory by kissing her boyfriend in front of cameras and made no mentions of any political candidates. This wouldn’t matter to the people spewing this misinformation, because they have already moved on to the next topic, such as the quickly debunked claim that the shooting of the Houston Lakewood Church was carried out by a transgender woman and her gender identity is related to the attack. The Taylor Swift psy-op allegations, however, has already been creating a deep impression to a large number of people; a Monmouth poll released on Wednesday revealed that nearly 1 in 5 people believe that the Super Bowl is rigged in the Chiefs’ favor, and these people are also largely believers in other baseless conspiracies.
In the swirling vortex of American politics and media, conspiracy theories amongst certain factions present a deeply troublesome spectacle. This dissonance from reality is not just a matter of ideological rifts but signifies a deeper, more systemic alienation from mainstream societal values and institutions, emblematic by the culture of grievance against anyone and anything that does not fit their narrative, resulting in further alienation from the normal society.
What is, by definition, a conspiracy theory? A conspiracy is a secret coordination by two or more actors, often referred to as a “cabal,” to achieve a certain outcome, and people believe such coordination is usually malevolent due to its secrecy and potential impact to public welfare. This belief would be inherently oppositional to accepted realities as those who believe in them attribute significant agency to a selected group without substantiated evidence. Throughout history, conspiracy theory beliefs are often used to attack or malign people sharing different identities; in the early 20th century, for example, a fabricated manual detailing “global Jewish domination” caused widespread anti-semitic attacks and pogroms across the Russian Empire.
In philosophical terms, human actions are attributed to specific actions and beliefs that are often driven by instinctual feelings and not rigid convictions. This instinct, in turn, can be exploited when those carrying specific interests exploit this instinct by shaping perceptions through emotionally charged, and usually negative associations, which often have a tenuous association with reality. Beliefs in conspiracy theories have also been explained under the grounds of political psychology, seen as an epistemic and existential satisfaction for the disgruntled to interpret world events in a way that can be justifiable in their own terms; “anyone can seek out conspiracy theories if they have psychological needs that are not being met at any particular time,” said Karen Douglas, a social psychology professor at the University of Kent and a leading expert in researching conspiracy theories.
It is important to remember that despite the dystopian media coverage, belief in conspiracy theories have not dramatically increased. Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist from University of Miami, argues that most evidence that paints a dark picture over the mushrooming of conspiracy theories are driven by media panic and anecdotal evidence. While social media have been accused of making conspiracy theories more popular than ever, across various nations and time spans, studies have shown that only a fraction of conspiracy theories showed an increase in belief levels in recent years. Even conspiracy theories as popular as QAnon and the disbelief vaccine never had the same level of support as theories about the assassination of JFK were, which at one time had more than 80% of people believing in. Other conspiracies, such as the belief that global warming is a hoax, have dramatically decreased between 2013 and 2021.
However, we also cannot brush the prominence of conspiracy theories simply under the rug. We have all witnessed the devastating consequences when conspiracy theories are driven by malicious actors, from the “great replacement” theory resulting in multiple white supremacist attacks, to the disbelief in the 2020 election resulting in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. The phenomenon of individuals acting on conspiracy theories, whether through genuine belief or as a performative allegiance to political identities, manifests real-world consequences. These theories, even when not fully embraced, can sow enough doubt to influence public behavior and policy preferences, leading to dangerous actions that catalyze significant, tangible harm to societal structures and norms.
What lies ahead, ultimately, as the most significant challenge to resist conspiracy theories, is to rebuild what we consider as “truth” or “reality,” which would not be easy. “We all disagree about what is true vs. misinformation, and true vs. conspiracy theory,” says Uscinski, “we are often convinced that we are right and others are wrong. However, we can’t all be right. This applies to all people, not just conspiracy theorists.”
