[aurantia]

> the idea that conspiracies themselves are [..] a typology through which people who lack definite or satisfactory narratives as citizens explain to themselves [..]

I really like this idea. To me it means that conspiracy theories create modern day mythology. Ancient people used myths to explain to themselves things they either didn't understand or feared. I've always wondered how did they come with these outrageous ideas but it now makes sense.

[mjburgess]

The procedure to invent a conspiracy is quite simple.

Write down all the topics which "seem important" right now.

Eg., China, USA, Trump, Biden, AI, Virus, etc.

(Where do these terms come from? Mostly the news, conversation. But each person will produce a different list.)

Now all you have to do is connect all of them. This is, in reality, not possible. So one has to dispense with every greater "obvious truths" in order to make the connection work.

It is in this attempt to rationalise a free association that we get such mythologies.

It is the heart of how schizophrenics think. Psychosis is the mistaking of importance and connection in one's perceptions. And so it is quite common to find schizophrenia in the conspiracy theory population.

However if you havent been taught to be sceptical of yourself, etc., its a fairly "natural" way to think.

[mistermann]

Similarly, if one hasn't been taught how to think relatively and absolutely simultaneously and at all times, the world can look very simple, like schizophrenics are prone to cognitive errors but normies are not. This is just one example from a very long list.