“Everyone tends to be conspiratorial”

Was JFK assassinated by the CIA? Did the Americans truly land on the Moon? Was the SARS-CoV-2 virus deliberately engineered in a laboratory? Throughout history, conspiracy theories of every kind have captured the collective imagination. Figures back this up: a 2024 study by Dirk Baier, an extremism researcher at ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) and reported by the news portal Watson , found that 36.9% of Swiss citizens believe in such theories.

In stressful situations such as a terrorist attack, the amygdala in our brain becomes active. “This small structure prepares us to respond to danger. When people are anxious and feel distressed about the future, they automatically try to make sense of the situation,” says Jan-Willem van Prooijen. Fascinating yet complex, the brain does not cope well with randomness, which leads the amygdala to overestimate the negative intentions of others. The Dutch scholar refers to the scapegoat strategy, a mechanism that has recurred throughout human history: “The brain craves security and seeks scapegoats – governments, ethnic groups, and so on. As a result, people start accusing those they do not trust, driven mainly by the need to feel safe again.”

So, is conspiratorial thinking an integral part of human DNA? Yes – and it can affect all segments of the population, regardless of education level or socio-economic status. For van Prooijen, identifying the mechanisms through which conspiracies arise, as well as preventing them, is of particular importance. While not exhaustive, he suggests several strategies to avoid being “trapped”: “Conspiracies can be debunked with rational arguments – and this method is especially effective if supported by artificial intelligence, which can detect flaws more efficiently than humans. Another approach lies in pre-bunking: educating people in advance so that they can recognise the tricks used by skilled conspiracy influencers. Finally, it is also useful to report misleading information online, thereby reducing the number of people likely to believe it.”