The World of Conspiracy Theories

September 14, 2022

The World of Conspiracy Theories

Imagine you're at the starting point of a journey into the uncertain future. Your mission? To navigate it skillfully by keeping a watchful eye on potential risks. By monitoring and evaluating the likelihood of various events, you can be ready for any situation that comes your way.

However, "monitoring risks" can be a complex task, as it introduces a wide range of issues and concerns that might be difficult to decipher. Some risks may seem improbable, while others border on the realm of conspiracy theories.

Research from the 2020 YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project provides insights into how Briton's regard certain global conspiracy theories.

For example, of UK citizens:

12% believe that the US government knowingly helped make the 9/11 attacks happen.
19% believe that pharmaceutical companies are deliberately hiding the harmful effects of vaccinations from the public.
28% believe that regardless of whoever is in power politically, a single secret group of people control world events.
55% believe that members of Donald Trump's election team knowingly worked with the Russian government to help him win the 2016 US presidential election.
9% believe that the idea of man-made global warming is a hoax invented to deceive people.
20% believe that humans have made contact with aliens and this fact has been deliberately hidden from the public.
9% believe that the 1969 moon landings were faked.

These figures suggest that there is considerable challenge to the mainstream narrative, and that people are forming their perspectives from a variety of sources, no longer controlled or underpinned by the mainstream press.

Personal Perception

We were also interested in understanding how people perceived themselves in this context, and posed the following question:

"To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement - Some people might say that I believe in conspiracy theories".

The results we had back were revealing...

		Gender		Age				Children In Household
	Total	M	F	18-24	25-49	50-64	65+	Yes	No
Strongly disagree	48.7%	51.8%	45.9%	33.1%	40.9%	59.1%	58.6%	38.9%	53.0%
Slightly disagree	19.4%	19.7%	19.0%	22.9%	21.8%	16.5%	16.7%	22.9%	17.9%
Slightly agree	17.5%	17.3%	17.7%	18.6%	21.8%	14.3%	13.1%	23.2%	15.0%
Strongly agree	5.9%	5.1%	6.7%	12.7%	6.3%	4.6%	3.2%	7.2%	5.3%

Don’t know	8.5%	6.1%	10.7%	12.7%	9.1%	5.5%	8.4%	7.8%	8.7%

NET: Agree	23.4%	22.4%	24.4%	31.4%	28.2%	19.0%	16.3%	30.4%	20.4%
NET: Disagree	68.1%	71.5%	65.0%	55.9%	62.7%	75.5%	75.3%	61.8%	71.0%

Sample size: 1,000 (UK citizens)

Conclusion

In conclusion, an astounding revelation emerges: nearly a quarter of the UK's adult population, or approximately 13 million individuals, might identify as conspiracy theory believers. This striking finding serves as a stark reminder that the lines separating fact, opinion, truth, and propaganda are growing perilously thin. Now, more than ever, it's crucial to recognize the impact of these blurred boundaries and to strive for clarity and discernment in our pursuit of knowledge.