This TLDR article pretty well sums up Ghost, Insta and many others OTB. Read at your own risk.
NewNearly a third of Americans believe in coronavirus conspiracy theories. Science explains why people tend to believe them more in times of crisis.
Joey Hadden
15 hours ago
In May, a YouGov and Yahoo News poll found that 44% of Republicans, 19% of Democrats, and 24% of independents believe that Gates wants to use mass vaccination for the coronavirus to implant people with tracking devices.
Gates shot down this theory in a CBS Evening News interview with Norah O'Donnell on July 22. "There's no connection between any of these vaccines and any tracking type thing at all," Gates said. "I don't know where that came from."
In April, a Pew Research Center study found out that 29% of Americans believe the virus was made in a lab, though scientific evidence overwhelmingly suggests it's a case of animal transfer.
Psychologists have an explanation for why people are turning to conspiracy theories during the coronavirus pandemic.
Conspiracy theories thrive in a crisis and are typically brought about by fear and anxiety, according to a 2019 review of the research literature by Andreas Goreis and Martin Voracek, both psychologists at the University of Vienna in Austria. When people are scared and feel a lack of control over situations, conspiracy theories come from the desire to make sense of those situations, according to the paper published in Frontiers in Psychology.
In a sense, conspiracy theories are psychologically comforting. As a 2017 paperby a trio of University of Kent psychologists detailed, conspiracy theories seem to provide an explanation that allows people to preserve their own beliefs in uncertain times. One of the authors, Karen Douglas, told Business Insider about why people are turning to conspiracy theories amid the coronavirus pandemic.
For one, people tend to turn to them when they feel powerless.
"This is a big event that requires big explanations," Douglas said. "In a time of great confusion, it is not surprising that people want answers, if that sometimes means connecting dots incorrectly."
Some theories can be attributed in part to fear of new technology, like the claim that new 5G technology is causing or accelerating the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Dr. John Grohol, Editor-in-Chief of Psych Central, said in an April 2020 article that people who feel alienated from modern society, which is more complex and difficult to navigate in the face of new technology, are more likely to turn to conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories about 5G technology date back to before the spread of the novel coronavirus. Yet 5G — short for fifth generation of wireless communication technology — is a catch-all term for suite technology making wireless devices faster and more connected. For the average consumer, it just means better connection speeds for mobile devices.
Conspiracy theories suggesting that since 5G is more powerful than previous mobile internet types, it must also be dangerous, especially to people's immune systems, began to circulate in 2019.
As the coronavirus began to spread, the 5G conspiracy theory shifted. Conspiracy theorists now believe the launch of 5G technology exacerbated the pandemic.
Full Fact, a UK-based fact-checking organization, debunked these rumors, but throughout the month of April, arsonists burned 50 phone masts across the UK, where the 5G technology has already been released.
Mobile UK, an organization that represents Britain's four mobile operators, confirmed to Business Insider that it estimates the attacks are linked to the conspiracy theory.
People with traditional values are more likely to believe the coronavirus was created in a lab or link it to Bill Gates.
According to Full Fact, another conspiracy theory about 5G technology and the coronavirus was linked to Bill Gates in a now-deleted Facebook post that circled the site in March.
The post claimed that the coronavirus was fake disease used to disguise 5G-related damages and that Gates created it to control the world.
https://www.businessinsider.com/why...heories-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-4
NewNearly a third of Americans believe in coronavirus conspiracy theories. Science explains why people tend to believe them more in times of crisis.
Joey Hadden
15 hours ago
- The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the spread of several conspiracy theories about the virus, like that it is being overblown, that the introduction of new 5G technology caused it, and even that Bill Gates is behind it.
- Gates recently negated a conspiracy theory that said that he wants to use the coronavirus vaccine to implant people with microchips.
- Nearly a third of Americans believe that the virus was created in a lab, according to a study by Pew Research Center.
- The spread of this misinformation across the internet has caused some real-world damage, including the destruction of phone masts across the UK.
- Research by psychologists at the University of Kent suggests that conspiracy theories are rooted in anxiety and fear, and they are a way for people to simplify complicated issues, especially when the future is uncertain.
- According to psychologists people may believe and spread coronavirus conspiracy theories because they're scared and social distancing — the mandated measure to prevent the spread of the virus — is inconvenient and unpleasant.
In May, a YouGov and Yahoo News poll found that 44% of Republicans, 19% of Democrats, and 24% of independents believe that Gates wants to use mass vaccination for the coronavirus to implant people with tracking devices.
Gates shot down this theory in a CBS Evening News interview with Norah O'Donnell on July 22. "There's no connection between any of these vaccines and any tracking type thing at all," Gates said. "I don't know where that came from."
In April, a Pew Research Center study found out that 29% of Americans believe the virus was made in a lab, though scientific evidence overwhelmingly suggests it's a case of animal transfer.
Psychologists have an explanation for why people are turning to conspiracy theories during the coronavirus pandemic.
Conspiracy theories thrive in a crisis and are typically brought about by fear and anxiety, according to a 2019 review of the research literature by Andreas Goreis and Martin Voracek, both psychologists at the University of Vienna in Austria. When people are scared and feel a lack of control over situations, conspiracy theories come from the desire to make sense of those situations, according to the paper published in Frontiers in Psychology.
In a sense, conspiracy theories are psychologically comforting. As a 2017 paperby a trio of University of Kent psychologists detailed, conspiracy theories seem to provide an explanation that allows people to preserve their own beliefs in uncertain times. One of the authors, Karen Douglas, told Business Insider about why people are turning to conspiracy theories amid the coronavirus pandemic.
For one, people tend to turn to them when they feel powerless.
"This is a big event that requires big explanations," Douglas said. "In a time of great confusion, it is not surprising that people want answers, if that sometimes means connecting dots incorrectly."
Some theories can be attributed in part to fear of new technology, like the claim that new 5G technology is causing or accelerating the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Dr. John Grohol, Editor-in-Chief of Psych Central, said in an April 2020 article that people who feel alienated from modern society, which is more complex and difficult to navigate in the face of new technology, are more likely to turn to conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories about 5G technology date back to before the spread of the novel coronavirus. Yet 5G — short for fifth generation of wireless communication technology — is a catch-all term for suite technology making wireless devices faster and more connected. For the average consumer, it just means better connection speeds for mobile devices.
Conspiracy theories suggesting that since 5G is more powerful than previous mobile internet types, it must also be dangerous, especially to people's immune systems, began to circulate in 2019.
As the coronavirus began to spread, the 5G conspiracy theory shifted. Conspiracy theorists now believe the launch of 5G technology exacerbated the pandemic.
Full Fact, a UK-based fact-checking organization, debunked these rumors, but throughout the month of April, arsonists burned 50 phone masts across the UK, where the 5G technology has already been released.
Mobile UK, an organization that represents Britain's four mobile operators, confirmed to Business Insider that it estimates the attacks are linked to the conspiracy theory.
People with traditional values are more likely to believe the coronavirus was created in a lab or link it to Bill Gates.
According to Full Fact, another conspiracy theory about 5G technology and the coronavirus was linked to Bill Gates in a now-deleted Facebook post that circled the site in March.
The post claimed that the coronavirus was fake disease used to disguise 5G-related damages and that Gates created it to control the world.
https://www.businessinsider.com/why...heories-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-4
