How Long Have People Been Believing Conspiracies?

Conspiracy theories have played a significant role in conflicts from the 17th century Indian wars to the Gilded Age labor battles, the American Revolution, and the War on Terror. A study investigated the proportion of Americans believing 46 individual conspiracy theories and four pieces of misinformation over time. Dr. Dickey, author of Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy, explains that conspiracy theories in the US can be traced back hundreds of years. The rise of the internet has accelerated the spread of conspiracy theories and their power has grown. Scholarly efforts to understand conspiracy theories have grown significantly in recent years, leading to a broad and interdisciplinary literature. Studies have revealed substantial conspiracy theorizing among citizens around the world, including Eastern Europe and Asia.

Conspiration theories are not new, but they have been a constant hum in the background for at least the past 100 years. Partisan/ideological conspiracy theories have white labels, while non-partisan/ideological conspiracy theories have gray labels. The survivability of conspiracy theories may be aided by psychological biases and distrust of official sources. Recent events, such as the election of Donald Trump, the U.S. Capitol riot, and several conspiracy theory-inspired mass shootings, have prompted further exploration of conspiracy theories.

Karl Raimund Popper, a philosopher who put conspiracy theories on the philosophical agenda, discussed conspiracies as a political reality, while Machiavelli discussed conspiracies as a political reality.