Individuals within our society find themselves attracted to conspiracy theories due to such individuals feeling a lack of control throughout their own personal lives, these individuals use skepticism to create patterns and connect the dots within everyday issues and current events within society. The conspiracies that tend to attract the most media attention are those that surround political issues.  Such conspiracy theories represent the vast number of opinions that we experience throughout our society, they speak for the individuals who feel jaded by the bureaucratic system and practices within our governments’ political structure. The people that hold strong ties to these conspiracy theories have been theorized to be individuals that lack control throughout their daily lives and are trying to recognize any types of patterns that they can, in order to try and make sense of the world around them.  These theories are a common phenomenon throughout our society, they also directly appeal to individuals who feel as though their lifestyles are going to be compromised by that of political figures and decisions. Another aspect of conspiracy theories that should be questioned is when and why these theories are taking rise; are they due to political changes or are they caused by biased socio-economic opinions?  Depending on a person’s background, their political stance, the way in which they define a conspiracy and the context that they’ve taken these theories out of, some conspiracy theories seem more enticing than others.

Aside from the pure definition of conspiracy theories, the origin of these theories are a common topic of conversation, Mandy Oaklander, a Northwestern University alum and prior senior writer for Prevention.com, now writes health news for TIME.com. Oaklander addresses the way in which conspiracy theories are created and believed throughout our society in her article “Here’s Why People Believe In Conspiracy Theories”. Oaklander’s piece refers numerous times to the Jan-Willem van Prooijen’s research in his journal article in the “Applied Cognitive Psychology”:  Prooijen, associate professor in social and organizational psychology at VU University Amsterdam, explains how Conspiracy theories develop:

“Conspiracy theories often crop up during times of uncertainty and fear: after terrorist strikes, financial crises, high-profile deaths and natural disasters. Past research suggests that if people feel they don’t have control over a situation, they’ll try to make sense of it and find out what happened. ‘The sense-making leads them to connect dots that aren’t necessarily connected in reality,” van Prooijen says.’”

Oaklander states that the reason people believe so wholeheartedly in these theories is because “they have a lack of control over their lives”.This is a theory of how many individuals who feel unstable or jaded by current events have the ability to take facts out of context in order to create conspiracies in the first place.

There’s many reasons people believe conspiracy theories are popular. In the Slate article “Conspiracy Theorists aren’t Really Skeptics”, written by William Saletan. Saletan approaches another take on why conspiracy theories are appealing to so many. Saletan argues “The answer is that people who believe conspiracies aren’t really skeptics. Like the rest of us, they’re selective doubters. They favor a worldview, which they staunchly defend. But their worldview isn’t about God, values, freedom, or equality. It’s about the omnipotence of elites.” This is a way in which backgrounds obviously influence the theories that many individuals create, there is and has always been fear of the elite reaping every single benefit, without leaving any opportunities for the ‘average/middle class’ individual.

All types of conspiracy theories receive some form of media attention, but I’d argue that most of the highlighted stories tend to surround the realm of politics. Due to all individuals have their own set of shaping experiences, these backgrounds leave all individuals with unique and diverse opinions. It’s simple to comprehend people with specific political stances having adverse opinions to that of someone from opposing political parties. In the “Five Of The GOP’s Craziest ‘Benghazi Cover-Up’ Conspiracy Theories” written by Brian Tashman, discusses the theories about Benghazi. The origin of this source is what makes this article interesting. There’s much speculation behind this article due to the fact that many conservative individuals see the liberal party as responsible for the Benghazi crisis. Tashman states what many have already inferred “Republicans have tried for years to use the terrorist attack — which led to the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens — to go after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is testifying before the committee today. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently admitted that the special committee was formed to bring down Clinton’s popularity in advance of the 2016 presidential election”. This is a prime example of how these political conspiracy theories tend to cater to individuals with certain interests.

Conspiracy theories are a hot topic throughout many recent political discussions. Their origins are vague in nature but many define the way we think about society; we tend to distrust and feel uncomfortable due to our own personal beliefs towards life’s issues. The moments in time when we are weary or concerned with current events, are the times that people are more likely to believe that stereotypes could be legitimate. These theories are highly subjective due to all individuals having unique backgrounds and opinions. Such theories could be considered to be the products of individuals seeking patterns.  Due to people feeling ‘at risk’ or ‘highly involved’ in a political or social event, individuals will tend to have adverse opinions to those with differing perspectives and standings. Conspiracy theories have the ability to attract anyone from all walks of life, as long as the theory itself pertains and advocates for ‘their’ underrepresented opinion.