Professor Karen Douglas comments in this Rolling Stone piece about conspiracy theories in the time of Covid.

The outbreak of the corona virus pandemic in 2020 created a “perfect storm” for new conspiracy theories.

Rolling Stone Magazine covered this phenomeon in the Feb issue of their magazine, in an article ‘How the Anti-Vaxxers Got Red-Pilled.”

Professor Karen Douglas is quoted:

“If people believe that powerful, secret forces are responsible, then it isn’t their fault that things are bad for them,” and they can make themselves feel better without having to “tease apart the complex reasons for their disadvantage.”

Douglas has worked extensively around conspiracy theories asking, why are conspiracy theories so popular? Who believes them? Why do people believe them? What are some of the consequences of conspiracy theories and can such theories be harmful?

Read the full article here.