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OPINIONSocietyMarch 17, 2020

Emily Writes: Down the rabbit hole with the Covid-19 conspiracy theorists

Contributing writer
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When people feel like they have no control over their lives – like in the midst of a global pandemic – the comforting certainty of conspiracy theories seems increasingly attractive.

Today I fell down a rabbit hole of rabid Trump supporters who are convinced Covid-19 is both a hoax and also Trump’s greatest moment as president. He has acted decisively apparently, while also knowing that Covid-19 is a Hollywood Liberal Elite cover-up.

And it involves Celine Dion. And New Zealand*.

I first became aware of those massive scoops when I learned this via Facebook: “Bill gates has now stood down. Along with many others, LinkedIn ceo, amazon ceo, for example. Tom hanks has it in Australia!?? wot? Justin trudeas wife? Celine dion and heidi klum with rumours if falling it… shutting the economy down slowly. All these people that are ‘testing positive’ are all a part of the cabal, its a cult for the elite. Trump was one of the 1st people to take action. And is the one who is speaking the loudest and being active. The USA have initiated state of emergency. The WHO are corrupt and owned by the deepstate”.

I had to know more. What was the connection between Celine Dion and Heidi Klum and Covid-19? “Wot?” indeed!

I began a journey that would change me forever. The person who told me about “the cabal” told me “I’m talking about about the deepstate, the cabal. Who was what i was originally talking about, look it up. Its real, its reality unfortunately.” I was told I need to “connec the dots”.

Buckle up sheeple. Get ready for the truth.

On a website called Q I found fellow PATRIOTS with a hard-on for THE TRUTH.

I was quickly introduced to the prevailing conspiracy theory around Covid-19. It’s quite simple. Adrenochrome is a drug for the liberal elite of Hollywood made from actual human brain stem containing hormones from the adrenal gland. Hillary Clinton manufactures this drug by torturing children in a pizza shop (if you order a cheese pizza that’s code). Tom Hanks is addicted to Adrenochrome and he caught Covid-19 from the latest batch of tainted Adrenochrome that came through Celine Dion who is a high priestess from the Church of Satan. She is well-versed in poison as she’s been lacing her children’s clothing line with a chemical that makes our children “gender neutral”. Tom Hanks signalled to the Hollywood Liberal Elite Cabal DeepState in his Golden Globes acceptance speech that there would be a shortage of Adrenochrome. Ellen has closed her studio audience because she’s addicted as well. Heidi Klum is too. And so is Michael Rapaport.

This is a direct quote from a TRUE PATRIOT: “What’s happened to Celine Dion, I remember her as young and vibrant, but BOOM, she’s a far cry from my memory. Let’s not forget Michael Rapaport…he just doesn’t look right, a tad pale, low on iron?”

But if that version doesn’t appeal to you. Don’t worry, I have more. You can basically choose your own (conspiracy) adventure.

  • This is “Another False Flag Attempts To Implicate The Great Awakening”
  • This virus has been orchestrated to force universities to adopt learning management systems (like Canvas and Blackboard) and move to online teaching, ending schooling as we know it forever.
  • Covid-19 will trigger the implementation of Global Economic Security and Recovery Act so the government can take your money.
  • Bill Gates!
  • A new world war – China/Iran/Italy attempted to preemptively inoculate their own population and then release a disease that would threaten the world.
  • A feminist cult of witches created a virus to kill all old white men.
  • “We’ll never get Americans to agree to cut social security but they won’t be able to collect if they’re dead!”
  • Vaccinations caused it.
  • Covid-19 was created by the media to sell newspapers and everyone who has been infected is a crisis actor.
  • God did it because we’re all too sinful.
  • Back in 2007, the Wuhan Institute of Virology published a paper about its research into Sars-like bat coronaviruses. While they were researching the Sars-like bat coronavirus, they were unhappy with the low rate at which it infected human cells. So they genetically altered it to make it infect human cells more effectively – by giving it an HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) outer shell, which enabled the Sars-like coronavirus to attack human cells via Ace2 receptors.
  • A husband and wife “spy team” stole the virus from Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory.

There’s no evidence for any of this. In fact most of it has been thoroughly debunked. But I would say that as a member of the FAKE NEWS LAMESTREAM MEDIA.

As gross and unseemly as all of these wild (mostly xenophobic and racist) conspiracy theories are, psychologists have explained why people will believe literally anything said on a forum by someone called HELLERYKILLS666.

In an excellent, easy-to-understand piece in Psychology Today in 2018 (conspiracy!), Dr David Ludden wrote that there are three main reasons why people believe impossible conspiracy theories. They are: The desire for understanding and certainty, the desire for control and security, and the desire to maintain a positive self-image.

“Seeking explanations for events is a natural human desire,” Ludden wrote. So is asking questions. “And we don’t just ask questions. We also quickly find answers to those questions – not necessarily the true answers, but rather answers that comfort us or that fit into our worldview.”

For most of us, when we realise we believe something untrue – like that ponies aren’t tiny horses – we just accept that and move on. Conspiracy theorists cannot give up false beliefs so readily or easily, because they feel invested. They just stayed up till 4am reading about Tom Hanks having alien blood and they think they’re the only person who is smart enough to understand.

“Uncertainty is an unpleasant state, and conspiracy theories provide a sense of understanding and certainty that is comforting,” Ludden says.

Over the past few weeks a lot of people have said to me, “I just don’t know what to believe.” It’s an uncertain time right now, and people don’t feel in control of their lives. I am afraid myself – I don’t feel in control. I don’t know if or when schools will close, I don’t know if my events for work will go ahead, I don’t know what I’ll do for work. Everyone is in the same boat.

We are all feeling uncertain and we are all seeking control. “Conspiracy theories can give their believers a sense of control and security. This is especially true when the alternative account feels threatening. For example, if global temperatures are rising catastrophically due to human activity, then I’ll have to make painful changes to my comfortable lifestyle,” Ludden says.

More Reading

But we know climate change is real. And so is Covid-19. So what can we do in the face of conspiracy? Arguing with facts will never work when you’re coming up against feelings. And to be honest, radical empathy feels impossible when you’re dealing with people who don’t feel any goodwill to anyone outside their own homes.

But the fact is, Covid-19 is a virus. And we just need to follow and trust health professionals trying to flatten the curve and contain the spread. It turns out the truth is out there, it’s just not very exciting.

*Tom Hanks secretly told the Liberal Hollywood Elite Cabal Deep State that they should all meet at the Rising S Company bunkers in New Zealand.  

Getty Images
Getty Images

SocietyMarch 16, 2020

Simple changes in behaviour can halt a virus. How can we get people to do them?

Guest writer
Getty Images
Getty Images

Amid an outbreak such as the coronavirus Covid-19, the challenge to get people washing their hands properly takes on even greater importance. It’s harder than you might imagine, but we can all do it, especially if we start forming collective habits, writes Dr Sarb Johal, an expert in the psychology of disaster recovery and pandemics.

The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join Spinoff Members here.

If you’re considering how the Covid-19 virus could affect you and your loved ones personally and wondering how you can minimise your chances of being infected, then you probably already know that washing your hands clearly helps. Yes, hand sanitisers can also help too, but hand washing has broader benefits.

So if we know this works, why did a study find that 28% of commuters in five different cities had faecal bacteria on their hands? Why do people say they wash their hands much more often that they actually do? Why do people wash their hands less when they think no-one is looking? And why do campaigns to increase hand washing often show results that are, well, disappointing to say the least.

Why don’t people wash their hands effectively and consistently?

Is it lack of awareness that hand washing works?

Possibly, but the evidence seems to tell us something else. The problem is that educational campaigns around hand washing, why its important and how to do it properly are essentially preaching to the converted. Campaigns have the effect of making people who were already washing their hands wash them even more frequently. This is clearly a problem because those who aren’t washing their hands seem to carry on regardless.

Are alternative strategies pulling focus away from hand washing?

Have you tried to buy hand sanitiser or a face mask recently? I have. None around. Lots of soap available though. People tend to wash their hands in private, in bathrooms and washrooms. People wear face masks and use hand sanitiser in public. So it appears relatively novel, unlike the washing of hands, which we have been nagged to do since we were children. And we like novel things, and we tend to prioritise novelty over behaviours we have been asked to do for a long, long time. The other issue is evidence that people have a risk thermostat: people taking protective measures in one area feel like they have greater license to take risks in another. Obtaining a face mask or hand sanitiser may make people feel more protected, and could mean they make less of an effort to wash their hands properly.

Is availability a problem?

Even if you put soap, water, towels and hand sanitiser in people’s way, it doesn’t mean they will use them. People may be aware of what they need to do but they don’t follow through because they don’t perceive them as available, even if they are hiding in plain sight. We need to ask where people stop, pause and look around (e.g. where people are waiting for an elevator) and make the hygiene product very loud and in-your-face. Use decision points to influence behaviour.

Are we just too busy, tired, and feel like it’s just all too much?

We may have the intention to wash our hands, but in the moment, we don’t do it. However, if in that moment, we see a message that is tailored to us, then it’s more likely to work. In one study, messages by soap dispensers seems to increase soap use, but the effects varied by gender. For women, messages that focused on how soap kills germs worked best for women; but for men, they responded best to messages that focused on evoking disgust.

The best tactic seems to be making hand washing habitual, so you don’t have to think about it. That’s why people are being asked to wash their hands to the tune of “happy birthday” sung through twice over. It recognises that since the song is familiar to us, we are more likely to proceed automatically to completion once we get started. Yes, you might find yourself singing it quicker to get it over with, but its less likely that you’ll cut yourself off in the middle of singing.

Other messages explicitly link hand washing with three regular activities to try to automatise the behaviour, and make it less about conscious thought, for example, when getting home or into work, blowing your nose, and eating or handling food. This helps to create hand washing cues that become a habit; things you don’t need to think about. These are then far less likely to be interrupted, or not done at all.

Keeping to these hand-washing can be hard, but they are critically important. People can find it difficult to take action now when the potential benefits are in the future, especially if they feel that hand washing is irksome and a chore. This might also be amplified if they feel that the benefits of the inconvenience of all the public measures around containing the outbreak accrue to other people, rather than themselves. And this is going to be especially challenging in the future when trying to get people who have already been infected and have recovered to keep up their hand washing habits.

So, tweak the environment to make it easy as possible to stick to the best advice. Build new habits by linking hand washing to existing behaviours that we do every day. We can all do it, especially if we start forming collective habits. What about if your workplace encouraged people to wash their hands on arrival? What about a hand-wash ritual before morning tea? Chanting can be optional.

If we prompt and form habits collectively, I think we’d be far more likely to embed these habits into our daily habits, and then we don’t need to think about them. We’d just do them. For ourselves, and by extension, for each other.

Society