Belief that COVID-19 was a hoax is a gateway drug to other conspiracy theories

By Tia Ghose published 2 days ago

People who believe that the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax are likelier to believe all sorts of other conspiracy theories, a new study suggests.

Believing in COVID-19 conspiracies may make people likelier to believe in other conspiracy theories down the road, a new study suggests.

The researchers, who published their findings Oct. 26 in the journal PLOS One (opens in new tab), suggested that thinking the number of COVID-19 deaths was exaggerated, or that China deliberately released or engineered the virus for nefarious purposes, is a kind of gateway drug to other conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories hold that shadowy groups are secretly masterminding large-scale plots that affect the public. They range from the belief that aliens on UFOs create crop circles to the wild and unfounded idea that the moon landing was faked.

Conspiracist beliefs tend to be rooted in a feeling of losing control or being uncertain, Live Science previously reported.

Therefore, the COVID-19 pandemic was the perfect storm for generating conspiracy theories, the research authors suggested.

"The widespread damage created by the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened people's anxiety, uncertainty, feelings of powerlessness, and has created friction between members of different social groups," the researchers wrote in the study. "Such conditions represent a near perfect recipe for the proliferation of conspiracy theories."

In the new study, the researchers looked at two surveys. In the first, they surveyed roughly 500 people in the U.S. in June 2020, asking participants about their conspiracist beliefs in general and their belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories in particular. The study authors then followed up with those people six months later.

The participants who believed that "COVID-19 was intentionally brought into the world for dark purposes" or that "the severity of COVID-19 was exaggerated" were more likely to believe that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was riddled with fraud or to espouse other theories, such as that "some UFO sightings and rumors are planned or staged in order to distract the public from real alien contact." This correlation held even when the researchers controlled for baseline political orientation.

In the second survey, the researchers asked more than 2,000 people in the U.K. to rate how much they agreed with the following statement: "I think that many very important things happen in the world, which the public is never informed about," as a proxy for their tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. At a second point in time, they asked people to endorse their belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories.

They then asked participants the first question in several waves over time. Just as in the first survey, belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories predicted a later rise in general conspiracist thinking.

The findings support the notion that conspiracy theories about COVID-19 can act as a gateway to additional outlandish beliefs, but further research should assess if the same effect holds true for other conspiracy theories, such as the notion that the 9/11 attacks were faked, the study authors noted.

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Dora Hates You

IMO there was another 'gateway drug' way way prior to cove - Started pre 2016

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There are NO white people at all in the Bible... take all the time you need with that...
Please stop feeding the trolls - they will go away if you do...

oops - dup post

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There are NO white people at all in the Bible... take all the time you need with that...
Please stop feeding the trolls - they will go away if you do...

Edited: 11/19/2022 at 01:48 PM by surfsail

Wait a doggone minute here ding.....
are you implying that vaccines DON'T put 5g microchips in every dose?
Or widdle critters with tentacles.....what about infertility?
We all know fauci conspired with hilary, soros, and gates to wipe out american magats!
Oh, and: stuff in the water is making frogs gay!

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It's a democratic hoax

it killed more repugs than dems, right? mission accomplished

So be it. Fact is, it was a hoax. What's remarkable is that anyone still thinks it wasn't. We have the facts now.

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I :heart; Q

You suck at pretending to be stupid.

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Funny how some seem to only operate on the extremes....like the notion of something not necessarily it being a hoax, but it being used and taken out of context to gain political control and/or financial gain is completely lost or not even plausible.


Let's reviews some facts of the matter:

The virus originated in a lab funded by Fauci. Whether or not the funds were used for this particular study depends on what version of "Gain of Function" you adhere to. The long standing definition or the revised one put out by the NIH. (something that if you believed at the time, you were considered a conspiracy theorist)

We were told how deadly this virus is.....but simple math yields a survival rate of almost 99% (still waiting for Riddle and his superior mind to correct my math on that one).

We were told the only way to beat this was a 2 week lock down, followed by a mandated vaccine (were told a mandate would never happen). We were also told this vaccine would stop the infection and spread of this disease. It does neither, so the script was flipped to say "well, it helps the symptoms". (those that saw this and read between the lines....were considered a conspiracy theorists)

Then, we were told we must take this vaccine, that doesn't do anything to stop the spread and/or infection of this virus, otherwise we'd be punished financially, or segregated from the community. (those that saw this as tyranny, not wanting to inject an unproven new type of vaccine in their body that doesn't even do what its supposed to do......were....conspiracy theorists/pieces of shit that were to blame for the spread)

Oh yeah....remember how safe we were told this vaccine is? Turns out it does/can cause heart inflammation and in some cases, death. (those that saw this happening and started questioning the safety and brining this up in discussion were.......conspiracy theorists/pieces of shit that were the cause of the spread)

Everything stated above contains objective statements with the facts employed to back them up. As in, they all literally happened. (<- READ THAT AGAIN)

So, tying it all together, this virus originated from a lab in China, that was funded by the NIH, that the world government reacted to by forcing draconian laws/lock downs, and mandated a vaccine has been proven to be ineffective. Also, if you choose not to inject this vaccine, which doesn't stop the spread or infection of this virus but may cause other long term issues, you would be punished financially and/or segregated from society.......all over a virus with almost 99% survival rate

So lets here it, critical thinkers, if this wasn't done on purpose, than what happened? If you take issue with how I tied it all together, I welcome any objective opinions or actual facts to refute it.
I'll also add, if you truly think it wasn't done on purpose, than what? I mean, none of the things instituted helped the situation, so was it purely incompetence? Either way, remember this next time you go all pigeon shit on the ones end up being correct in the end.



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"Its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled" - Mark Twain

Edited: 11/21/2022 at 10:13 AM by OBX

Opie off his meds again?

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GOP:

Gaslight
Obstruct
Project

Guess that means you've got nothing but pigeon shit to add......shocker.

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"Its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled" - Mark Twain

http://covid.cdc.gov/covid-dat...cker/#datatracker-home

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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti

Point?

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"Its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled" - Mark Twain

Fixed it for ya!

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GOP:

Gaslight
Obstruct
Project

Well said. Also, how can we forget the mask-debaters? They mask-debated everywhere. Literally all over the place. These sick F's were mask-debating at their places of employment and even elementary schools.

You also had Joe Biden trying to blatantly trample on the constitution by using OSHA to force American citizens to choose between experimental medical treatment or losing their jobs.

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"The government who robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul," - George Bernard Shaw

“Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f—k things up.” - Barack Obama

“End of quote. Repeat the line.” - wise words from Joe Biden

They sure aren't afraid to come in here and demonstrate the truth of the opening post are they?

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Edited: 11/21/2022 at 12:40 PM by scombrid

Totally forgot about the mask deal. I remember holding my mandated cloth mask up to the light, showing the light coming through, and asking how "if light comes through, how do we expect it to stop a virus?" And of course.....I was then labeled as an idiot, trumpeter, conspiracy theorists....etc.

Funny how the lack of responses with any substance, and the only responses being full of pigeon shit....also proves my point regarding these "critical thinkers."

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"Its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled" - Mark Twain

Edited: 11/21/2022 at 12:30 PM by OBX

That's funny, I don't care who you are.

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...

^ x2! Winner.

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

Opie's mask



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“It is the heart of US policy to use fascism to preserve capitalism while claiming to be saving democracy from communism “ - Michael Parenti