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“ We need consensus on when something is true and when it isn’t” Frank Haas in conversation with the social psychologist Roland Imhoff ILLUSTRATIONS Shiwen Sven Wang
Professor Imhoff, you know a lot about this area. Which conspiracy theory is most popular right now? That depends on how we look at it. If we are assessing the volume of social media traffic generated, then the various theories about the pandemic would undoubtedly sweep the board – that COVID -19 does not exist at all, that it was created in a laboratory, or that the vaccinations are designed to control our minds. This kind of theory is really popular right now. But another approach is to look at acceptance levels in opinion polling, and see which theories are most widely accepted. In the United States, for example, this would be the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn’t solely responsible for the murder of President Kennedy. According to most surveys, over 50 percent of Americans believe this. That seems to be one for the ages. Exactly. The deaths of the famous usually capture people’s imaginations. What about Elvis Presley? People are more likely to suspect that he did a runner because he couldn’t bear being in the spotlight anymore. And very few of the theories about him state clearly whether he acted alone or a group was behind it all. If he decided to secretly grow a beard and repair shoes for a living in the Bahamas, that wouldn’t fit the defi nition of a conspiracy at all. He wasn’t con spiring with anybody. After all, who was Elvis conspiring with? It was all his own decision. That’s why this story doesn’t feature as often among the main conspiracy theories. The ever greens still include the various accounts of the landing on the moon and Area 51 – where extraterrestrials are supposedly kept in storage by the American intelligence agencies etc. What’s the most popular theory about the current pandemic? Is it the idea that the whole thing is faked and doesn’t really exist at all, or more the version that the virus was spread intentionally?
There are relatively good surveys on these two conspiracy theories from Germany. They garner roughly the same levels of endorsement from respondents – between 16 and 19 percent. But the idea that it’s a fabrication is the main one sustained by the various social networks. The perceived inability of politicians to tackle the infection rate is what is driving most of the protests and theories. If I claim that COVID -19 was deliberately created in a lab, that isn’t going to help me reopen my store or attend concerts. Because that’s when infection is sure to be a risk. The assertion that the virus does not exist makes far more sense if the endgame is to regain our personal freedoms. But given the very real mortality rates, this must sound pretty absurd to sensible people. Are there other theories that sound plausible enough to arouse your suspicions? (laughs) Well, I like the easy life! In my view conspiracy theories don’t have to be wrong. Because if I use “conspiracy theory” as a synonym for “lie,” then I can no longer talk about it as a serious phenomenon. My definition is therefore as follows: a conspiracy theory is when people or groups are thought to be conspiring to achieve something. And that theory can be true. After all, a proven conspiracy remains a con spiracy. Of all the theories, do you have a personal favorite? Maybe one that’s particularly entertaining, particularly durable or just particularly nutty? There are quite a few where I ask myself if any body really believes them. Or whether respondents who say they agree with them in surveys are laughing up their sleeves. For example, there is the one about the Nazis living on the dark side of the moon. I can’t really imagine that’s true. And then there are theories that are truly outrageous in some way, but nonetheless interesting. For example, there’s the one about the lizard people, according to which we are ruled by an elite caste of shape-shifting reptiles that slip into their human exteriors every
