The level of fear and arrogance of antivaxers is appalling. They are full of fear of something they don't understand and they think they know better then people who have dedicated their lives to the topic. They think they know the "truth". They are willing to put themselves, their children, and those around them at risk while they rely on falsehoods and pseudoscience. They shout "my freedoms", use fallacies trying to support their choices, then use ad hominems to attack others because they have nothing of value to add to the conversation.
Antivaxers, anti-maskers, flat earthers, moon landing deniers, 9/11 truthers, Birthers, Holocaust deniers, mass shooting deniers, George Soros, Jan 6th, stolen elections, the Great Replacement, QAnoner believers who assert that America is threatened by a satanic pedophile cult from which only Donald Trump can save us, and all other conspiracy theory types are the same. These are modern-day witchcraft accusations with entire digital platforms out there dedicated to expose the hidden plots being used to undermine "our way of life".
Steven Sampson, an anthropologist, has claimed that anyone studying conspiracy theory is doing cabal anthropology. A May 2021 survey revealed that 15% of Americans and 23% of Republicans believe that "the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation" (PRRI 2021).
Sampson continues to explain that "evil conspirators" are often termed a "cabal" (the words comes from the Hebrew ‘kabbalah’/esoteric teachings). Cabals are seen as the agents of conspiratorial plots.These "sinister, subversive cabal" seem to be everywhere. They are believed to be deeply embedded in our governments, particularly within the Democratic party as well as in the vote-counting apparatus in Black areas of cities, among the Hollywood elite, in the mainstream media, with the Critical Race Theory proponents, among the globalists and Davos crowed, in the ruling factions of European welfare states and in the Covid-19 lockdown/vaccine policies.
Like religious cults, the conspiratorial groups contain their own "high priests" who decide who is "in" and who is "out" of the believers’ community. Anyone who is "out" is suddenly a provocateur or an agent of the other side.
Being in a community involves work, or "research". Conspiracy is people doing things. People are finding what they consider is "evidence" which is feeding their belief that they are unmasking the evildoors and connecting the dots. It’s the doing that creates that passion of conspiracism and the commitment. The "rabbit hole" they fall down is not a place of isolation. Rather, it is a self-contained community. This can explain that sense of exhilaration common to any true believers have. For them, they no longer feel isolated and they also feel so wonderful to know the "truth" that the group believes in.
Pouillon (1982) states that we must distinguish between believing in something versus believing that something. This involves expressions of belief in whom we trust, in who has legitimate authority, and in whom we have faith in. In contrast to "believe in…" and "believing that" is about a coherent doctrine of propositions.
If belief is ultimately about faith, any attempts of debunking beliefs, such as showing conspiracy theories to be based on incorrect facts or illogical arguments, are useless.
Conspiracies are not about facts or evidence. They are about beliefs. And we cannot disprove beliefs. People can only articulate, adjust or renounce them. Beliefs are about emotions rather than facts. Conspiracy theories, despite the scientific label of "theory", are clearly beliefs based on emotions not scientific theory or critical thinking.
We need to remember that there are ranges and different levels of beliefs. Anthropologists have shown that people can operate with overlapping, fragmented, alternative and contradictory belief systems, what we now call "syncretism".
Numerous studies of the anthropology of Christianity describe people who are sincerely converted Christians, but who also interact with spirits and react to witchcraft accusations (Robbins 2015). The conspiratorial communities are also full of similar kinds of dual, overlapping, contrasting belief systems. The most devoted followers of the most outrageous QAnon plots or 9/11 truth can also believe in hard science, run machines or websites and run a small business. In the same fashion, studies of popular health practices show how people will go to a healer or alternative medicine for certain chronic pains but will consult a bona fide physician if they break their ankle.
Studies have shown that "cultures of belief" do exist. While these studies have been applied largely to religious believers and converts, they are equally valid to those who have fallen down the ‘rabbit hole’ of QAnon, 9/11 truther, Holocaust denial, Great Replacement or other conspiratorial narratives.
Not all believers are fundamentalists, and not all QAnon followers are literal believers in the foundational myth of the pedophile child snatching and blood libel narrative.
Conspiratorial myths serve as the basis for developing "theories" that can explain past or recent events (e.g.,Trump’s election loss, Covid regulations, vaccine policies, even the debate over Critical Race Theory). These myths endure while conspiracy theories help people adapt to ever changing circumstances (Cubitt 1984) that they struggle to understand and are fearful of.
Almost all analyses of conspiracy followers see them as wanting to participate in history as "truth seekers". Truth seeking and truth telling is an activity and this activity needs an audience. Conspiracy is not about belief, it is about community.
A "belief" in some false narrative may not seem like it serves a purpose. This is why we need to explain what it means to be a believer. To often it is assumed that conspiracy theorists suffer from some kind of cognitive, emotional or social defect. The leaders and mobilizers may be emotional and committed (as so many leaders of social movements are), or they might be grifters and charlatans taking advantage of people.
Lonely, fearful, and isolated people seek community. People want their beliefs validated. Much like religion, conspiracy groups tell their believers that people trying to debunk their beliefs show that their beliefs are true.
A core belief of many conspiracy theories is that any attempt to debunk them is framed as proof of the conspiracy itself. This phenomenon is driven by a form of "epistemic self-insulation," which makes believers resistant to new information and can cause fact-checking to backfire. Confirmation bias, Dunning-Kruger Effect, Motivated Reasoning, the Over-Kill Effect, and the Familiarity Effect all play into the phenomenon.
When debunking, focus on specific facts, not the myth itself. Directly repeating a false claim can inadvertently reinforce it. It is vitally important to address the root causes of these myths.
As for the antivaxers and their fear of what they don't understand, if possible, address the reasons behind their vaccine hesitancy. Unfortunately, I no longer have patience with antivaxers.
For far too long my neurology and that of my children has been used as an excuse to not vaccinate. The belief that somehow being like me is worse than having to endure a preventable disease that could possibly lead to death or life-long complications is mind boggling. The high level of scientific illiteracy in the U.S. has only resulted in pain, death, and misery.
I have no patience for conspiracy theorists. All they have done is caused my community problems. I live in a rural county in a place that conservative conspiracy theorists came to find what they called the "Great Redoubt", otherwise known as a conservative utopia.
The "Great Redoubt" was their attempt to fight back against the "Great Replacement". All of it is false. Their conservative utopia is wrath with poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, large percentage with untreated mental illness, inadequate medical access, domestic abuse/violence and lots of behavioral issues with children in an area that is historically under-served.
Yet, these folks fight against any improvement and against any change. They would rather live in a community frozen in time and blame any and all "outsiders" than looking in the mirror. These folks don't want to have to think about anyone else. It is always about themselves, their comfort, and their beliefs. To them, everyone else needs to adhere to their personal beliefs. We can't function effectively as a society this way. What is happening here is what leads to these conspiracy theory groups growing and there is A LOT of evangelical Christian Nationalist conspiracy here.
Source: "Cabal Anthropology: Can the anthropology of belief help us understand conspiracism?" - by Steven Sampson, June, 13th, 2021.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/100912781/Cabal_anthropology5augLONGwithbib.docx&ved=2ahUKEwj2ge_Ew7WPAxXKJ0QIHU2VPHUQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3epp2tmjgFVtbrN3-3E7N_
