Blog

Conspiracy theories provide alternative explanations for mainstream events, such as the idea that 9/11 was staged or that the CIA was involved in John F. Kennedy's assassination. In our last article, we explored why people tend to believe in these alternative narratives. Now, let’s address the question: “Who believes in conspiracy theories?”

Conspiracy theories have fascinated people for ages. One of the earliest ones I heard about was connected to the death of Betico Croes, a respected Aruban leader who fought for Aruba's independence. I think this is a good place to mention that I was born in Aruba and spent 18 years of my life there. As a kid, I heard whispers suggesting his death wasn't an unfortunate car accident but a deliberate act that was planned beforehand. Coincidentally, his death occurred one day before Aruba's Independence status went into effect. Because of this coincidence and rather 'weird' death, you can imagine why people thought like this. However, there was never any proof of a delibrate act and so this would be labeled a conspiracy theory. But what exactly are conspiracy theories, and why do they grab our attention?