Conspiracy theories create insecurity. If malevolent forces are said to manipulate everything on earth—the economy, politics, society, vaccination, agriculture, education, media and life itself—it affects the sense of security and normalcy that people need to feel in order to live ordinary lives.
If such a threat is said to be against culture and the identity of a group of people, threat perceptions can become personal. If governments are said to be puppets in the hands of such malevolent forces, it affects public trust in the democratic political system. Public servants who were once trusted and elected by the people could suddenly be seen as strangers—members of a secret cabal who plot against their citizens.
Conspiracy theories create beliefs that teeter on the edges of a real world and a fictitious one. If the difference between the real world and an imaginary one can no longer be recognised (due to the shadowy forces that are said to be at work), then it’s no longer a normal state of affairs; reality has become alien.
