DISCLAIMER: I've written a load of stuff and it's all jumbled up and confused/confusing. However, I spent a good ten minutes doing so and I'm reluctant to just give up.
Perhaps I conjured that association up with the reference to school shooters but I didn't intend to mean it as 'all these conspiracy theorists are losers with small dicks'. More that, in our culture of massive inequality between rich and poor, educated and non-educated, most of us ARE losers. I agree that such an explanation would be trite, if it was the ONLY explanation. It's a fascinating subject and I wasn't attempting to sum it up in that post.
The 'no smoke without fire' aspect to conspiracy theories is obviously not to be underestimated (and in fact ties in with the idea that its the powerless who gravitate towards them), cos it's obvious that the rich and powerful ARE, in fact, conspiring to fuck people over (or at least to get richer, whether or not at the expense of others). Perhaps this is what you're referring to by saying I'm 'avoiding thinking about' conspiracies?
Anecdotally, I find there's a lot of Illuminati chat in the rap forums I lurk on, and in YouTube comments under rap videos, etc. Now obviously, African-Americans have very good reason to suspect that there's a conspiracy against them... because there is!
Also, the collapse of trust in media and public institutions - again, with much justification - plays into this.
In summary: 'Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.'
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/
The idea that such beliefs are held only by a bunch of nerdy white guys living in their parents' basements is a myth. Surveys by Uscinski and Parent show that believers in conspiracies “cut across gender, age, race, income, political affiliation, educational level, and occupational status.” People on both the political left and right, for example, believe in conspiracies roughly equally, although each finds different cabals. Liberals are more likely to suspect that media sources and political parties are pawns of rich capitalists and corporations, whereas conservatives tend to believe that academics and liberal elites control these same institutions. GMO conspiracy theories are embraced primarily by those on the left (who accuse, for example, Monsanto of conspiring to destroy small farmers), whereas climate change conspiracy theories are endorsed primarily by those on the right (who inculpate, for example, academic climate scientists for manipulating data to destroy the American economy).
Study cited in The Independent says people under more stress more likely to believe in conspiracy theories:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...-psychology-study-anglia-ruskin-a7023966.html
It is bizarre how easy and enjoyable humans find believing in stories, imaginary worlds, etc. When you're a child you can believe anything, and seek out imaginary worlds and roles (inventing them if they're not available in books). It's tremendously satisfying, even as an adult, to imagine things. I wonder if there's any correlation between conspiracy theories and the most popular/recurring narrative forms? What I mean by this is, perhaps conspiracy theories could be shown to be about rearranging the facts of events into forms more palatable and compelling to us.
