Conspiracy Theories

“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Even if you weren’t alive on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong’s famous words as he stepped out of Apollo 11 onto the lunar surface are probably etched into your memory. 

But did Armstrong and his fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin really take man’s first steps onto the moon? Or did they step out into a remote desert or a carefully staged studio here on Earth? 

Conspiracy theories are explanations for events or situations that involve secret, often sinister plots by powerful groups, without solid evidence to support them. Developed and promoted by individuals called ‘conspiracy theorists,’ these theories usually rely on distrust of official accounts and resist contrary evidence. 

Despite video footage of the historic event, a huge amount of scientific data, and third-party evidence, many people still believe that the moon landings were faked as part of a government and NASA conspiracy. And it’s not just a handful of people who subscribe to this theory. In 2019, a survey found that 10% of Americans believed that man never walked on the moon, slightly more than the 6% who held this viewpoint in 1999.^1,31

The arguments put forward by these conspiracy theorists include the fact that the American flag was waving in zero gravity, lights from the ‘studio’ were apparently visible in photos, and the radiation in the atmosphere would have killed the astronauts.¹ The person responsible for planting the seed of doubt in people’s minds was Bill Kaysing, a former employee of the company that helped design rocket engines. In 1976, he self-published a pamphlet called “We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle,” laying the foundation for what would become one of the world’s most famous conspiracy theories in history.²

So why would the USA lie about such an important event? The most common belief behind the lunar landing conspiracy theory is that the USA was trying to win the ‘Space Race,’ a Cold War era competition between them and their enemy, Russia. Other theories include NASA’s need to show results in order to receive more funding, and pressure on the space agency to fulfill President J. F. Kennedy's 1961 goal "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."²

Why Do Conspiracy Theories Exist and Spread?

Moon landings aside, conspiracy theories are a common part of everyday life and often shape people’s worldview. In times of uncertainty or crisis, conspiracy theories can offer a simple explanation for something that feels complicated or unbelievable. Behavioral scientist Jan-Willem van Prooijen and psychologist Karen Douglas argue that conspiracy theories often arise during periods of societal crisis, such as wars, economic crashes, pandemics, and terror attacks.⁴ These situations trigger such beliefs as people try to make sense of events that feel out of their control. Psychologically, conspiracy theories offer a sense of understanding and agency in chaotic situations. While these beliefs may start as coping mechanisms, they can solidify into widely accepted historical narratives that persist even after the crisis ends.

However, conspiracy theories don’t necessarily reduce anxiety. In fact, they can increase feelings of powerlessness and mistrust because they paint a picture of a world being controlled by secretive, powerful, and malevolent forces.

Recent research on conspiracy theories suggests that people who believe in them tend to have a combination of specific personality traits and motivations. These include relying strongly on their intuition, feeling a sense of antagonism and superiority toward others, and perceiving threats in their environment.¹¹ Contrary to what was believed in the mid-20th century, conspiracy theorists are not likely to be simple-minded or paranoid people, but individuals looking to fulfill certain motivations and make sense of stressful situations. 

Other researchers suggest a slightly different theory for why people believe in conspiracy theories. Karen Douglas and her colleagues argue that belief is driven by motives that are characterized as epistemic (understanding one’s environment), existential (being safe and in control of one’s environment), and social (maintaining a positive image of the self and the social group).¹² Yet whether or not conspiracy theories actually fulfill these motivations is still being investigated. 

The reason why conspiracy theories spread and persist within societies is due to cognitive biases, particularly the confirmation bias. This is our tendency to seek out and accept information that confirms what we already believe or would like to be true, and reject anything that goes against this. When we encounter information that challenges our beliefs, it can trigger discomfort, or what’s known as cognitive dissonance. To overcome this imbalance, we tend to double down on what we already believe and feel comfortable with. The brain’s response to opposing views explains why conspiracy theories are so sticky and hard to get rid of.

In one study, three neuroscientists scanned the brains of students with liberal political views using a functional MRI.¹³ They first read out statements the students had previously agreed with, then presented them with opposing evidence. When non-political beliefs were challenged, brain activity stayed calm. But when political beliefs were contradicted, the amygdala lit up—the part of the brain responsible for the fight-or-flight response, similar to how we react to physical danger, like a tiger attack. 

The other cognitive bias that causes us to fall for misinformation and conspiracy theories is black-and-white thinking. This bias causes us to view the world in binary terms, not as a complex, messy, and often confusing place. A good example of how this bias impacts conspiracy theories is the best-selling weight-loss book, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. According to the book, all carbs were bad and to be avoided. However, in reality, carbs are more complex and divided into complex, simple, natural, or processed.³² But by making people believe that it was a simple decision between eating or not eating carbs, a conspiracy theory around their harmful impact on our health quickly developed.¹⁴