We’ve all seen them – the often crazy conspiracy theory videos that seem to be the fastest growing section of the vast YouTube library. They are amusing and occasionally interesting, and I’ll admit that once in a very great while, on the surface, they appear to make compelling arguments. I say “on the surface” because it doesn’t take much research or even just some good old-fashioned logical thought to see the flaws in the “evidence” they purport to present. Unfortunately, it seems that logical thought has become a commodity in shockingly short supply as of late. Are people just that stupid and gullible? Well, the short answer is a resounding “yes”, but there may well be a more insidious psychological mechanism at work here.
Confirmation Bias, according to the American Psychological Association, is the tendency to look for information that supports, rather than rejects, one’s preconceptions, typically by interpreting evidence to confirm existing beliefs...
