In their analysis, the researchers found no significant differences in conspiracy mentality between the autistic group and the general population. Both groups scored similarly, indicating that being autistic does not inherently affect one’s general susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs.
This finding suggests that conspiracy mentality is not linked with autism, contradicting two potential hypotheses the researchers explored: one that autism might increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs due to common experiences of social exclusion, and another that autism might offer a type of protection against these beliefs due to cognitive characteristics associated with autism, such as analytical thinking.
Link to the study:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13546805.2024.2399505#abstract
Not that surprising. Conspiracy theorists, imo, have a few key features
-
no matter how smart or stupid they might be, they always think they’re far smarter than they actually are
-
thinks everyone else is an idiot
-
easy to wind up
-
will take a position, no matter how little info about it they have access to, and will never, ever back down from it no matter how ridiculous where they ended up may be
-
finds real life too boring
None of those are ASD
Isolated (mis)information streams and the need to identify with an ingroup are the two biggest features to me.
-
I think lead-poisoning mostly. Given that most conspiracy theorists are the older generation.
Brain damage in general is my hypothesis. Repeated head trauma, toxic substances like drug abuse and heavy metals in general. Anything that damages brain tissue eventually disrupts the ability for rational thought in the mild end to disconnection with reality altogether in the most extreme cases of psychosis.
At first I enjoyed the irony in this comment – thinking the lead-poisoning myth is my type of conspiracy – but it turns out, in a spectacularly non-conspiratorial way, researchers have shown correlation between lead exposure as a child and maladaptive personalities as an adult.
Lead poisoning isn’t a myth. That’s why its use was discontinued in fuels long ago. It’s actually quite a well researched topic in the history of America.
Yeah I guess I should rephrase that – I knew lead poisoning wasn’t a myth, but I wasn’t sure about the theory that lead-exposure is the reason for the apparent rise in anti-intellectualism/conspiratorial thinking in older generations
Ah okay, apologies - I wasn’t trying to be combative; just factual.
nah you’re good you’re good, no need to apologize
Worse: this was known even when lead was still allowed in the environment. People just didn’t care.
this has been my theory. Gun ranges, especially indoor ones are linked with extreme levels of lead vapor. Throw in a bit of narcissism and a lack of education and you have a recipe for a mental gymnast. Although I think QAA podcast has noted that like extreme surgery recovery drug cocktails/routine breaking seem to also be turning points in many people’s journeys where they start to seek out conspiracies
its absolutely linked to narcissistic traits. Its not difficult to see.
