The world is full of them. An example on the Kennedy assassination.

Regardless of what actually happened that day, research suggests that we might be psychologically predisposed to see conspiracies behind events like the Kennedy assassination. This is because of an unconscious mental rule of thumb called the proportionality bias. When the outcome of an event is significant, proportionally significant causes seem more plausible. When consequences are modest, more modest attributions are made. Psychologists have demonstrated the bias using a variety of experimental scenarios, from reports of disease outbreaks and tornadoes to plane crashes and crimes. The findings are consistent: we tend to infer big causes for extreme events and small causes for insignificant events.

That one by Rob Brotherton at
http://conspiracypsychology.com/

Obviously, I'm no expert on the subject, but find it interesting.

Are such theories common in other countries on subjects having nothing to do with the US?

• Jimbro3738
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Conspiracy Theories

2014-03-20, 14:28:59

The world is full of them. An example on the Kennedy assassination.

Regardless of what actually happened that day, research suggests that we might be psychologically predisposed to see conspiracies behind events like the Kennedy assassination. This is because of an unconscious mental rule of thumb called the proportionality bias. When the outcome of an event is significant, proportionally significant causes seem more plausible. When consequences are modest, more modest attributions are made. Psychologists have demonstrated the bias using a variety of experimental scenarios, from reports of disease outbreaks and tornadoes to plane crashes and crimes. The findings are consistent: we tend to infer big causes for extreme events and small causes for insignificant events.

That one by Rob Brotherton at
http://conspiracypsychology.com/

Obviously, I'm no expert on the subject, but find it interesting.

Are such theories common in other countries on subjects having nothing to do with the US?