Here are the 7 tell-tale traits of conspiratorial thinking, summarized (& more easily remembered) with the acronym CONSPIR. More details in The Conspiracy Theory Handbook
CONTRADICTORY: Conspiracy theorists can simultaneously believe in ideas that are mutually contradictory. This is because their commitment to disbelieving the “official“ account is so absolute, it doesn’t matter if their belief system is incoherent.
OVERRIDING SUSPICION: Conspiratorial thinking involves a nihilistic degree of skepticism towards the official account. This extreme degree of suspicion prevents belief in anything that doesn’t fit into the conspiracy theory.
4/9 NEFARIOUS INTENT: The motivations behind any presumed conspiracy are invariably assumed to be nefarious. Conspiracy theories never propose that the presumed conspirators have benign motivations.
5/9 SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG: Although conspiracy theorists occasionally abandon specific ideas when they become untenable, those revisions don’t change their overall conclusion that “something must be wrong” & the official account is based on deception.
6/9 PERSECUTED VICTIM: Conspiracy theorists present themselves as victims of organized persecution. At the same time, they see themselves as brave antagonists taking on conspirators. Conspiratorial thinking involves a self-perception of simultaneously being a victim and a hero.
7/9 IMMUNE TO EVIDENCE: Conspiracy theories are self-sealing—evidence countering a theory is reinterpreted as originating from the conspiracy. So the stronger the evidence against a conspiracy (e.g., FBI exonerate politician from allegations of misusing personal email server)…
8/9 …the more the conspirators must want people to believe their version of events (e.g., the FBI was part of the conspiracy to protect that politician).
9/9 RE-INTERPRETING RANDOMNESS: The overriding suspicion found in conspiratorial thinking results in the belief that nothing occurs by accident. Small random events are re-interpreted as being caused by the conspiracy. More details at
— source threadreaderapp.com | John Cook | Mar 19 2020