Alternate theory for why we come up with conspiracy theories

In response to Robin's most recent post (March 4), I would like offer an alternate theory as to why people come up with and believe conspiracy theories. In this video, Michael Shermer, of Skeptic magazine, proposes that conspiracy theories arise because we are hard wired to find patterns in everything, and therefore we sometimes connect the dots incorrectly. One example of this would be the link between vaccines and autism. If a child gets his/her vaccines and starts showing signs of autism, we automatically assume that the vaccines must be linked to the autism. This is also magnified by the fact that if a pattern, or supposed pattern, is pointed out to us, then we begin to see it more frequently. Shermer showed this with abstract black and white pictures of dots. This would also explain the 23 enigma and how any other sorts of conspiracies can possibly gain ground.

In some ways, Shermer's theory is complementary with the theory explained in Robin's post. Robin states that conspiracy theories are comforting because they make people feel as if they have some idea about how the world works. For example, Shermer cites both pigeons being given food at random times, and baseball players, who are very superstitious at bat, but not in the field. He states that even in a completely random environment, people will find some sort of pattern and believe it works because it's easier than saying there is no pattern or by going out and doing an investigation. (This doesn't explain why Mythbusters is so popular though. I'm sure we can all agree that explosions have nothing to do with it.)

At the end of his talk, Shermer proposes that the idea of "agenticity" is how conspiracies such as HAARP, the Illuminati, or 9/11 can become popular. He describes agenticity as "the tendency to infuse patterns with meaning, intention, and agency, often invisible beings, often from the top down." He goes on to explain that this could explain mono/polytheism, intelligent design, government conspiracies (such as HAARP), aliens coming to save/help mankind (watch the 1950's version of The Day the Earth Stood Still if you don't know what I'm talking about) and other ideas of a supreme power controlling everything. However, he also points out that it can be harder to disregard ideas such as this because conspiracies of this sort can happen, such as the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, which was instrumented by more than just John Wilkes Booth.