The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research

Conspiracy theories integrate, connect and catalogue together what are clearly independent and unrelated events in order to demonstrate correlation and construct impossible, fabricated tales of causation (Bessi, et al., 2015). In a narrative sense, these extremely sophisticated stories are often ver...

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Main Author: Roberto Veraldi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Accademia Piceno Aprutina dei Velati 2020-12-01
Series:Science & Philosophy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eiris.it/ojs/index.php/scienceandphilosophy/article/view/536
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author Roberto Veraldi
author_facet Roberto Veraldi
author_sort Roberto Veraldi
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description Conspiracy theories integrate, connect and catalogue together what are clearly independent and unrelated events in order to demonstrate correlation and construct impossible, fabricated tales of causation (Bessi, et al., 2015). In a narrative sense, these extremely sophisticated stories are often very intriguing, and their diffusion comes about due to a legitimate desire to enrich the non-scientific literature available.  In other cases, despite the cultural maturity of the Western world, conspiracy theories are promoted as real news, able to upset public opinion and to involve a part of the population in Pindaric flights. Moreover, in many cases the creators of these illogical conspiracies are held as suffragists of so-called ‘free thought’, departing from mainstream theories and opening up the mind of the population to new and elevated levels of comprehension of reality (Melley, 2000) and at the moment, the spread of Covid-19 produces a greater awareness of the societal role of the individual.
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spelling doaj.art-4766f518ed8448f8b8417d44b4f480ab2022-12-21T22:10:59ZengAccademia Piceno Aprutina dei VelatiScience & Philosophy2282-77572282-77652020-12-018215115510.23756/sp.v8i2.536489The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific ResearchRoberto Veraldi0University of Chieti-Pescara, ItalyConspiracy theories integrate, connect and catalogue together what are clearly independent and unrelated events in order to demonstrate correlation and construct impossible, fabricated tales of causation (Bessi, et al., 2015). In a narrative sense, these extremely sophisticated stories are often very intriguing, and their diffusion comes about due to a legitimate desire to enrich the non-scientific literature available.  In other cases, despite the cultural maturity of the Western world, conspiracy theories are promoted as real news, able to upset public opinion and to involve a part of the population in Pindaric flights. Moreover, in many cases the creators of these illogical conspiracies are held as suffragists of so-called ‘free thought’, departing from mainstream theories and opening up the mind of the population to new and elevated levels of comprehension of reality (Melley, 2000) and at the moment, the spread of Covid-19 produces a greater awareness of the societal role of the individual.http://eiris.it/ojs/index.php/scienceandphilosophy/article/view/536covid-19conspiracy theoriesscientific research
spellingShingle Roberto Veraldi
The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research
Science & Philosophy
covid-19
conspiracy theories
scientific research
title The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research
title_full The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research
title_fullStr The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research
title_full_unstemmed The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research
title_short The Covid-19 and the Defeat of Conspiracy Theories: The Renewal of Public Faith in Scientific Research
title_sort covid 19 and the defeat of conspiracy theories the renewal of public faith in scientific research
topic covid-19
conspiracy theories
scientific research
url http://eiris.it/ojs/index.php/scienceandphilosophy/article/view/536
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