No, but I do believe there is a mental condition called "institutional paranoia" which causes people to believe in secret societies and conspiracy conspiracies. Victims of Institutional Conspiracy feel the need to be involved in something "greater than themselves", so they are opposing the Great Big Powerful Conspiracy. Sort of a David vs Goliath complex.
There are many things that motivate conspiracy theorists - the sort of folks who like to blather on about secret evil agents that control the bad things that happen in the world. Some are indeed nuts. Some are just anti-social. Others are excessively anti-authority enough to deny anything and everything society or authority holds as true. Others are blinded by their personal social and or political biases and simply are willing to swallow whatever fits into their ideology. Then there are some who are simply trolls who will respond to anything rational with CT talk just to get under peoples skin and create a reaction for the sake of creating a reaction.
Further I'd guess that some can't emotionally cope with the idea that the world can be so random and chaotic. They find it more emotionally appealing to believe there are "bad guys" in control than to accept that the world is wild and weird. The idea that NOBODY is in control is just too terrifying. This is much like a religious person.
There was a Vanity Fair article called "Welcome To The Conspiracy" and Rich Cohen said that CTism was an "oddly self-comforting worldview" because "nothing is accidental, everything can be explained, and someone is always in control." There is some perverse measure of comfort in having a designated enemy. Conspiracism, as I see it, is predicated largely on identifying some Powers That Be as the root of all evil. There is a parallel in some religions that identify a Devil.
I think the majority though come from a place where they want to feel special. They see themselves as champions thwarting the actions of a nefarious foe. By being aware of the conspiracy theory they put themselves in a unique category of the enlightened or awakened. Their lives are probably unsatisfactory on some level and going online to "research" conspiracies gives them some fulfillment. The allure of "being in the know", IE the feeling of "knowing the big secret" no one else can see is very powerful. It gives the believer a false sense of superiority. Most of them just want to be in the know and get a pat on the back every time they throw out a new theory. Sometimes I don't think they even care if their theories are correct, they just want to be a part of it. In general it's an ego thing; most CT believers are insignificant nobodies who use their supposed "special knowledge" to bolster their self image. Again, a very religious sort of reaction.
It's notable that both religion and conspiracy theories typically postulate a powerful entity that is invisible and can't be controlled, doing unexplainable things in inexplicable ways, which can only be understood by those "in the know". The same people who flock to conspiracy theories seem also to flock to badly-practiced religions (hard core fundamentalism).
The common theme among ALL CT's though is the inability of the Conspiracy Theorist to properly apply rational thought - to reason through complex arguments or comprehend well reasoned arguments presented to them. In simple terms they just can not think properly and it because they can not think properly that they get stuck in the CT mindtrap. Since they lack the ability to rationalize multiple points of information into a coherent hypothesis they resort to conspiracy theories where all they have to consider are a few anomalies they don't even have to explain since they reverse the burden of proof and challenge others to "prove them wrong." This explains why many of us thinkers get so frustrated in dealing with them. They never seem to 'get it' even on simple points that should be self-evident. Most think it is because they won't (wilful), I think it is because they can't.
The conspiracy crowd don't think. They believe. Their mission is about faith, not truth. They are not out to inform you but rather are out to convert you to their faith and need to be handled with that in mind. Conspiracy Theorists are psychologically most similar to religious fundamentalists.
off course yeah, always there r corupted powerful people group together to make fun of humanity, to prove the world they can flip our society up side down with a single hand.
Like in the movie "Skull"
I wondered about all the secrecy in the Masonic Lodge.
So I joined. Very disappointing. The secret is they like God.
Are you talking about the Koch brothers. Oops. Excuse me. I got the words in the wrong order. You are talking about the Koch brothers.
With evil agendas, and a knack for causing trouble in the world?
