Human beings have always needed to believe. Since the first civilizations, he has sought stories capable of explaining the inexplicable, of alleviating anxiety in the face of the unknown. This deep need did not disappear with the advent of science. It has been transformed, displaced, sometimes radicalized. Today, extraordinary beliefs thrive on new grounds, borrowing the codes of rationality while freeing themselves from them.
The mental shortcuts that open the door to improbable certainties
Our brains were not designed to coldly evaluate the truth. Rather, he excels in the art of simplifying, relating, and guessing. These mental mechanisms, very effective in everyday life, can nevertheless promote implausible beliefs. When a person associates two unrelated events, they can create fictitious causality. All it takes is a vaccine followed by discomfort to conclude that there is a cause and effect link, without proof or analysis.
These cognitive biases are well documented. In a study published by Scientific Reports, researchers showed that individuals with an intuitive cognitive style, rather than an analytical one, were more attracted to paranormal, conspiracy or pseudoscientific beliefs. It is therefore not a question of intelligence, but of way of thinking.
Heuristics (these simplified mental rules) also play a crucial role. Faced with a pandemic, it is more reassuring to believe in orchestrated manipulation than in an uncontrollable virus. Narration then becomes a refuge. Conspiracy thinking offers a clear scenario, with those responsible identified, when reality remains uncertain and chaotic.
Why extraordinary beliefs respond to our fears and our shortcomings
Believing makes you feel less vulnerable. Human beings instinctively seek to make sense of what escapes them. In times of crisis or isolation, this need becomes more acute. Adhering to an extraordinary belief sometimes means regaining a feeling of control over a world considered threatening.
Psychologists Van Prooijen and Van Vugt, in Perspectives on Psychological Science, recall that conspiracy beliefs evolved as a social adaptation strategy. They would make it possible to strengthen group cohesion and detect possible external threats. On an individual level, these beliefs offer an explanatory framework for significant experiences, often experienced as marginal or misunderstood.
On the spiritual side, the function is similar. An unusual experience (sensation of presence, vision, vivid dream) can be interpreted as contact with the divine. According to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, the more emotionally charged these experiences are, the more likely they are to be perceived as authentic. Belief then becomes a means of validating one's experience, of not reducing it to a simple cerebral dysfunction.
Loneliness plays an amplifying role. Far from the critical gaze of a diverse environment, an individual can turn to online communities that share the same vision. Forums, video channels or social groups become spaces of mutual validation, where beliefs are consolidated as they escape contradiction.
When an isolated intuition becomes a shared extreme story
A belief only becomes dangerous when it takes root, becomes structured and spreads. This transition often takes place without doubt. Repetition, source selection, and group pressure help solidify the initial idea. It becomes a story, then truth.
In Missouri Medicine, an American medical journal, researchers warn of how erroneous beliefs about vaccines are spreading despite repeated efforts to correct them. Prolonged exposure to biased content reinforces existing beliefs, a phenomenon known as confirmation bias.
This is how extraordinary beliefs can end up building a parallel world, where each piece of information about reality is interpreted through a predefined grid. The Earth is no longer spherical, the elites no longer govern but manipulate, scientific evidence becomes fabrication.
According to Phys.org, this shift rarely occurs suddenly. It often begins with a simple intuition, a doubt about information, a diffuse feeling of discrepancy. Then, guided by a coherent but closed internal logic, the individual reorganizes his representations of the world around this belief. At this point, going back becomes difficult. To admit a mistake is to call into question the entire personal narrative.
Philosopher Helen De Cruz, in Philosophical Explorations, explains that even religious beliefs, often deemed immune to evidence, can evolve when they come into tension with other strong values or experiences. But this requires an environment where dialogue remains possible, where critical thinking is valued without being perceived as an attack.
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