From Conspiracism to Persecutory Ideation: Discomfort with or Failures of Deliberation?

Not long ago, most people were disposed to believe comforting things, and to trust each other. Paranoia used to be a psychotic symptom. Where has all this distrust come from? I will start with clinical studies. In contrast to theories of delusions purely as an impairment between observations and Bayesian priors, I will assert that that this also reflects a failure to engage deliberative processes supported by the middle frontal gyrus (MFG). I will elaborate work from three paradigms that test priors and habits and our capacity to overcome those predispositions. Across these perspectives, patients and community-dwelling twins show patterns consistent with deliberative failures and MFG disengagement. I will integrate these findings with Facebook data on a conspiracy known as “Targeted Individuals,” that began in the 2010’s, suggesting that various malicious actors transmitted sounds and thoughts into members’ heads and followed them in detail. Across years of Facebook posts (compared to other conspiracy groups and political groups) participating in these echo chamber groups did not increase, and may have eased distress. I consider these findings in light of our current conspiracy-industrial complex with implications for various levels of intervention.