When I was a kid, I got caught up in a fantastic conspiracy theory – that Paul McCartney was dead. It was quite the thing back in the day. Allegedly, McCartney had been killed in a car accident and had been replaced by a body double. Furthermore, there were “clues” about his death in several of the Beatles’ songs. If you played Revolution 9 backwards, you could allegedly hear the words “Turn me on, dead man.” I remember spinning the record backwards and … well, I’m not sure I heard anything. But still the myth continued. Ringo Starr, interviewed at the time, shrugged his shoulders and said: “If people are gonna believe it, they’re gonna believe it. I can only say it’s not true.” As you know, Paul, now 78, is still very much alive and Ringo’s words are more relevant than ever.

One of the most distressing developments of this year’s U.S. presidential election is how conspiracy theories have become a campaign issue. The Conversation Canada has published several stories by Marc-André Argentino of Concordia University, who researches how extremist organizations create propaganda and impact democratic institutions. Marc-André was one of the first people to write extensively about QAnon, an ever-expanding conspiracy theory believed by many of Donald Trump’s core supporters. Trump himself has promoted some of the QAnon nonsense on his Twitter account and most Republicans are reluctant to dismiss the conspiracies for fear of alienating voters.

As a faithful reader of The Conversation, you’re a discerning consumer of evidence-based news and information – and therefore not the target of those who promote conspiracy theories. But maybe, like me, you’re fascinated – and a bit worried – about the rise and impact of this disinformation. What drives people to believe in wild theories? Where do they come from? For your weekend reading pleasure, I’ve assembled some insightful articles from the global network of The Conversation that explain this phenomenon.

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