My whole family has issues as I'm sure many families do.

I have been existing and I consider still being alive my only sign of being OK at the moment.

Anyway, my sister (older by 3 years) has never been much on thinking for herself. She is involved with an extremely opinionated fellow that has over the last few years become a "conspiracy theorist". She sends me emails and such about the latest news. I have attempting engaging her in conversations in the past but it seems in her mind "these people are smart scientists" is all the proof she needs.

My question, Is there a book or a sight that exists to help someone understand why people are drawn to these theories. Maybe some debunking of a few would be nice. Mentally, I don't have the power to take on this struggle at the time but I hate to see her sinking deeper and deeper. I don't think it would help too much but I feel that I should try someway to help her.

Sincerely
Melikuchelly

[ImNotHere]

Found this one :

the psychology of conspiracy theories

People believe in conspiracy theories for different reasons. Some people might only have one of these reasons in mind while others might have more than one. Below are some of the most common reasons that force people to believe in conspiracy theories:

the psychology of conspiracy theories

People believe in conspiracy theories for different reasons. Some people might only have one of these reasons in mind while others might have more than one. Below are some of the most common reasons that force people to believe in conspiracy theories:

• 1) Coping with distressing events: When something terrible happens people feel that they are helpless and not in control. After all its not easy to admit that we humans are much more vulnerable than we believe we are. Because of that psychological pressure some people try to make sense of such events in order to feel in control. After all if someone is accountable for what happened then he can be punished or at least hated and this makes people feel more in control

• 2) The victim mentality: Some people are brave enough to take charge of their lives while others prefer to blame external factors. Those who believe that they are victims are the ones who are most likely to believe in conspiracy theories. The person with the victim mentality never admits that he makes mistakes or that he is in control but instead he tries to find a third party to blame so that he feels good about himself. In the Solid Self confidence program i said that people feel better about themselves when they assume that their misfortunes are caused by others and that they are not the ones to blame

• 3) They want to protect their own beliefs: As strange as this sounds its still one of the most popular reasons people believe in conspiracy theories. I have said many times before that people are anything but rational when it comes to protecting their beliefs. If a person believes that his goverment is corrupted then he will create many conspiracy theories just to prove his belief true even if he lacked the needed facts. (see also How people twist the facts to support their own beliefs

• 4) Not to feel powerless: People feel powerless when they admit that there are lots of things that they don't understand. When those people start creating theories even if they are far from the truth they feel more confident about themselves. After all its rewarding to become one of those who are enlightened or one of the few who truly understand what's going on. The desire for superiority is another force that motivates some people to believe in things that others don't believe in. A person in such a case believes that he is superior to others because he knows what they don't know

This might explain some of it

[Hellion]

Obsessed in the sense its causing significant problems in her life? Or just heavily interested....

[Almeera]

I have an uncle like that. Can't reason with him - he's firmly convinced, to the point of swearing on his mother's grave, that this or that thing he read in a forwarded e-mail is true.

In my experience, I found it's best to let him rant and rave and either space out or follow what he's saying, but in a completely dispassionate way. Neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Agreeing will give him more fuel, disagreeing will lead to an argument in 9 out of 10 situations.