The only reason an idea takes hold is because it answers an emotional need. This is an instinctual recognition: the idea or message makes sense of the world in a way that aligns with your experience.

This implies two things:

1. The previous ideology and common sense messaging are no longer adequate.

2. As the world progresses and grows more complex, we need more intricate and nuanced ways to interpret and process information.

Yet, in the face of increasing complexity, the appeal of simplicity endures, hence the rise of conspiracy theories. These fantasies offer neat explanations (aliens, government cabals, Jews, a fake moon landing), but reconciling them with reality requires increasingly convoluted arguments, leading to shambolic constructions. Complexity, it seems, is inescapable.

Historically, humanity’s progress has involved learning, moving beyond, and creating ever more complex systems to sustain ourselves and stave off boredom. Our simple pleasures require oddly sophisticated machines. As such, the most simplistic answer revert back to understanding human truths; classic myths which are never simple.

Even access to these stories and information increases, meaning every response must account for more variables than ever before, necessitating more sophisticated tools for reduction and understanding to break through what we fail to see.