9 Reasons People Believe In Conspiracy Theories
3. We Evolved to be Suspicious
Okay, aside from all of the politico-psycho-social reasons why one might choose to believe that reptilian aliens are wearing the queen of England like a shell suit, suspicion is hard-wired into our brains.
For a start, it can be advantageous to err on the side of caution when on the lookout for threats. Evolutionarily speaking, it might cause you to run away from a rustle in the bushes - whether it's a tiger or a squirrel, your paranoia means you live to fight another day - and in the modern world, it can lead us to perceive threats that aren't there in the form of our governments or authority figures. It is also advantageous to band together and to isolate the "other", whether that's the political elite, the Muslim community or climate scientists.
Additionally, humans have what is known as a Theory of Mind. This is our ability to understand that others have their own thoughts, feelings and motives, some of which they might not share with you, enabling us to be not only suspicious of what a person does say, but also of what they do not.