Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories

[iemitsu]

14. Conspiracy theories are the result of unbelievable official accounts.

No one wants to have to guess what is true when it comes to assigning responsibility for catastrophic or dramatic/destructive events.
Of course, in the immediate aftermath of any event there are bound to be many unanswered questions (a guessing period) but as the evidence is sorted through, and pieced together, the story ought to begin to make sense.
Our natural desire to make sense of situations makes us question what does not seem to meet that mark.
It is the government's fault that Americans face this dilemma. It is certain that our government lies to us when they think its in "our" interest to be lied to or when it is in the interest of individual government employees to hide the truth. Since this has been admitted, by many in-the-know, it stands to reason that one possible explanation for nonsensical accounts, is that the authority, providing the account, is lying.
Most "normal" people do not find conspiracies under every event but when faced with implausible explanations they must attempt to make sense of the event on their own.
Those in power benefit from the belief in conspiracy theories among their populations. It is an effective "divide and conquer" technique, pitting one group's theories against all other possible theories. This ultimately results in a Mexican Standoff and lessens our ability to work together in our own defense.
This is why those in power find incomplete or unbelievable explanations useful. We are knocked off our feet and confused (like Obama in the fist debate with Romney). We can't work together because we are frozen, our guns pointed at each other and our attention focused on, and clinging to, the version of truth each of us finds most compelling. This keeps us from effectively communicating with each other, from working together to make a better world, and keeps us from ever discovering the root cause/causes of our problems.
Superstitious, ill-educated, and isolated people have always been easy to manipulate. They don't see the big picture. What this article ought to have pointed out as remarkable is that well-informed, educated, middle-class Americans, who understand the world through accepted academic methods and authority, are no longer able to make sense of the world, using the information and explanations provided by once trusted authorities. This is a sad story of a psy-ops program gone bad. At least bad for us, the citizens of this land. This same situation has been considered a win, by our government, when realized in other countries.