60% of Brits believe at least one conspiracy theory

Some fascinating numbers here, especially the contrast between Leave/Remain Brexit voters in the UK and Trump/Clinton voters in the US.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...iracy-theories

Quote:

Sixty per cent of British people believe at least one conspiracy theory about how the country is run or the veracity of information they have been given, a major new study has found, part of a pattern of deep distrust of authority that has become widespread across Europe and the US. In the UK, people who supported Brexit were considerably more likely to give credence to conspiracy theories than those who opposed it, with 71% of leave voters believing at least one theory compared with 49% of remain voters. Almost half (47%) of leave voters believed the government had deliberately concealed the truth about how many immigrants live in the UK, versus 14% of remain voters. A striking 31% of leave voters believed that Muslim immigration was part of a wider plot to make Muslims the majority in Britain, a conspiracy theory that originated in French far-right circles that was known as the “great replacement”. The comparable figure for remain voters was 6%. The disparities between those who voted for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the US was even more stark, where 47% of Trump voters believed that man-made global warming was a hoax, compared with 2.3% of Clinton voters.

Other countries:

Quote:

Of the countries surveyed, Sweden was the least credulous of conspiracy theories, with 52% believing one or more of the theories polled by the researchers, as opposed to 85% for Hungary. In the US that figure was 64% and in France 76%.

I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad. I'm not sure how democracy can survive when voters not only don't make any effort to ensure they are properly informed, but gleefully seize on any old nonsense as long as it appeals to their prejudices.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2KuMRM4