My friend Stan Krute on Facebook wrote how astonished he is about conspiracy theories that real people believe in. I wrote a series of three comments, which I've included here, lightly edited.#
My uncle, well educated, highly literate, creative, believed lots of conspiracy theories, and the people he hung out with did too. I believed a few myself when I was younger. So I have some familiarity with it. I think it’s a way of coping with the complexity and dishonesty of everything.#
My parents too, when it came to Israel, had lots of what I considered irrational conspiracy like beliefs. Also very literate, highly educated, urban, liberal people.#
Eventually as I grew older I got closer to the real power in the world, and understood that it’s just as confusing to the people at the top as it is to the people on the bottom.#