On the persistence of conspiracy theories and rumors Still, there's some evidence — if anecdotal — that the problem is getting worse. In a December article on conspiracy theories, Vox's Dave Roberts pointed to a quote from Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, as reported by Ryan Lizza:
"The overwhelming majority of [Rep. Nunes's] constituent mail is now about the far-out ideas, and only a small portion is 'based on something that is mostly true.' He added, 'It's dramatically changed politics and politicians, and what they're doing.' "
Belief in rumors and conspiracy theories appears shallow, but widespread — it's not that there are a lot of Americans who fear chemtrails, wear tinfoil hats, and believe that mysterious cigarette-smoking men are hiding the truth about UFOs. In that 2015 paper, Berinsky presented subjects with seven rumors, and found that only 5 percent of subjects believed all seven. However, each subject believed 1.8 on average.
"It's not that there are some people who believe a lot of crazy things," Berinsky has said. "There are a lot of people who believe some crazy things."
