Why do so many people believe in conspiracy theories?

The internet is full of all sorts of wild claims about shadow governments, lizardmen, and the shape of the earth. How can these stories inspire tin foil hats despite hard evidence against them?

Host: Hank Green
———-
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow
———-
Dooblydoo thanks the following Patreon supporters:
Kelly Landrum Jones, Sam Lutfi, Kevin Knupp, Nicholas Smith, DA Noe, Alexander Wadsworth, سلطا الخليفي, Piya Shedden, KatieMarie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Bader AlGhamdi, James Harshaw, Patrick Merrithew, Patrick D. Ashmore, Candy , Tim Curwick, Charles George, Saul, Mark Terrio-Cameron, Viraansh Bhanushali, Kevin Bealer, Philippe von Bergen, Chris Peters, Justin Lentz
———-
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Tumblr: http://scishow.tumblr.com
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow
———-
Sources:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2331/epdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513814000300
http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/epidemiology/hanley/c323/hothand.pdf
http://neuquen.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/static.squarespace.com_static_50faacdee4b0dc8c8e2b878b_t_512f813de4b0ed945e32d3c2_1362067773406_EJSPconspiracy_uncertainty.pdf
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50faacdee4b0dc8c8e2b878b/t/55608e45e4b0cc18bc631b6d/1432391237662/JESP_conspiracy_perspective2014.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen_Douglas4/publication/51044986_Does_it_take_one_to_know_one_Endorsement_of_conspiracy_theories_is_influenced_by_personal_willingness_to_conspire/links/59f1c04baca272cdc7ce31ef/Does-it-take-one-to-know-one-En -conspiracy-theories-is -influenced-by-personal-will-to-conspire.pdf
^
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.3161/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1271225
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260108603731
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/4/25/15408610/conspiracy-theories-psychologist-explained
http://sciencenordic.com/secrets-and-lies-psychology-conspiracy-theories
^ ^ dgment.pdf
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP99-00498R000300020007-3.pdf
https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/flag/flag.htm
https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/index.html
http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/no-thats-not-a-stagehand-in-an-apollo-astronaut-photo