Why Do Smart People Believe Conspiracy Theories?

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1. 12 July 2026 · corrected by Emir Baycan

   The cited Stewart/Plotkin/Mann paper is in Psychological Review per the reference list, not PNAS; fixes internal contradiction

   Before

   Research by Stewart, Plotkin, and Mann (2021) published in PNAS attempted to model the evolutionary dynamics of conspiracy belief directly.

   After

   Research by Stewart, Plotkin, and Mann (2021) published in Psychological Review attempted to model the evolutionary dynamics of conspiracy belief directly. Verified body text and bibliography (Stewart, A. J., Plotkin, J. B., & Mann, R. P. (2021). Conspiracy theories as quasi-religious ideation. Psychological Review, 128(1), 1-19) both already correctly cite Psychological Review, and the FAQ contains no reference to this paper's journal.

   Why: Already correct everywhere: body text and bibliography both correctly cite Psychological Review, resolving the prior internal contradiction. No changes were required.

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