Researcher on supporters of conspiracies: "They believe even more if you present counter-evidence"

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Corona skeptics at demonstration in Berlin: "The culprits identified"

Photo: Thomas Meyer / OSTKREUZ

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Butter, you consider the majority of the people demonstrating against the government's coronavirus measures to be supporters of conspiracy theories.

Why?

Butter:

You cannot be reached with rational arguments and aggressively show that you consider the virus to be either an invention or a hugely exaggerated danger.

They don't wear masks, ignore rules of distance and believe in a typical narrative.

SPIEGEL:

Which one?

Butter:

That the elites, i.e. politicians, scientists and traditional media, artificially uphold a threat scenario in order to secure their own privileges and deprive normal people of their rights.

In countries that have suffered more deaths in the pandemic, different narratives prevail, where biological weapons that are said to have released the virus play a major role.

When we initially expected a similar number of sick people as in Italy or France, this variant was also more common here.

SPIEGEL:

So every conspiracy theory is dependent on the circumstances?

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