Human nature and conspiracies

There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there. Some are absolutely absurd. Others can be explained with human nature.


I have already mentioned the concept of a common influence. It is fairly common for the majority of people to share the same bias. This is because influential sources such as the media can provide a view with a consistent bias that they present to the mainstream.

I like to look at sports of evidence of common influence explaining perceived conspiracy theories. The American media, which divides the country by time zones, has a strong financial investment in the east. More people live in that part of the country, and games playing from 4-7pm in the West is more marketable than 10pm-1am in the east.

In hockey, the southeast has not exactly been a big revenue generator for the media and the sport. The NHL, and Comcast even more so, sacrifice the southeast for Chicago. This is still the same concept where the media undeniably plays favorites.

Although I consider it unethical for sports officials to follow the news from the league they are officiating, I don't trust that they view things the same way. This means that officials are bombarded with how great the east is and how much better things are when they win instead of the West. This creates a legitimate unfair advantage for eastern teams that fits pretty close to conspiracy theories.

The NHL isn't instructing referees to help out teams from the northeast. Similarly, Major League Baseball isn't instructing umpires to help out the Yankees or the Red Sox. Despite the lack of an actual conspiracy, there are reasons that people believe in these types of conspiracy theories. These same reasons are why I always root against teams from the northeast. I would much rather see a team overcome bias than to wonder if the outcome would have been the same in a more neutral environment.