Digital media and their algorithms have become central to the formation of public opinion, political or celebrity fandoms, impulse purchases, and the spread of gossip. Under such conditions, the distortion of messages and disinformation occur more intensively and faster than the dissemination of reliable facts because manipulators appeal to emotional evaluations, stereotypes, and prejudices.

Calls for critical rethinking and fact-checking at the civilian level are often seen as too exhausting and boring. However, if we do not want the falsification of reality to reach dangerous proportions, the ability to think critically and check the reliability of information sources becomes an urgent necessity.

Currently, the responsibility for selecting messages from the array of all information flows rests individually with each person involved in the circulation of content. According to Rudy Reichstadt, the author of the book, conspiracy theories, which existed even in the pre-digital era, have acquired a new dimension under modern conditions. Moreover, every smartphone owner can potentially invent and spread any disinformation, blurring the boundaries between manipulators and consumers of conspiracy theories even further.

Сonspiracy theory, as the author proves, has certainly evolved from innocent 'psychological-mental crutches' for entertainment into a political discourse and a resource actively used in information wars and political struggles.

Unfortunately, this innocent chatter that helps reconcile one's own ideas with the complex reality of today has terrible consequences in real life, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.

To learn about the basic narratives of conspiracy theories and methods for countering them, you can read the book ‘The Opium of the Fools: An Essay on Conspiracy Theories'.