Why Princess Diana conspiracy theories refuse to die
Derek Arnold is an Instructor in Communication at Villanova University
August 31 is the 20th anniversary of the stunning, tragic death of Princess Diana in Paris, France, when Diana’s chauffeured Mercedes hit a pillar inside an underpass just after midnight, killing her, her boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, and canada goose outlet online her driver, Henri Paul.
canada goose uk black friday As the news quickly circulated, theories about the causes of the crash also spread, with some veering into conspiracy. Did the ruthless paparazzi, in hot pursuit of the car, cause the driver to panic? Had the royal family murdered her to avert an embarrassing marriage? canada goose uk black friday
canada goose uk outlet Twenty years later, these conspiracy theories still persist. canada goose uk outlet
I’ve taught classes and researched the nature of conspiracy theories for over a decade, and I’m especially interested in the role of logic in these conspiracies how it’s used to warp and concoct stories that explain extraordinary events.
In the end, our reasons for entertaining conspiracy theories about canada goose outlet in new york luminaries, whether it’s the princess of Wales or John F. Kennedy, often have more to do with our lives than theirs.
canada goose coats What people were sayingShortly after Princess Diana’s death, numerous notions started cheapcanadagooseparkas.ca to circulate suggesting conspiracies against her. canada goose coats
Some suggested that MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service, caused the crash by blinding Diana’s driver with a strobe light. The thinking went that the royal family wanted to prevent Princess Diana from marrying her boyfriend, Fayed, the son of a prominent Egyptian billionaire. (Others say that Diana was pregnant with Dodi Fayed’s baby.)
canada goose black friday sale Some have also been suspicious about the emergency response to the accident. canada goose black friday sale
Canada Goose Jackets Could she have been saved? Why was the response so slow? Canada Goose Jackets
canada goose clearance Most of these theories were proven to be either canada goose outlet wrong or misleading. canada goose clearance
canada goose clearance sale But even this didn’t end the intrigue. canada goose clearance sale
The nature of conspiracyI’ve found that belief in conspiracy theories is more about a refusal to accept the randomness of life and tragedy than it is about the existence of evidence (or lack thereof). It’s the idea that someone, somewhere from God down to human conspirators plays a role in what happens to us.
Workers prepare to take away the car in which Diana, Princess of Wales, died Aug. 31, 1997 in Paris. The crash also killed her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the driver, Henri Paul.
As political scientist Michael Barkun details in his book “A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America,” conspiracy theories usually canada goose outlet store new york hinge on three canada goose uk core beliefs:
Nothing happens by accident. For this reason, the horrible machinations of “evil” conspirators become more believable than a fluke or an accident.
Nothing is as it seems. Successful conspirators hide their identities and actions; we must, therefore, always be wary, even when there’s little reason for suspicion.
Canada Goose Parka Dots can always be connected. Though conspirators attempt to hide their actions, patterns exist everywhere. Canada Goose Parka
Yet many conspiracy theories routinely contradict Occam’s razor, a philosophical principle based on the idea that the more assumptions needed to explain something whether canada goose kensington parka uk it’s a scientific law or a conspiracy theory the less reliable the explanation.
In short, the simpler your explanation, the better. Speculating the royal family enlisted MI6 to cause a car accident by using a strobe light in a Paris tunnel during a chaotic attempt to avoid paparazzi chasing Princess Diana all while suppressing any video footage would require an unbelievable level of coordination and choreography.
So, why then do the Diana conspiracies refuse to disappear?
Conspiracy trumps logicConspiracy theories make for interesting stories; they often involve breathtaking action, complicated plots canada goose outlet washington dc and shadowy villains. They give us access to lives we normally never get to see.
But the drama contained in such explanations can cloud our thinking, impeding our ability to make logical conclusions that refute such conspiracy theories. We might think only others are susceptible to these “foolish” stories, but in reality, we’re persuaded just the same.
A 2008 study found that students canada goose outlet reviews were able to adequately assess how their classmates might be influenced by conspiracy theories about Princess Diana’s death; but they overestimated their own ability to resist being persuaded canada goose outlet england by them.
Today’s 24 hour news cycle also cultivates an opening for conspiratorial thinking. Among journalists, the race to break a story can lead to gaps or errors in reporting. We also tend to forget that as readers, many stories, especially breaking ones, are a work in progress. It can take months even years to ever know the full story.
People exploit gaps or inconsistencies in the coverage to construct their own conspiratorial puzzle. For example, two researchers from the University of Iowa found that reporters especially those on social media made errors about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting in a rush to be among the first to break various developments. Alternative narratives developed as a result, which fomented the growth and spread of conspiracy theories.
Meanwhile, stories that would have never filled our newspapers or evening news segments canada goose jacket outlet in the past now find homes on websites and in social networks. In the quest for “eyeballs,” outlandish stories no matter how steeped in conspiracy or conjecture can easily gain traction.
cheap Canada Goose Life isn’t logicalBut perhaps the biggest reason we tend to give credence to conspiracy theories is our own mortality cheap Canada Goose.
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