There are many ways to remember the coronavirus pandemic; the mere mention of it conjures up images of face masks, vaccines, stand-apart signs, and endless piles of toilet paper. But the non-visual reminders of the pandemic linger more brightly, looming in the back of collective consciousness with memories of fear, distance, isolation, anxiety, and misinformation.
When it comes to the rise and proliferation of conspiracy theories, there really was no other time like the pandemic. Around May 2020, visions of a shadowy, all-powerful cabal orchestrating the pandemic to establish a new world order began circulating the internet, entangling even the most unsuspecting of perpetrators. While mentions of Bill Gates and the Illuminati may have been somewhat expected, the inclusion of Dan Ariely, a renowned behavioral economist, to the sect was mind-boggling.
Ariely is a professor at Duke University and a best-selling author who has made a name for himself explaining the irrationalities of human behavior. Why do people cheat? Why do people lie? Why is the average consumer tempted by sale signs? How do money and gifts shape human motivation? These are just a few of the many questions Ariely’s research has tackled over the years, shedding light on the psychological forces that drive (irrational) decision-making.
Despite Ariely’s prior achievements before the onset of the pandemic, COVID was, as he shared in an interview with The New Yorker, the highlight of his career. Amid the chaos and confusion, his insight into human behavior became more needed than ever before. The Israeli government was one of the many organizations that reached out to him with pleas for help in managing the coronavirus outbreak. Ariely came up with a few suggestions, most notably offering compensation for unemployment, establishing an effective system for remote work and education, and employing the “protect others” message to encourage people to get the vaccine, wear face masks, and wash their hands.
As the pandemic raged, Ariely also addressed public concerns (such as handling domestic violence during lockdown) and delivered many talks, applying his understanding of behavioral economics to explain the irrationality of COVID-era behavior. One Zoom talk after another, he pointed to fear and uncertainty as the leading reasons behind irrational actions like panic-buying and dismissing safety guidelines.
However, the misinterpretation of one of these talks tainted Ariely’s career and put a strain on his growing fame. In 2020, a clip from one of his talks was taken out of context and widely circulated among COVID deniers, making it seem as if Ariely was complicit in a global scheme to deceive and control the population. Things quickly escalated on COVID-denial forums, with readers speculating about his role in the pandemic. Some hypothesized that Ariely had been working with pharmaceutical companies to promote vaccines for profit, whilst others became convinced that he was part of a shadowy cabal orchestrating the pandemic to establish a new world order.
This, a viral video implied, was Ariely’s sole chance to gain vengeance for his past suffering; Dan had, after all, suffered third-degree burns—covering over 70 percent of his body—after a failed attempt to prepare a ktovet esh, a fire inscription for a nighttime ceremony. According to the video, the years he spent getting treatment at hospitals made him hate humanity; it was no wonder he wanted to collaborate with Gates and the Illuminati to depopulate the planet.
The rippled wave of misinformation then spread across social media platforms, forums, and chat groups in a crazy wildfire. These unfounded claims snowballed into others: he was profiteering from vaccines or involved in some shadow cabal orchestrating the pandemic response. There was even a push for his imprisonment or “public hanging,” which generated millions of views online. As he lamented in a 2022 interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, “People shout at me in the street, call me a murderer and a psychopath. I receive death threats, and horrible videos have been made of me. One of them claims that because I was injured, I hate humanity and want everyone to die.”
These conspiracy theories profoundly impacted Ariely’s personal and professional life. From hate mail and online threats to picket lines outside his office, the harassment he endured was relentless. Duke University, where Ariely holds a professorship, was forced to bolster campus security to protect him. The emotional toll of these false accusations was staggering, far beyond what words can capture.
Though he initially felt shocked by the injustice and vitriol, his efforts to assist international governments provoked—an understandable reaction—Ariely came to see the public’s response as deeply revealing of human psychology. People need to vilify, find a worthy scapegoat, and entangle them into a complex narrative; this, Ariely explained, gives them a sense of control and superiority and poses an answer to their stress, anger, and helplessness.
He, too, found his villain—human nature. In a podcast with Howard Jacobson, Ariely recounted his experiences, sharing why otherwise rational people come to believe irrational things and latch onto conspiracies, including ones detailing his involvement with the Illuminati. According to him, conspiracies are not to be discounted; if anything, they are a significant psychological phenomenon aimed at fulfilling real needs—a form of OCD, perhaps. They are a short-term mood regulator that “helps” the dissatisfied feel better about themselves and their lives—a tool that offers them a semblance of control.
Having rationalized them as such, Ariely began to respond to the accusations through blog posts, media appearances, and interviews; he even co-authored papers detailing the fallacies in conspiracy theories and published his most recent book, Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things. His reflections gave a clear insight into the mindset of conspiracy theorists; even more, they showed his determination to understand human behavior and its most misguided manifestations. Rather than retreat in the face of baseless attacks, Ariely leaned into his research, using the same behavioral principles he had spent his career studying to address the very forces driving misinformation and fear.
As strikingly as it illustrates the devastating human cost of misinformation and the lengths to which people will go to perpetuate a lie, Ariely’s story is unfortunately not an isolated example. Like him, many unsuspecting targets of misinformation have survived a wave of conspiracy theories – and the concomitant threats and insults to their reputation. From Ariely to Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr Deborah Birx, experts who were merely trying to help handle the pandemic have had to dispel false stories and stoically confront the deeper personal and societal challenge of trumped-up stories.
Their stories show us that truth is somewhat fragile, especially in a hyper-connected world like ours. At times of distress, false stories gain traction, irrationality takes center stage, and misinformation easily overshadows facts. With that thought, Ariely’s work appears significant not only because it sheds light on the irrational forces that drive human behavior but also because it encourages a deeper understanding of the human tendency to fall for misinformation and misbelief.
