Conspiracy theories are delusions. That means they are fixed false beliefs. They are impervious to evidence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional_disorder

When treated by a psychiatrist there is no accepted effective medication, none. The different classes of anti-psychotics are effective at calming people, but they aren’t effective at treating the delusions. This is true of people with full blown psychotic disorders that include delusions. The treatment options are psychotherapies of different types. Given the paranoid nature of the disorder the difficulty in successfully treating these people is high and takes years to decades of trust building.

Those who are delusional are dangerous. This cannot be ignored. The evidence of this is glaring.

It’s jarring to think that there are so many people are afflicted by a disorder that’s considered so rare. People who are afflicted almost never seek treatment. They function in the rest of their lives without problems until the delusion encroaches to other areas.

The Qanon and Tea party politicians are outstanding examples. They carry guns. They refuse to go through security. It’s not a stretch to see that the as of yet unproven allegations that they were actively involved in the recent insurrection will be revealed as actuality backed by incontrovertible and overwhelming evidence. They won’t accept the evidence and the group will become even more violent. They themselves have already publicly demonstrated the persecutory delusions. The groups they belong to have already threatened increased violence.

Conspiracy theories are dangerous. They cannot be ignored.