Normal people believe in the strangest things. About half of US adults endorse at least one conspiracy theory. Belief in paranormal or supernatural phenomena is widespread, and superstition and magical thinking are nearly universal.
Surprisingly large numbers of people also hold beliefs that a psychiatrist would class as delusional. In 2011, psychologist Peter Halligan at Cardiff University assessed how common such beliefs were in the UK (see below for the top 10 delusions).
He found that more than 90 per cent of people held at least one, to some extent. They included the belief that a celebrity is secretly in love with you, that you are not in control of some of your actions, and that people say or do things that contain special messages for you (Psychopathology, vol 44, ...
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