One in 10 Italians believe humanity has never landed on the Moon while 5.8 per cent think the Earth is flat, research has found.
Nearly 20 per cent believe that 5G networks are a sophisticated tool to control people’s minds and 12.7 per cent of the 1,200 people surveyed said science did more harm than good.
In its annual report on the social situation in Italy, the Censis institute in Rome said 5.9 per cent of those surveyed think Covid-19 does not exist and 10.9 per cent regard vaccines to tackle the virus as useless and ineffective. More than 31 per cent thought Covid-19 vaccines were experimental drugs and that those who had been inoculated were being treated as guinea pigs.
Censis said there was an “unreasonable willingness” to believe in baseless and unscientific superstitions and conspiracy theories in Italy.
It said the “wave of irrationality” had risen amid deep rooted socioeconomic problems that evolved from resentment into rejecting “rational discourse”.
Censis linked this to a “vicious circle” of low economic growth in Italy, diminishing tax revenue and high public debt.
