CONSPIRACY THEORIES

‘The moon landing was staged.’ ‘Michael Jackson faked his death.’

Conspiracy theories are highly polarizing. Some believe that they are utterly preposterous whereas others believe that they are the means of uncovering the 'real truth'. However, it is unwise to flat out reject them.

One of the most prominent theories is that ‘social media is spying on us’. Conspiracy theorists justify this with questionable events. How often have you searched for something and seen a related advertisement on a completely different app? Some have noticed ads based on conversations near devices that were never searched. However, rather than jumping to the conclusion that social media spies on us, let us consider the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. This states that once you talk about or experience something, you are more aware of it and will notice it more is a much more- this is a plausible explanation.

One of the more ignorant theories is the ‘Flat Earth Theory.’ There are a great number of people who believe that the earth is flat. Despite the great advances in science, the ‘flat-earthers’ seem to be stuck in medieval times. Another theory is about the ‘Illuminati.’ A rumoured secret society whose primary goal is world domination. Have you ever fallen down a youtube rabbit hole and found yourself looking at videos, apparently proving that most of the celebrities are part of the Illuminati?

More serious theories surrounded the Covid-19 virus. Shortly after the news of the virus broke, so did theories around the origin of the Covid-19 virus. A bat, 5G network, Bill Gates or a bioweapon. Another illogical theory was that consuming alcohol protects us from the virus.

For the longest time, a majority of people (including well-known politicians and influencers) believed that the deadly virus was a hoax whereas others believed it to be a scam. This leads to dreadful consequences. Now, people speculate on the vaccine’s effectiveness, which is extremely crucial for us to go back to our normal living.

So, the real question is what to believe and what not to believe. On this, Swami Vivekanand had once said, “Do not believe a thing because you have read about it in a book. Do not believe a thing because another man has said it was true. Do not believe in words because they are hallowed by tradition. Find out the truth for yourself. Reason it out. That is realisation.”