OPINION

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By Keaton Rahman

It’s easy to come up with a conspiracy theory. You take an event and change why it happened or who did it. Take me, as a hypothetical example. I came to Collegiate in the fifth grade. When I arrived at Collegiate, someone convinced themselves that I was actually sent by the government to attend Collegiate as a spy. This person then went around trying to convince everyone that I was a government spy. There is plenty of proof that I am not, in fact, a government spy, but no amount of proof will deter this person from believing that I am a spy. That is a conspiracy theory. 

Conspiracy theories generally have three categories of conspiracy thinkers. Group One believes in a theory but would never make that belief public or attempt to convince the world that what they think is true. Group Two would make this belief public, possibly trying to convince the world that what they believe is true, like me being a spy for the government. The most extreme group, Group Three, dedicates time and resources to making their theory known to the world. Whether it’s websites, social media, flyers, or just yelling it from the streets, Group Three needs everyone to believe their conspiracy along with them.

The Flat Earth Society Logo. Image credit: Blanko.

A strong example of Group Three is flat-earthers. This shockingly large group of people have dedicated themselves to proving that the earth is not round. The Flat Earth Society is a website, and a group, that has convinced themselves the earth is flat. Their home web page includes the quote, “This is the home of the world-famous Flat Earth Society, a place for free thinkers and the intellectual exchange of ideas.” When you dive further into their website, you can locate a forum to “Engage in conversation with our community about Flat Earth theory – or anything else you want!”

In the forum, there are compelling arguments that have definitely already been explained by science, such as “Water is always level?” and “How come you’re able to see both the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time?” The Flat Earth society website also contains a “Wiki” and a library, full of information attempting to disprove basic science about the earth. Last, but certainly not least, Flat Earth Society has a merch store, where you can purchase, “shirts, bags, and other official Flat Earth Society merchandise” to support the Flat Earth cause.

If you’re interested in learning more about this belief system, Behind the Curve is a 2018 documentary film available on Netflix that takes the viewer through the viewpoints of a group of people who strongly believe that the Earth is flat. This group of people attempt to validate their arguments as to why the world is not round, but by the end of the movie have disproved their own statements.

Buzz Aldrin during the first moon landing in 1969. Photo credit: NASA via Pixabay.

Another popular conspiracy theory is that the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing was fake. The conspiracy began shortly after the moon landing happened, as some people did not believe that traveling to the moon was even possible. Then, in TV shows and movies, there began to be jokes about fake moon landings, which caused the already skeptical people to become more convinced that the moon landing didn’t happen.

Pop culture continued to promote the disbelief that people landed on the moon, and shows like the popular 90s sci-fi series The X-Files created more conspiracies. Although Apollo 11 was over 50 years ago, some people today still believe that the moon landing didn’t happen.

There is plenty of evidence that people did go to the moon, along with documentaries and TV shows, such as MythBusters, that have attempted to show the public that the moon landing was real. The second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, has no patience for those who say the moon landing was fake, and in 2002 he snapped and punched Bart Sibrel, a moon landing denier, because Sibrel called Aldrin a liar. Now, whether it’s a joke or not, people continue to argue whether there were people on the moon. 

Though Flat Earth and the fake moon landing may be two of the more well-known conspiracy theories, the list of popular ones is somewhat extensive. Some conspiracy theories begin as jokes, and then are elevated to something more, while other theories become widely known but continue to be jokes. It’s hard to tell which theories are jokes and which are not. 

A few of my personal favorite conspiracy theories include the idea that Helen Keller was not real, birds are not real and are actually government drones, and Australia doesn’t exist. 

Conspiracy theories shed light on different ways that people think and show how firmly people stick to their beliefs. They demonstrate that it is impossible for everyone to agree on one event, or one thing, even with an immense amount of proof. Personally, I think that they keep the world interesting, and it’s fascinating to read and listen to people attempt to argue against science and proven facts. 

Featured image photo credit: Nick Youngson.