You’ll never believe this!
No facts back up conspiracy theories, yet many live by them
Zana El-Youssef
Staff Writer
Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. Maybe they help make sense of the unexplainable, or perhaps they allow individuals to use their imagination. Whatever the reason may be, we have all in one way or another developed some sort of conspiracy as we question the world around us. Whether that theory revolves around tradition, politics, religion, or even the recent Ebola crisis, there is always a form of conspiracy happening.
Some of the most popular conspiracy theories tend to focus on tragedy or celebrity. For example, there is a pretty large portion of the population that believes that the 9/11 World Trade Centre attacks were staged by the American government.
There is also the camp that is convinced that Elvis Presley faked his own death to get out of the limelight. Recently — after the hologram concert that he was featured in — many people started gathering “evidence” to suggest that rapper Tupac Shakur is also still alive and well.
An article published in Scientific American, written by Sander van der Linden, explains that scholars say that they believe those who believe in conspiracy theories are not of sound mind.
“Many scholars dismiss conspiracy theorists as paranoid and delusional,” van der Linden writes. “Psychological data bolster their case: people who harbor conspiracist thoughts are also more inclined to paranoid ideation and schizotypy, a mild form of schizophrenia.”
Mount Royal student, Crystal Dewane disagrees with this claim.
“I grew up in a superficial home, and yeah people may say I’m a bit of an extremist, but I know that there is more to things that are not addressed to the public. I don’t know. I guess it just helps me make sense of bad people and bad things in the world.”
The fact is, the world is a scary place to live in, and sometimes “crazy” or outlandish theories might just be a good coping mechanism.
Whether we believe in them or not, they certainly do cause much debate. Even those who are completely against conspiracies have been found guilty at one point or another of questioning one.
Although scholars believe conspiracies to be completely psychological rather than fact, you can’t help but wonder if some of them are true — that’s up to you.