By Nydia Ramos, Copy Editor
Conspiracy theory: a belief that some covert but influential organization is responsible for an unexplained event, according to the Oxford Dictionary. The concept of conspiracy theories has been misconstrued so that most view it as a huge hoax factory that was whipped by a community of people wearing tinfoil hats and living in basements.
But they’re actually a tremendous contributor to society. They act as a watchdog to all of the conspicuous happenings of the world. Shady things go on every day that are often covered up by some clandestine group of people for one reason or another. Without conspiracy theories, things like the MKUltra experiments or even the fact that cigarettes cause cancer would’ve never been uncovered.
When people do nothing but accept what they’re given, we end up getting taken advantage of. Questioning events gives us insight to things that aren’t known to the general public. Things that should be known about and that should be either fixed or stopped.
Being submissive towards situations that we endure often creates a certain dynamic in society that specifically benefits the few in charge. Rulers, presidents, politicians and aristocrats make up a very small percentage of the population. They manipulate the rest of us when we let them take control. To prevent this, we question things, we investigate and we theorize.
We theorize about reasonings behind the tragic events, scandals and more. The more we raise awareness to obscure situations, the more likely it is that we find the malicious intent behind operations.
Not to say that every occurrence has a corrupt objective but there are certainly hundreds and hundreds of scandals that prove my point. For example, as the Watergate Scandal developed, former President Richard Nixon assured citizens that he was not involved with the break-in at the Watergate Hotel. And most voters believed this just from his words. But later people kept questioning it and an extended investigation led to Nixon being revealed as the culprit.
Conspiracy theories don’t only save us from corruption but they also bring comedic relief to dark and scary situations. A lot of theories are so outrageously ridiculous that we can’t help but laugh at them and that’s what they exist for. Theories like “Obama can control the weather” or “Siri can predict the apocalypse” make light of things like political wars and environmental crises. Making up these crazy ideas can be fun and trying to convince others of your insane theory can be even more fun.
In all of the world’s cultures, hoaxes, myths and legends play a tremendous part. A lot of urban myths are generated from conspiracy theories. One of the biggest theories to exist in American culture is the theory that the U.S. government was behind the terrorist attacks of 9/11. This among other theories about the Illuminati, politicians, pop culture and more, shape the way young and older minds think about the world.