BREAKING NEWS: LITTLE CHINESE MAN SITS IN YOUR CAMERA AND WATCHES YOU ALL DAY
- Aliyah
- 18 hours ago
- 6 min read
Everybody loves a good old fashion Internet conspiracy; or well, anybody that’s fun and filled with whimsy and paranoia that is. Come and join Opinions Writer Aliyah in this rabbit hole adventure as she solves the greatest mystery of all: why we’re all obsessed with Internet conspiracies.
Okay don’t freak out, but there is a Chinese secret agent spying on you through your front camera, and if you don’t read this article RIGHT NOW, he’s gonna tell on you to President Xi. Or at least, that’s what the Internet is saying. Don’t you just love Internet conspiracies?
For those of you not chronically online enough to recall any off the top of your head, don’t worry. I’ve got an entire rolodex worth of stuff stored in the ole steel trap. Calling back to a recent one, do you remember how the Stranger Things finale was so atrocious that a good chunk of the fanbase refused to believe that it was the actual finale? They were jumping through hoops to convince themselves that the Duffers had an ace up their sleeves, a super secret epic episode that they’d throw at us when we weren’t looking. Haven’t checked on that in a minute, but I’m sure it fell through.
Here’s my favourite: Princess Diana never left us, and her soul was reincarnated in the form of, you guessed it, Jungkook from BTS. Following that vein, a LOT of people were dead set (pun intended) on believing that Queen Elizabeth II returned to life as Trisha Paytas’ newborn daughter. Trisha Paytas being an influencer and microcelebrity whom I deeply encourage you to not look up, if you don’t know her. No, seriously those thumbs better not switch tabs, if they do the Chinese agent WILL be contacting me.
Okay but follow-up question: what was your knee-jerk reaction to those examples I just gave? Maybe to scoff and roll your eyes at these silly people and their silly beliefs. Maybe even outright anger upon realizing that some people actually believe this. To that I say, you low-key might be part of the problem, twin.
I know, I know, what could I possibly be on about now? What problem? The Public Idiocy Pandemic? Yeah, kinda. Sure, these theories don’t sound like the height of logic and sanity, but can you prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the People’s Princess did not come alive again through the world’s favourite Oppa? Probably not. But I’ll cut some slack here, most of these conspiracies are so abjectly ridiculous, it’s a shock to discover people vehemently buy into them. So the key question becomes: how exactly do people become so deeply entrenched in their beliefs, even if these beliefs may not necessarily be plausible?
Let’s start by dissecting the way we think as human beings. It’s common knowledge that humans are social creatures. Communication with our fellow men is so crucial to our livelihoods that there have been multiple documented cases of people in isolation being driven to madness. It should come as no surprise that this bleeds into our thought processes as well.
No one wants to be the lone wolf defending something that others point at and ridicule. Some would literally rather die than be ostracized for thinking differently than others. Thinking has always been communicative for us; we need people, at least a couple to back us up in our beliefs, otherwise we wouldn’t be inclined to believe anything at all. There is an aspect that community adds to belief, one that is reminiscent of religion and cults. Community is to beliefs, what fuel is to fire. All someone needs is a few like-minded folks, and doubt gets swallowed by the flames.
And what better place for that than the World Wide Web! The sheer number of communities that exist online are more than one can even begin to fathom. There is a community for everything; no matter how niche or outlandish or just straight-up weird your belief is, there will be a Subreddit out there for you. The Internet is a haven, not only for youths, but for anyone and everyone who has ever believed in anything.
This of course is amplified in modern day social media, where one doesn’t even have to look for a forum tucked away in some Internet nook or cranny. Now you can hop onto any app and there will be a constant stream of content catered specifically for you. You no longer have to deliberately seek understanding and kinship from other people, instead they’re all being shown to you before you can look them up.
So, just like how those who believe in conspiracies are part of a larger group, be it a religion or a cult or even just a Facebook group, people on the other side of the fence also tend to be in the exact same boat. Only this time, the belief is that there is no merit to these conspiracies and people who believe in them are out of their minds. Seeing as the Internet is such an excellent facilitator of productive discussion (not), you can see how the clash between views can, and usually does, take a turn for the worse.
So, just like how those who believe in conspiracies are part of a larger group, be it a religion or a cult or even just a Facebook group, people on the other side of the fence also tend to be in the exact same boat. Only this time, the belief is that there is no merit to these conspiracies and people who believe in them are out of their minds. Seeing as the Internet is such an excellent facilitator of productive discussion (not), you can see how the clash between views can, and usually does, take a turn for the worse.
Remember how I mentioned that all it takes is two or three people who echo an individual’s beliefs for doubt to go out like a light. Well, once one has that rapport, anybody offering their opposing thoughts is immediately seen as the enemy. Their differing opinion serves only as a method of reinforcing beliefs, shoving someone further down a rabbit hole to prove that they are right, and that nay-sayers don’t know any better. It doesn't help that people online never seem to debate for the sake of reaching mutual understanding, rather they aggressively try to drive their point home while disregarding and usually mocking what the other side has to say. All this makes for a perfect cocktail of bitter resentment and polarization, not to mention a complete waste of time.
Ok but you’re probably still not convinced: why do these beliefs tend to be so strange and far-fetched in nature? To that I say: have you seen the world we live in? The sitting (re-elected!) POTUS used to be a reality TV star, and the planet is only barely managing to not set itself on fire. I mean, the recent Epstein files release showed us that the conspiracy theorists had it right all along. Not to be a downer but if anything, it’s strange that some of us don’t have an odd theory that we cling to.
Of course there are many other facets that contribute to this; it could just be the way someone was raised. It could be that people feel dissatisfied with the status quo, and choose to diverge from the mainstream by pursuing these alternative beliefs and ways of life. An example would be the Manson Family, a commune that took a lot of inspiration from the hippies. The hippie was a prominent part of counterculture in the 60s, known for its anti-establishment and anti-conformist values. Heck, it could even just be for fun. I know I’ve gone down some ridiculous research rabbit holes myself for the pure love of the game.
So, we’ve covered the psychology of strange beliefs, but how exactly do we move forward from here? The key to overcoming the issue of differing beliefs is.. Not doing much at all actually. Sure, you can do your homework and be well-researched and have airtight arguments against someone’s favourite conspiracy, but usually once people are firm in their opinion of something, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to yank them out of it through logic and reason. It’s better to leave them to come around by themselves, especially if it’s not particularly harmful to anyone. On their own time, people are far more comfortable with exploring the possibility that they might have been believing in something completely ridiculous. Till then, I say let the ARMY’s keep their princess, damn it.
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