Ever since the internet became more commercialized back in the 90s, more and more people are able to connect and communicate with one another. Although it has certainly allowed people to share ideas, stories, and research around the world, it has also given rise to a new breed of nitwits.

Ah, conspiracy theorists. While only a few decades ago these wackos were regarded as the village’s idiot, the internet granted these village idiots the ability to gather around and form an entire virtual village of idiots. Nowadays you can go onto any social media platform– whether it be Instagram, Reddit, or Facebook– and see theorists coming from all walks of life. It really is a shocking thing to observe, as these kooks compete with one another to see which one is the most dim-witted of them all.

But you might say, who cares what these people think? Who cares if a certain group believes that the world is secretly ruled by a bunch of mole people? Well, when these “woke” individuals attempt time and time again to educate us “sheep” on the truth, it can get rather irritating. There are some parallels with conspiracy theorists, and radical vegans. People who make their entire life about this one thing become really insufferable to everyone else.

Really, that is only the beginning. If you think about it, conspiracy theories don’t quite affect our day-to-day lives. Let’s say that the conspiracy theory of a flat Earth is true, ignoring the mountains of evidence from scientists and astronomers. Let us assume that the theorists are right.

Now what?  

So, what if the Earth is flat? It doesn’t matter. We still have to attend class if the Earth is flat. We still have to sleep, we still have to eat, and we still have to suffer through this burden called life. The revelation that the Earth is flat does not affect our life at all. It truly should not be a hill that you would want to die on. Debating if the Earth is flat or not should be reserved only for those who are properly stoned, not those who spend their waking hours on message boards.

There are other conspiracy nutcases who believe that the Illuminati rules the world. Well, what are they going to do about it? If a secret society truly controls the world from the shadows, do you honestly think a small group of individuals would be able to expose them? If the Illuminati really exists, life wouldn’t change much for most people. A secret society of a global scale is way too powerful for the common folk to imagine. For all you know, the real Illuminati might be the ones behind these theories, giving these people a red herring to prevent them from stumbling onto the real truth. That’s the thing about these far-fetched conspiracies; anything can become a conspiracy theory if you rationalize it hard enough. 

That’s all well and good, but what about the thousands of other conspiracy theories? The one where the moon landing is faked? The many ones about JFK? 9/11? Most of these theories are just something interesting to think about, a nice “what-if”, if you will. However, for those who truly pitch their tent on these theories, and refuse to budge, here are some things to consider. What would you do if the theory turned out to be true? Would your life change, or would you continue to participate in the rat race? If the validity of the theory would not affect you, then you should not commit so much time to believing it. Do something more productive, such as reading or baking. Go outside. Make some new friends. Learn something new.

Life will go on, even if lizards actually rule the Earth. 

Picture credit:
Anson Stevens-Bollen