Why You Should Keep Up with Conspiracy Theories

While conspiracy theories are often considered harmful to society, they can serve a purpose. For starters, they serve as a form of entertainment.

Whether it be movies or TV shows, conspiracy theories have been a topic of entertainment for years, if not decades. Recently, the Netflix film “Don’t Look Up” centered around a pair of astronomers, played by Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio, who are trying to warn society about its impending doom due to a comet on course to collide with Earth. In my opinion, the movie is very entertaining and, although it’s fictional, it shows the harm of discounting a real emergency and considering it a conspiracy theory out of fear. If you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend it.

A personal favorite tv show of mine is “Black Mirror.” Even though this show is not outright about conspiracy theories, I believe each episode represents a conspiracy theory about what can happen if technology goes too far. I find this show interesting because even though the way technology is used was once a thought of the past, it does not seem too far off for society today. In the episode “U.S.S. Callister,” video game designer Robert Daly steals the DNA from coworkers who have wronged him and traps them in his video game. Like I said, this isn’t stated as a conspiracy theory, but I see it as a conspiracy for what could happen if technology is taken too far. Like “Don’t Look Up,” if you haven’t seen “Black Mirror,” it’s a great show and really makes you think.

Other than being insanely entertaining, there are a few reasons why you should keep up with conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories serve as a window looking into someone’s thought process. The way a person can immediately discount a conspiracy theory may show that they are not willing to consider other possibilities outside of their worldview, or they just do not want to consider something they are not comfortable with. If a person immediately believes a conspiracy theory, they are often seen as gullible or easy to fool. The happy medium, in my opinion, is when a person can take a conspiracy theory, look at evidence for or against it, develop their own opinion and is able to have a civil conversation with another person about it.

Conspiracy theories also have the power to shed light on society. Even though there can be plenty of evidence proving a conspiracy theory is false, people will still believe in it. That’s what makes them conspiracy theories, even if there is evidence contradicting a theory, someone somewhere still sees it as the truth.

Whether it be entertainment or education, I believe conspiracy theories serve a purpose. When boiled down to it, that’s the real reason why I chose to do my Capstone on this topic. I find conspiracy theories interesting, and always have, but I think there is more to them than just entertainment. Do you think that conspiracy theories are merely a form of entertainment, or do they serve a higher purpose?