Real or Fake
From the moon landing to the assassination of JFK to the spread of Coronavirus. Conspiracy theories have circulated in society for centuries, but it's hard to say that they're harmless.
Conspiracy theories bloom from truth into thousands of stories spread by people every day. According to junior Landon Lucas, the growth of conspiracy theories is due to the media. "As of today's standards, I think a lot more people believe in conspiracies because of social media," explained Lucas. "With platforms such as TikTok, Youtube and Instagram, it's easy to make a video about a conspiracy theory and have people believe it."
Lucas likes to play with the idea that some things are just not as they seem. He believes in extraterrestrials and the paranormal, like The Great Attractor or ghosts. Being a thoughtful person, Lucas enjoys thinking outside the box about conspiracy theories.
Besides the paranormal and extraterrestrials, there are many other conspiracies that aren't so out of this world. For example, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For some people like government teacher Brian Pelkey, his death wasn't so random. "I now believe and have believed over the past 30 years that Lee Harvey Oswals was the lone assassin of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963," said Pelkey. Every year, Pelkey does a small unit on this conspiracy theory for all of his classes.
While most conspiracy theories are harmless, some have a negative side. "In some cases, there is violence," said Kessinger. "For example, the storming of the capital was violent; but, most conspiracy theories are just people talking about different ideas." The attack on the U.S. capitol was committed by a group of people who theorized that the 2020 election was "stolen." It caused unrest among citizens and even caused some to become violent, invading the U.S. capitol and vandalizing property.
Sometimes conspiracies can even cause a divide between people. "I think a negative part of conspiracy theories is that if you try to explain your theory to someone who doesn't believe, they may think you're crazy," said sophomore Elizabeth Craig. "I don't consider myself or anyone else crazy for being interested in the unknown." With many unexplained things at hand, Craig and her father enjoy conversing about topics like aliens and who really lived in ancient Egypt.
"I think conspiracy theories are so popular because it makes you question what is considered 'normal'.A lot of people don't like being told what they should believe, so conspiracy theories give you something different," said senior Sophia Hudson. Hudson is an extremely perceptive person and believes that the worst part about conspiracy theories is that she'll never actually get to know the truth. However, that doesn't stop her from thinking about things like Bigfoot. This conspiracy theory has even grown to be part of her life. Every day, she is welcomed home by a 7-foot tall wood Bigfoot in front of her house – a gift that her mom made and gave to her dad for his birthday a few years ago. Hudson explained her whole family was obsessed with Bigfoot after her dad expressed an interest in it and it became almost an inside joke. Hudson added that they started watching "Finding Bigfoot" as a family, and when they would travel, they would look for Bigfoot-related items.
According to Conspiracy Theories by jigsaw.google.com, conspiracy theories are only believed by a minority of people and even a smaller amount of people become violent because of it. Most people are just intrigued by the world around them. "I think conspiracy theories are so popular because they're just fun to think about," explained Craig. "This world is too small to not think outside the box."
Story by Tajweed Altower