3 popular conspiracy theories school students must know about
We are all aware of what the world popularly calls conspiracy theory. But not many of us realise that they are just theories, often untrue and outlandish, and widely speculated by the general mass.
Conspiracy theory: What does it really mean?
Conspiracy theories are hypotheses that allege that the members of a coordinated group of working together in secrecy to commit illegal and often criminal actions. These include the attempt to hide the existence of the group, identities of those involved and their illicit activities. In most cases, these are historical or current socio-political events where the hypothesis contradicts mainstream explanation.
Examples of popular conspiracy theories from across the world
Experts believe that we are currently living in the golden age of conspiracies. While new conspiracy theories come to the forefront every now and then, some old ones still remain popular. We are here with 3 such conspiracy theories that had once taken the world by storm.
5G will worsen the impact of Covid-19
There seems to be no scientific connection between the latest mobile internet technology 5G and the spread of COVID-19 virus. However, according to one school of thought, this new generation tech wave is likely to weaken mankind’s immune system, leaving the exposed ones susceptible to the deadly virus. In fact, the spread of this conspiracy theory has led to vandalism and unlawful protests against 5G launch in Canada, Europe and even in India.
9/11 terror attacks were an inside job
On 11th September 2001, there were back-to-back terror attacks on the US soil, that is popularly known as 9/11 tragic events. Not surprisingly, this terror event has more than one conspiracy theories. Some believe that there were no fighter planes visible near the Pentagon, Washington, at the time of attacks, while others believe that the World Trade Center in New York City was blown up by explosives. Two more recent conspiracy theories include that the infamous flight 93 employed to carry out the attacks was shot down by US missiles, while the planes flying over New York were mere holograms. All these theories combined together point to one conclusion that the 9/11 was an inside job and were orchestrated or at the least tolerated by secret forces within the US government. However, none of the theories were ever proven to be true.
Earth is hollow
For many centuries it was believed that the earth was flat until proven otherwise. However, many people still believe that even though the earth is round, it has a hollow centre where the sun dominates and is inhabited by superior race of human beings. In fact, this idea isn’t all that new. In the 17th century, renowned astronomer Edmond Halley, after whom the famous Halley’s comet is named, defended this theory as an explanation of the frequent changes in the earth’s magnetic field.