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There has been a call recently to ban all conspiracy theories from the media and the Internet. However, rather than sneering at conspiracy theories or trying to ban them, we need to examine them as they reveal insights into human psychology. I say this as someone who has been sucked into conspiracy theories in the past.
There are essentially three types of conspiracy theories. Out of the hundreds of variants that exist today, I’d like to present one far-fetched conspiracy theory from each category to examine what unconscious needs such beliefs might serve.
The three main types are:
- Everything we’ve been told is a hoax.
- A secret cabal is taking over the world.
- The Apocalypse is nigh.
Let’s open our minds to some impossible possibilities.
Nuclear Weapons Are Fake
This is a classic “everything we’ve been told is a lie” conspiracy theory, in the same category as Finland doesn’t exist, the moon is a holographic projection, and NASA knows about a second sun and they’ve hidden it from us. It's akin to other dangerous theories: the Holocaust was faked, and the Communist genocides didn’t occur.
The Nuclear Hoax conspiracy theory proposes that the scientific geniuses behind the U.S Manhattan Project managed to split the atom but failed miserably to create actual atomic bombs. However, since the U.S. needed military dominance over the Soviets, the U.S military simply faked-up the evidence, Hollywood-style while swearing all co-conspirators to silence.
One conspiracy site claims that: ‘No atomic bombs have ever exploded on planet Earth! Nuclear weapons are just bullsh*t to keep the world afraid!’
The Nevada test sites had no actual nukes, but instead, mega-tonnages of TNT were buried to be exploded in staged events. The famous footage of the test town (Doom Town) being hit by a nuclear blast is actually just a scale model. One famous piece of footage of an ‘airburst bomb’ is actually just footage of the sun taken from a plane. Other examples of ‘Nuclear test footage’ are simply slowed-down versions of small explosions or microscopic close-ups of chemical reactions photo-montaged.
And what of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Well, the conspiracy theorists claim, there is no "nuclear blast crater" in either city and the damage appears, from photographic evidence, to be very similar to that of the allies achieved in WW2 with the ‘carpet bombing’ of Dresden using conventional explosives.
For people my age who grew up at the tail end of the Cold War this is a mind-bending theory. We were exposed to nuclear war warning films like Threads (1984) and we lived with nightmares about “mutually assured destruction” (MAD). It has been shown that living with daily anxiety about nuclear war can lead to demoralisation, depression, cynicism, and apathy.
This conspiracy theory might then be a way of defusing these anxious states. If all of this was a huge lie then we can now sigh with relief, and regain some sense of agency.
Believing in such conspiracy theories also gives people who may suffer from feelings of inferiority or worthlessness, a sense of superiority. Believers can walk around with an ‘us versus them’ mentality, feeling that only they are in possession of the truth that everyone else is blind to.
"All these people who believe nuclear weapons are real," they might tell themselves, "are brainwashed idiots!" I say this as someone with a history of persecution paranoia who has been drawn to such "everything is a lie" conspiracy theories in the past.
Today, this theory re-appears in a new guise with the 'social constructionist' tradition, who claim that "everything is a social construct". I was involved with this belief system in my twenties, so I'm familiar with the sense of superiority that such a belief can give.
An Elite Tribe of Reptiles Secretly Rules the Earth
The former weatherman David Icke, has brought this conspiracy theory to millions by fusing more mainstream beliefs in ‘ancient aliens’ and UFOs with the "Secret Cabal Is Taking Over the World Conspiracy".
Icke believes that an interdimensional race of reptilian beings called the Archons hijacked planet Earth long ago. They created a genetically modified human/Archon hybrid race of shape-shifting reptilians, known as the "Babylonian Brotherhood" or the “Illuminati” who manipulate global events to keep humans in constant fear. The brotherhood's ultimate goal, is to microchip the population of earth and place it under the control of a One World Government, a kind of Orwellian global fascist state. World events like Covid-19, according to Icke, are part of a plan to bring that super-state into being.
What psychological benefits can such a belief offer? First, there is ‘Scapegoating’. As a believer, you may have failed in your personal and professional life; your relationships, earnings, social status, and friendships might be a disaster, but you are not to blame – a secret cabal, who you now have total permission to hate, controls everything in the world and is, therefore, to blame for all your failings. You may do nothing more than sit before your computer screen for 12 hours a day, but you are a warrior, a hero fighting an all-powerful enemy. Joining with others you enter the "us against the world" mindset, that gives a sense of belonging and purpose.
The second psychological benefit is the consolation of determinism. If The Freemasons, Le Cercle, The Federal Reserve System, the Üst akıl, ZOG or the Archons are controlling everyone then you are released from any guilt about the choices you’ve made in life, because everything was predetermined by the invisible cabal. You can then claim victim status, and feel virtuous, and "fated."
This would be fine if it were not for the flip-side. The Cabal theory is really a sublimated fear of other groups, races, and tribes. This is the "fear of others" that is found in xenophobia, gangs, nationalism, racism, and anti-semitism, but under a disguise. There’s a fine line between believing that ‘aliens’ are taking over the world and the fear of illegal aliens.
Although David Icke may claim that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is not in any way connected to his reptilian plot, this fabricated anti-semitic text claiming to describe a Jewish conspiracy for global domination, nonetheless forms the template for Icke’s conspiracy theory and most like it. This distrust of the Jews is lurking beneath the conspiracy theories of the one-world government, the Rockefeller banking conspiracy, the UN depopulation conspiracy theory, the Jewish Bolshevism conspiracy, and the Project Blue Beam conspiracy theory.
This type of conspiracy theory is always a breeding ground for hatred.
The Planet Nibiru Apocalypse
We have Jesus Christ to blame for Type C, apocalypse conspiracy theories. The early Christians were an apocalyptic cult that believed the end of the world would come within their lifetimes. When it didn't, their theory of Armageddon expanded outwards in time and across cultures.
Nearly two thousand years later the apocalypse narrative has multiplied so much that every year, some visionary claims that this is the last year. New examples of predictions include the 5G apocalypse and the AI singularity.
A classic example of this is the Planet Niribu conspiracy theory. According to its latest iteration, Planet Earth should have been destroyed by collision with the lost planet Nibiru, on 21st June 2020. This was after the event failed to arrive on on 23rd September 2017, the 12th of December 2012, and in May of 2003. I confess I actually lost two entire days of my life to the “NASA is hiding the truth about Planet Niribu” conspiracy theory back in 2012.
What is planet Nibiru? According to believers, it is a planet first discovered by the ancient Sumerians, that is destined for collision with Earth on the final day on the Mayan calendar. It’s also a Brown Dwarf "dark star" beyond the Keiper belt with a 10,000-year orbit; it’s also a planet inhabited by "Gods" who have visited us before; it’s also an “ice giant” known as Planet X, that has an elliptical orbit that brings earth destruction every 36,000 years.
Niribu begs the question of why so many people in Western societies enjoy fantasizing about the end of the world. What do we gain from such a belief?
First, there is fatalism. All the things you have failed at in your life no longer matter. Your failed career, broken marriage, your addictions, and body image issues, everything will cease to exist. The beaten ego is relieved. Death is preferable to continuing this life of humiliation, and everyone, including all those who have humiliated me, will die too. There is a vengeful ego in this magical thinking, “when I die the world ends.”
As a bullied teenager, I used to fantasize about a coming nuclear apocalypse. "Better that the world ends tomorrow than I have to endure another day of bullying at school.” I thought. "When the last day comes my enemies will suffer and die."
This belief may give believers a sense that their lives are special, they are "the last ones," "the chosen," or "the redeemed." The conspiracy element is that you and your group are actively involved in secret preparations for the end, and are looking forward to it. Some groups even believe that they are bringing Armageddon closer by their actions These include ISIS and Christian evangelists who believe that repentance will summon The Rapture.
This mind-set has also migrated into political forms, with anti-capitalist accelerationist groups who believe "Capitalism will destroy humanity" and apocalyptic ecologist groups.
Whether its doomsday caused by capitalism or by solar flares, AI, or super-volcanoes, the apocalypse conspiracy is really a sublimated revenge fantasy, just as it was for the early Christians who created their apocalypse theory after 70 AD, following decades of bloody defeat and persecution.
This poses a problem for those who believe we can rid conspiracy theories. If Christianity began with such a conspiracy theory at its heart, and if this then spread to Islam which holds to the same apocalypse theory, then 56.1 percent of the world population, currently believes in the apocalypse conspiracy theory and have done for over a thousand years.
You could no more get rid of such theories than you could abolish Christianity and Islam. Beyond that, to abolish conspiracy theories you would need to rid the deep-rooted psychological needs that they serve.
Could we ban scapegoating? How about eradicating revenge fantasies? Or abolishing the desire to believe that our individual lives are special and are part of a greater plan for mankind?
