How To Deal With Internet Conspiracy Theories

We are on the eve of a certain alphabet letter’s massive conspiracy. I personally don’t subscribe to it, but I’ve seen many others go down rabbit holes and not come up again.

But there is a reason why I still browse conspiracy forums and try to stay abreast of things. It isn’t so I can feel superior to others because I have esoteric knowledge and am a genius. I absorb and think on conspiracies, but I don’t pass them along or pretend as if they are true, or that I am convinced of their truth. You won’t see me share or speculate on a conspiracy.

Instead, I silently probe onward because you can sometimes get a heads up, so you aren’t caught with your pants down (as I’m sure many were when toilet paper disappeared). So as an example, I was aware of Covid spreading to the U.S. early on and followed advice in early March to prepare for an Italian-style lockdown. Because of my early adoption of warnings, I was able to get my essentials while stores were still stocked full and the masses were blissfully unaware. By the time there were scenes of shoppers queued in long lines winding in parking lots, I was at home relieved I didn’t have to deal with the chaos.

And to be fair, that was the one and only time in my life being open to conspiracies, or, in this case, open to the idea of a lockdown ever occurring, helped me out. Neither before nor since have I benefitted. However, I have seen relatives and others suffer from not taking potential threats seriously, and I’ve seen them mentally suffer wondering when all of this is going to end.

Therefore, I’m going to give you some tips about dealing with conspiracies that will also help when dealing with bad news.

Go With The Most Boring Explanation

I’ve learned that the least exciting reason for something happening is closest to the truth. This is my Occam’s Razor for speculation. Thrilling things are saved for the movies. I fully expect nothing big to go down tomorrow; that Biden will be sworn in as president; and Trump will fly down to Florida and pursue god knows what in Mar-a-Lago. What I most anticipate are die-hard conspiracists wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth. There are few pleasures as good as seeing false prophets eat crow. This brings me to my next tip…

Stop Listening To People Who Were Wrong

Let’s say someone was predicting a bad thing happening at an event, and when the event happened, nothing bad happened, everything was mundane normality. Let’s say furthermore, that the same person who was making predictions, sounded convinced and seemed to have a lot of sketchy evidence (like this or that symbol, a hand gesture, a convenient location or name or something), maybe even scientific evidence depending on your flavor of doom-choice.

When nothing happens. Mute that prophet from your life, forever. This way, you will eventually pare down the people you follow to only a select few (or none), and that is only because they have been proven right on something they predicted. The reason why you would still follow them would be to figure out how they got something right, which is almost always unexpected. But someone who has gotten it wrong no longer deserves your viewership. And you should know the types, the people who are convinced of a conspiracy and can’t help themselves when it comes to making predictions. Or people who make comments that fanatically agree with the seer, I mute those people immediately.

What Would Happen If It Were True?

Let’s say aliens were 100% real. Furthermore, in this hypothetical, the aliens live under the ocean where we can’t get to them, and all we know is they have been here a lot longer than us and possess technology that could wipe us out if they felt like it. Would any of that being true change your life? The idea would attack a few of your core principles, particularly if you were religious, and maybe make you question human history, but for the most part your life remains unchanged.

One of my favorite intellectual exercises is to assume something is true and then contemplate what that would mean for me. In the case of aliens, I decided it would do nothing more than make life a little more interesting. We could potentially have many answers and benefits from such contact. If we were wiped out by them, well, then I wouldn’t be able to have any say in that anyway, so why should I worry? Otherwise, I still must get up and go to work in the morning, I still must pay bills, I still have to eat and sleep and deal with my health, relationships, my car, and so on. After doing this for many many conspiracies you realize they are almost always simple curiosities.

What Could You Actually Do About It?

Information is shock resistance. When you know why something is happening, you are not easily taken off your guard. We have now been living in a pandemic situation for almost a year. I don’t know about you, but I’ve adapted and have gotten used to the idea. The biggest threat to me right now is getting a regular cold and having to quarantine for two weeks. It’s only a threat because I need to work. Therefore, I am working toward ways I can work remotely and not be threatened to lose income by virtue of being sick. I am not going to rely on a vaccine to solve this problem for me, it’s better for me to take the stoic route and utilize what I can control, namely, how I work.

If the conspiracy about tomorrow turns out to be true, where Trump indicts thousands, the military takes control, martial law is enacted, etc., then what am I going to be able to do about it? Answer: nothing. Absolutely nothing. I think a lot of people think like this, and it may be why we tend to vote our interests; we want what will affect us, we don’t care as much about stuff that will never become a part of our life. I believe if there weren’t mask mandates most people would forget we’re in a pandemic.

Again, if it goes down, you will adapt regardless, as you did for the pandemic. Don’t cross any bridges until you get there but take some time to decide what the big deal would be if something turned out to be true. If the truth means you don’t have to change anything, then go about your day; if the truth means you need to stock up on a few extras, go and do that; if the truth means you and everyone you know will die, then start the process of settling your affairs or get out of dodge.

And that is how I deal with the heavy flow of conspiracies on the internet. Don’t ever let any one thing sweep you away. Words on websites seem more truthful than they are. It’s as if, because someone made a post about something, that thing is now more real than if you had overheard a co-worker speculating during lunch. If you’ve read and understand all the potentially shocking things going on with our world, then eventually nothing will shock you and you are prepared for their reality if need be. After a while you will be able to move on with your life because it is a huge mistake to devote hours of your time focusing on the latest happenings. The same goes for bad news, give the most attention and thought to what is going to affect you, your business, your family, and forget the rest.