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Conspiracy Theories: Providing the answers we want, not the answers we need

Conspiracy theories, while easy to believe, divert our attention from the real issues.

Arpaio endorses Trump

I have a confession. When I was 16 years old, I was really into conspiracy theories.

The year was 2012, and Barack Obama was running for reelection against Mitt Romney. Despite the fact that I wasn't yet old enough to vote, I wanted to make sure I was supporting the right candidate.

I started to pay attention to various news outlets — some liberal and some conservative — and what I noticed was that the most compelling arguments always came from voices on the extreme ends of the ideological spectrum. The moderates always had a degree of doubt in their beliefs, but the extremists seemed to know exactly what they were talking about. They had all the answers, and their answers always involved the idea that a web of powerful individuals were running things, and the rest of us needed to wake up and realize what was going on.

As I got older, I slowly outgrew that worldview. I concluded that a much more plausible explanation is that this planet is home to billions of people who are all trying to create the best lives they possibly can for themselves and their loved ones. Yes, there are some people who hold more power than perhaps any one person should be trusted with, and greediness often causes them to abuse that power, but there's no New World Order. Just individuals acting in pursuit of their own interests.

In contrast, there are many high-profile public figures who disagree with my perspective. Let's start with a fun one.

Last week, rapper B.o.B went on an extensive Twitter rant about how certain he is that the world is flat. This got the attention of astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, who didn't hesitate to refute B.o.B's claims. 

At first glance, this seems like a benign misconception, but if you listen to B.o.B's "diss track" attacking Neil deGrasse Tyson titled "Flatline," you'll realize that this isn't simply an isolated gap in B.o.B's knowledge. 

The song shows that B.o.B thinks the lies we've been told about the earth being round are just one part of a larger conspiracy perpetrated by the "globalists" in order to institute a world government.

Having misinformed entertainers is bad, but having misinformed policymakers is worse. Our county's sheriff, Joe Arpaio, recently endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States. On the issue of conspiracy theories, those guys go way back. (Watch this video if you want to laugh.)

Trump also infamously stated that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."

Generally, conspiracy theories are appealing because they present simplified answers to difficult problems.

Truthfully, I wish Trump were right, because that would make the crisis at hand a whole lot easier to solve. Unfortunately, the world is more complicated than that. We're dealing with corporations of all different sizes trying to meet the demands of seven billion people from 196 countries who all want to have a higher standard of living.

Some of the problems we face as a species are challenging and intimidating. That doesn't mean we should look for an easy way out of addressing them.

Related Links:

Conspiracy Culture

How to put an end to a conspiracy theory


Reach the columnist at cmfitzpa@asu.edu or follow @CodyFitzStories on Twitter.

Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.

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