Defined by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary as, “a secret plan by a group of people to do something harmful or illegal”, the word conspiracy, although a concept ancient as far we can remember, has deeply meshed inside web culture in the past decades of internet supremacy.
Conspiracy theories are alternative explanations to a phenomenon, revealing a malevolent agency, most often contrasting with the mainstream account. Undeniably, the invention of the printing press acted as a catalyser to both, the creation and the diffusion of conspiracies. Paving the way, for the Internet’s supernatural ability to produce incessant news, and induce global access to it in a simple clic.
An Ancient Roman ambiguous post mortem plot: The alleged death of Nero
Yet, these last have been around since the most primordial medium: oral language. Emperor Nero ( 37 CE- 68 CE ), the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty was definitely not a golden-hearted ruler. Nonetheless, he did order the construction of a golden palace for himself on an area of more than 200 acres in the centre of Rome after the great fire of 64 CE, causing state bankruptcy. An event which sparked a suspicious liaison between the disaster and Nero’s aspiration to live in an architectural masterpiece exceeding the time’s luxury standards.
As we can deduce from this, Nero raised constant troubles during his reign, through murdering his own mother and wife, falsely accusing senators of crimes, economical abuse to the provinces of the empire, blaming christians for initiating the fire, forcing citizens to attend his musical performance and clap for hours in order to preserve their lives. The previous are only few of the reasons he did not reach the Roman Emperor’s top three billboard, most likely competing for the last placement with Caligula.
When Galba was nominated as the new emperor by the senate, Nero was declared a menace to the state, thus provoking his assisted suicide in 68 CE. After Nero’s suicide, a mysterious pattern occurred: three young men, located in diverse parts of the Roman Empire began asserting themselves as Nero, who had meticulously staged his own death, and now was ready to re-conquer Rome. Fortunately, the “Pseudo-Neros” were proved to be impostors and did not achieve their dominating ambition. However, many people truly believed that Nero had actually managed to escape public execution by faking his suicide, making the Pseudo-Neros one of the most known conspiracy theories of antiquity.
Inside the age of fake (not for everybody) news
Returning to the modern age, conspiracy theories of all sorts inhabit the internet, an all-time favourite being The Illuminati, a secret elite that mischievously controls the world, of which almost every contemporary celebrity has been accused of participating in. Even Facebook’s creator, tech-genius Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of being a reptilian humanoid, because of his round eyes. “I am not a lizard” Zuckerberg had to declare to defend himself, and the web collectively replied “It’s exactly what a lizard would say”.
Truthful myths
However it has been previously the case that certain conspiracy theories, involving a fair amount of realism, were proven to be correct.
In the 1920s during Prohibition a hearsay circulated that the government poisoned alcohol bottles. In truth, between 1926 and 1933 the federal government prompted manufactories of distilled alcohol (directed to other uses other than drinking) to add dangerous chemicals, in order to dissuade bootleggers from transforming it into moonshine. Yet, the illegal alcohol trade was never interrupted, and at the end of prohibition around 10,000 citizens were killed by their drinking habit.
Another rather famous conspiracy theory, which turned out to be true revolved around British rockstar John Lennon. In fact, the Beatle’s lead singer was rumoured to be followed by the FBI, since considered a threat to military promotional campaigns justifying the Vietnam war. Several Lennon’s emblematic songs, such as Imagine (1971) and Give Peace a Chance (1969) were labelled as “anti-war”. In 1971 the FBI placed Lennon under strict surveillance, until his death nine years after.
Conspiring : a visceral human need
As psychologist Daniel Romer claims: “Conspiracy theories make people feel as though they have some sort of control over the world. They can be psychologically reassuring, especially in uncertain times.”
Conspiracy theories, however absurd they may seem to be at first, offer people a sense of control over their beliefs, and provide a counter-cultural “etiquette” to serve as an information background for their daily decisions. One of the core principles of science is to question the established truth, which is how the process of conspiring operates. Questioning mainstream ideas (under the limitations of physics and biology!) Is one of the characteristics of an active mind, and must be preserved and cultivated as human heritage in both the near and the extended future.
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