From the idea that landing on the moon was fake to the belief that Earth is flat, there have been several conspiracy theories that have been around since time immemorial.

Conspiracy theories have always fascinated human beings, even when scientific explanations to disprove them were available.

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?

According to studies, conspiracy theories are always crafted with "unique ingredients" and are specially formulated to target people who would be willing to believe them. The timing in which they are propagated would also be exactly when people are most likely to take them.

"Conspiracy theories tend to emerge when important things happen that people want to make sense of. In particular, they tend to emerge in times of crisis when people feel worried and threatened. They grow and thrive under conditions of uncertainty," Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent in the U.K., told Live Science.

Experts also believe that people tend to accept conspiracy theories as they often provide "simple solutions to complex problems," and satisfy their curious minds.

While COVID-19 and the U.S. elections were breeding grounds for conspiracy theories last year, let us look at some of the crazy conspiracy theories in 2022.

Is Elon Musk an alien?

It all began when Tim Urban, one of the most popular writers on the Internet and the founder of the website "Wait But Why" posed a question on the internet. "What's the craziest conspiracy theory you think might be true?" Urban wrote, triggering an array of responses on social media.

The most viral response to the question was given by Musk himself. "I'm an alien trying to get back to my home planet," he wrote. The tweet soon gained more than 82k likes and several thousand retweets.

Conspiracy theories around the Ukraine war

After the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out in February 2022, the experts saw a sudden shift in conspiracy theories that were earlier focused on vaccines and COVID-19. In the new conspiracy theories, the characters however remained the same. Bill Gates and George Soros, who were earlier accused of having planned the pandemic, were now being blamed for financing the Ukrainian conflict. The new conspiracy theory claimed that the war was set to divert attention as they prepare a new virus.

Is Biden behind soaring gas prices?

After gas prices began to soar in the U.S. post the Ukraine invasion, another conspiracy flared up, accusing Joe Biden of intentionally driving up the prices to get people to buy electric cars.

Conspiracy theories around World Cup 2022

Since the 2022 World Cup began in Qatar, there have been conspiracy theories breeding on the football ground. According to a theory, officials are accused of favoring Argentina in an attempt to make Messi win the World Cup.

There has also been a conspiracy theory claiming that Germany failed to qualify for the second round because German players criticized Qatar's opposition to same-sex relationships and their poor human rights record.

Year 2022
Year 2022 pixabay