The Problem with Conspiracy Theories

I’ve read articles before with a similar title to this one.

Usually, they’re smug and condescending, waving away conspiracy theories as the result of an overactive imagination and a need for certainty.

This article is not that.

After more than a decade of descending into conspiracy rabbit holes, I recently realised the real problem with them.

Why Do People Believe In Conspiracies?

It should come as no surprise that governments lie. Politicians campaign on one policy then once they get in power they do the opposite. Wars are waged on false pretences. Narratives are constructed and truth is spun into stories to influence public opinion and win support for an agenda.

The world of power does not deal in truth, it deals in agendas and narratives.

So what happens when those narratives fall apart? When they’re full of holes and inconsistencies? When a reasoning mind clearly sees that they don’t make sense?

You lose trust. You get suspicious. Your world view shifts.

You see that how the world really works is not at all like you’ve been told. And so you seek answers.

You research, you read, you find alternative theories. They make sense. More sense than the official one. You explore more. Dots connect, and you see patterns of deception.

You start becoming more suspicious and discerning. You begin to question everything. When trust has been broken, suspicion takes its place.

Sooner or later, your world view becomes darker. You see how the world really works. Everything looks a little dimmer, a little more depressing, a little more unjust.

You seek truth, but in your seeking you find yourself immersed in the darker sides of humanity, convincing yourself that knowing the truth will set you free. And in doing so, you energise the very thing you wish to dismantle.

This is the real problem with conspiracy theories.

The Energetic Trap

The more you focus on the darkness, the more you risk losing the light.

Awareness is important, but the trap of conspiracies is that you end up focusing all your energy on the problem, but you never arrive at a solution. You discover more and more disturbing facts and leave feeling energetically drained and disempowered.

You feed the beast with your attention.

Soon the world looks like one great conspiracy, moulded and shaped by an all powerful Elite. And it very well may be. But the more energy your direct toward an apparently all-powerful force, the more powerful it becomes.

The Elite benefit from you believing in their power. They benefit from you feeling despair. The more powerless you feel, the better.

And that’s the trap.

Gnostics and The Matrix: The Conspiracy Goes Metaphysical

Gnostic Christians believed that the world is a bad copy of pure reality. Created by an inferior God who feeds off our energy, the world is a prison and our goal is to escape back to our divine source.

The problem is that when you see life as a prison, it starts to feel that way.

How can you experience joy when you believe all is just a bad copy?
How can you find meaning in a world you feel you need to escape?

This is the metaphysical version of the same conspiracy problem. A shadowy elite pulling strings behind the scenes. Only the scenes are interdimensional.

The Gnostic interpretation to me made a lot of sense. But I soon realised it’s not a helpful way to see the world.

If my whole world view is based on an adversary, then I’m constantly directing energy towards them. Whether it’s true or not, it’s not helpful.

The Path of Light

The fact is, a lot of conspiracy thinking is entertainment dressed up as enlightenment.

Heroes, villains and great tragedies unfold in front of you — plotlines you witness but never write. You feel awakened, but nothing changes.

I’m not proposing ignorance, because that’s even worse. But you have to be aware of the energetic trap. Anyone who’s gone down the conspiracy rabbit holes will be able to relate.

Your energy is your power. Protect it. Embody it.

You’ll make a bigger impact with love, joy and compassion then by spiralling into darkness.