I love myths, legends and the paranormal. However, the one thing that is sort of adjacent to that topic that really bothers me is conspiracy theories.

I’m not talking about the theories that talk about how the JFK assassination was an inside job, I’m talking about the really wild ones.

The illuminati, flat earth, ancient civilizations being built by aliens, reptilian overlords, a portal at the bottom of the sea, that sort of thing.

People with a conspiratorial mindset seem to work backwards to find something to support their point.

I’ve listened to interviews with flat earth believers, and spoke to theorists, and they don’t often get asked the question of why.

When they do, their arguments often become “they do it because they can,” or “I don’t know.”

The wilder the conspiracy theory is, the less they expect you to question it, it seems.

I was friends with someone for a long time, we were close friends since grade 1.

When we got into high school, he started watching conspiracy videos and Alex Jones videos.

He eventually read a book called Chariots of the Gods, a book that posits aliens helped build many ancient cultures around the world, leaving behind artefacts.

An interesting idea for a work of fiction, but many people believed this book: the show Ancient Aliens is inspired by the book.

To get off on another tangent, this show presents blatantly false information as facts, and presents ‘experts’ to talk about what they’re trying to prove.

I remember seeing one episode where they claimed deep sea creatures were down there because of a portal that aliens some through.

Not once in the episode, did they mention the concept of evolution.

I’m certain if asked about it, the history channel would say “it’s for entertainment purposes only” but it’s being presented as fact.

People who are looking for something to believe in, the gullible or people that don’t really do a lot of research might think it’s all true.

So, back on track with the story about my friend: he kept going down the path of believing conspiracy theories, and eventually started making up his own.

He would make up theories about the foods I liked, the medication I would use and pretty much anything else that didn’t have a theory to it already.

I cut ties with him because if it, now he’s a rapper on Instagram.

So, before you get into a theory, do some research, don’t try to just confirm your beliefs.

As Carl Sagan said: “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”