Articles And Essays ( Historical Curiosities)
Modern Conspiracy Theories, and Sci-Fi
by Rodriac Copen
Conspiracy theories function today like the new urban legends, albeit with a far greater reach and power.
Classic
urban legends served to explain collective fears, warn of invisible
dangers, or give narrative form to the inexplicable. Conspiracy theories
do exactly the same, but adapted to a hyperconnected, technological,
and politically opaque world.
Introduction
The key difference between urban legends and conspiracy theories
lies in scale and speed. Before, a legend spread by word of mouth;
today, a conspiracy travels in seconds through social media, reinforced
with out-of-context images, pseudoscientific language, and communities
that constantly validate it through confirmation bias. It is no longer just a story: it is a system of beliefs and individual reaffirmation.
While urban legends used to be local and ephemeral , modern conspiracy theories are global, persistent, and ever-changing
. It adapts to new evidence, incorporates contradictions without
collapsing, and offers something very seductive: the feeling of
belonging to a group that “ sees the truth ” in contrast to a deceived majority.
In that sense, conspiracies fulfill the same mythical function that folk tales once did:
- They bring order to the chaos
- They identify clear villains
- They give meaning to uncertainty.
- They replace the lack of control with a coherent narrative
That's
why they resonate so well today. In a complex, impersonal, and often
incomprehensible world, conspiracy theories offer a simple story that
promises meaning. It's no coincidence that they flourish in times of crisis, institutional distrust, and information overload like our own.
If you look at it with a writer's eye ( and here we have the advantage ), conspiracy theories are contemporary mythology : they replace gods with corporations, demons with hidden elites, and prophets with "leakers." The narrative mechanism, however, remains the same .
Since
the dawn of recorded history, conspiracies have been the domain of
imperial courts, secret societies, and political pamphlets. However,
contemporary conspiracy theories, as we know them today (global,
technological, and obsessed with invisible forces), seem to have a less
solemn and more literary origin: 20th-century science fiction .
In the mid-20th century, at the height of the Cold War
, the collective imagination was trained to think in terms of hidden
threats, secret technologies, and enemies that were not visible to the
naked eye. This was not a cultural accident. It was, to a large extent,
the result of an era in which storytelling became a strategic weapon.
Science fiction, psychological warfare, and invisible fear
Some science fiction writers not only speculated about the future but also worked in propaganda, intelligence, and psychological operations
. For them, fiction was not escapism but emotional simulation. And
science fiction allowed them to rehearse extreme scenarios where the
enemy was intangible, omnipresent, and, above all, infiltrated.
From this emerged many of the central themes that structure conspiratorial thinking today .
👉 Governments that hide the true state of the world.
👉 Technologies that manipulate the human mind. 👉 Secret elites that decide humanity's fate in the shadows. 👉 A population kept in ignorance "for its own good."
These ideas, which originated as narrative devices , slowly began to seep into the political and social imagination.
Aliens, secret pacts, and the myth of hidden power
One of the most persistent examples is that of secret alliances between governments and extraterrestrial civilizations . Science fiction presented this possibility as a metaphor for colonialism, fear of the other, or technocratic authoritarianism . However, in current conspiracy discourse, these metaphors have become literal .
Underground bases, interplanetary treaties, technological exchanges,
and genetic experiments have ceased to be plot devices in novels and
have become, in certain circles, “ silenced truths
.” The logic is always the same: if power is invisible, it must be
extraterrestrial; if it is incomprehensible, it cannot be human.
Atlantis, lost civilizations, and the nostalgia for forbidden knowledge
Another pillar of conspiracy theories stems from the mythical
reinvention of the past. Atlantis, antediluvian civilizations, the
impossible technologies of antiquity: all these elements were used by
science fiction to reflect on progress and decline.
In
modern conspiracy theories, these ideas are transformed into evidence
that “our true origins are being hidden” or that a superior, arcane
knowledge existed and was deliberately suppressed. History ceases to be a
field of scientific inquiry and becomes an incomplete archive sabotaged
by dark forces.
The recently deceased Erich von Däniken
occupies a unique place in this genealogy of modern conspiratorial
thought. Since the 1970s, he went from being considered an eccentric
popularizer (if not outright charlatan ) to becoming, for many, a “ visionary ahead of his time .” However, this change in status was not accompanied by new evidence, but by something more effective: the persistent sowing of doubt . Von Däniken didn't need to prove anything ; It
was enough for him to suggest that official history concealed
uncomfortable truths and that the absence of evidence was, in itself,
evidence of a conspiracy. His legacy lies not in answers, but in having
popularized a way of thinking where suspicion replaces analysis and the
implied question is worth more than verifiable proof.
The Earth as a prison: domes, planes, and simulations
The idea that we live inside an artificial structure ( a dome, a closed plane, or even a simulation)This
is another direct borrowing from science fiction. From encapsulated
worlds to false realities, these narratives explored profound
philosophical questions: What is real? What defines human experience? What happens if the truth is intolerable?
Films like The Matrix didn't invent suspicion, they globalized it .
Many people claim that Neo's Matrix is a covert revelation
disseminated to "whitewash" knowledge that, if formally revealed, would
destabilize the social and institutional order necessary for the
world's survival. The now-famous " manifestations " of the " law of attraction " appeal precisely to the magical thinking of human beings who need to believe they can change something effortlessly , appealing only to their deepest desires: I want to be a millionaire now! And effortlessly!
When fiction loses its frame
science fiction always knew it lied to tell deeper truths. Sci-fi writers are like magicians : we lie, and in a mutual, unspoken agreement, you know it . But modern conspiracy theories, on the other hand, forget that these stories were invented . They take our narrative resources ( the hidden enemy, the final revelation, the chosen one awakening ) and use them to construct a closed worldview, impervious to evidence.
The
result is a disturbing paradox: we live in an era with more access to
scientific knowledge than ever before, but also with increasing
cognitive fragility, where any well-told story can prevail over decades of empirical research.
Conclusion: Back to critical thinking
Perhaps it's time to face an uncomfortable truth : science fiction writers are very good at inventing convincing lies . That's our craft
. We create coherent worlds, plausible threats, and hidden systems that
work... because they're designed to work within a story.
The problem isn't science fiction. The problem is reading it without critical thinking.
Regaining
a critical mind doesn't mean abandoning imagination, but rather
learning to distinguish between metaphor and reality, between
speculation and evidence. Science isn't a comforting narrative, but it's
the only method we have for correcting ourselves.
In times when any story can masquerade as a revelation, perhaps the truly revolutionary act isn't "waking up," but learning to think better .
And,
paradoxically, understanding that many of the conspiracies we believe
to be real today... began as stories written by people just like us. As Mark Twain
warned , a lie can travel around the world before the truth can tie its shoes . Perhaps the problem isn't the speed of the lie, but our willingness to chase after it .
Don't believe me? Think I'm part of the conspiracy? I recommend reading this article ( click here ) by Annalee Newitz before you think I'm playing mind games... or you can believe I'm an alien incarnated on Earth to warn you that we're in control of humanity .
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