We’re all fans of conspiracy theories, aren’t we? Our planet is flat, COVID-19 is nothing more than a hoax, we never landed on the Moon, and we’re being controlled by the Lizard People are all some of the common conspiracy theories which had filled a lot of people.
The Ukraine war and Russian sanctions aren’t to be blamed for the soaring gas prices in the US, TheNextWeb claims.
The conspiracy theorist has postulated that the Biden administration deliberately jacks up gasoline prices using the war as an excuse.
But what’s the real reason? To force you to buy an Electric Vehicle (EV).
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Take a look at what’s happening in social media right now.
“$6.00 a gallon gas is how you get people to buy electric cars,” claims one popular meme, shared thousands of times across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
An analysis by Zignal Labs of social media accounts, news websites, and television news found mentions of “electric vehicles” and “government” to be up 400%.
Do Such Theories Pose any Danger?
Conspiracy theories have been around for centuries.
According to Karen Douglas, an associate professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, people are motivated to believe in such theories by a variety of psychological factors: the desire to know the truth, the desire to have control over what’s happening, and the feeling of self-importance.
In order to achieve all that, what better way than to establish connections between disparate events that others fail to see?
One concern is the speed at which conspiracy theories are spreading like wildfire. According to Professor Douglas, social media hasn’t directly caused an increase in conspiracy theories, but it has changed how people access information, share it, and consume it.
It’s a democratic principle, after all, that everybody is entitled to whatever belief they want. When such delusional and (more importantly) unfounded claims circulating on the Internet, they deflect attention from a real human tragedy and put it on national politics.