Surface level conspiracy theories are like bad 50s sci fi. Sure, it can be entertaining to watch “professors” explain how aliens built the pyramids, and it is interesting watching people piece random events into some bizarre mythos. There are the common conspiracies (government did 9/11, CIA killed JFK) that are somewhat acceptable to talk about. Then there’s the “Deep State” (an alleged cabal of international rulers, a “state within a state”). There’s the “aliens are all around us” shtick and the religious theories, such as Nephilim (“giants”) that are supposedly uncovered, or the end of days. And every so often, this sort of thing spills over into the mainstream. (See: Pizzagate, Jesse Ventura, the Satanic Panic and anti vaxxers/ ”Big Pharma”.)

However, the really interesting theories are the ones on the fringes. The ones that are so absurd that conspiracy theorists call these conspiracy theories. Truthism.org talks about the existence of a reptilian alien race (the “Annunaki”) that is responsible for our world governments and the creation of mankind. All of this is set against the backdrop of decades old web design, which seems to add some mysticism to the belief. True or not, it makes for some entertaining reading. There’s the rumor going around that Dan Schneider, the producer of various children’s TV shows on the Nickelodeon network, is a serial abuser and grooms his starlets. (The “evidence” consists of spliced-together television scenes and some very tenuous assumptions.) There’s the idea that white supremacists like Richard Spencer are “controlled opposition” by the government, that shadowy entity that is the most frequent antagonist of so many enthralling, persistent legends. There’s the rabbit hole of “Nazi Occultism”, which posits that the Nazi party was run by the “Thule Society”, a dark cabal of magicians and pagans. Altogether ignoring history, there are the hollow or flat earth theories. Theories that the earth is hollow, either somewhat or in full, set up shop on fringe websites and in poorly produced YouTube videos. The Hollow Earth’s cousin, the Flat Earth, is slightly less insane. Then there’s the concave earth theory, easily the craziest of the three, which asserts that we are all actually living inside of the earth and the sky is in the center. I’m sure there’s some rationalization for this but I can’t really provide one. Taking in these theories all at once makes for an interesting evening; you become acquainted with the mythos of space aliens, plotting globalists and scheming corporations. It makes for an interesting intellectual exercise, trying to convince yourself that such beliefs are true. As long as you keep a firm grasp on sanity and take everything with a grain of salt, that is.