Egg Shortages, Vaccines and 5G: Why Conspiracy Theories Are on the Rise
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Conspiracy theories have always sparked our imaginations, from rumors that Elvis is still alive to the idea of alien spaceships being hidden in Area 51.
Experts believe conspiracy theories may be on the rise in response to our increasingly complicated world. COVID alone has triggered the emergence of a number of conspiracy theories, including that COVID was manufactured in a lab as a bioweapon, and that the vaccine may be implanting chips into us or causing autism.
“I think it is easier to generate conspiracy theories because we have a greater volume of information available to us. The world is complex and, at times, confusing, and conspiracy theories provide a satisfying narrative thread to tie together global events,” Naomi Smith, a sociology lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, told Newsweek.
In the wake of egg shortages and increased prices of egg-based products across the country, one new bogus conspiracy theory is gaining traction. The theory claims that chicken eggs are capable of treating COVID-19, pushing prices up across the board.
In an article posted to a blog named The DC Patriot, a writer using the pen name Howard Roark claimed a recent scientific paper showed that chicken egg yolk antibodies block the binding of COVID-19 spike proteins to proteins on the surface of human cells.
“Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies block the binding of multiple SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Variants to human ACE2. We’re serious, and we’ve got the studies, links, and it’s all from our own National Institute of Health right here in America,” Roark wrote.
“Is that why eggs are disappearing at an alarming rate? Is that why chicken farms are being destroyed? We don’t know, but it sure is a ‘what the hell is happening here’ moment, isn’t it?”
Content retrieved from: https://www.newsweek.com/conspiracy-theory-covid-egg-shortage-social-media-1779418.
Conspiracy theories for many provide a sense of order in an increasingly confusing and chaotic world. Such theories explain and define everything in a world starkly divided between evil controlling forces and those targeted for control. There is comfort in knowing all the answers.