Conspiracy theories cause students to question everything

Emily Aiken ’20, Managing editor

Conspiracy theories regarding celebrities and new technology have gotten into the minds of students, causing them to question everything. A conspiracy theory can be defined as an explanation for an event or circumstance that is not necessarily 100 percent true. Although they are not fact, the following are interesting conspiracy theories that are popular online.

The Illuminati and Beyoncè

The Illuminati is a secret society that is made up of many high class people who are trying to seek the ‘New World Order’, which is the emergence of a totalitarian world government. There are many theories about the Illuminati and what exactly they do, but a lot of these theories involve mainstream celebrities like Beyoncè being a part of a secret society. She denied the rumors of being a part of the Illuminati in her song “Formation” with the first line being, “Y’all haters corny with that Illuminati mess”; however, there are many things that show otherwise:

1. Beyoncè’s daughter is named Blue Ivy. It is spelled Eulb Yvi backwards, which is also the name of Lucifer’s daughter.
2. She makes illuminati symbols with her hands, covering her eyes. For instance, during one of her performances, she made the triangle symbol with her fingers and put it over her eye. The symbol for the Illuminati is a triangle with an eye in it.

Apple slows phones down to sell more

If you have an iPhone, do you ever notice that it slows down right around the time a new one comes out? You may notice that your phone glitches out or it may not hold a charge for as long, or it may even break. Well, you’re not alone. Apparently, many people notice their iPhones slowing down right after Apple announces a new phone. In fact, the Google search for “iPhone slow” peaks right when Apple releases a new phone. However, Apple has openly denied slowing phones down for monetary gain.

Is technology watching us?

Facebook is used by a multitude of people. However, it is watching and tracking you more than you think. Of course Facebook has algorithms that track who you are and what you like in order to show you ads that are right up your alley. You agreed to that when you signed up. However, could they also be listening to you? About a week ago, I was talking with my friend about how I was interested in buying a very specific shirt from Forever 21. I explained to her in detail what the shirt looked like, saying that it was striped and grey and black. When I got home from school that day, I looked on my Facebook and there was an ad for the exact shirt. Coincidence? I think not.

Another example of technology watching us is with the new iPhone.The iPhone X has many new features, one of which is facial recognition. You can unlock your phone with a simple glance. Is Apple collecting a user facial recognition database? This is not the first time something like this has happened. Social media platform, Snapchat has many face filters. Conspiracy theorists claim that Snapchat is using these to collect facial recognition database for the use of the government.