International 
 

Covid-19 Myths
and Reality

Repeated statements seem more truthful than novel ones; the illusion was
thought to be limited to uncertain statements, or those in which people
had no other information available, such as prior knowledge. Are the
myths around Covid-19 in that category?

By Imran Jan | May 2020


“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”. This is a dictum attributed to Adolf Hitler’s close associate Joseph Goebbels. It is said that lies are stronger than the truth. Needless to say, truth is the ultimate virtue. But lies are all around us. Perhaps lies provide a much-needed refuge from the harsh realities of a harsh world we humans have worked very hard to create for ourselves and for those who would come after us.

There is a very disturbing habit that we do not always pay attention to. An American friend of mine I was once having a discussion with about privacy said something that was very convincing. I was complaining about Facebook selling our data to companies such as Cambridge Analytica and many other businesses that exploit this data for marketing purposes. He said we actually do not want privacy. He reminded me how we post pictures of our dinners, pets, gym, children, even a book we may be reading, and so forth.

Many believe that 5G internet caused the coronavirus.

Similarly, we actually do not perhaps want the truth. We may be encouraging lies all around us with our passive behaviour. Take for example the TV ads we see everyday. There is one common element in all of them: Lies. When I was very young, I remember those cigarette ads and I am sure many of us remember them, where a handsome man would win the snooker game, win a fist fight too, drive a car really fast, and even fly a helicopter. A pretty girl around would fall in love with him. And then he would smile and flash the cigarette pack with the girl standing next to him.What the ad was striving for us to internalize was that if you are a man like him or if you want to be like him, you should not only start smoking but smoke his brand.

Now such ads are a form of propaganda and they have gotten more slick, bizarre, and ridiculous. Tea consumed of a particular brand can help our minds think more. Shampoo ads make hair so shiny that one might have to wear sunglasses eventually if they continue to notch up that fake shine. Some ads even show men and women jumping from a flying plane after they have consumed a certain sugar and carbon drink – or a beer. We all know these are all lies but we have so deeply internalized this culture of passive acceptance that we indirectly encourage these lies.

Coronavirus has invaded the entire world at this point. Anyone in any part of the world can get infected. But while the virus is invading one country after another, the lies are moving faster and stronger than the virus. The world is chasing the virus, after an opportunity was missed to preempt it but at times it appears as if the virus has to catch up with the lies. I used to believe that Pakistan was a comfortable home to conspiracy theories but after spending a decade in America, I have come to the conclusion that imbecility has no nationality.


There is one indisputable fact about conspiracy theories: they are very entertaining. And that is where the real problem lies. Conspiracy theories do not always reflect the creativity of the minds that create them but rather the mental laziness of those who believe in them. Conspiracy theories provide us an easy answer. People are always on the lookout for an easy scapegoat for a problem they cannot control and comprehend. Such theories prevent critical thinking. They attack our brain rendering them useless just as the coronavirus renders our lungs useless. People easily settle for conspiracy theories as the reason behind a problem they do not understand. No further and deep thinking is required. A convenient explanation is found and settled for.

That mental laziness is a bigger problem than the Covid-19 because while the virus is a passing one and its lethality would be history one day; the addiction to conspiracy theories is a more alarming sickness because, for one; it is not even seen as a sickness and two; it will only strengthen problems such as Covid-19. Such minds are perfect hosts for the virus of the conspiracy theories.

The funny part is that there are so many conspiracy theories that it is really hard to catch up with all of them. At the time of writing, there are a bunch of them and I am sure by the time this piece is published, there would be an exponential increase in them along with an increase in their adherents. It is as though they are tailor-made for people all across the world. Who made the virus and what are they trying to achieve with it depends on whom you ask.

For those who always view America suspiciously believe that the Americans made this virus to contain China. Another conspiracy theory is that the Chinese made it to destroy the West. Some believe it was mistakenly leaked from a Chinese lab. There are also those who strongly believe that Microsoft founder Bill Gates made the virus to kill half the population of the world. I still want to know what Gates would achieve with it. If nothing works, you can always count on the Indians to tell you that Pakistan made it. And they also have a vaccine for the virus - cow’s urine.

These believers do not care to draw any lines between the economies of China and the United States. If the United States did this to destroy China, that would clearly mean the destruction of the American economy as well because who is going to make the products that the crazy consumerism in America demands? Similarly, if China did this to destroy the West, who will buy Chinese goods? Who will China be manufacturing for? Poor countries do not have much buying power or the demand that Europe and America have. China is practically a manufacturing plant for major American corporations, including Apple. The two largest economies are simply intertwined. They may be at loggerheads over trade and espionage issues but both need each other. That is the part the conspiracy theorists somehow fail to explain.

Many believe that 5G internet caused the virus. Numerous videos are making the rounds on social media showing dead birds allegedly having been killed with harmful rays emanating from the 5G towers. Many 5G towers were set ablaze by the adherents of such conspiracy theories in England. The burning 5G towers were starkly reminiscent of the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001.

The real bad news is that despite magical advancement in global communication and access to information, the world is still not well-informed. There are more lies than the truth.

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