Page 12 - Edge: Issue 6

We Live in a Society
What truly is our reality? There are so many theories about it and how it functions nowadays that it’s hard to keep straight. One popular theory however, suggests that it’s all one big simulation. And yes, it’s very similar to The Matrix. This theory basically states that a higher being or future society has created one or many simulation programs where we are the main characters. The people who believe we are controlled by a future society believe this because they think that people from the future would want to see what life was like in their past. These futuristic controllers could theoretically have several universes they control, ours included. A popular criticism of this theory is its resemblance to the video game franchise The Sims. Those who support this theory relate certain “glitches in the system” which they believe to be evidence. These glitches include things like the Mandela effect (where large groups of people remember things differently than other large groups), the fact that electrons move so erratically that they have to be glitching, and climate change. Believers also note how video games are looking more and more realistic, potentially enabling this larger than life “simulation.” While several people, including Elon Musk, champion this theory, it’s hard to prove either way due to lack of evidence. Just like in The Matrix, it seems the only way we could prove our “reality” is a simulation is to be outside of it, and no one has figured out how (that we know of).
just a
Some things just don’t add up. Story by Adison Maxwell
theory
She was a Sk8er Girl
Avril Lavigne, popular 2000’s pop-punk star, was theorized dead by a Twitter user a few years ago. This theory quickly spread throughout her fanbase and the world, and now occupies a time-honored space among the “plausible” conspiracy theories. The story of this theory starts in the beginning of Lavigne’s career. According to theorists, she disliked interviews and reporters, so she hired a girl named Melissa to be her body double for these events. These two girls supposedly became great friends and would continue to spend a lot of time together—that was, until Lavigne’s grandfather died. At this point the story gets fuzzy. Theorists say Lavigne then suffered from serious depression, committing suicide. Lavigne’s music company, according to theorists, was distraught at the sudden loss of their most popular star. Legend has it that they then replaced Avril with Melissa, and sold it to the world that it was still the same person. Theorists note that Lavigne’s appearance and style changed suddenly after her alleged “death.” All in all, it’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole with this theory, but there is no hard evidence to its truth.
What’s With Space?
Between the fake Moon landing and the Earth being flat, theorists have a lot of fun with our solar system. A common theory is that NASA faked the Moon landing, and there’s still a society of people who believe the Earth is flat. These two theories have been around for a long time. Even though science and other documentations have proved these theories to be false, they are still widely believed. The flat-earthers believe that the earth is flat because, according to them, if the land and bottoms of clouds are flat our senses are telling us that our planet is also flat. However, this theory raises several questions—If that’s the case, why can we see the curvature on the Earth on airplanes? Why is there a magnetic pole on our planet if magnetic poles can’t be unipolar? This may not make sense to us who don’t believe, but on the Wikipedia flat Earth forum they have answers to all these questions and more. As for those who believe that the Moon landing was fake, their reasoning overall boils down to one thing—we don’t have the technology to leave our own planet. Whether you choose to believe these theories or not, it seems there is not much evidence to back either, and they can’t easily be proven true.
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