The first time I heard the Virginia Reporter shooting was a hoax I was sitting in class last week and it was mentioned in passing.

Upon investigating, within the first Google search page it was pretty clear that this “hoax” isn’t a hoax at all, but just a ridiculous conspiracy theory.

Why does everything have to be a conspiracy theory? People died. Alison Parker and Adam Ward, WDBJ news reporters, were shot live on air. This is not the time to pretend to be conspiracy theorists.

These are probably the same people who claim Sandy Hook and the Holocaust weren’t real. To say these things is offensive to the victims, their memory and their loved ones so why do people do it? Where do conspiracy theories originate?

Viren Swami is a psychology professor who studies conspiracy at the University of Westminster in England. Swami said the best predictor of belief in conspiracy theories “is belief in other theories.”

A conspiracy theory isn’t just a response to a single, sometimes tragic event, but an expression of an entire worldview.

Some people choose to not believe these things are real because it scares them. These people can’t understand how someone could gun down innocent people in a movie theater.

Then there are the people who are just paranoid or cynical about the world. According to The Psychologist, “Conspiracy theories seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth.”

Conspiracy theories are a way to cope with uncertainty and the feeling of powerlessness.

Not everyone is out to get you or pull the wool over your eyes. Horrible things happen. People get shot, people are involved in cults, there is corruption in the government, but that doesn’t mean everything isn’t what it seems.

Alison Parker and Adam Ward are dead. Until I see proof that these two individuals are still walking this earth, I’m going to believe they are dead.

It’s not naïve to think so.

If you want to question everything then the next time someone comes to you to say the Holocaust didn’t happen, ask him or her how they know that.

We have all the proof we need that it did happen, so where is this proof that it didn’t?

Don’t waste time on silly conspiracies and instead discuss how we can prevent these tragedies from happening again and again.