Birds that don't exist, the fictional country of Australia, and the cursed number 39. It seems like nothing more than a fantastic dream or a funny omen, which no sane person would believe. However, in reality, thousands of people around the world believe in these conspiracy theories.

In his book, international political scientist Maksym Yakovlev explores various conspiracy theories and explains how conspiracy theorists imagine the world and what methods they use to formulate their conspiracy theories.

Freemasons, Jews and Reptilians. COVID-19 and its connection to Sweden, Denmark and minks. Necrocommunists and conspiracy multipliers. How does the Dunning-Kruger effect actually work? Why did the Titanic sink, and how does it relate to time travelers?

Maxim talks about conspiracies in sports and at Eurovision, about the death of Princess Diana, Obama's victory in the elections with the help of weather manipulation, and also about the fact that the Roman Empire seems to have been invented by the Spanish Inquisition, and Ukraine - by Freemasons. With the help of various exercises and surveys, you can test how inclined you are to believe in such conspiracy theories and understand how to create your own.