Have you ever lemonaged, Agent Einstein? And do you feel that feeling now?, asks the wandering Mulder, a red-haired colleague who will not deny Agent Scully's younger edition at the time she joined the FBI, to give her superiors an objective insight into the mysterious cases later known as the X-Files. And although in the first question we notice something of writer's Hanko's whims Mooody, the Spiritual Alter ego of the "Californication," series, this playful replica delivered in the basement office of FBI headquarters on 935 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington still belongs to the mysterious atmosphere of the X-Files. However, I don't think that the audience of the restart of the popular series, especially the sworn rock fans of the previous series, should be distracted in any way, even though they feel that they have not avoided it a few times in the new works. But times change, and as long as Daniel Craig, the protagonist of the immortal agent 007 in Casino Royal, is obliged to order a martini for the bartender's question "Shake, do not mix?" he answers the indifferent "That does not matter to me," we can guess that in the recent times, the heroes will often set up a few years ago against a stream of tumultuous manners.

The tenth series of Acts of X, despite the traditional spectrum of mysterious or bizarre themes, is shrouded in the garb of dark conspiracies, which play an even bigger role here than before. While one of the reviewers talks about "Nostalgia for the era of spying", it is certainly not possible to agree with the opinion of another of the commentators that the new episodes are "unbelievable" because they "fell asleep for a while".

"It could have been great: watching Mulder and Scully solve cybersecurity issues or break down social media conspiracies. ” writes for example Marek Hudec. "The X-Files return to television screens after thirteen years, but today we can no longer trust them, even if we wanted to. They fell asleep at a time when it was natural to doubt. "

The English film critic Brian Moylan also spoke in a doubtful voice, and after broadcasting the introductory part, he hurried to share his feelings with the readers of the British daily The Guardian: "Hearing the old familiar beep from the sound of X-Files from TV is reminiscent of the feeling of opening an old yearbook. Familiar feelings will slowly overwhelm you again. Those hairstyles! That clothes! You have that atmosphere engraved in you, but you're not sure if you want to go back there. "

Yes, the truth is that the X-Files are coming in a new era, but that is why it would be naive to expect agents who did not even use mobile phones in 1993 to deal with "cybersecurity issues." After all, any true fan of the series who watched Mulder's last match with the latest Apple iPhone in the third episode of the current series with fun would not expect anything like that. This scene, which has caused even more uproar on social networks than Kim Kardashian's bare ass on Instagram, shows us the peculiarity with which the screeners of the X-Files have always approached the challenges. However, it would be a mistake to think that they cannot address the current message at the age of the explosive revelations of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.

We have to talk about conspiracies much more today than ever before, because we really live in Chris Carter's paranoid sci-fi of the XNUMXs. At the same time, we can be convinced that paranoid is not so much a conspiratorial view of the world, but rather a fierce act by which people try to "bring us to our senses" who put every second more radical view into a box of "conspiracy theories."

Very often, there is research by psychologists recalling the hindsight bias. Sayings by Arthur Goldwaga: "If something significant happens, everything that led to it and based on it also seems significant. Even the most trivial details suddenly shine with meaning. "

Such research should lead us to conclude that the popularity of conspiracy theories stems from "Distrust of authorities, feelings of helplessness and weak self-confidence", "From scientific illiteracy" whether "Belief in paranormal phenomena", thus directly attacking all serious investigators investigating the unknown phenomena of our world. "If a conspiratorial belief emerges, a psychologist's well-known error of reasoning, called the tendency to affirm, emerges - the tendency to seek, find, and attach more importance to evidence that supports what we already believe." for example, Dušan Valent writes in the essay "Epidemic of Conspiracies" in the May issue of GoldMAN magazine from 2015.  "This mistake in thinking is one of the main culprits of the fact that sometimes even intelligent people believe in complete nonsense."

Although the author of quoted lines considers conspiracy theories as a special kind of "modern perverseness", such an explanation itself is not far from the conspiracies whose negation is trying to negate.

No, my friends, it's all much more complicated, especially when we realize that much of what has blossomed in the imaginary conspiracy garden has already borne real fruit - the existence of MK Ultra projects, Operation Northwoods and Paperclip, the Watergate affair, or the testimony of Kuwait's sister Nayirah. these are just some of the instructive examples of American history, while similar affairs have not been spared the modern history of any of the existing states. And the existence of UFOs, the occurrence of paranormal phenomena, or speculation about conspiracies belong to them with the same self-evidentness that millions of people sit in the living room at the screens to watch fabricated television news.

"Conspiracy theories spread in the middle of the last century and it is no coincidence that they coincide in time with the rapid development of technology - the use of nuclear energy, space rockets or the penetration of chemistry into food production." reminds Slovak publicist Ľubomír Jurina in the article "Conspiracies are part of the human mind". "The world has become less comprehensible, but what is worse, the emerging technophobia has been compounded by a disillusionment with politics that has ceased to express people's interests and is a game of power groups. The state has become a suspected enemy. " A more correct approach to this topic was made visible in March 2014 by political scientists at the University of Chicago Eric Oliver and Thomas Wood, who studied for eight years how US citizens perceive conspiracy theories with the resulting study published in the American Journal of Political Science:

"The explanation lies in the psyche, where intuition plays an important role. It did not evolve to process vast amounts of information about technology, medicine, or terrorists. It was to ensure survival in the savannah. The human mind intuitively assumes that invisible and insidious predators lurk in unknown territory all around. In the savannah, it was also worth looking for a hidden relationship between random concurrent events, which are not logically related in any way - even today, the driver pays great attention all the way if a crashed wreck is seen while driving. The conspiracies thus reflect an intuitive understanding of the world. Magical stories contain good and evil, conflicts, ingenious solutions and are extremely engaging for the listeners. He who believes them enters the story and is himself a hero fighting against the power of storage. "

Although the contribution of this research cannot be seen as elucidating the causes of the origin and spread of conspiracy theories, it nevertheless makes it possible to overcome certain stereotypes with which they have been assessed. This is not a manifestation of "lack of self-confidence", "stupidity", "scientific" or "political illiteracy". "The American public is quite common in conspiracy theories for an explanation of political events, so there must be more comprehensive reasons for them." concludes by E. Oliver and T. Wood.

The causes of conspiracy theories are completely legitimate, because in the end some of them turn out to be true in time and thus confirm their legitimacy, but it is illegitimate to claim that all theories that explain certain events by secret conspiracy of several factors are dubious or irrational. The roots of such an unfortunate view seem to lead to the work of the Austrian philosopher Karel Popper. In his book "Open Society and its Enemies", he mentioned the "conspiracy theory of society", according to which "Every situation, every event, especially the big and unpleasant ones, the exact result of some intention and conspiracy".

According to New Zealand philosopher Charles Pigden, conspiracy theory is any theory (regardless of its veracity, rationality or verifiability) that explains a phenomenon or event by plotting: "The conspiracy theorist is then simply the one who explains the event or phenomenon of the theory linking these events to the conspiracies of some actors." As the Slovak philosopher Paul Hardo reminds, there is nothing controversial at all:

"Each of us is a conspiracy theorist - from suspicious spouses to corruption-seeking journalists - because we can interpret common phenomena from everyday life not by chance, but by reading intentions and secret agreements in the actions of others. And we also know from history that there are real big conspiracies. ”

No, conspiracy theories do not contradict our experience of history, except that we would imagine under them, following the example of Jim Hougan, the sleek and well-known "Disney" version of history without the real secrets and manipulation of the powerful.

"People have always intrigued and made secret plans, and it would therefore be socially dangerous to assume that they will stop doing so." points out P. Hardoš in the remarkable apology "In Defense of Conspiracy Theories". "Suspicion and the search for context is not a mistake of nature, but a natural reaction to our coexistence as selfish liars. Sure, some paranoid fantasies go far in their theories and stick to their fixed ideas despite logic and facts, but that in itself does not make suspicion and prudence an inappropriate method of looking at the world. But what needs to be defended are superficial condemnations of conspiracy theories in general. Theories need only be judged on how they are able to cope with known facts and not on the nature of how they interpret the facts. It is not useful to reject a theory because of its nature, it can blind us unnecessarily from unfortunate facts. On the contrary, for the good and security of liberal democracies, a degree of mistrust and skepticism about the privileges of the powerful is healthy. "

And as I did sixteen years ago, I would like to invite you again on a journey to conspiracies and mysterious cases. Since there is little chance that you remember this, I will do so in almost the same words when I ask you to leave the safety of your lighted and heated homes in the following moments. So roll up a collar of a long cloak, open a large black umbrella on the doorstep and step into a dark and dry night full of mysteries, dangers and conspiracies. And again, the question is:

Do you feel that feeling now?

Excerpt from the author's book The dark horizon of Miloš Jesenský. New stories of Mulder and Scull.