What If Napoleon Never Existed

How to manufacture a conspiracy theory.

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

tl:dr;
What if Napoleon never existed? Explore this intriguing but false conspiracy theory and how efficiently it casts doubt on the existence of one of the most prominent figures of history.
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What if Napoleon nev­er existed?

Most of us are con­vinced that Napoleon Bonaparte was an actu­al his­tor­ic­al figure.

Well, what if Napoleon nev­er existed?

Here we go:

What If Napoleon Never Existed?

Ponder this:

1. Napoleon is just a vari­ation of Apoleon or Apollo, and as God of the Sun, he was named Bonaparte, which means “the good part of the day” (when the sun shines).

2. Just as Apollo was born on the Mediterranean island of Delos, Napoleon was born on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

3. Napoleon’s moth­er, Letitia, can be iden­ti­fied as Leto, Apollo’s moth­er. Both names mean joy and hap­pi­ness, sig­nalling the sun keep­ing the night at bay.

4. Letitia had three daugh­ters — as did Leto, Apollo’s moth­er.

5. Napoleon’s four broth­ers rep­res­ent the four sea­sons. Three broth­ers became kings, except for one broth­er who became Prince of Canino (derived from ‘cani,’ white, winter, age­ing).

6. Napoleon was driv­en out of France by Northern armies, as Appolo, the Sun God, was driv­en away by the North Wind.

7. Napoleon had two wives, as did Apollo. They rep­res­ent the Earth and the Moon. Apollo nev­er had any chil­dren with the Moon, but the Earth gave him a son, rep­res­ent­ing the fer­til­iz­a­tion of all green plants on Earth. Napoleon’s son was allegedly born on the 21st of March, the equi­nox in which the plane of Earth’s equat­or passes through the Sun’s centre (the Summer Solstice).

8. Apollo saved Greece from the dragon Python, and Napoleon saved France from the hor­rors of revolu­tion (derived from ‘revolvo,’ some­thing that crawls).

9. Napoleon’s twelve gen­er­als sym­bol­ise the twelve creatures of the zodi­ac, and his four gen­er­als rep­res­ent North, West, South, and East.

10. Napoleon, the Sun Myth, always conquered the South but was always defeated by the cold winds of the North. Like the Sun, Napoleon rose in the East — he was born in Corsica) — and dawned in the West — he died on St. Helena.”

Above is how the British writer Rupert Furneaux demon­strates how to cast doubt on the exist­ence of Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the most fam­ous char­ac­ters in his­tory. 1Rupert Furneaux. (2023, April 8). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​R​u​p​e​r​t​_​F​u​r​n​e​aux

Is there a ser­i­ous case for the non-exist­ence of Napoleon, one of the most prom­in­ent fig­ures in his­tory? This con­spir­acy the­ory demon­strates how eas­ily it is to cast doubt over the exist­ence of one of history’s most well-doc­u­mented figures. 

With just a few cherry-picked argu­ments, it’s pos­sible to make people believe that Napoleon wasn’t a real man but a myth, a Sun god.

The Makings of a Conspiracy Theory

Studies have shown that we are sus­cept­ible to inform­a­tion presen­ted in frag­ments that sup­port one spe­cif­ic pos­i­tion while sim­ul­tan­eously leav­ing out con­tra­dict­ory evid­ence. It’s cherry-pick­ing. 2Cherry pick­ing. (2023, September 24). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​C​h​e​r​r​y​_​p​i​c​k​ing

We shouldn’t be sur­prised. We live in a time where a grow­ing num­ber of con­spir­acy the­or­ists are act­ively con­vin­cing them­selves that the Earth is flat. That’s how low the bar is set.

The point is that we seem to have an end­less capa­city for belief in the absence of evid­ence. It doesn’t mat­ter if it’s the media, gov­ern­ments, reli­gion, interest groups, or two friends in a bar.

Bullshit is a nat­ur­al human expres­sion.
Try not to step into it.

List of Logical Fallacies and Biases

Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases - Doctor Spin
Logical fal­la­cies and cog­nit­ive biases.

We eas­ily fall prey to the tricks our psy­cho­logy plays on us. These “think­ing errors” exist because they’ve often aided our sur­viv­al. However, know­ing and under­stand­ing vari­ous types of com­mon fal­la­cies and biases is help­ful in every­day life.

Here are a few examples of logic­al fal­la­cies and biases that I’ve come across while study­ing pub­lic rela­tions and linguistics:

  • Fallacy of Composition
  • Fallacy of Division
  • The Gambler’s Fallacy
  • Tu Quoque (Who Are You To Talk?)
  • Strawman
  • Ad Hominem
  • Genetic Fallacy (Fallacy of Origin or Fallacy of Virtue)
  • Fallacious Appeal to Authority
  • Red Herring
  • Appeal to Emotion
  • Appeal to Popularity (The Bandwagon Effect)
  • Appeal to Tradition
  • Appeal to Nature
  • Appeal to Ignorance
  • Begging the Question
  • Equivocation
  • False Dichotomy (Black or White)
  • Middle Ground Fallacy
  • Decision Point Fallacy (Sorites Paradox)
  • Slippery Slope Fallacy
  • Hasty Generalisations (Anecdotal Evidence)
  • Faulty Analogy
  • Burden of Proof
  • Affirming the Consequent
  • Denying the Antecedent (Fallacy of the Inverse)
  • Moving the Goalposts
  • No True Scotsman
  • Personal Incredulity
  • False Causality
  • Texas Sharpshooter
  • Loaded Question
  • Chesterton’s Fence
  • Survivorship Bias
  • Dunning-Kruger Effect
  • Confirmation Bias
  • Heuristic Anchoring
  • Curse of Knowledge
  • Optimism/​Pessimism Bias
  • Sunk Cost Fallacy
  • Negativity Bias
  • Declinism
  • Backfire Effect (Conversion Theory)
  • Fundamental Attribution Error
  • In-Group Bias
  • Forer Effect (Barnum Effect)
  • Cognitive Dissonance
  • Hostile Media Effect
  • Cherry-Picking (The Fallacy of Incomplete Evidence)
  • Spiral of Silence
  • Yes Ladder
  • Bystander Effect
  • Reciprocation Effect
  • Commitment and Consistency
  • Fallacy of Social Proof
  • Liking and Likeness
  • Appeal to Authority
  • Principle of Scarcity (FOMO)
  • Loss Aversion

Learn more: 58 Logical Fallacies and Biases

Signature - Jerry Silfwer - Doctor Spin

Thanks for read­ing. Please sup­port my blog by shar­ing art­icles with oth­er com­mu­nic­a­tions and mar­ket­ing pro­fes­sion­als. You might also con­sider my PR ser­vices or speak­ing engage­ments.

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Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.
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