In this corner, we have thousands of engineers who hail 5G for being a cure-for-all technology. And in the other corner, we have thousands of common people who hold 5G accountable for lots of evil things in the world – cancer, brain-control, pandemics and such.
As a wireless communications expert, I know that there is nothing shady about 5G. Then what is it about this technology that causes people to fear it so much? Here are, what I deem, to be the 3 main reasons behind all those myths about 5G:
1. Invisibility
Because radio waves are invisible to human eyes, they have always been a source of wonder and fear – from myths about radio waves curing all sorts of diseases or giving people super-powers to radio waves causing diseases or being the reason behind “evil-eye” or being used for mind-control of the common public by governments or corporations.
Yes it’s true that there are radio waves that are used in treating diseases (“radiation therapy”) and there are indeed waves that can cause diseases. For example, X-rays and Gamma rays are so high frequency that they can cause gene mutation in the human body and cause all sorts of problems. (By the way, the same gamma rays turn Bruce Banner into the Hulk in popular fiction) But 5G waves are much lower frequency than gamma rays. How much lower? The highest 5G frequency (~30 GHz, i.e. 30 x 109) is over 10 MILLION times lower than the harmful X- or Gamma rays (300 PHz, i.e. 300 x 1015). And the typical 5G frequency (< 5 GHz) is actually around 60 million times lower! In the picture below the 5G frequencies are marked with red (typical) and grey (high) boxes. The harmful “ionizing” waves are on the right in pink.
Not only physics helps us here understand which waves are harmful and which not, the regulatory bodies all around the world also make sure that wireless technologies like 5G are well tested and regulated, i.e. regarding the maximum allowed transmit power, before being deployed in the world.
Also, regarding the myth of 5G and Coronavirus spread, it’s quite easily explained. The only things you need to know is that – 1) radio waves are not mechanical waves, i.e. they can’t move matter, and 2) for any wave to be impacted by an object, the object has to be of a similar size as the wave’s wavelength. In the case of coronavirus, it is so tiny that even the smallest 5G wave is actually 100,000 times bigger than the virus. So, neither impacts the other.
Apart from diseases, there are other malignant things people believe that “invisible rays” cause. Take the example of the “evil-eye” superstition in many cultures. People believe that when someone casts a malignant eye on you, it can make you encounter sickness, injury or other personal harm. This evil-eye is sometimes depicted as invisible radiation of sorts, as shown in this Indian advertisement below on the left. Of course, such superstitions are used to sell products like charm-bracelet (shown on the right) to “fight off evil”. While such beliefs or products could seem ludicrous (or totally believable) to you, they do clearly show how people fear the invisible, including radio waves.
Funnily enough, when people fear and blame human-made wireless technologies for diseases and other evil stuff, they forget that even when you take away all the human-made radiation, there are still waves all around us: radiation from the Sun, cosmic waves and such. Sun’s radiation itself contains good radiation (visible spectrum that helps us see the world, Infrared that provides us heat) and bad (UV rays that can cause skin cancer). In comparison, human-made radiation is designed for human safety and is regulated.
2. Human History
Our history impacts our present. That’s true of individuals as well as the whole society. And our society has in its memory many tragedies related to radiation – the bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki in 1945 at the end of WWII, the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, up to the Fukushima nuclear plant mishap of 2011. It’s no wonder then that people, even the people who weren’t even alive when these events took place, harbor a fear of radiation, any radiation, even non-dangerous ones.
3. Timing
Lastly, the biggest reason behind myths and conspiracy theories associated with 5G is the timing of the technology. 5G comes in an era when conspiracy theories are already at a high due to social media and the fast spread of misinformation.
Also, we are living in times when more people die of cancer than previous generations. Naturally, people think that there must be a link between cancer and 5G even though the main reasons for increased cases of cancer are that due to advances in medical technologies (a) people are living longer now and thus dying less frequently of other common diseases from the past, and (b) we can detect many more types of cancers than we could in the past.
And speaking of timing and diseases, COVID-19 pandemic also happened a few years after 5G started to become widespread. Well, such a pandemic was bound to happen, not because of 5G (which has nothing to do with Coronavirus as we already saw) but because of so much global travel which allows pathogens to be transmitted far and wide at an unprecedented pace.
Due to all the easily spread conspiracy theories, combined with the digital surveillance possibilities, people also mistrust governments, corporations and authorities in general. So, they readily believe that the government or corporations must be trying to control their minds. But that’s a WILD conjecture at best. Why? Because despite all the technology we have, we don’t have the technology to control extremely complex human brains. “BCI” (Brain Computer Interfaces) do exist but they are very simple until now and they work in the opposite direction, i.e. brain controlling an external object like a robotic hand.
Also, even the smallest 5G chips are around 5×5 centimeters (2×2 inches) big. So, how could they have been planted in people’s brains without surgery or without the people finding out?! Not to mention that even with such chips, you can’t control billions of neurons that make up the human brain! Honestly, when it comes to mind control, we should worry more about the content people voluntarily consume.