I am almost finished reading a book that has been on my reading list for quite some time. I don’t know why I delayed reading it, but I’ll discuss the book itself in a post next week.
What is for certain, the book lived up to expectations, and also made me not want to believe it. Again, sparing you a summary here, we will avoid more about the book with one exception, conspiracy.
I don’t want to believe them, but some of them are so overwhelmingly enticing and convincing that it is hard to think they aren’t based in reality.
Here is a quick rundown of some conspiracies and my thoughts on them:
Government is hiding aliens – They certainly could exist, but with imagery reaching us from the depths of our own solar system and no signs of life located by those searching for that exact thing, it seems increasingly less likely. What we know about the universe makes their existence improbable, nigh on impossible. In fact, something about the human condition is that we have confirmation bias. The claims of life existing on other planets from those looking for life on other planets have amounted to zero actual evidence upon the lightest touch of scrutiny. The most ardent advocates are left clinging to some unexplained phenomena and improvable theories of infinite universes in order to sustain their belief in aliens. Also, having worked for the government, I have also learned an important lesson. People talk. Not anonymous actors with non-actionable testimony, but real people with real information.
Loch Ness and Bigfoot – Sorry folks, but although we find new species every day, we haven’t discovered a species anywhere near their reported sizes in any decade recently in easier to find locations. We can reach the depths of the oceans and regularly turn up new species there, but people actually believe that a larger than man-sized ape-like creature walking around in the woods, and nobody has seen it yet? Have you met a redneck? They would have it mounted by now. I’m not claiming that each square inch of the wilderness has been effectively scoured, but for the survival of a species, there has to be a population. If we can find families of apes living in the rain forest, how many leaps of logic do you have to make to believe a family of sasquatch are hiding in some bushes with no sign of their existence? Nessy is a little harder, but remember that people find what they are looking for. Nessy has been searched for with any technology available to us and there is nothing. Will you be able to convince me that there is still a large species undiscovered somewhere in the huge oceans? Absolutely, but not in Loch Ness.
Ghosts – These are more fun to think about. The entire idea of a ghost is some sort of ethereal existence outside of the physical world. This one has a far longer existence with the ideas of spirits, angels, demons and the belief that when our lives end in the flesh, that we still continue on in some sort of state. I can tell you why this one is likely impossible to prove. We simply can’t use scientific method, linked intrinsically to the physical world, to rule out something that is considered to be completely outside of the physical world. Now, the folks that believe it are sometimes funny. Especially those claiming that ghosts are haunting places, because we get to watch shows about them trying to explain phenomena using science. It is pretty entertaining. Does that mean spirits or ghosts don’t exist? Not at all. I myself believe that there is a spiritual reality that is just as real as our physical reality. I do not believe they walk around crossing the threshold of existence to close doors or tap on windows. The folk that buy into that are pretty entertaining.
Plandemic – Perhaps you have heard of the most recent conspiracy that the entire epidemic was planned? There are even theories that it isn’t real at all and is a complete hoax. I can tell you with a fairly high degree of certainty that the virus is real. As a provider I have seen symptomatic patients and watched others spiral into hospital beds. I can also tell you that the virus is being overplayed. It is bad among the old, and not very bad among anyone else. The few complications in the young that have been heavily covered in the media are extremely rare, and not unique to this virus. Nobody made up the virus, but they are at least misleading you about how bad it is. The question would be why.
Rahm Emanuel once let the cat out of the bag when he said “never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
To what end, though?
There are more, of course. Nearly every conspiracy theory involves a host of logical fallacies or incomplete thoughts wrapped together with thoughts that nefarious forces are consistently trying to hide the truth from us and we need only persist to the truth.
The most believable aspect of that gross over-simplification is that there are nefarious forces at work. A person that can wield influence and power is still a person. Wealth doesn’t bestow benevolence on humanity. What it does, is allow the character of existing people with wealth to have a larger sphere of influence and to wield greater power.
What would those people think to gain by hiding aliens, ghosts, or new animal species from public knowledge? Honestly, that is the weakest aspect of most conspiracies. They can never speak to motive.
So if a normal motive, something common that we see in our family, friends and neighbors, can explain the workings behind a conspiracy theory, you will find me far more likely to take you seriously. A conspiracy is really just a group of people working together, to deliberately work towards a common goal. The act of conspiring is to plot, or plan, in secret. People do that all the time, so the idea that they would do it for bad reasons isn’t too far fetched. When you include the fact that actions and decisions have unintended consequences all the time, it is also not too far fetched to think that people would conspire to impose things on others because they actually think it would help. Those actions to help others could cause untold number of bad outcomes.
Is that so far fetched? There are countless numbers of people in the world who believe in countless numbers of weird conspiracies, who embrace the largest conspiracy without any resistance at all.
It was Ronald Reagan who said the nine most terrifying words are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
The people who line up to vote as if one side is dramatically better than the other while both sides are selling off their constituents are the real fools. Motives like power, influence, wealth, and even egalitarian virtues like saving the world or the environment will give the most nefarious policies a semblance of validity that is undeserving.
The scariest part is that they gather no real scrutiny from a believing public willing to think the worst for the most ridiculous reasons, but assume the best when the worst is all but guaranteed.
Don’t buy the hype. Don’t be fooled. You need to learn what they didn’t teach you in public schools and start educating yourself. Join Liberty Classroom today, and opt out of being a puppet.
If you can’t afford that yet, you can certainly join the Other Hands. Spread the word by liking, sharing and subscribing below. Perhaps we can discuss some of the most ridiculous conspiracies….flat earth anyone?
