Owl Woman, Planeta Cees, Mendoza, Argentina, 2020 (They are coming to get you!!! New World Order paramilitary owl women jumping out of black helicopters !!!)
Or maybe this blog post should just be called Are Americans Stupid?, Part 2… to follow up on one of my previous posts.
And… After this, I’ll lay off the Off Topic posts and try to get back to the photography theme. I promise…
I think.
First, some relevant quotes…
“It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person; it’s impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.”
–Bill Murray
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
–George Carlin
“Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
–Mark Twain
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was first witness to the tip of this titanic iceberg as a high school history teacher in San Antonio, Texas around the year 2008 or so.
In class, a student asked if we really landed on the Moon, or if it was all faked. I was momentarily taken aback. I responded by talking about what it meant to think critically and question things, as opposed to blindly believing in something out of cult-like fascination. Let me repeat: There is a huge difference between analyzing the evidence in a more scientific way, thinking critically–and simply grabbing on to the nearest idea that makes you feel good, or a friend showed you a cool YouTube video. It is certainly very important to be critical of ideas, of history, of news analysis, of advertising campaigns, and so on… but in a way that involves logic and common sense.
[For what it’s worth, on the Moon thing, we now have photos of the actual Apollo landing sites showing the remains of the Lunar Modules and other gear, and even the tracks made by the Lunar Rovers. But, naturally, all that was faked, too, right? Damn. Think, people! The cost and difficulty of faking the Moon landings as well as all the support evidence would far outstrip the cost and difficulty of really going to the Moon… and how do keep quiet all those thousands and thousands of people involved, anyway?]
Now, with T Rump, we actually have a conspiracy theorist as our President. This is absolutely unbelievable to me and, more to the point, is extremely dangerous. (But, a nation gets the goverment it deserves, right?)
This “conspiracy infection” that has now reached to the highest levels of government is a situation which threatens the very foundations of our country–it destroys any common understanding of the definition of truth, it denigrates the scientific process, it ridicules what it means to think critically, and it undermines essential democratic institutions (think elections, the State Department, or the Justice Department).
Conspiracy theories may be the single most dangerous threat to the survival of the United States of America–right up there with war with China or Russia, or terrorism on a massive scale, or economic collapse. (The current Big Lie being promoted by our Chief Simpleton is that the 2020 Election will be rife with fraud (rigged!)–this could have a catastrophic effect on our social fabric come November.)
And, no, I don’t think my comments are hyperbole.
Some examples:
Here is just a very short list of what’s out there. Clicking around out there on the interweb you can find something to justify just about any hypothesis, no matter how wild, and a warm community of fellow believers to welcome you into the fold:
JFK was killed by the Mafia or by the Russians or by the Cubans or by the CIA or by multiple gunmen or… , the Apollo Moon landings were faked, the Holocaust never happened, an alien landing at Roswell was covered up by the Air Force, Area 51 holds alien corpses, Bigfoot exists, the Loch Ness Monster exists, Hitler lived on, there is a hollow chamber behind Mt. Rushmore, the government knows when Yellowstone will erupt, chem trails are poisoning us, George Soros finances all anti-Trump and anti-Republican activities and protests, Sand Hook was faked by paid actors, the Pizzagate pedophile ring is real, flouride is killing Americans, vaccinations are causing autism, global warming is a Democratic and/or Chinese hoax, Obama wasn’t born in the USA, Obama was/is a closet Muslim, closed Walmarts will be used as concentration camps, election fraud is rampant, millions of undocumented Americans voted in 2016 so Trump actually won the popular vote, there is a “deep state” that controls the government, Bill Gates will inject tracking microchips into us along with a COVID vaccine… or pretty much any nonsense put out by Alex Jones or QAnon.
Ad nauseum… until you vomit.
And the one that really takes the cake…
The Earth is not spherical, it is actually a flat disk.
Yep. I kid you not. Those pictures from space you have seen? All faked.
Why believe in this stuff?
This leads me to suspect that belief in conspiracy theories is actually a mental health issue.
Yes, the modern world is confusing and even frightening. It certainly helps if you can find some idea to latch on to that explains everything… find that bogeyman source of all the evil in the world… find some sort of explanation for unusual events (the virus!)… find your fluffy little Teddy Bear to assuage your feelings of aloneness and helplessness.
So, maybe these conspiracy theories are comforting to some since they provide answers that are impossible to disprove–“Any contradictory evidence is part of the conspiracy, don’t you see!”
I also suspect there is an element of narcissism involved. A believer likely enjoys feeling superior to others–“I have the answers and you don’t!”
Finally, when I watch the videos or see the crowds I can’t help but catch a pretty strong whiff of a cult-like odor wafting about. Being in a cult just feels sooo warm and fuzzy. It’s us versus them. We have the answers and you poor blind sheep out there just don’t get it. I feel part of a group. I feel mutual support. I feel validated. I get a self-esteem boost (yes, deep down, most narcissists also have self-esteem issues… e.g. Trump himself).
Some Flat Earth Surveys
To use the flat Earth theory as an example, take thee a gander at the following:
YouGov in 2018 with 8,215 respondents.
–84% “have always believed the world is round”
–2% “the Earth is flat without any doubt”
–Among 18-24-year-olds: 4% “always believed the world was flat” and only 66% “always believed the world is round”
And here is a Today I Found Out YouTube Channel Survey from 2019 with over 72,000 respondents
–96% – “firmly believe the world is round”
–1% – “I used to believe the world is round, but now have doubts”
–1% – “I firmly believe the world is flat”
–1% – “I’m not sure what I believe on this issue”
Just who are those people who “firmly” believe that the world is flat??? And note that some 4% of millenials believe the world is flat and only 2/3 are sure it is round.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG, as those youngsters might say.
Let’s hope those millenials just decided to answer the survey in a contrarian manner to screw with the results. Or maybe they were just being extremely scientific and objected to the word “round” when it ought to have said “spherical”. If either was not the case, then sadly it looks like we have a storm brewing with a new generation of conspiracy theory believers who will eventually move into positions of influence and power.
Trump may not be the last. Ugh.
Three More Interesting Discussions…
A Tedx talk by Elise Wang, Rhodes Scholar and Duke University professor, that touches on many of the points I have made above:
Another very good Tedx talk by Rachel Runnels, a communications and sociology graduate student of Texas State University:
Finally, journalist Fareed Zakaria has just put out a Special that discusses current Trump conspiracy theories and the dangers they imply. Here is a link to a podcast that discusses this Special (I’ll post the full video of the television program that was only recemtly broadcast once it becomes freely available online):
2 Comments
You are one of the lucky ones, you have your ticket to the EU. The rest of us are stuck here, as no one wants us.
Yes, it does open up options. But don’t think all is well over here, either. The Vox Party in Spain, neo-Nazis in Germany and other northern European countries… fascism is alive and well. Let’s hope this is a passing phase rather than a portent of things to come.
Another point about these conspiracy theories maybe I should have made: not all of them are equal. For example, the Earth being flat, or the faking of the Moon landings are obvious falsehoods. On the other hand, the JFK assassination might have a small gray zone of confusion. I personally believe, based on all I have read (and, yes, about the “magic bullet”, too), that Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed the lone gunman. I would have liked to have known more, though, about Oswald’s past and his contacts with the Soviets and the Cubans. Still, it does look as if the Warren Commission got it right despite what Hollywood movies and others might like us to think. It is unfortunate that the investigation of the assassination was bungled to a degree and that Ruby killed Oswald. In-depth interviews of Oswald over the years might have yielded interesting information and, more than likely, tamped down a lot of the conspiracy thinking that still goes on today.
Another example: the “deep state”. I think it is bullshit to believe there is some organized group of folks who secretly try to manipulate the government for their own evil purposes. But, there is certainly something I’d call “entrenched bureaucracy”. Every new President has to fight against this when trying to implement his/her new policies. There are always bureaucrats who will say, “That’s not how we have ever done this before!” These folks are career government people (often with a lot of expertise, ’tis true) who will slow-walk paperwork or whatever to gum up the works because they may not like the policies coming down from above. I’ve seen it in action in the Air Force. But an “entrenched bureaucracy” is a far cry from a “deep state”. No, I don’t believe there is any organized conspiracy. But maybe it can look like it from the outside–and if you put on your conspiracy-colored glasses.
All of this is, of course, my not infallible opinion…