As most of you know by now, one of the first things I do when I get
up at the crack of noon is drink about a pot of coffee and go through
news feeds from 8 different sources. (Yes including Fox News.) It
is my way of waking up and seeing what is going on in the world
before tackling my oh so difficult job of sitting at my computer in
my pajamas drinking coffee and writing down the information that the
little blue gnomes have stored inside my headparts the night before.
So today I went through my news and saw two articles (See above
links) that made me go, Hmm. So without hesitation (Okay well
actually after another pot of coffee and a homemade Pepperoni &
Cheese Biscuit plus potty break), I set fingertips to keyboard to
create this sure to be amazing blog. (Well, either amazing or
completely ignored. I have trouble telling the two apart sometimes.)
What is the fascination the human race has with Conspiracies? Why do
we always feel the need to find patterns of intent in seemingly
random events? Why do we still cuddle close to these ideas long
after they have been proven to be false? A well known Atheist once
said, “Man chooses to see patterns in things because he is afraid
of being alone in the Universe. In his mind, patterns mean that some
great driving force is at work in the Universe.” (Not going to say
the person's name. Anyone who can correctly identify this person
will get an honorable mention here in a future blog.) I think
Conspiracy Buffs fall into that same category.
People hate the idea that Shift just happens. They need to believe
that some greater force beyond blind chance is behind things that
they cannot comprehend. So they invent Conspiracies. “The Moon
landings were faked!” “There was more than one gunman in the
Kennedy Assassination!” “Obama is plotting with the UN to take
over the world!” “911 was a secret plot by the US!” There are
hundreds if not thousands more. People stare at grainy photos or
badly blurred films and believe what the so called experts tell them.
Now this blog isn't an attempt to debunk any conspiracy. That's not
my job. Besides, if the tons of information available hasn't
dissuaded the Buffs then nothing I say will. This piece is just my
current nod to the whole Conspiracy community. (I say current
because I did a conspiracy specific blog not that long ago under “Cry
Bullcrap!”) The two articles above perfectly illustrate the
Conspiracy Mindset both in an established conspiracy and one in its
infancy.
Let's take the established one first. Much like the “Roosevelt
knew in advance that Pearl Harbor would be bombed and let it happen
so he could get us into WWII” (One of my personal favorites), the
whole “Churchill knew that Conventry would be bombed and let it
happen so that the Nazis wouldn't know that the Brits had broken
their code system” is a conspiracy that just won't die. Studies
have been done and volumes have been written on the subject that
debunk this idea, but people refuse to let it die. Instead of
studying the historical data, the “experts” cite one or two
random quotes from people who Might have been involved. I truly
believe that someone could invent a time machine, send the Buffs back
in time to observe the events themselves and the Buffs would still
cry foul.
Now onto the Conspiracy in the making. Buffs are claiming that black
boxes in newer automobiles will be used by the Government to track
and control citizens movements and freedoms. Now keep in mind that
black boxes in cars have been around since the early 90s. In the
past 12 years or so I haven't seen any signs of ANY sort of control
on our highways, let alone some form of government control. The
Hoopla has come about because now, Automakers are actually letting
people know about the boxes.
Course, the vast majority of objections I am reading to the black
boxes is along the lines of “Wait, if I am speeding while driving
drunk and texting with my seatbelt unfastened and I have an accident,
I won't be able to lie about it.” Basically people are objecting
because if they do something illegal, it will be much easier to prove
it. One Tater does mention a complete fictitious device which will
allow the Government to track and control cars by remote control from
orbit which I find is the height of paranoia. If the “Government”
could control vehicles from orbit through black boxes, we'd have a
lot fewer plane crashes. Also, keep in mind that with modern
satellite technology, the Forces that be don't need some special
gadget installed in your car. We have spy sats up there that can
spot a field mouse farting in tall grass from high orbit. They would
have little trouble tracking your SUV on a country road.
So, why this fascination..nay obsession with conspiracies? Why do
they persist decades, sometimes centuries after they have been
completely debunked? Maybe it is a need to see patterns where there
aren't any or maybe we secretly love the idea of mysterious forces
(Illuminati, Free Masons, League of Shadows etc.) interfering with
our lives. Maybe it makes us feel special to think that our lives
are important enough for the Grand Poobahs of the Hidden Order of
Mystic Knights of the Hidden Chambers (GPHOMKHC for short) to meddle
with. All I can say for sure is that as long as Humans exist, we
will always find conspiracies hiding around every corner.
Course, keep in mind as you go about your day that just because
something is a conspiracy doesn't automatically make it not true.
End of Rant
The world is more random than most people think. It scares them.
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