1. Revelation 2. Widespread destruction or disaster
Unsettled.
Not in the sense that I feel unsettled in my ‘beliefs’.
In the sense that the world is coming apart. We allow ourselves to be led further and further away from our brethren and, together, from the ‘hard’ reality.
The key concept here is ‘rabbit holes’, not ‘conspiracy theories’.
Each of those theories are nothing but a highly redacted version of the truth, draped in psychological gimmicks. Dangerous but survivable.
It’s the fact that once hooked, those so disposed become unable to see/perceive/accept that no truth is complete or ‘everlasting’. That we need to adapt our beliefs to the ever-changing reality.
On the other hand, it was us who have built this world. The one we currently inhabit. We have inherited the world and fine-tuned it according to our own wishes. To fit our own desires.
We are also the ones who have to sleep in the bed of our own making. We are the ones to continue the project. Or take it apart…
We have arrived at the moment of reckoning. Like each and every other generation before us.
After all, one cannot build something new before taking apart the old. This is the only constant truth.
It hurts me to accept that I have been wrong. That my understanding was incomplete or inaccurate. Yet I have to acknowledge that before starting to build a new, hopefully better, version of the truth. And I cannot do this alone.
Going forward, I can ‘circle the wagons’, along other like minded people, and attempt to defend the old truth. Or I can, accompanied by a ‘motley crew’, attempt to see behind the curtains.
To leave behind the ‘safety’ of the rabbit holes and see with our own, very diverse, eyes what lies behind the make-belief shrouds woven by the conspiracy theorists.
Conspiracy theorists are absolutely convinced that they are the true critical thinkers…
That their critique of how things works on the face of the Earth is the only reasonable one!
Then what? Sheeple and conspiracy theorists are nothing but the very same thing? Each of them on the other ‘side’ of the dividing mirror? The surface on which the conspiracy theory dew has been craftily etched? To blurr the vision of all those attempting to look through?
After all, what’s the difference between sheeple – those who follow the official narrative and consider the ‘alternative’ to be wrong, and the conspiracy theorists? Those who consider theirs to be the true version and the ‘official version’ a misleading lie?
Each of them exercise their right and ability to doubt. To look for alternatives. And to discard the alternatives they deem to be implausible!
Most conspiracy theories have already been proven as having been bogus? With the current ones waiting in line?
This, I’m afraid, is the moment for me to remind you that science is wrong by definition. That all scientific theories are, by definition, falsifiable. That the scientific community is convinced that all knowledge is maybe not completely wrong but definitely incomplete! Hence there’s a lot of room out there for conspiracy theories to thrive!
‘OK. I can follow your arguments. Or, more exactly, I can follow your logic…. But I still believe you’re wrong. Conspiracy theories ARE bogus!’
Let me put it differently. Both the official narratives and the conspiracy theories are fueled by the same human need. By our need for consistency! Human mind has a hard time processing cognitive dissonances. Pieces of information which contradict each-other. Hence we need a ‘script’. A meta explanation for ‘everything’. A way to discharge the tensions produced by the conflicting pieces of information which assault our attention.
‘And why some people choose to become sheeple – to buy into the official version of things, while others remain conspiracy theorists for life?’
You’ve just set aside the vast majority. Those people who are explicitly or implicitly aware that both the official version and the conspiracy theories are at least incomplete. And sometimes promoted by people with ‘ulterior motives’. People who have a deeper creed. Many times of a religious nature but not necessarily. People who have too many on their heads, mostly worries, so are no longer ‘available’ for ‘petty things’. As for conspiracy theories being bogus… I just mentioned how science works. Whenever a theory is judged to be plausible by the peers involved, it becomes the official narrative. All other competing theories become bogus. But all those earnestly involved in the process are convinced that sooner or later the official narrative will be proven if not wrong, then at least incomplete!
‘Then what about ‘critical thinking’? Is it good or not? And you haven’t answered my question!’
Critical thinking is a tool! And as all other tools, it becomes good or bad only in the hands of the person who yields it!
The most important thing about critical thinking is that we must remain critical relative to our own opinions! Open to whatever new evidence happens to cross our path! Sometimes the evidence which comes first might be misleading. Or false. We might reach the wrong conclusion. If we cling to the already reached conclusion we might be wrong. It is absolutely understandable – admitting an error is hard, but still wrong. That’s why some people remain sheeple while others cling to their beloved conspiracy theories.
You see, the true definition for sheeple is not ‘those who believe the official version’. Far from it! The real sheeple continue to pay lip service to the official version long after fresh evidence prove the official version has been ‘incomplete’!
Because of their very nature, centralized systems open up vast areas of opportunity. For those who bother to identify them, of course.
The internet. Huge amounts of information only a few clicks away. Students find it easier to compile their term papers. Or to just click and paste them. Powerful individuals/organizations have found yet another way to further their interests:
The government. A mechanism put in place by nations to manage the day to day survival of the social mechanism. The more centralized, the more efficient. At least apparently… Centralized China is decades away from the more ‘lax’ India. According to certain benchmarks, of course…
Corporations. Individuals, no matter how smart and or powerful, can achieve only so much when acting alone. That being the reason for people coalescing in nations. Also for economic ventures. People working in concert are more efficient than individuals toiling on their own. When led by a somebody who is simultaneously smart, charismatic and ‘organizationally skilled’ the results can be utterly fantastic. A corporation might even become powerful enough to resist government.
How else to explain what’s going on but by remembering that all centralized systems are simultaneously manned and surrounded/watched/accessed by individual people? Who identify the various opportunities presented by the increasingly centralized structures which bloom around us. Who use them to further their goals, whichever those might be. Who choose which goals are worth pursuing and which are better abandoned. Who determine, individually, what decision must be made in each situation. Who use whatever the power they have at their disposal in such or such manner. Who allow others to use them in a centralized manner. Or not….
NB. The last example I used can be substituted by countless others. Trump just happens to be ‘on top’ the still most powerful, and looked up to, government on Earth. Furthermore, he had been democratically elected into that position. Hence his actions – and his government’s reactions, illustrate perfectly the situation we find ourselves in.
nicichiarasa 