I am not positive I have not posted this before, but it occured to me again the other day while exposing a friend to Penn and Teller, season 3.
Isn't there some striking similarities between conspiracy theories and religons? I am convinced they spawn from the same primordial drive to try to make sense of the world.
The first religions were just that: A way to make sense of seemingly unconnected events. Someone wears a pink feather in their headress: The crops fail. Pink feathers are suddenly taboo. Why? Well, you see, this god, soandso.....
or
I took the mystical potion and great god soandso said the pink feathered birds....
There's any number of conversations that can happen there.
But the point is, there was NO connection between the headress and the crops. It was just a coincidence. But we, as human beings, do not like to be subject to such. We're clever, we can plan ahead and forsee consequences. For the main part, we do not roll dice, we buy insurance policies.
We also think very highly of ourselves. Why? because no other species comes close to being able to compete with us. We have out-competed just about every other mammalian species on the planet(We'll set aside cockroaches and such for now..only the intelligent or cute animals matter to us, really). We have been blessed/cursed with consciousness. We can question ourselves, forsee results, and decision make like no other species due to this. But, we are also self aware, and aware that we die. How do we resolve the paradox that we are unique, yet not?
We make stuff up!
We really do, we make stuff up out of whole cloth. Afterlives, gods, goddesses, demon, devils and unicorns! And always, our role in things is exaggerated.
But the point is, that everything has a reason. This life is merely a test for the next one. Things happen because Godidit.
As science has progressed, we have limited the margins that God hides in to an astounding degree. As our education increases, we are less and less satisfied with 'Godidit'.
But we miss it. It was a good high. You could leave your responsibilites for what happens in the world in the hands of the Almighty Sky Daddy/Nanny/Mommy/Nursemaid.
Even BAD things had a place in the world. Satan, Set, Loki, Aries, Hades, Hel, Czernobog.
People WORSHIPPED these gods, they prayed to them in order to placate them. If you do a certain ritual, then the meany bad things can't hurt you.
Gods, in all reality, were the simple personification of luck.
In the modern age, people mouth the old words, but we really do know deep down what brings us good things. Technology and science. We drive cars, we have the Interwebby thing that Al Gore created. In First World countries, where these theories abound, we generally have grocery stores where we can actually pick and choose between piles of food to get the ones we really want. How cool is that? That's awesome.
Whence, then, do bad things come from? Well, technology, used incorrectly, can be bad, certainly. But overall, it is a net benefit. And we know this, however hippie some of us like to preach. And the bad effects of technology, once identified, can be guarded against. There's nothing to fear, really. After all, we're smart creatures, and we can figure it out.
But, this robs us of a security blanket. If we can fix the bad stuff, but bad stuff still happens, why, what then?
Evil people must have intervened. Y'know. THEM. They want to control the world. They want wealth and power. Horrible things may happen, but it is because THEY wanted/needed it to. There's a 'higher plan' in the works. WE aren't responsible for the evil...THEY are. And the vaguer the THEY, the better.
Have you ever read anything about the 'Rape Fantasy' in women? It isn't that these women wish to be raped, it is that they need to be out of control so they have an excuse to do what the really want to. "I couldn't help it, he was in total control of me." It's why most bottoms are male. If they are tied up, then they are out of control of the situation.
It's the abdication of responsibility, the ultimate high. We cannot control what is happening, THEY are in control. Or, for those who really are control freaks, "Quick, put on this tin foil beanie, it protects you against .......THEM!" Suddenly we have a new ritual. We have support groups, and UFO conventions.
It's that old time religion, revamped for a new age.
I think so, anyway. Any thoughts?
Isn't there some striking similarities between conspiracy theories and religons? I am convinced they spawn from the same primordial drive to try to make sense of the world.
The first religions were just that: A way to make sense of seemingly unconnected events. Someone wears a pink feather in their headress: The crops fail. Pink feathers are suddenly taboo. Why? Well, you see, this god, soandso.....
or
I took the mystical potion and great god soandso said the pink feathered birds....
There's any number of conversations that can happen there.
But the point is, there was NO connection between the headress and the crops. It was just a coincidence. But we, as human beings, do not like to be subject to such. We're clever, we can plan ahead and forsee consequences. For the main part, we do not roll dice, we buy insurance policies.
We also think very highly of ourselves. Why? because no other species comes close to being able to compete with us. We have out-competed just about every other mammalian species on the planet(We'll set aside cockroaches and such for now..only the intelligent or cute animals matter to us, really). We have been blessed/cursed with consciousness. We can question ourselves, forsee results, and decision make like no other species due to this. But, we are also self aware, and aware that we die. How do we resolve the paradox that we are unique, yet not?
We make stuff up!
We really do, we make stuff up out of whole cloth. Afterlives, gods, goddesses, demon, devils and unicorns! And always, our role in things is exaggerated.
But the point is, that everything has a reason. This life is merely a test for the next one. Things happen because Godidit.
As science has progressed, we have limited the margins that God hides in to an astounding degree. As our education increases, we are less and less satisfied with 'Godidit'.
But we miss it. It was a good high. You could leave your responsibilites for what happens in the world in the hands of the Almighty Sky Daddy/Nanny/Mommy/Nursemaid.
Even BAD things had a place in the world. Satan, Set, Loki, Aries, Hades, Hel, Czernobog.
People WORSHIPPED these gods, they prayed to them in order to placate them. If you do a certain ritual, then the meany bad things can't hurt you.
Gods, in all reality, were the simple personification of luck.
In the modern age, people mouth the old words, but we really do know deep down what brings us good things. Technology and science. We drive cars, we have the Interwebby thing that Al Gore created. In First World countries, where these theories abound, we generally have grocery stores where we can actually pick and choose between piles of food to get the ones we really want. How cool is that? That's awesome.
Whence, then, do bad things come from? Well, technology, used incorrectly, can be bad, certainly. But overall, it is a net benefit. And we know this, however hippie some of us like to preach. And the bad effects of technology, once identified, can be guarded against. There's nothing to fear, really. After all, we're smart creatures, and we can figure it out.
But, this robs us of a security blanket. If we can fix the bad stuff, but bad stuff still happens, why, what then?
Evil people must have intervened. Y'know. THEM. They want to control the world. They want wealth and power. Horrible things may happen, but it is because THEY wanted/needed it to. There's a 'higher plan' in the works. WE aren't responsible for the evil...THEY are. And the vaguer the THEY, the better.
Have you ever read anything about the 'Rape Fantasy' in women? It isn't that these women wish to be raped, it is that they need to be out of control so they have an excuse to do what the really want to. "I couldn't help it, he was in total control of me." It's why most bottoms are male. If they are tied up, then they are out of control of the situation.
It's the abdication of responsibility, the ultimate high. We cannot control what is happening, THEY are in control. Or, for those who really are control freaks, "Quick, put on this tin foil beanie, it protects you against .......THEM!" Suddenly we have a new ritual. We have support groups, and UFO conventions.
It's that old time religion, revamped for a new age.
I think so, anyway. Any thoughts?
