There are so many things I would write about. Of all the things I could say – I want to talk about consciousness and the spiritual realm. Part of me wants to ignore everything happening in the world today, and look to the future. I want to talk about the things we could create and how we can restore humanity to our world. I will talk about those things – but not today.
Today, I feel compelled to talk about something pressing – something that is affecting our world at this very moment. That thing is: all of these conspiracy theories. How do we know what is true?
I have to be careful what I call this article. Already, social media platforms have begun to censor the things people post, and a single keyword is sometimes enough to warrant a ban. I couldn’t be more against this. I don’t believe for a second that Facebook is doing the world a service by “policing fake news.” Even if they have altruistic intentions in this (and I doubt that they do), nobody should allow massive corporations the power to declare what information is true or false. Over that road lies disaster – and this is part of a bigger dialogue far beyond this article.
But what about those conspiracy theories? Admitedly, I dislike this topic. Most of the time, I try to avoid having conversations with hardcore conspiracy theorists. In my experience, they are (ironically) among the most closed-minded people I encounter. They’ve become so certain about some topic, that they could care less what information exists about it.
The hardcore conspiracy theorist doesn’t want to investigate the truth. Rather, they preach a message. They’ve bought into an alternative truth that mirrors the zeal of evangelical Christianity. I find this tiresome.
Granted, I know people who share theories or alternative views in a totally different sort of way. I enjoy having conversations with people who shares different perspectives – this is incredibly valuable. But I find many hardcore conspiracy believers much like other evangelicals: unconvincing and generally not worth the time to talk with.
Having said that, I pose a very serious question: Do you really believe the truth matches the stories that certain authorities want us to believe? Do you believe the government? The mass media?
We’re knee deep in an election year, and everybody’s on different sides of a fence. Versions of the truth have become drastically different from one person to the next. But perhaps we have something in common through this: most people (whether they admit it or not) deeply distrust some type of authority. Many powers within this world have lost our trust. For many, they’ve chosen to trust one authority or group, while condemning the rest. Other people don’t know who to trust at all.
The reality is, we’ve all been let down. Not by one political party – not by one individual or instance – but rather we’ve been let down by constant lies and facades. Deception has become a cornerstone of post-modern life. Information is power – those that control and conceal it remain powerful.
So there’s good reason for distrust. I would encourage people to look at the so-called “leaders” today with a baseline of distrust. However, this presents us with a real problem. That is: where do we find the truth?
We face a problem: we know we can’t trust the world, but we have no idea what’s really going on. This leaves people in need of answers – and the conspiracy theory body contains countless answers. For every standard explanation, there are innumerable alternatives. How do we know what to believe?
There’s a certain ironic failing to conspiracy theories, too. It is that the more theories exist, the more that actual conspiracies can hide behind all the theories like a smokescreen.
Think about it – whatever really happens at Area 51 is obscured by countless folk legends. If there are real aliens at the site, then Area 51’s activities can proceed under the security blanket of tons of fake alien myths. Essentially it’s a shield of misdirection.
On the other hand, if there are real aliens at Area 51, then the massive variety of alien stories muddy the waters of any real information. So the truth might be floating around with dozens of equally plausible (but false) conspiracy theories – essentially, we could call this “hiding in plain sight.” Truly, if the government wanted to conceal something, they would only need to create a bunch of conspiracy theories and throw the real narrative in with the mix.
So what’s the solution? First, we need to think for ourselves. Whether this makes someone a conspiracy theorist or not (I don’t care) having an independent mind is crucial. Next, science and the scientific method are important too. Also: investigate journalism has its place. In general, the more that people inquire, rather than entrench themselves in a single idea, the more perspectives on truth they will gain.
At an even more fundamental level we need to understand ourselves. The fact is that for every person who distrusts authorities, and who wants to see the truth, there are other people who do not want to see the truth at all. Sometimes these are characteristics within the same person. A great many conspiracy theorists are stuck in a single idea or perspective. They might preach alternative facts. But they wouldn’t see the truth if it came knocking on their door.
For those of us who have committed to the truth, there’s a basic question we can ask ourselves: “if the truth was something different from what I’ve known, how would I be able to see that?” I could write ten or more paragraphs about the value of this question. Instead, I’m going to let it stand. I suggest you read it again, and think about it for yourself.
In the end, these issues are no small matter. We are entering into a time where our way of life will be completely different from that of past generations. The future age will largely be guided by information. For this reason, it is critical that we set a course towards the free exchange of ideas – and we should be extremely critical of even the smallest attempts to undermine the free-flow of information.
Within this flow, who will we choose to be? Will we lock ourselves in the fortress of a single idea, shut away in a dark little space? Or will we choose to explore the world with curiosity, inquiry and a commitment to the truth?