OK, I'm going to fess up here. One of my embarrassing indulgences is "conspiracy theories". I LOVE them. It is so fun to try to pick them apart and try to find any logic in them. I find the truly twisted way they use logic entertaining. So...

The other night I was watching a History Channel show on conspiracies and one the commentators said, "Many of the Conspiracy Theorists present everything in a very scholarly manner, however they have none of the scholarly logic." And BOOM!!! I thought of FAIR. That is EXACTLY what they do. Present everything like they are scholars, but have none of the logic that scholars have.

So almost any explanation is better than none, even imaginary superbeings on Mt. Olympus or the Hebrew sky god.

Science is the only way toward some sense of certainty. Yet the scientific method actually precludes certainty, as new evidence may always pop up. So human beings have to settle for a preponderance of evidence and temporarily calm our uncertainties in other ways.

Except they don't love them because it's a fun mental game to destroy them. They love them because they think it's all true.

I wonder if that's some kind of pathological disorder. Because they LOVE them all. EVERYTHING HAS to be a conspiracy.

The conspiracies definitely all share the same types of traits. False scholarship and a persecution complex. Just like Mormonism.

When I was a Mormon, one of my favorite things was collecting Mormon fringe doctrinal books. Some of that stuff is really far out! I had stuff about the Lost Ten Tribes, the Three Nephites, angels & UFOs, etc. but mostly end of the world material. I bought a lot of books from Horizon Publishers, the Duane S. Crowther group. There were some websites I enjoyed reading about the cavernous alien base deep underground in the Rockies with tunnels under the SLC temple and Area 51, the Nazi base in Antarctica, Nephilim angels, etc.

I had Hugh Nibley's five book set of his Book of Mormon lectures at BYU and his Pearl of Great Price lectures. That is some outstanding horseshit. :) The great thing about the wild Mormon fringe doctrinal craziness is that it all fits comfortably under the Mormon umbrella of belief. There are lots of GA quotes from the past that support this stuff.

When I was a teen, I used to read books about Bigfoot/Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, the Bermuda Triangle, UFOs, remote viewing, etc. I didn't believe in any of it. I just had a fascination with the thinking of the people researching it. Why did they believe something which is so obviously false? There were pictures of UFOs in these books that were obviously flying hub caps and the reflections of hanging lamps in windows. Can't they see this? That eventually led to my Mormon hobby, I guess.

It can be fun to read David Icke. A few years ago, I found a torrent of about sixty of Icke's books and papers. So, I downloaded it and hilarity did ensue. Icke is a master of the conspiracy theory. He writes at least a book a year, weaving these beautiful tapestries of horseshit that have absolutely no evidence to support them other than rumors and hearsay. What a career! Imagine sitting down every day and writing about stuff like reptilian alien shapeshifters from Orion infiltrating our government and controlling people through fluoridated water and vaccinations. I love that guy!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2011 01:08PM by Makurosu.

It's about 50mb of PDF files.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2011 02:43PM by Makurosu.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2011 02:01PM by Heidi GWOTR.

Aren't pole s going to shift?

What am I supposed to do with all of these compasses that have South at the top?

From the end of the Aztec calendar to UFOs and every wacky thing in between.

Every guest is an "expert" masquerading as a scholar. Enjoy!

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/

HHmmm, sounds like TSCC perfectly

I can't help but laugh as I read some of the far-out "theories" people try to put forth as rational. Like, the Earth's magnetic poles are going to reverse and cause a global earthquake. Yeah, that's going to happen. lol

The magnetic poles actually have reversed in the past and probably will again sometime in the future. There's no evidence it will cause earthquakes, though.

Earthquakes happen all the time. lol

In that case mormonism is the cult for you:
1. Oliver Cowdery stated that John the Baptist looked a lot like Sidney Rigdon
2. The Mountain Meadow Massacre
3. Polygamous unions performed on a yacht 13 miles off the long beach coast in 1913
4. Covert support of the polygamous colonies in Mexico well into the 20th century
5. Vicarious work done for dead polygamists including sealing after they die
The morg is a hotbed of conspiracy

and the 'Ancient Aliens'/'Alien Astronaut' theory.

While highly improbable there is that teensy weensy speck of possibility that gets my imagination going.

If ever I were to write a book it would have to be a cool fiction story woven around that 'scientific' (not) theory.

I love to read about conspiracy theories, too. It might be something about our church background, and the fact that we got out: we can think like conspiracy theorists, but can't bring ourselves to believe the stuff.

Umberto Ecco's "Foucalt's Pendulum" is an excellent read for those of who like to watch and laugh at conspiracy theories.

CZ