Zeno
09-07-2003, 03:32 AM
Conspiracies are everywhere aren't they? Knights Templer, Free Masons, The Jews, Bohemian Grove, The House of Rothschild, The CIA, Wall Street, Internet Poker sites, The Triads, O.J., and Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.
A folklore class I took many years ago dealt with more than the urban legends that everyone hears about. It was more interesting and much more profound than that and dealt with the psychological aspects of folklore that includes most conspiracy theories. There are common threads to conspiracy theories that abound and move through all human societies. They all usually deal with large events, some catastrophic, or with large powerful institutions that weld power. For example, large fires, assassinations, violent upheavals, wars, and institutions like Wall Street, the IMF, or powerful banks, or organizations that have very wealthy and powerful people.
When upheavals or catastrophic events occur and explanations are lax or confused, as they usually are, especially early on, this forms the nexus for all sorts of conspiracy theories. And once they start they take on a life of their own like rumors, and interestingly, conspiracies usually become more complex with time. It is actually a defense mechanism of the human mind. It brings some explanation and control to events that most people have no control over. It is actually soothing to the psyche to have conspiracies, as this will bring some semblance of control and explanation to a world that seems out of control, chaotic, and at times unlivable.
That is not all there is to it of course, as conspiracies are also attached to people or groups that are unwelcome, looked down on, or considered by some as too powerful or too controlling, as a way of attacking said groups for other alerter motives. It is interesting that Hitler used a “communist conspiracy “ ploy when he was taking control of German, and also the well-known “Jewish Conspiracy” as an excuse for his attacks on German Jews. Demagogues almost always use conspiracies as a way of stirring up the mob.
There are other interesting aspects to all of this but I think I have said enough for now. I must go meet some other scientists, we are all in cahoots you know, and we are all mad to boot, as is well know also. And lastly, I did kill JFK; it was all part of a scientific conspiracy, a penalty that JFK needed to pay because he didn’t nuke the commies when he had the chance. That would have used up many nuclear bombs and us scientists would then have more jobs building additional weapons. What fun.
-Zeno
A folklore class I took many years ago dealt with more than the urban legends that everyone hears about. It was more interesting and much more profound than that and dealt with the psychological aspects of folklore that includes most conspiracy theories. There are common threads to conspiracy theories that abound and move through all human societies. They all usually deal with large events, some catastrophic, or with large powerful institutions that weld power. For example, large fires, assassinations, violent upheavals, wars, and institutions like Wall Street, the IMF, or powerful banks, or organizations that have very wealthy and powerful people.
When upheavals or catastrophic events occur and explanations are lax or confused, as they usually are, especially early on, this forms the nexus for all sorts of conspiracy theories. And once they start they take on a life of their own like rumors, and interestingly, conspiracies usually become more complex with time. It is actually a defense mechanism of the human mind. It brings some explanation and control to events that most people have no control over. It is actually soothing to the psyche to have conspiracies, as this will bring some semblance of control and explanation to a world that seems out of control, chaotic, and at times unlivable.
That is not all there is to it of course, as conspiracies are also attached to people or groups that are unwelcome, looked down on, or considered by some as too powerful or too controlling, as a way of attacking said groups for other alerter motives. It is interesting that Hitler used a “communist conspiracy “ ploy when he was taking control of German, and also the well-known “Jewish Conspiracy” as an excuse for his attacks on German Jews. Demagogues almost always use conspiracies as a way of stirring up the mob.
There are other interesting aspects to all of this but I think I have said enough for now. I must go meet some other scientists, we are all in cahoots you know, and we are all mad to boot, as is well know also. And lastly, I did kill JFK; it was all part of a scientific conspiracy, a penalty that JFK needed to pay because he didn’t nuke the commies when he had the chance. That would have used up many nuclear bombs and us scientists would then have more jobs building additional weapons. What fun.
-Zeno