Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The Creative Conspiracy Conspiracy

Most conspiracy theorists crack me up. Not because they believe in a conspiracy (there are actually a few conspiracies that I subscribe to), but because they typically claim they're so "open-minded" and "informed" that they discount blunt evidence if it's widely reported and/or supported by government sources. Of course, this is to be expected, since government is usually the culprit in grand conspiracy theories.

I often work in the art industries. Believe me, those industries are inundated with conspiracy theorists. In my experience, conspiracy theorists tend to not only be (at least) fairly-well-educated people, they tend to be creatives. It may seem obvious (and should be) that creative types often push conspiracies in the absence of 100% transparency concerning a given topic. After all, filling in the blanks, be it in a piece of art, music, or writing, is their job. And, just as fanboys touting their favorite stories refuse to accept obvious plot holes pointed out by critics and create "fan-wank" to explain such plot holes, creative conspiracy theorists do the same with their favorite conspiracies.

This is not to say that they're wrong. They could very well be right, but the simple fact that they provide "proof" that is anything but is cause enough for skepticism (ironic, then, that many conspiracy theorists label themselves as skeptical). They persecute the so-called mainstream because they believe the mainstream to be a tool with which conspirators brainwash the masses (in this, they certainly have a point... but, again, that doesn't mean they're right). As a result, they're persecuted in return by the mainstream. And, in serious jumps of logic, instead of indisputably pointing out such persecution as simple reaction from their own finger-pointing, conspiracy theorists use it as further "proof" that they are, in fact, correct. Which, any reasonable mind will admit, is disputable.

Where I defend conspiracy theorists is in the accusation that they're somehow "anti-American" or otherwise unpatriotic. I would actually posit that most conspiracy theorists are as patriotic as people get. Misguided, in a sense, but many of these conspiracies originate from the perspective that "this is America, and shit like that can't happen here." That this perspective can be a gross underestimation of our political and religious enemies is beside the point. For this belief to prosper among conspiracy theorists, most of them have to believe that America is the greatest country on the planet and nearly immune to external influence. Sure, there are even more plot holes involved with such an explanation, but since they ignore those themselves (not being conducive to their theories and all), there's really no need to go into further detail. It sort of explains itself, doesn't it?

All that stated, who really knows? Perhaps they're right. Perhaps there's a conspiracy to create conspiracy theories (don't laugh, I heard that one from a member of the John Birch Society). Perhaps creatives are just trying to fill in obvious blanks the only way they know how... by being creative. Perhaps they're wrong. One thing's for sure, you'll rarely (if ever) see a conspiracy theorist admit any of the latter three. And that's why their rhetoric fails.

Sure makes for good movies, though.

5 comments:

She Writes said...

Yes, they do make good movies.

Mmm said...

Good post!

This makes me want to see "Conspiracy Theory" which I have yet to see. Oh I know all about these theories as my family believes in tons of them, from the govt hiding evidence and knowledge of alien visitors/UFOs, to the mafia/KGB killing JFK, to one who actually believe the moon visit was fake, like that "Capricorn one" movie. All of them are very liberal too funnily enough. The only one I give some credence to is the "birther" one as that the so called birth certificate of Obama's (which is merely an electronic image provided and not the real thing) has computer generated numbers/text on it when back in the 60's everything was still ink jetted poorly--no clean crisp computer text then! Hmmm? I still have to wonder why on earth the president needs armed guards so no real reporter can actually see the document themselves as McCain offered when his birth was in question. Seems suspicious but I am not going to bet my dollar on it either. At this point it would be a moot point except the tantamount fraud but that's another issue for another day perhaps.

Brian Miller said...

what conspiracy? smiles.

PattiKen said...

You had me at the title. My son is, deep within his soul, one of these folks you describe. Very intelligent and pretty well educated, he's smart enough to keep his theories to himself for the most part (because you just never know who is listening, you know?). We often tease him by saying that he really does believe in the black helicopters. To which he'd probably answer, "And your point?"

Maha said...

you really had my head spinning with that one. In Egyot, there's no mutual trust between the government and the people..so you see all sort of conspiracy theories coming up from all sorts of people. It makes me wonder, do those theorists want the truth or just want to be confused? But it really is hard to tell what is fact from what is fiction in this world of ours

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