I'd say that the original conspiracy theory was the suspicion that one was
being stalked by a group of very stealthy predators. Usually a false
positive, but one false negative and you were lunch.

-- rec --

On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 11:14 AM, glen <g...@ropella.name> wrote:

> Vladimyr Ivan Burachynsky wrote circa 10-12-08 10:29 AM:
> > It seems conclusive to me that most conspiracy theories can be attributed
> to
> > Gross Stupidity and the Secrecy imparts an air of reasoning where none
> > exists. ( We refuse to believe some affairs are complete and utter
> nonsense,
> > hence all the sightings of Jesus in concrete stains. Our brains impart
> > patterns where none exists)  How much effort is expended to reveal that
> some
> > agency was incompetent or stupid (Air India, Lockerbie Bombing).
>
> Although this perspective on 6 sigma thoughts (e.g. conspiracy theories)
> is reasonable and practical, it's also dangerous.  We, as a population
> depend fundamentally on the thinkers in the tails of the distributions.
>  Those people do the due diligence none of us practical, reasonable
> people are willing to do.  Sure, it's true that most of what those (us)
> wackos spend their (our) time on ends up being rat holes and dead ends.
>  But the benefit is worth the cost.  Without wackos like Penrose
> speculating about quantum decoherence in the brain or astrobiologists
> _wanting_ to demonstrate the functional equivalence of chemical
> constituents in compounds like DNA, we'd be lost.  Our progress, if we
> made any at all, would be made by blunt thinkers whose best
> contributions enslave us to machines like assembly lines or standard
> accounting practices.
>
> Even more to your overall point, the wackos, albeit in the tails of some
> distributions, can be thought of as the _most_ human, the grounding
> points for other distributions.  What's more human than the plight of a
> paranoid schizophrenic?  What's more human than strapping on a diaper so
> you can make good time stalking the object of your affection?  _These_
> are the people who save us from becoming _objects_.  They must be
> cherished and treasured for their humanity.
>
> Don't be too hard on the wackos.  And don't resist becoming a wacko
> yourself.  Let your freak flag fly, man. ;-)
>
> --
> glen
>
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