We see conspiracies for very good reasons. For most of human life, people who did not see conspiracies were very likely to be hurt. It is dangerous to be among strangers, and not watch one's back. It is no wonder that we imagine conspiracies today, even when there are none.
It has been an aid to survival that we are leery of people who look different from us. A lone stranger, surrounded by people from another tribe, scarcely had a chance. We bond, and find security, by dressing alike, speaking the same way, eating the same foods, and sharing social manners.
Reality is a social construct. What counts as real obviously differs from place to place, and time to time, but what counts as real for us is an agreement, and we maintain that agreement in conversation. Most of the time, it is actual conversation, but sometimes it is what we read, what we hear, what our family drums into us or, much later in history, what we are taught by our religions.
Religious groups are very shrewd about this. Converts to a religion are often surrounded by the believers. Converts are urged to attend prayer groups, mid-week study groups, to stay after worship for coffee and conversation. There are thousands of ways to be human beings, but if you want to be part of this group, this people, you will need to immerse yourself in it, learn it, rehearse it, and practice it.
The same thing is true politically. Political points of view do not drop down from heaven like a stone. They are social constructs. What we believe to be best, politically, is fashioned in conversation, shaped by conversation, and maintained by conversation with like-minded people. Or perhaps better said, conversation makes us like-minded. Nobody is born a Whig, or a Republican. We become what we are, surrounded by others.
For instance, consider the Birther Conspiracy; the notion that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and that some left-wing, socialist-communist-fascist gang planned the whole thing. It is patently false, by any ordinary standard, but there are lots of people who believe it. How can this be?
Conspiracies are not unusual in human history. They especially show themselves when times are tough, when we need some explanation for what is happening to us. A time like now, when people are losing their homes, when millions of people cannot find work, when the future looks bleak for many, many people. When millions of immigrants are coming into the country, speaking other languages; people who look different, and dress differently, and eat foods we have never heard of.
Maybe he really isn't an American. Maybe he really was born in Africa. Maybe he hates America. Maybe he is the problem. Maybe it is the Black man in the White House.
It is absurd, but it is what people do when they are worried. Those people get together, as the converts to a new religion do, and talk to each other, incessantly. They say it to each other. He really isn't one of us! He is an alien! It was all planned when he was born! He is really a Muslim! The whole thing is a conspiracy!
What counts for fact is not written in stone. What counts for fact is an agreement. We teach our children what is generally accepted by our group, our clan, our community. We talk each other into line. Sometimes we talk each other out of line, into a sect, a secessionist movement, or a Tea Party.
That there are conspiracies is completely understandable. We know how they work. And the only way out of them is the same way we got into them: we have to talk to each other. Not just to the members of our own cult, but to people who do not see things the way we do.
Reality--sanity--is an agreement made by most. It is a social construct.
It has been an aid to survival that we are leery of people who look different from us. A lone stranger, surrounded by people from another tribe, scarcely had a chance. We bond, and find security, by dressing alike, speaking the same way, eating the same foods, and sharing social manners.
Reality is a social construct. What counts as real obviously differs from place to place, and time to time, but what counts as real for us is an agreement, and we maintain that agreement in conversation. Most of the time, it is actual conversation, but sometimes it is what we read, what we hear, what our family drums into us or, much later in history, what we are taught by our religions.
For instance, consider the Birther Conspiracy; the notion that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, and that some left-wing, socialist-communist-fascist gang planned the whole thing. It is patently false, by any ordinary standard, but there are lots of people who believe it. How can this be?
Conspiracies are not unusual in human history. They especially show themselves when times are tough, when we need some explanation for what is happening to us. A time like now, when people are losing their homes, when millions of people cannot find work, when the future looks bleak for many, many people. When millions of immigrants are coming into the country, speaking other languages; people who look different, and dress differently, and eat foods we have never heard of.
It is absurd, but it is what people do when they are worried. Those people get together, as the converts to a new religion do, and talk to each other, incessantly. They say it to each other. He really isn't one of us! He is an alien! It was all planned when he was born! He is really a Muslim! The whole thing is a conspiracy!
What counts for fact is not written in stone. What counts for fact is an agreement. We teach our children what is generally accepted by our group, our clan, our community. We talk each other into line. Sometimes we talk each other out of line, into a sect, a secessionist movement, or a Tea Party.
That there are conspiracies is completely understandable. We know how they work. And the only way out of them is the same way we got into them: we have to talk to each other. Not just to the members of our own cult, but to people who do not see things the way we do.
Reality--sanity--is an agreement made by most. It is a social construct.
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