The problem with conspiracy theories.

by Angela K. Durden
Citizen Journalist. Business writer, novelist, songwriter, and Technology inventor protecting creator's copyrights. 

It's not that conspiracy theorists (CT) are wrong about their theories. They are probably correct. But where they mess up every time is that they miss the motivation behind it, and when they miss the motivation, they misconstrue what they see.

As Morpheus said to Neo, "Do you think that's air you're breathing here, in this place?"

If Greed misses an opportunity to screw you, Incompetence will happily chase you into a blind alley and put the beat-down on you. Put the two together, and you'll get raped every which way you can imagine.

The Matrix was all about those two, Greed and Incompetence, hauling humankind's ass into that alley. See? Morpheus kept it simple for Neo.

Everybody wants their theory to be The Theory that is more important and explains more than any other theory. To do that, they conflate one or more theories until tenuous connections take on the proportions of God-given prophecy.

In other words, nobody wants their theory to be as mundane as incompetence or as pedestrian as wanting a new house and car.

So they chase ever-more-complicated theories, and Greed and Incompetence are happy to have CTs do it because it gets people looking away from them, and at the guy in the tinfoil hat.

Occam's razor is a philosophical principal that pretty much says the simpler explanation is usually the correct one. In other words, if you have to jump through hoops to make your case, then you've missed the boat.

Take the theory that the US Government knew about the 9/11 attacks and did nothing about it.

Technically that is true. But do we really believe that everybody in the top echelons of the government wanted almost 4000 people to die and did nothing to stop it for that reason?

I don't believe that. What I do believe, and what the documentary A Good American (www.agoodamerican.org) points out quite well, is that simply put, Greed and Incompetence did a gang bang on the US citizenry.

But did Greed and Incompetence want 4000 people dead? No. They did not. You see, Greed believed something that bad would never happen. To them, it was a game. After all, what could a few ragheads talking about fatwas over there in a dried-up creekbed do to us? Greed offered money to Incompetence. Incompetence jumped all over that and kept quiet.

You see, the NSA had all the metadata but incompetence and greed kept them from using existing technology inside their own agency that could sort through it quickly and clearly.

Just like terrorists are greedy and incompetent, so are Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies and people who insist on pushing massively bloated and complicated conspiracy theories.

If you really care, apply Occam's Razor and focus, people.

Focus.