is it just me, or when he said "lead by a brilliant villan" and dr.doom came up, was i the only one that said "that would be AWESOME!"
The Big Picture: Conspiracy Weary
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
"All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little?"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET?Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME... SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point?"
MY POINT EXACTLY."
? Terry Pratchett (Hogfather)
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little?"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET?Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME... SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point?"
MY POINT EXACTLY."
? Terry Pratchett (Hogfather)
Well, just there you said it was called misaimed sarcasm, so I'll go with thatGeneric Gamer said:
Not at all. Remember, we're not talking about proving anything here. Remember where I said about avoiding details or problems of proof? Asserting that everything is done by magic (or God, or Superman, or who-fucking-ever) is fundamentally more simple than positing complex solutions for the creation of universe, the rise of sentient life, and so on. It is essentially the simplest answer of all, because it boils down to "just because". It's hard to get any simpler than that, right?Generic Gamer said:
No, the scientific method produces far more accurate but also far more complex answers. Look at it this way, which is the least cluttered and confusing answer? That we were A) created by a magic man of unlimitied power or B) evolved slowly over billions of years from a single-celled organism to the emotionally functional sentient beings that we are today? This is not a question of correct, it is a question of simple, and for the most part option A is easier to believe. It requires less scientific understanding, and for all that B has the evidence backing it it is still a more complex explanation. Ergo, "God did it" is the simplest explanation, as it requires no further thought and can be used to gloss over any inconsistencies.Generic Gamer said:
Although I know what you meant when you said that "reality is chaos", that still depends on whether you're a determinist or not, I'm personally in the same mold as Descartes since I subscribe to subjectivism (cogito ergo sum).
However, I'm inclined to say that there is some order within the universe. The physical laws that govern it make it possible to tell time or predict when the next eclipse will be thousands of years into the future. If we didn't have anything reliable like gravity or a constant speed of light, most of civilization would probably be centuries behind.
Do you know what's scarier than reality? Reality that behaves like a conspiracy theory. I've always had a morbid interest in the Church Of Scientology, everything about them is strangely shady for a supposed religious organization; their behaviour plays out (rather ironically) like something out of a science fiction novel. They do so well at keeping whatever it is they do a big secret that they've become a source for urban legend, but the scariest thing is that most of the accounts you read online or the video testimonies you watch on Youtube are extremely plausible and not entirely improbable in today's society, most of which even have legal documents and mountains of evidence to back up their claims.
However, I'm inclined to say that there is some order within the universe. The physical laws that govern it make it possible to tell time or predict when the next eclipse will be thousands of years into the future. If we didn't have anything reliable like gravity or a constant speed of light, most of civilization would probably be centuries behind.
Do you know what's scarier than reality? Reality that behaves like a conspiracy theory. I've always had a morbid interest in the Church Of Scientology, everything about them is strangely shady for a supposed religious organization; their behaviour plays out (rather ironically) like something out of a science fiction novel. They do so well at keeping whatever it is they do a big secret that they've become a source for urban legend, but the scariest thing is that most of the accounts you read online or the video testimonies you watch on Youtube are extremely plausible and not entirely improbable in today's society, most of which even have legal documents and mountains of evidence to back up their claims.
One of my favouritequotes, that. "Where the rising angel meets the falling ape"geierkreisen said:
Man, Death is cool :-D
Yes, we'd rather form conspiracy theories than face the fact that the Universe is just fucked up and there is no reason for it what so ever. It is highly unlikely that there is any sort of grand design, and if there is we'll never understand it or our place in it. It's like the paint trying to understand it's place in the overall painting. It can't, because it can't leap off the canvas and view the thing objectively. In the same token, we can't step outside the Universe and view it objectively.
Actually (Quoting wasalp but too lazy to look back for the post) aside from that statistic strikingly resembling the statistics of UN scientists who agree(they almost always get sacked if they don't from the UN climate committee), there are many respectable scientists who disagree that global warming is man-made, and cite that carbon levels are following the temperature due to ocean effects if I remember correctly. But just like the "mainstream" scientific community, most of you won't even google this because you'll (un-scientifically) completely discount any possible rebuttal to the very political status quo as complete idiocy. Seriously, EVERY other aspect of science is open for further debate, even the nature of gravity, but not global warming.psivamp said:
Aside from the logical fallacy of using an uncertainty to rebut an uncertainty, the very fact that you don't know and admit doing so undermines your point that I'm wrong. I could be wrong, but I could be right, and the same with you.canadamus_prime said:
Man-made global warming is not proven. While i accept the world is warming up, if i hear ONE MORE PERSON tell me it's all our fault and we're the only ones who can fix it (or, in fact, that we can 'fix it' AT ALL) i'm going to beat them with the conspiracy theory about JFK's murder.
But otherwise, yeah, i agree with you.
But otherwise, yeah, i agree with you.
What, a video about conspiracy theories with no mention of Deus Ex?
Seriously though, good video, especially with the analysis of why people come up with conspiracy theories. Also a reminder of why I like your videos, even when your name seems to spark internet arguments.
Seriously though, good video, especially with the analysis of why people come up with conspiracy theories. Also a reminder of why I like your videos, even when your name seems to spark internet arguments.
A conspiracy theory is only a conspiracy theory for those who don't believe it, the others just a theory. Most people, even the smartest and most informed ones, have to rely in something outside their knowledge at times. How can you know that the information you are relying on isn't misleading or biased? What if the information you find is consistently misleading?
If you don't challenge what you know every now and then, by seriously considering something outside what you believe, you are much more likely to end up on the crazy side of divergent opinions.
If you don't challenge what you know every now and then, by seriously considering something outside what you believe, you are much more likely to end up on the crazy side of divergent opinions.