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Conspiracy & Myth
Jason Bradfield made some good comments earlier about conspiracy & myth:
I love a good conspiracy theory for the same reason I like a good myth…not because it is literally true but because it reveals larger truths about human interactions with one another.
In fact, I prefer conspiracy over myth because conspiracy theorists strive to make their theories believable whereas most mythmakers strive for the opposite (e.g. the futuristic special effects of lucas’s Star Wars movie-myths).
Just like we have to be careful not to start thinking of myths as literally true, we shouldn’t think of conspiracies as literally true.
This is a complex topic depending on how you want to look at it. I especially like the part that I put in bold - a very important idea. I think a lot of people don’t realize that back in the day, myths would have seemed “realistic” because they fit into the people’s worldview. It’s only later on that the idea of gods running around screwing everything that moves seems kind of nuts. In a way, I think myths really only function when you actually somehow believe them on some level, or are at least able to “suspense disbelief” as they’re so fond of saying in sci-fi.
That of course raises the question: is there any value in conspiracy theory beyond mythic value? A lot of people get involved in conspiracy theory because they are searching for the Truth, whatever that means. I’ve often taken the stance that the actual search itself is the truth. But I think a lot of people are mixed up about the difference between a fact and the Truth. Sometimes they are the same. But sometimes facts can lead you away from the truth as well. Author Madeleine L’Engle had some good comments on this I found once:
Facts are limited. It is a fact that we’re sitting here, but whether any truth comes out of this meeting is something else again. We don’t always know [truth]. I write stories because that’s how I look for truth
[…] Truth transcends facts. If I don’t believe it, it isn’t true. I’m going to stay on the side of truth no matter how much it hurts. Facts end; stories are infinite.
I tend to think that for most of us conspiracy theory serves a similar purpose. I know for me the things that I am looking for are the not just factual, that sometimes facts are irrelevant. Conspiracy becomes an almost alchemical myth-making process wherein I am able to take my understanding of the world, explore, grow and learn. What comes out the other end is never what I started with. My relationship to the truth is always changed by my search for it.
I would like to ask the question again though: is there any value to conspiracy theory beyond myth? I don’t mean to say that to belittle myth either - I think it’s vitally important. The other thing is I think that if you start saying “Oh, this conspiracy isn’t real, it’s just a myth”, then you also are going to suck any of the magic power out of it, the potency that makes it effective or useful for you in the first place. So it seems like a very delicate balance to maintain. Some people probably wouldn’t even see the use in maintaining it at all. Somebody asked me once: “I can see the point in championing a particular conspiracy, but conspiracy theory in general? That doesn’t make sense.” To me it does for the reasons I’ve hopefully outlined here. But does it to anybody else?
July 13th, 2005 at 7:18 pm
Yes, there is value to conspiracy theory that is not related to myth. Conspiracies happen all the time in real-life. If we learn how to identify them, we can keep them from manipulating us as individuals.
I have had several examples of it in my life, instances where friends and/or family members intentionally kept information from me, for fear that I would not be able to handle the truth. I would wager that these incidents are the motivation behind my fascination w/ conspiracy theories.
However, while I may never know who killed Kennedy, I CAN figure out why so-and-so lied to me about this or that. And when I expose the lie, I not only move on with my life but I also end up having the upper hand over those people who lied to me. Suddenly, my trust in them is gone and they no longer have any control over my feelings.
Ironically, I’m less paranoid in my everyday life than in my conspiracy modes, and yet more personal conspiracies have occurred with me than political ones. The CIA is not out to hurt me, but that girl who lied when she told me she didn’t cheat on me surely was. Maybe I should redirect my paranoia towards the ones who do the real harm, the ones we suspect are on our side.
I think that I get my practice at scoping out BS from the conspiracy sites, and then I apply them to my everyday life. Hours spent mulling over the Second Gunman on the Grassy Knoll have helped me to be less gullible in my daily interactions with con artists, scammers, and liars.
July 13th, 2005 at 7:36 pm
This goes along with what I wrote in the previous post. Exposing lies convinces yourself and other people that conspiracies exist and lies are told (whether or not we can ever piece together the actual conspiracies beyond a shadow of doubt, or determine the truth behind the lies.)
I started out thinking that conspiracy theory was just modern mythology. I have been very surprised to discover a more consistent narrative than I would have suspected.
July 13th, 2005 at 7:42 pm
I agree with what you wrote in your previous comments and responded there. Doesn’t all mythology have a consistent narrative though? In a sense, that’s part of what myth is - the consistent narrative of the human species which puts on and casts aside forms to match the times.
July 13th, 2005 at 8:06 pm
Well, I guess what I mean is that I was expecting multiple, disconnected mythologies. What I’ve found instead is a dominant mythology with multiple branches and offshoots.
July 13th, 2005 at 8:13 pm
You know, it might be a worthwhile project to sort of map what you’re talking about it. I’m not suggesting just you, but all of us. I mean, sociologically, I find the whole thing really fascinating. You know, where one theory originates, and how other people have added onto it, etc etc. Seems like a huge undertaking, but would probably highlight something really important, if only from the perspective of social-phenomenon.
July 13th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
How very funny and synchronistic. Today I started to construct a social network of blogs, based primarily on blogrolls. I completely surveyed your blog, as well as a few others that are well known to you, before I gave up. The most difficult part is conducting the surveys, since it requires translating URLs to unique IDs, which gets to be difficult once there are even a moderate number of entries. (It’s also fairly difficult to automate.) I can send you the database I have so far, if you’re interested in doing something with it. Maybe it can be passed around.
Once there is a data set of sufficient size, constructing the map shouldn’t be too difficult. Good algorithms for that sort of thing should be easy or at least easy to find.
July 14th, 2005 at 1:10 am
[…] the most valuable aspect of conspiracy theory, I’d say (much moreso than the “modern myth” argument). When people embark on their own quest of learning, […]