Well, no. He 'somehow' managed to keep going as fast as his team mate. Not really a technical fault then was there?
Of course, it might all be above board but it was a little too prefect for me. Something didn't sit right.
This, combined with a few comments on the social networking site Facebook got me thinking about that glorious chestnut, conspiracy theories.
I don't know how anyone can fail to find them interesting. They merge fact and fiction in such an attractive way. The problem is, people fail to rule out the notion of co-incidence with regard to some of them, like the cult of 23. Try it with another number. 22 if you want, and you'll find ways in which the number 22 seems to be cropping up everywhere. But to see how co-incidence can rule, its 19:35 now, on the 28/11/11. So 28+11+11 = 50. 1+9+3+5 = 18. 50 - 18 = 32. Switch them around and YIKES! Its 23. Spooooky. Or not.
There are the rather tasteless conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11. Not least that it was all propagated by the Bush Administration. Now, I'm not sure how the Bush Administration could fuck everything else up so brilliantly and yet pull off 9/11 the way they did. That doesn't add up to me. If you've ever seen the movie Loose Change, you'll know there are some pretty unexplainable things around that event, and the 'people' want answers.
I want answers too. But I won't jump to the conclusion that it was planned and performed by the government of the United States. I'll wait for all possible explanations to come in, then I'll decide.
For me, its the people that buy into these things that are way more interesting than the theory itself. Which part of the truth isn't weird enough for these people? Why, in the words of Douglas Adams, isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it? Sometimes it iz wot it iz, and no amount of co-inky dinks are going to change that.
I propose that the hardened theorists are simply scared. Scared of the world and the people in it. They then give themselves a license to withdraw from society. They'll say its because they know who's really running it and why, because they know what's going on and we don't, but really its because they haven't the balls to participate in society and make something of it. Its much easier to run away to a cabin and await the apocalypse than to try and build a life for yourself full of meaning.
Furthermore, their stance that they know something you don't, that they're somehow clued in to the 'truth' appears to elevate them to a lofty status. One in which us sheep are the ignorant, and they the enlightened. Sadly, I do talk to someone who believes in a lot of this guff, and he drinks in the same pub as me. So this knowledge has gotten him.....where exactly? Nowhere. He is in the same position as I, having a drink in a pub. He knows something he considers important but doesn't act on it, save for trying to appear like a smart arse in front of everyone. And of course, if you challenge the belief, its like arguing with an environmentalist....you are always wrong, because they are always right. And if you provide evidence to the contrary, its because you're part of the system....man.
I'm all for an entertaining life, but the line between fact, fiction, and pure confirmation bias must be drawn. A mind is a parachute, and works best when its open, but it must also be a finely tuned bullshit detector. Believing a conspiracy theory over anything factual doesn't make you more intelligent. In fact I'd argue it makes you the gullible one.
Do I believe Red Bull fixed the race? To be honest I couldn't care less. I hate the fuckers anyway. The point is I won't let it dictate my life or my attitudes towards other people.
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