A CONSPIRACY OF CONSPIRATORS

We live in the age of the conspiracy theory. If one is to believe conspiracy advocates, every major event that has happened is the result of a conspiracy between unseen and unnamed groups or individuals. Here are a few examples: The 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression; the JFK assassination; the Bobby Kennedy assassination; the moon landing; 9-11; the Iraq invasion; and the newest one--Ebola epidemic. And who is involved in these conspiracies? Depending on which conspiracy advocate you ask, it is the Federal Government, a cabal of international bankers; various religious groups;multi-national corporations, or a combination of these groups.

If one is to believe these theories, no event simply happens; it is the result of unseen forces manipulating and pulling strings to bring these events into play.For example, it wasn't some unhinged schmuck named Oswald who killed Kennedy It was (take your pick) the CIA, LBJ, the mafia, Fidel Castro, those international bankers, or a combination thereof. Afterall, believing the killer was some nondescript malcontent like Oswald is nowhere near as exciting, interesting and mysterious as believing in a sinister behind-the-scenes, multi-player conspiracy plot.

Adjunct professor, author and publisher of Skeptic Magazine, Michael Shermer, wrote in his book, THE BELIEVING BRAIN, "From sensory data flowing through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains evolved to connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen. Those patterns become beliefs, and those beliefs shape our understanding of reality. Once beliefs are formed, the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs."

That isn't to say there aren't true conspiracies, but to blame every major historical event on secretive organizations and actors stretches the limits of credulity. To show how misguided this can be, conspirscy theorists seem to have forgotten the primary conspirator behind all world trajedies: the devil.

And if you believe that theory, I have some shares in a bank cabal I'd like to sell you.