It is surprising how differently people can view the world. Someone will say something that surprises you because it is far out of line with how you see the world. We are surprised because we think that what we see with our eyes is what everyone else is seeing.
If we are seeing the same things, then we think what we see is being interpreted and processed in the same way. We see the same, think the same, and come to the same conclusions. This is a fallacy. Other people are neither seeing nor thinking in the same way as you.
When you think about this it is obvious but surprising. There are always people you will never see eye to eye with. A Mother in Law for example. You rarely see eye to eye with your Mother in Law. Still, it can be surprising how different those other sets of eyes see.
It was a beautiful winter day in Southern California. Bright blue sky, no clouds, dry and comfortably warm. One of my daughters pointed out the long white line across the sky and asked what it was. The line was high up, very long, and perfectly straight.
“It’s a contrail,” I said. “From a plane.”
“What’s a contrail?” my daughter asked.
“It’s water vapor from the jet’s engines that freezes at high altitude and turns into ice, making a long line that looks like a cloud.”
“They’re spraying chemicals to control people’s thoughts and make them sick,” my Mother in Law said.
Okay, I thought, where do I go with this? Suddenly, I was aware there are two worlds. My world and my Mother in Laws. They looked identical to one another and even exist side by side. It is possible to live in one or the other and even move from one to the other. What distinguishes the two worlds is you.
These worlds are what you make of them. To you, one of the worlds is the ‘true’ world and the other an ‘untrue’ or at least a ‘less true’ world. They are only different in the way which they are constructed by you. Without you, they would not exist.
The difference between the two worlds depends on your vision. Not only what you see, but what and how you see, where you see from, and who you see with. I was looking up at the contrails with my daughters and Mother in Law so I was very aware of the difference between the two worlds.
“Okay, where did you hear that from?” I asked my Mother in Law.
“People say that it’s the government spraying chemicals.”
A childlike wonder at long cloud-like lines in the sky had opened two worlds and led to either a conspiracy or a simple physical manifestation explained with science.
I had two small children with me and getting into a conversation about contrails and conspiracy theories was not realistic. So I placed my Mother in Laws perspective into my memory banks for later retrieval, said “okay,” and moved on.
Later I wondered about Contrails and why you should not only notice them but think about them. I also wondered why anyone would believe they’re chemicals being sprayed into the sky by the government.
An investigation into a simple seeming phenomenon turned out not to be so simple. Contrails have climate, psychological, and political implications. It begins with belief and trust. Where do you get your knowledge and who do you trust?
If you believe the science behind contrails there is a simple explanation. The airplane’s hot exhaust meets the cold air at altitude and creates water vapor which freezes, forming a visible cloud-like trail. You can then follow the science into the possible effects of contrails on the climate. Because of the number of planes flying there are vast numbers of contrails formed daily. Many of these contrails occur at a perfect altitude to trap heat in the atmosphere. Oddly enough, the worst effect is from contrails you wouldn’t see. These are the ones occurring at night, thereby blocking the days’ heat from escaping.
This is one world, one way of seeing and understanding what you see. You seek an explanation for what you see and come to a scientific conclusion and a possible real-world impact of what you see. Your initial observation leads to an increasingly complex understanding. If you have flown, you could also see yourself as part of the problem. Climate change and global warming are your responsibility.
Then there is the other world.
The government is using high-flying aircraft to spray chemicals into the atmosphere to affect you. The effects can range from controlling your thoughts, making you sterile, to testing substances that are both harmful and mind/body altering. The government is using contrails as an elaborate form of control.
This is not the elected form of government that you see in the form of the President, or Congress and Senate. It is a secret, shadow government that lies buried and embedded within the visible government. This is the Dark State; a covert government that is running the show and using contrails to control the population.
How deep does this all go? That’s really up to you. Or is it? Because that’s the beauty of this thinking, it can go anywhere; the Dark State, a secret cabals of elites ruling the world, an underground world controlling the above-ground world. You can go from George Soros to lizard men. Run with the idea, until truth becomes fiction and then transforms back into truth.
Your imagination is the limit or perhaps your chemically altered mind and imagination are the limit. The possibilities are compelling. Because, if everything is an illusion then isn’t anything possible? The fantasy, or hyperreal is more compelling than everyday reality because it is so exciting and enticing.
It’s a far better story. There is something mysterious and secret to uncover and investigate; a secret knowledge that makes you feel rewarded because you discovered it; the truth behind reality, the conspiracy. You become part of the story; a spy, a private detective, an investigator, or an agent.
To become an agent is to become active, to have a purpose, too take action. You don’t just sit there and soak up the lies like a mindless sponge. You become a truth seeker, a grand storyteller, a revealer of truths. It is satisfying and rewarding.
You have solved the problem that reality is boring and filled with difficult problems. The alternative, true reality you have discovered is compelling because you are the storyteller, writing the truth as you find it and retell it. You are in charge of the narrative.
How did we get here? How can one person believe contrails can be explained scientifically and the other believes they’re a sign of a government conspiracy? It’s a matter of trust. Who you trust and how far you trust.
What is trust? It is a relationship between parties built upon mutually beneficial reciprocal actions. I do something for you that helps you in some way and you do something for me that helps me in some way. We keep going back and forth, building expectations that this is how the relationship will continue to function over time. Mutually beneficial behavior repeated over time builds upon itself creating trust. If you diminish the benefit or break the repetition you erode the trust. The system of trust takes engagement, effort, and time. Trust is not free nor automatic.
Trust also requires belief. A belief that what you get for your trust is going to benefit you. If you believe in science then there is an scientific explanation for contrails. You trust in science because it gives you an understanding of how the world works. If you don’t believe in science or don’t have an understanding of science, then you could be open to believing or trusting some other explanation of contrails. You might believe a conspiracy theory. What is the benefit of trusting this source of information?
It goes back to the idea that you are writing your narrative. You get to be the agent; you are in control. You are also in on the secret about how things really work.
You feel so good about finding the truth you might never ask who is behind the conspiracy or what their purpose is or what aim is achieved by the conspiracy. If you believe the conspiracy then the government or shadow government is behind it. This is the truth so why question it?
But if you don’t believe the conspiracy, then who is behind it? For what purpose does someone start a conspiracy?
Again, it is a question of belief. Do the people behind the conspiracies actually believe them or is there some other purpose behind trafficking in a conspiracy? It goes back to trust. If you are someone that doesn’t trust government or authority in any form then using conspiracy to undermine government is appealing.
You can’t actively fight the government because they are too large, too bureaucratic, and too powerful. It is better to undermine the government through disinformation and plant the idea that there is a ‘shadow’ government actively seeking to control or poison the population. You create an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ dichotomy and you become a champion of the ‘truth’. The more believers you enlist in the conspiracy the more polarizing the dichotomy becomes.
How do you cut through these lies? How do you engage with your Mother in Law on the subject of contrails and conspiracies?
As often is the case, the simplest answer is the best answer. Occam’s Razor. You point out the science, the simple explanation, and let it go at that. Don’t go off the road and into the woods of conspiracy. It’s not worth it.
When you begin adding complexity and layers to your argument you are pushing your argument further from being understood. The best solutions and systems are the simplest. There is less possibility for failure or weakness. Explain your understanding and leave it at that. Do you think you are going to change your Mother in Law’s mind?