tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28472049.post115693954102625381..comments2023-05-22T20:09:18.258+12:00Comments on off-black: It's all a conspiracyOff-Blackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02463368579157846130noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28472049.post-1157177785045959762006-09-02T18:16:00.000+12:002006-09-02T18:16:00.000+12:00I'm with you on the oil ones. I'm also with you o...I'm with you on the oil ones. I'm also with you on the alien ones - though I'm sure they look nothing like the pictures we see. I think our imaginations are a bit fixated on aliens being like ourselves but green and with large heads. The chance of a species evolving in a climate that similar to ours that they end up as bi-peds wearing one-piece lycra bodysuits is..... unlikely...<BR/><BR/>Looking forward to your birthday!<BR/><BR/>My latest dilemma:<BR/>Is it more in the spirit of the party to wear a true old-favourite tshirt or use it as an excuse to buy a cool new one?Not Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16247459450397529051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28472049.post-1156977169456766092006-08-31T10:32:00.000+12:002006-08-31T10:32:00.000+12:00I think the thing about conspiracy theories is tha...I think the thing about conspiracy theories is that regardless of whether they're right or wrong, they appeal to people who want the world to Make Sense in a very rigidly defined sense of the word "sense". Traditionally religion has provided this for some people, though in itself (itselves?) religion is capable of both more and less.<BR/><BR/>Sorry about the wonk, but I once saw a really good description of the difference between Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein: that the latter wanted Description to have "absolute clarity at the expense of certainty" and the former wanted it to have "absolute certainty at the expense of clarity". Conspiracy theorism strikes me as an example of seeking absolute certainty at the expense of clarity. This is why theorists are able to torture their evidence to fit their hypotheses - it seems incoherent to you, but it offers greater certainty than a descriptive model based on accepting the evidence as it stands. <BR/><BR/>NB: hopefully this post will act as an advert for my new I'm-out-of-town blog.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03175039273114553479noreply@blogger.com