We should remember the word "IF" more often

[Armstead]

There is always a tension on DU between conspiracy theories and "realism."

Whenever smething happens -- or is suspected -- some automatically assume the worst, darkest scenerio. Others take the other side, and insist that the speculation is "tinhat nonsense and more proof is needed. They are then called naive, or freepers or worse, and a flame war ensues.

For me, the worst example of this was when Wellstone died. Automatically, there were assertions that his plane was sabatoged by the BFFE. No way could it be an accident, it was insisted.

Such tensions are inevitable in a world where there are so many dark unknowns and knowns. Those in power have often shown to be capable of really bad things like, say, asserting that we had to invade Iraq because Sadaam had a huge stockpile of WMDs that he was planniong to use against us.

However, at the same time, we should also not engage in a form of reverse McCarthyism. We shouldn't rush to conect dots that ultimately rteally might not connect.

How to maintain the balance? IMO we ought to keep in mind that one simple word "IF." In other words we should be skeptical about our own hunches and not engage in wishful thinking, even as we remain open to all possibilities.

That doesn't mean buying the official spin at face value, or ignoring things that seem fishy. But instead of asserting that our hunches are real, we should start from the point "what if."

Just my thoughts on this. What say you?

[Oversea Visitor]

1. If

Intelligently Fucked

[waiting for hope]

2. Hear Hear!

:thumbsup: Way too many times I have seen a flame war start before the subject has been researched and/or proven....thank you for posting....

[Armstead]

5. Yes, it's often the certainty rather than the theory that caues problems

It's one thing to raise suspicion and ask questions about "what if"? However that is different from forming a hypothesis, and then asserting that it is true without any proof or real research.

[SmokingJacket]

3. I think everything should be questioned...

including ourselves.

Most of us here have no access to any information other than what we find here in our rec-rooms on the internet. We can doubt particular narratives and create new ones, but one thing we need to be careful about is certainty.

[Armstead]

4. I agree -- No political version of Intelligent Design