It's a conspiracy!

I am uncertain just what bothers me more:

Blind acceptance of conspiracy theory or ignorance of basic science.

I saw someone on Facebook post this link. This person seemed to be posting it in all seriousness and with tremendous concern. What seemingly failed to realize is that the online publication, Huzlers, is a work of satire somewhat akin to The Onion.

The article claimed that authorities at NASA have announced that there will be six full days of darkness between the 16th and 22nd of December. This will be due to "a solar storm, which will cause dust and space debris to become plentiful and thus, block 90% sunlight [sic]."

The Facebook poster of this apocryphal text was citing it as yet another example of "NASA covering up the truth." Paraphrasing: "They've concealed the fact that there has been contact with alien races, that these aliens have at times alternatively shut down our nuclear arsenals or nearly started World War III. We're just a stone's throw away from armageddon and they will never tell us as it would start worldwide panic. It's a conspiracy, y'know. Shhh."

That latter business reminds me of that godawful movie, 2012. I mean it really is just as bad as the Mayans predicted. But I digress...

As I said from the outset, there's so much going on here. Then again, maybe I need to amend my previous thoughts. It's really not the "everything's a conspiracy" mindset or the lack of enough basic science knowledge to recognize that something as described in this satirical piece could never happen. I guess it's true. A lot of people just don't get satire when they read it.

No, what gets me is the complete absence of any critical thinking. I'm not sure what accounts for it, either. The speed of social media connectivity? "Hey! This looks like it fits with my views, so I'm going to post it without even reading it." Is it that? Maybe it's someone who does read such an article and honestly responds: "Yep, Looks legit." Which would lead me to commentary on our current educational system.

Don't even get me started on that.

Then again, maybe it stems from a doom and gloom mindset. While six days of darkness would not have immediate physical harm, purported news of it in this age of post-9/11, post Katrina, and current Ebola might just be greeted with "Great. Now this." I can understand that mentality. After all, I'm pretty sure we're fucked. It's just a question of when it's going to happen.

So six days of darkness? I'm fine with that. I stay inside most of the time and I have plenty of coffee to wait it out for the duration in my bunker.





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