All the things we cannot see

You might be wondering why things seem to be so very, very weird out there in the wide world, and one explanation could be right under our feet. Scientists, it turns out, have recently determined that the earth’s core is now rotating backwards. That may be a hard sell to most of us, having never seen the thing with our own eyes, but taking the occasional scientific claim on good faith isn’t always a bad choice — the late covid conundrum notwithstanding.

The earth’s core is a solid metal sphere — think of a ball bearing — packed in a sheath of liquid metal. Apparently they go spinning around while we are up here on the surface blowing off our thumbs with firecrackers and hosting foot races for men in high heels, as they do in Spain.

We know this because scientists can measure various wavelengths that pass through the earth, and so draw reasonable conclusions based on the collected data. I’m willing to take their word for it, though I’m aware that discernment of any kind has been thrown off balance — perhaps forever — by 21st century developments.

Kierkegaard, who was a top-shelf thinker, noted “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” He makes an excellent point. Wild claims can be difficult enough to distill under the best of conditions, but in the age of AI and the veritable deluge of digital mirages assaulting us from all directions, the average registered voter can be excused for having no idea what is true and what isn’t.

Experience suggests that believing a politician is telling the truth would be a mistake. From any party, anywhere on earth. This is also solid advice when encountering people who claim that God speaks directly to them. Or that Aliens do. Or when dealing with HOAs. It’s probably just better to start with the assumption that they are lying for their own benefit, which is a good practice to preserve your long-term sanity.

All of this habitual lying may also be why people seem to be so…angry. It is difficult to sustain a state of continual confusion without tapping into the primordial behavior we see in our great ape cousins. Brachiating at the Spirit Airlines ticket counter is precisely the same behavior exhibited by angry bonobos in the treetops of the Congo.

Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon are a good place to find the aforesaid lying and confusion. I have no idea what is true and what isn’t, but I’ve seen some videos that deserve a better explanation than anyone is currently offering. I am not bolstered by claims from dour-looking generals or smarmy Congressmen that there is “nothing to see here,” and the laughable attempts to address reasonable inquiry feel like a tightly orchestrated con job.

I make no claims in the UAP arena. For one, it’s a third rail that remains professionally hazardous, but mostly because it’s impossible to know what’s true, and what isn’t. But I do feel reasonably confident someone, or something, is going to extraordinary lengths to control the narrative.

This sort of thing — the obfuscation and legerdemain — happens all the time. Uri Geller, an Israeli with extraordinary powers of ESP and Telekinesis, was able to bend spoons and stop clocks among other very unusual talents — even under highly controlled experiments at respectable scientific institutions. But both ESP and Telekinesis are still widely regarded as circus tricks.

I’m not so sure, given that science very often lags behind observable phenomenon for an explanation. Hubble, who proved the expanding universe, was roundly criticized by his contemporaries. He now has a space telescope named after him, and nobody remembers the people who mocked him.

In other observable phenomenon, we have seen the cratering of Joe Biden, and endured the painful machinations of his inner circle insisting that this marionette of a man is “sharp as a tack,” and “on top of it.” But, thanks to an otherwise worthless debate, we’ve been to Oz and seen what’s behind the curtains: wonky levers and rusty dials.

What’s easy to see, going forward, is that believing what isn’t true, and refusing to believe what is, are largely articles of faith held by the body of believers and disbelievers alike. And in the state of general confusion that now exists, stoked by a truly abysmal Congress, and a cratering fourth estate, the passions run deep and fast — and occasionally even violent.

Somewhere along the way meaningful debate — held in good faith and meant to both enlighten and persuade, gets lost in the shouting and grandstanding by the ever-passionate and ever-manipulated hoi polloi—who very often, when asked pointed questions about their positions, reveal that they have absolutely no idea, exactly, what they are so riled up about.

I have no advice to combat this phenomenon, not really, except to tread carefully. Maybe sign up for less committees. Avoid the proliferation of enraged “Karens” whose positions are unassailable. Get reacquainted with that purposefully evolved, and occasionally life-saving, human capacity for persuadable skepticism.

For now, having absorbed these claims about the earth’s core spinning backward, and suffered a momentary bout of vertigo because of it, I’m going out to pull the weeds in the garden. A simple pursuit, one thinks, if only for the gift of utter clarity.