5.28.2013

Belief Shopping: Are we a science experiment?

We interpret reality on the foundation of what we already believe about reality. I'll try to demonstrate.

A spaceship landed in my back yard last night.
Do you believe that? I could tell the people closest to me that, and about 98% of them wouldn't believe me. It conflicts too much with their existing belief structures - what they already believe about the world.

Can you do something with your eyes closed? Something you've done so many times that it becomes automated?

Beliefs are the same way. If you think something over and over again, or interpret events through a certain belief structure (all of which are conveniently and intricately designed to reinforce every belief structure you currently hold) over and over again, it becomes automatic. 

Once you recognize that, you can toss the ones that aren't working for you (I hate myself and I want to die, you're nothing but a failure and a loser, your sole purpose for existing to give others a reason to live) it pulls the thread out of your belief structure scaffolding.

So far, I haven't been able to not have beliefs entirely. I suppose I could master that if I wanted to. What I've found to be more fun is to try on different beliefs and see if I like them or not. One of the funnest ones I've tried so far has been the belief that we're a genetics experiment by alien races.

One of the more notorious fringe beliefs is that we are ruled by a secret group of reptilians (the alien races). Most of this stuff comes from Zecharia Sitchin (http://www.sitchin.com/), and is supposedly based on an assload of work he did on the Sumerian Tablets (like the guy in Stargate). The reptilian-thing has been made more famous (I think) by David Icke, but I don't know if they collaborate. Sitchin I had heard of always spoken with disdain, and to this day there's nothing on his website that makes me think otherwise. Icke, on the other hand, is good stuff when you're belief shopping. If he's pure snake oil, he's damn good at his job. That video is worth a watch even if it's just to see a master at work.

However, the lunatics aren't necessarily wrong. I wasn't going to write of the possibility he was wrong, Poking around into the Oxford translation of the Sumerian Texts reveals he didn't stray too far from the beaten path. At least it's Oxford This looked official enough to me: http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/

Enki and Ninḫursaĝa: c.1.1.1
First he put his feet in the boat, next he put them on dry land. He clasped her to the bosom, kissed her, Enki poured semen into the womb and she conceived the semen in the womb, the semen of Enki. But her one month was one day, but her two months were two days, but her nine months were nine days. In the month of womanhood, like fine (?) oil, like fine (?) oil, like oil of abundance, Ninnisig, like fine (?) oil, like fine (?) oil, like oil of abundance, gave birth to Ninkura.
52-60. When Father Enki goes forth to the inseminated people, good seed will come forth.
When you go looking for ancient astronaut theory, you'll find what you need to believe it. I think that's what seek and ye shall find really means. If you seek the truth, you'll find something you believe is the truth. Funner to keep seeking, I say. 

I haven't written off the secret cabal being of a specific bloodline - families of successful interbreeding with the alien races. 
Captain Kirk would do it.

Maybe aliens did create us through tinkering with the genes of prehistoric man. Maybe it was a long trip back and they didn't bring enough women. Maybe they put their hybrid children in charge and now live beneath the Denver airport. 

I wonder if it has a statistically higher rate of missing persons. They eat humans, you know. Perhaps a suspiciously low homelessness rate?

I honestly didn't find anything that caused me to write the whole thing off. It seems more plausible to me than just straight evolution. I look at what we're tinkering with these days and wonder:
Maybe we're just like our father.... species that is.

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