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| | ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| − | ===Conspiracy theories===
| + | A {{rw|conspiracy_theory|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the {{rw|moon_landing_hoax|moon landing conspiracy}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the moon. |
| − | A {{rw|conspiracy_theory|conspiracy theory}} purports to explain a social, political, or economic event as being caused or covered up by a covert group or organization. A typical example is the {{rw|Moon_landing_hoax|Moon landing conspiracy}}, which asserts that no human has ever reached the Moon. | |
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| − | Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. This is due to a "{{rw|Morton's_fork|Morton's fork}}", a situation where no matter what is observed, the same conclusion is reached: | + | Once a conspiracy theory starts, it often grows stronger. Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory. Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up and thus prove there is, in fact, a cover-up, so they're also evidence for the theory. In the Moon landing case, videos of men walking on the Moon are assumed to be faked by Hollywood studios, so the existence of the assumed fake videos proves the cover-up. Also, the absence of filming crew or anything else needed for faking a video is considered further proof of how carefully the cover-up was planned. No matter what happens next, it will be evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''." |
| − | *Facts agreeing with the theory are, of course, evidence for the theory.
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| − | *Facts disagreeing with the theory are considered part of the cover-up. This suggests that there is, in fact, a cover-up in the first place. Therefore, contradictions to the theory are also treated as evidence for the theory.
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| − | In the case of the Moon landing, conspiracy theorists assume videos of men walking on the Moon to be faked by Hollywood studios. The existence of the assumed fake videos "proves" the cover-up. Also, the absence of filming crew or anything else needed for faking a video is considered further proof of how carefully the cover-up was planned.
| + | People promoting these theories belong to a small minority, but they gain attention from many people — often without much knowledge on that specific matter. People who have actual knowledge about a given subject just get frustrated by this, because it seems like smart or educated people should reject conspiracy theories for lack of proof (if a conspiracy theory has proof, it's really science or investigative journalism). In the comic, [[Hairy]] (who is considered "smart" by [[Cueball]]) starts pointing out "errors" in the {{rw|9/11|"official" 9/11 story}}, obviously starting to describe the {{w|9/11 conspiracy theory}}. Cueball cuts his speech sharply, and his heart is broken because he's seeing his smart friend wasting his great intelligence in a foolish conspiracy theory, instead of doing something useful. |
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| − | No matter what happens next, it will be taken as evidence for the conspiracy theory. As one person put it: "To a conspiracy theorist, there are only two kinds of evidence: evidence that proves their theory correct, and evidence that proves the conspiracy ''goes deeper than they ever imagined''." In reality, the more elaborate the cover-up, the less realistic it is. There would be many more details to expose, and many more people involved, each of whom could spill the secrets with a lower chance of being identified.
| + | In the second panel, Cueball rants about conspiracy theories in general. He mentions {{rw|Young_Earth_creationism|Young Earth creationism}}, {{w|Moon landing conspiracy|the Moon landing}}, and {{rw|perpetual_motion|Perpetual motion}} machines. In the third panel, Hairy mentions that of course we never landed on the moon. This frustrates Cueball so much that he just walks away with no further comment. |
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| − | People promoting these theories belong to a small minority, but they gain attention from many people — often without much knowledge on that specific matter. People who have actual knowledge about a given subject just get frustrated by this, because it seems like smart or educated people should reject conspiracy theories for lack of proof. If a conspiracy theory does have proof, it is really science or investigative journalism.
| + | In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the bug he committed when creating smart beings capable of believing such foolish things as conspiracy theories. This is a not-so-subtle joke as religious belief tends to be connected to certain conspiracy theories (such as Young Earth Creationism, as mentioned in the strip). The joke, then, is that Cueball believes in (and converses with) God, but instead of following religious conspiracy theories, uses the relationship to complain about this "known glitch" in humanity. |
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| − | The title text refers to {{w|Young Earth creationism}}, which claims that the Earth is only thousands of years old, instead of the billions of years evolutionary scientists suggest. Believers in this theory generally either ignore evidence for the Earth's age, claim it to be inaccurate or misinterpreted, or claim that it is all part of how the Earth was created. The "conspiracy theory" connection arises when they claim that scientists, for some reason, collectively refuse to consider (what they consider to be) evidence of a young Earth.
| + | A "bug report" is a description of some error that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient, and thus already aware of the problem. God allows it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will." |
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| − | ===Conversation===
| + | The title text refers the large number of educated people who believe in {{w|Young Earth creationism}}, stating that the earth is only thousands of years old, instead of the billions of years evolutionary scientists suggest. Believers in this theory generally either ignore evidence for the earth's age, claim that it's inaccurate or misinterpreted, or claim that it's all part of how the earth was created. The 'conspiracy theory' connection arises when they claim that scientists, for some reason, collectively refuse to consider (what they consider to be) evidence of a young earth. |
| − | In the comic, [[Hairy]] starts pointing out perceived "errors" in the {{rw|9/11|"official" 9/11 story}}, obviously starting to describe the {{w|9/11 conspiracy theory}}. [[Cueball]] immediately cuts him off, and delivers a speech about conspiracy theories being a {{w|glitch}} in reasoning that anyone can experience.
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| − | The overall message of the comic, which the title text elaborates upon, is to challenge the assumption that conspiracy theorists are stupid. On the whole, Cueball considers Hairy smart, and is heartbroken to see his friend waste his potential on this. He believes that Hairy, and other conspiracy theorists, have reasoned themselves into their position to some extent, but the reassurance from their belief now stops them from realizing that their initial reasoning was faulty. The comic asserts that ''anyone'' can fall into this pattern of thinking, no matter how reasonable or educated they are. The title text gives a point of evidence for this, that many Young Earth creationists are college-educated, and therefore cannot be written off as stupid in general.
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| − | Cueball acknowledges that he has been unable to get through to conspiracy theorists in the past, so he tries to get Hairy to see the light by talking about these experiences. He raises the {{rw|Logical_fallacy|logical fallacies}} involved in conspiracy theories in general, and compares Hairy's behavior to other conspiracy theories that he believes Hairy wouldn't have fallen for: {{rw|Young_Earth_creationism|Young Earth creationism}}, {{w|Moon landing conspiracy|the Moon landing}}, and {{rw|perpetual_motion|Perpetual motion}} machines. This is an effort to open Hairy up to the idea that he has, in fact, fallen for a conspiracy theory. When Cueball acknowledges his past debate partners as smart people who were misled by fictions anyway, he is trying to give some counter-reassurance so that Hairy isn't too embarrassed to admit he was wrong.
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| − | However, Hairy suddenly claims that humans never landed on the Moon, revealing that he does believe a theory that Cueball assumed was beneath him. Thus, we don't find out whether Cueball's approach would have worked otherwise. The two are left at an impasse where each thinks their beliefs should be obvious to the other; it is as if they are living in different realities. Cueball is so frustrated that he just walks away with no further comment.
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| − | ===Bug reporting===
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| − | In the last panel, Cueball asks {{rw|God}} to fix the error that allows otherwise reasonable beings to believe conspiracy theories. This follows from Cueball calling this behavior a glitch. This is a not-so-subtle joke as religious belief tends to be connected to certain conspiracy theories (such as Young Earth Creationism, as mentioned in the strip). The joke, then, is that Cueball believes in (and converses with) God, but instead of following religious conspiracy theories, uses the relationship for {{w|debugging}}.
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| − | A {{w|bug report}} is a description of some error, or "{{w|Bug (engineering)|bug}}", that occurred when using a computer program, to inform the developer of a problem that needs to be fixed. The comic draws a comparison between prayer and developer feedback. Filing a "bug report" to God should be unnecessary, as God is generally understood by believers to be omniscient. Thus, God must already be aware of the problem, and allow it to exist for explicable reasons of "God's will."
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| | ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
