Let All The Children Boogie

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it's all worthwhile

Starman, David Bowie ("The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust"), 1972.

 Ah, Facebook...

"Earthrise" is a photograph taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders on December 24, 1968. It depicts our planet coming into view as the spacecraft's orbit takes it from the far side of the Moon.

Beautiful blue and elegant, it was called "The most influential environmental photograph ever taken" by adventurer Galen Rowell. One can easily conclude that, despite petty bickering, we share an elegant and unique place in the universe. Preserving what we have, finite and delicate as it is, should be a priority over destruction and disaster.

It was also thought to put at least one thing - that the Earth is flat - to bed. That notion, of course, is cute.

Someone posted Earthrise on FB. The reason they did so is lost in what happened next. The thread was taken over by individuals, many especially exorcised and impassioned, alleging that the Moon landings of Apollo 11 and 12 were faked. Also 14-17. No human being has ever landed on the Moon, they screeched. One poor soul, obviously demented, wrote his opinion in all caps and included in his statement approximately twenty exclamation marks.

Ben Franklin once remarked that "Three people can keep a secret if two are dead." Tom Clancy wrote in The Hunt for Red October that the ability to keep a conspiracy secret is inversely proportionate to the square of the number of people involved. The possibility that NASA faked the Moon landings and has successfully kept it quiet is about as likely as President Trump's minions keeping the Stormy Daniels story among themselves.

But, that is not what is fascinating. Conspiracy theories abound, especially on the internet. Some of them are preposterous. Others... Insane. One need ask not whether they are true, but what it is about human nature that causes people to want to believe.

Dr. Jonathan Haidt, in his book The Righteous Mind, suggested that people follow intuition first, and then look for evidence later. In the absence of evidence, economist Dr. Thomas Sowell suggests, human beings concoct rational-sounding arguments based on "common sense" but little else. Those people, Dr. Sowell observes, do not look for facts to support their theories.

One need ask - why would someone want to believe that the Moon landings were faked? What interest, what emotion, what personal need would that conclusion serve? What would compel someone to be so sure, in the absence of evidence, that they would troll FB and foist their improbable conclusion on total strangers? Why am I wasting valuable minutes of my own life writing this?

That's what writers do.

One question for the conspiracy theorists. Telemetered data was broadcast from the spacecraft every second of each mission, which was readily collected by anyone with the proper equipment. Any idea why the Soviets didn't call bullshit on the whole thing?

Oh, right. They were in on it, too.