I believe it, therefore it is true.
And I have it on good authority that I’m right.
After all, there is no better authority on what I believe than myself.
And the internet.
There may be hundreds of thousands of “mainstream†scientists out there who can prove that the oceans are getting warmer.
But there are a half dozen “independent†scientists on the internet who say that there is no difference, because it’s obvious that the thousands of buoys deployed to measure ocean temperatures since the 1940s must all have been incorrectly calibrated, or because they don’t believe the readings indicating ocean depths are warming faster than the surface waters (because one scientist on the internet told them that’s not possible), or because warmer ocean temperatures can’t possibly have a significant effect on climate (we are on land, dummy, so just stay away from boats and the beach and you’ll be okay), or because even if the oceans are getting warmer and the climate is changing, it’s not our fault, so just get over it, will ya?
Bottom line is, the half dozen scientists – each of whom have “independent†theories to explain why none of the three or four “mainstream†theories explaining climatic effects of ocean temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide loading and other human interventions on a planetary scale – give you the democratic right to believe whatever you wish.
Right or wrong doesn’t have anything to do with it.
After all, you can’t really trust the “mainstream,†can you?
“Mainstream†media... “mainstream†science... “mainstream†whatever.
If it’s “mainstream†it’s someone telling you something you don’t want to believe.
So why should you?
The “independent†loon who finds a way to tell you what you prefer to believe is far more believable than the “mainstream†hordes whose only real agenda is to scare you and guilt you into believing stuff that makes you uncomfortable… and truth be told, this is a democracy – no one can force you to believe stuff you’d really rather not believe.
So you pick your own truths.
Right?
But there are parameters.
There’s a point at which some of that “independent†thinking becomes “mainstream.â€
If your “independent†thinker is a Copernicus or Galileo, you just eventually deny that you ever thought differently from them.
Of course, those guys backed up their difficult “independent†thoughts
with actual proof, instead of relying on someone else to reorganize the “mainstream†data – which in their case was the Bible – so their undeniability was inevitable.
But not too fast!
God forbid you should stop believing nonsense because you actually thought about it and realized on your own that it’s nonsense.
You need someone else – someone “independent†– to tell you, and these days, you’ll find that someone on the internet in a catchy or quirky (or more likely, in a catchy and quirky) YouTube video, or on a Facebook page with enough Likes to prove that it must be true.
We all know the air is getting dirtier. You can actually taste it, so there’s no denying that.
But you don’t want to believe it until all your friends believe it first.
“Mainstream†beliefs are socially unacceptable until they become “independently†mainstream.