On October 2, 2020 the American public along with the rest of the world was alerted that the then 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump has tested positive for COVID-19. I was mentally preparing myself to be off from work, reminiscing deep on the feeling of taking my socks off and resting my feet on evening chilled bed sheets. Then, a coworker of mine approached me with deep inquisitiveness shooting out of her eyes, resembling a facial expression more of a stoner who has just passed a drug test and picked up an 1/8th, but all of sudden can’t find their lighter.
“Donald Trump just tested positive for COVID-19, please tell me you think he is faking it?”, she said.
“Huh”, I replied.
She then begins explaining her reasoning for why she thought former President Donald Trump faked the results. Hitting me from all sides about “theories” and “beliefs” to how the information that millions have just been alerted to is all a lie. As I usually do when hearing people speak about their perception of an event, I sit back quietly, allowing for a full stream of consciousness to be regurgitated without any hiccups. Once everything is out of their system like a bad stomach bug, I then begin to feed them rice (best source of food to relieve any stomach problems, trust me). And the rice I fed her was flavored and peppered, kind of like this.
“That’s very interesting, but that also sounds like a conspiracy theory.”, I said back to her.
She laughed, as if she was humorously startled by what I said. I laughed with her. Later in that evening, she texted me stating how I was right, and what she was saying was conspiratorial. I texted her back stating how she was correct and it was conspiratorial, but that it is also okay to think those thoughts. I went on to explain that there is nothing wrong with thinking that the wizard is actually a man behind the curtain with a megaphone. We should be free to think any thought that arises out of the soil of our mudded mind, but that thought should not be fixed or set in stone until Toto comes running over and pulls aside the curtain. And even then this pulling back of the curtain and revealing does not necessarily mean all is true, for isn’t the wizard actually an actor playing a role in a movie. So the problem does not lie in thinking sentient beings conspire, because sentient beings are capable of doing many things. One of the definitions for conspire means to act in harmony towards a common end. Now the true nature and intentions of what “harmony” entails can be dugged up and addressed by way of the second definition: to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement. Sentient beings conspire and we have evidence of that because we have two defintions that define that action. Being aware that sentient beings hold the capability to conspire is a stone built into the foundation of ones pyramid of critical thinking. Knowing ignorance is strength, ignoring knowledge is sickness. It is only when these conspiratoral thoughts start to ascend up the stairway of theory do we see the pragmatic and problematic side of letting these thoughts build Göbekli Tepe size pillars in our mind.
"I don’t disagree with you, but I don’t agree with you either.”
Language is arguably considered the most human thing that has ever been known to humans. And by humans I am not referring to the whole classification of the group but only Homo Sapiens, the last of the Mochians in regards to the genus Homo. Homo Sapiens, which is what every human today is classified under, currently sits around 200,000 years old. The longest lasting human species that we know of today was Homo Erectus, who had their fun on destination earth for 2 million years. It’s hard to think that humans who where here before us and with us did not have a system of language, especially if one group survived for 2 million years. But language seems to be that very abstract concept that is exclusively for and created by Homo Sapiens. And while this isn’t about the origin of language or the reasoning on why we have languages, this does tie into the common understanding or shall I say, misunderstanding of our usage on the word theory.
The word theory depending on which community you associate with, can carry two different and very distinct meanings. For example the community I associate with the most is one of common folks, probably such as yourself. Associating with common folks (probably such as yourself) allows one vaguely to get away with saying wild shit, or even better, it allows one to have a theory on wild shit. For example, here are some theories common folks might have.
“Francis Bacon wrote the bible.”
or…
“Early christians were mushroom taking hippies.”
or…
“All pyramids found around the world are connected in some way.”
The definition for theory that belongs to common folk statements such as the ones above, is that of speculation. This speculation can be further described to being an incredible hunch or a guess. It is truly incredible, because even if the evidence presented appears to fit perfectly into ones idea of something, at the end of the day it still holds no factual weight. At the end of the day none of those statements can be proven, so they are just theories. But, if a sentient being belonging to the community of common folks (probably such as yourself) transversed on the following theories with a sentient being belonging to that of the scientific community, the conversation would end before it even started. The definition for theory belonging to sentient beings in the scientific community can be defined as a comprehensive explantion of an important feature of nature supported by facts gathered over time. This flipped side of theory is what allows us to truly understand and decipher the world around us. This flipped side gives birth to the Big Bang, to the discovery that all organisms are cells and that these cells are made from preexisting cells, and to the discovery that the building blocks for this reality contain elements that are both particle and wave like. For something to be a theory over here, proof is not necessarily needed, but an over abundance of reoccurring evidence over time must be present. This double slit tongue of theory is what leaves a disdain taste in ones mouth after consuming a big fat tasty conspiracy. For if the conspiracy lays on one side of theory, it is based on a speculative hunch, which makes it a theory. Yes, but if conspiracy lays on the other side of theory which is something that can be supported by evidence over time, does that constitute to still being a conspiracy? When a conspiracy theory can be actually proven using the scientific community defintion of theory, what does that mean?
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a state of rage almost all the time.”
In his book, Marriage of Heaven and Hell English poet William Blake writes, “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of cavern”. I steadily aim to keep this quote in the frontal lobe of my brain anytime I sit down to write. Reminding myself of the weird eerie looking trap that subjective thinking can get one stuck in, but is this form of thinking truly an entrapment? I suppose only seeing and deciphering this ever changing cultural, social, and biological phenomenon we call life through the eyes and mind of a 25 year old Black Man all while living in a white supremacist capitalistic patriarchy that is America can be ensnaring. But this enmeshment of subjecting viewpoints is very peculiar when it comes to ADOS (American Descendant Of Slavery) individuals, mainly because of how justifiable these viewpoints can be. When justifiable viewpoints are consummated to our common folks definition of theory those two love birds give birth to a hypothesis, which should not be attributed to belief. But, when we swap the common folks definition for the more tested scientific portrayal of theory, we are presented with facts. It is only through facts that occur and can be tested over time that should inform and contribute to ones belief.
Now this weird realm where a subjective hunch can undergo the correct, incredible, and immense process of transformation into the objective truth is where we see theory mutate into theory. Observable in this realm are many examples of subjected justifiable viewpoints that in their original form and state may appeared conspiritorial, but over time they showcase an emergence as objective factual truth. This realm that I speak of, is something that every ADOS individual has been sucked into, similar to comparison of a black hole. It is the realm where one finds out that Fred Hampton from the Black Panther Party was drugged with LSD before being gunned down by Chicago Police. It is the realm where one finds out that government officials infiltrating different social and political movements and protest is nothing new. It is the realm where one finds out that even one of Malcolm X’s security detail was an undercover New York police officer. It is the realm where one finds out the real reasons behind the “War on Drugs”. It is the realm where one finds out that Africans have been to the Americas long before 1619. It is in this realm where one can see the past remnants of Tulsa bleeding into todays collective unconscious of ADOS individuals. This realm goes on for eternity, consisting of having no front or end as long as ADOS individuals are presented with the valid perception of being the oil that keeps America running (and we all know just what America will do for oil). You see, everything in this realm at some point or another was considered a conspiracy theory, events that have been misconstrued by beings that resonate in the upper echelon of public opinion, who can manipulate ones thoughts into thinking something has been apparently blown out of porportion. Events that should hold no truth whatsoever and thoughts that should be eradicated before they break out and infect others. But theory in this realm is based off evidence and facts that can be supported over time. A conspiracy theory in this realm is revealed to be a conspiracy realist, because facts as we just found out, are not based on ones theories. They are solely based on if the theory, can be correctly proven to be a theory.
