Hokum’s Razor

People love, fear, and are generally enamored by things they believe to be different, other-worldly, or voodoo.

We are so arrogant as a species that when we witness something we can’t immediately explain, we think some magical, mystical force must be at play because it certainly can’t be that our brilliant, all-knowing minds couldn’t figure it out if it weren’t.

And so, we make up some crazy shit that’s most likely even less believable than the truth. There’s a light in the sky. Of course, I can explain it. There’s a giant all-knowing being who put it there.

Sometimes, these ideas take root and evolve and are somehow embraced by hordes of people because it’s more convenient to be given answers than it is to figure out life. Most of the greatest tragedies in our history happened because of someone coming up with a bullshit reason for something they didn’t understand or for which they didn’t want to be held in any way accountable. A woman doesn’t want to be beaten with a stick as thick as a thumb, have 14 babies, and have her entire life decided by a man or some supposed ethereal force. Well…she must be a witch. It works its way into everything. There are economic troubles, must be immigrants or a political party that disagrees with my chosen political affiliation. There must be an enemy. Maybe it’s people whose faith is in opposition to mine–people who’ve been indoctrinated into something different from what I’ve been indoctrinated into. They must be converted or eradicated for the sanctity of life as I feel it should be–as I was told it should be. From gods and witches to populist politicians, we’ve allowed ourselves to be convinced that our greatest atrocities are justified until the judgment of time proves otherwise, and often, even after that.

My made-up stuff is better than your made-up stuff. Let’s destroy everything to decide who’s right.