Monday, December 19, 2016

Need versus right

In the run up to the recent US Presidential election the level of 'crazy' on the internet was at an all time high. In the 'post-truth' age it appears it is now okay to invent any old shit, post it on the internet and claim it is news. Loonies,  particularly those from the 'alt-right', made some frankly bizarre claims and worse yet a bunch of seriously dumb people seemingly believed every word.

However, fake news aside, it seems the election reinvigorated those pressing for 'Disclosure' - the term for official admission that the human race is not the sole intelligent species in the universe. The disclosure movement makes some fairly strong assumptions in pressing for 'D':

1. That there is an official body with the sufficient authority, and credibility, to make such an announcement.
2. That there actually is body of hidden information that might explain some UFO sightings, strange signals, aspects of human folklore ...and not just contribute more to the current confusion.
3. Somehow just knowing will make things better, we can stop burning fossil fuels, our governments will suddenly become legal and honest in all their dealings, and we can make ready to be welcomed into the galactic brotherhood.
4. The ETI are okay with this.

Now you will tell from my tone that I am somewhat skeptical of the Disclosure community. Not for reasons of faith, nor scientific reasoning - on balance science pretty much sees life elsewhere from Earth as a certainty and, if life, then why not sentient life?
There are also many, many more photos of UFOs than there are of God.

My thinking is this - the human race, in general, at this moment in history, has no need to know. People who can be swayed by lies and rumours are not the sort of people you go telling paradigm shifting news like “You are not alone’. You know the line ‘The truth, you can’t handle the truth!’ - well if the cap fits.

In military and intelligence circles there is a concept of a ’need to know’ - i.e. being officially briefed on some secret event, capability, source or method because that knowledge is necessary for your day job. If that knowledge is not necessary you don’t get to know. There is no automatic right to know - even if you have been cleared to handle secrets of such magnitude.

To get by, mankind does not need to know.

Looking back at earth’s history you will see that contact with more sophisticated societies has not ended well for aborigine peoples. Even if our visitors are benign and beneficent how can we sure of the reactions of the politicians, religious authorities, oil producers and the ordinary man in the street? If raving Brexiteers can build 'Johnny Foreigner' up into some banana straightening monster what chance has a little grey man with funny eyes got? Dalek is serbo-croatian for 'far, distant and, at a stretch, "alien"'.

In the meantime, if anybody can tell me what the strange, small, clothed creature in the centre of the video frame capture  at the top is, well don’t - I might want to know, but I have no need to.