Can You Ever Really Know the Truth?

We don't normally write about political issues here at Science, God and You. This one presents a great example of the degree to which our perceptions can be faulty. By now everyone knows that our president's long form birth certificate has been posted on the WH website (since 2011). Case closed. Of course many people have analyzed it and found it to be "an obvious forgery." You may not know this because it has not been reported in detail on "the news." What has been reported is that conspiracy theorists continue to make fools of themselves trying to impugn the illegitimacy of the President. The implied point being anyone would be crazy to post an "obvious forgery" on the WH website! End of story, Right?

Here's another way to look at it. Suppose you were the president of the United States and this birther story just wouldn't go away--despite the willingness of 99% of the mainstream media to ignore it. Suppose you either never had a US birth certificate or perhaps it was lost at sea. Knowing that the government and the media would not touch the story, what would be the best way to silence the demand for a birth certificate AND give the few people willing to actually investigate, a tool to did themselves deeper into incredulity? Ans.: post a really bad forgery that will send the conspiracy brigade into conniptions, proving to those "sensible" folks who still watch television that not only is our president the best president ever, but anyone who doubts it is a conspiracy nut! "Why does anyone ever listen to those people?"

I can just imagine a group of WH staffers around a computer saying, "This will really drive those birthers crazy!" They'll be putting together investigations and starting law suits-- what a show. Our courts will shut it all down and the crazies will be shown to be crazier than ever."

What's my point? Can you ever know the truth in this world? Some of us try really hard (or used to) to follow the "news" and keep abreast of what's going on. No matter how hard we try there will always be those that say, "boy are you nuts for believing that!" They're right. They're right because EVERYTHING in the world is RELATIVE.

You can never know the truth in a world formed by the consciousness of billions of people who don't know it's not real! See you in the funny papers! (Find stories about actual truth at www.sciencegodandyou.com and www.facebook.com/sciencegodandyou