The Encyclopedia Britannica defines conspiracy theory as ‘an attempt to explain harmful or tragic events as the result of the actions of small powerful group. Such explanations reject the accepted narrative surrounding those events; indeed the official version may be seen as further proof of the conspiracy.’

One of the definitions of ‘conspiracy’ in Dictionary.com is;

A combination of persons for a secret, evil or unlawful purpose.

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There was a discussion on the radio this morning about conspiracy theories and whether social media had influenced their proliferation. One commenter described a conspiracy theory as ‘fallacious’ – that is having no proof.

That however is a criticism pertinent to all theories, including Einsteins’ Theory of Relativity. The lack of proof is not seen as problematic in science, since one needs a theory at the start of the experimentation, before there is proof. It may be that the theory is ahead of the ability of technicians to create laboratory experiments, or that there is no sensor yet invented to detect an effect being postulated. This has never stopped scientists imagining possibilities using mathematical models rather than instruments. Einsteins’ mathematical proof that light, bends has only recently been proved using astronomical instruments.

Lack of evidence then, should not stop scientists, philosophers, theologians, artists, poets, politicians from postulating.

Consider the postulation, ‘God exists’. To date, this theory has not been scientifically proven and yet billions of people believe it; even model their whole lives on it. Does that mean believers are part of a conspiracy? Certainly, level headed insurers reject claims caused by ‘acts of God’

The conspiracy being alleged is always open to doubt. The persons believing the conspiracy do not generally offer, indisputable proof. We all know that photographs and videos (once considered to be true) can now be easily manipulated.

Even a reporter or journalist is normally required to provide corroborated information of a story, usually from at least three independent sources, before the story is published. Even then, others will object that the story is just a ‘theory’ or, as is now rather glibly alleged, ‘fake’.

Conspiracy theorists who use the word ‘theory’, will retain the respect of others for so doing. The next evolutionary step however, is that the postulator believes the theory – even without incontrovertible proof. We see this process in popular detective stories, where the famous detective has a ‘hunch’ that he can’t prove. The intervention of the intuitive area of the mind, presents itself as a kind of ‘magical’ power of the detective. Even though the scent stops at the river, he or she picks it up on the other side.

Scientists do this, probably more often than they know. ‘Mistakes’ happen in laboratories and the logical line of reason is skipped over, savings years of work. The line of reasoning then works backwards to prove the original premise.

In a conspiracy theory, the official version of events is challenged. One might call this somewhat facetiously, ‘my version of the facts’ – but that is what is happening. Facts are challenged or ignored and often ‘new information’ presented. The official story is regarded as no more than what psychologists term a ‘rationalisation’ – in other words a reasonable explanation. Conspiracy theorists offer new ‘evidence’ from respected and unrespected sources, because their ‘gut feeling’ is telling them the official reason is unreasonable, uncorroborated, unproven or based on false information.

Take the assassination of John F Kennedy. The person accused of the act had the means, motive and opportunity to commit the act. What is ignored is that so could have many others, standing along the road that day. This ‘smoke screen’ to the actual events is often used as a plot device by writers of detective stories. The ‘red herrings’ divert the reader from the true events, all of which have been honestly presented.

‘My version of the facts’ becomes a truism double edged and lethal to human beliefs. We all know that history is written by the victor and / or a powerful minority.

With facts being so available now using the power of the internet, we can all access them and feel a certain glow of ‘expertise’ – even though we have no in depth or practical knowledge of the subject. Parents refuse treatment for their sick children because they don’t believe the doctors.

In such a world, few of us have the mental capacity to fit together the pieces of the jigsaw, because it has a million pieces and no picture. Only the next generation of quantum computers will be able to make decisions based on the huge amount of data available.

Conspiracy Theories of the future will be postulated by computers. The question is, will the computers themselves, start to believe them?

Okay, here is the scenario. Queen Elizabeth II, sadly, passes away. We don’t want this to happen, but we know she is human and nearing the end of her life expectancy. What will happen next?

Repercussions, repercussions…well, one consequence will be that the Commonwealth of Nations, of which she has been so proud over the years, will no longer have a person in the role of Head of the Commonwealth. This is important because her successor does not inherit the role automatically.

Imagine then a delay, a negotiating period whilst the role of the new incumbent is discussed.

At the same time as this process is taking place, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is riding the roller coaster of post-Brexit in 2019. The final negotiations with the EU had a poor outcome for the UK. Europe was united in making the UK an example, before any other member states had the same idea. If the UK preferred to leave the club they will no longer have access to the benefits. This meant that the UK, which became wealthy as a trading nation, looked around for more countries with which to trade. The 15% tariffs for goods from within the EU made them often, too expensive. Not only that, countries like Germany, were subsidising their car industry and encouraging skilled migrant labour that could no longer work in the UK, to work for them.

Some bright spark in the British Civil Service spotted in Wikipedia, that the Commonwealth of Nations covers 29,958,050 km squared of the world’s land surface – about twenty per cent. On this land live 2,419 million people. A huge market!

The politicians ate this bait and set up working parties to establish free trade with these countries as soon as possible. They soon discovered that membership of the Commonwealth already included free trade amongst member states. That is when the international lawyers were called in. They had to negotiate formal multi-lateral trade agreements and / or bilateral agreements, with as many Commonwealth countries as possible.

Unfortunately the pressures then exerted had an unexpected consequence. Countries that had been used to just sending athletes to the Commonwealth Games every four years, found themselves hosting un-invited trade delegations from the old colonial power. Governments felt their collars being held by their ex-colonial masters and it sent a shudder down their spines. Protests in the streets and the burning of the Union flag in public places gave politicians the confidence to call their diplomats back from the UK for serious consultations.

The trade delegations were sent back to the UK from most countries, including Australia, with their tails between their legs. The scars of colonisation run deep and the scars take many generations, not enough generations yet, to heal.

So, the house of cards began to fall. One after the other, Commonwealth countries resigned from membership, as is their right.

With no Head of the Commonwealth in post and an ever diminishing number of member countries, the unthinkable motion was discussed in the Houses of Parliament. ‘Is the Commonwealth of Nations an outdated institution?’

The UK’s desperate need for new trading partners had exposed it’s shortage of commercial shipping tonnage (on which the British Empire had been built), had put misplaced pressure on countries eager to find fault outside their own incompetence, had failed to agree a definition of ‘free trade’ within the Commonwealth and placed a spot light in the shadow that is the belief that the UK out of Europe will be ‘independent’.

In the twenty first century world of globalism, ‘independence’ is an outdated fantasy. Countries, and States within countries, which co-operate with each other, have a greater advantage, militarily and commercially, than those that don’t. 

The Commonwealth Games in 2022 were boycotted by those countries that had still not officially left the Commonwealth.

Despite attempts to ‘re-brand’ the organisation as the ‘Common Values Organisation’ or ‘Common Peoples Organisation’ their differences were now clearly greater than what they held in common. The ‘wealth’ of the UK had never been shared with other countries, neither within Europe or it’s old colonies. The common values had been shared and of that the UK could be proud. The common values were often central to the Queen’s speech on Christmas Day. The values of the twenty first century though had changed from brotherhood to me and mine both within the ex colonial master’s country and the old colonies. 

And when that happens, history informs us, the consequence is usually war. 

I am in favour of discrimination. That may be an unpleasant thought for many people – but let me explain. To ‘discriminate’ means simply to distinguish or separate one thing from another. In popular parlance the word has aquired the same meaning as ‘prejudice’ but clearly they mean different things. Prejudice is to discriminate in favour of one part over another for reasons of negative emotions rather than reason. To ‘discriminate’ then can be useful or not. Consider the uses.

I once went to Carmarthen in South Wales armed with a guide book to wild flowers. I had no knowledge on the subject and to me one flower was much like any other. But forty years or so ago the rural roadsides were abundant with wild flowers – prior to industrial farming and ‘agrochemicals’ much favoured by the custodians of the countryside – farmers – but that is another subject!

Anyway, I had to creep along edge of the road with book in hand learning one by one the different flower types. This is done by colour, number of petals, stamens, type of leaf. Everything about flowers in the British Isles was in this book because someone had been there before me and was sharing the results of their journey. Discrimination between one flower and the next was a journey not only to naming but unexpectedly – enjoyment. You might think that you do not need a menu to enjoy a meal and to some extent this is true. But to go to the absolute limit of enjoyment to understand the component parts and label them, makes enjoyment complete – ask any top chef.

Perhaps this is what spurred on our Victorian ancestors to travel the globe categorising flora and fauna and filling the museums of the home country with their findings. There are drawers of butterflies in the Natural History Museum in London, each with a label containing precise information, cross referenced and catalogued. Glass cabinets reach to the ceiling as places of last resort for the bodies of exotic birds each with genus and species recorded for all time.

There is a film called The Draughtsman’s Contract by Peter Greenaway (1982), which featured characters numbering the leaves in a tree. The flavour of the time was an art inspired compulsion towards list making and categorisation. Perhaps in it’s time it was a reference to the Victorian obsession with collecting and sifting and the insights it brings.

We are passed that now. Artificial intelligence can determine the contents of a supermarket shopping bag at the check out in a second. The counting, the establishment of order is not something humans do easily using conscious thought. From the tedium of that task we moved away into the promised land. We can switch off our need to understand how things are arranged, knowing that it has been done or can be done far quicker than we can ever do. The catalougisation is over.

Even the spaces between galaxies have been found to be full of the correct amount of anti-matter to match the visible universe (once 80% of matter was missing!) The stars have their numbers even though they are too all intents and purposes infinite in number, don’t worry about that.

Don’t believe me? Well The Sky at Night this month told me that even the spaces between galaxies have been found to be full of the correct amount of anti-matter to match the visible universe (previously 80% of matter was missing!) And what we can see – the stars – all have their numbers even though they are, to all intents and purposes, infinite in number – don’t worry about that.

In the twenty first century we may sit back, put up our feet and wait until such and such a list needs checking – pick up our phones or log on and see how everything is. Pity that. I liked to smell the flowers, watch the bees and hum a little myself. The space between words and numbers – well that always has been and always will be poetry.

Some people known as the ‘death doulas’ are determined to break down the barriers that make ‘death’ a taboo subject. There is a place called the ‘death café’ where people who are dying, meet the ‘death doulas’. On the menu are the following genuine questions;

(source; The Guardian Newspaper Wed 3^rd Feb 2016 article ‘Meet the Death Doulas’)

The answers are completely vacuous but intended to bring a scythe-like smile.

What makes a good death?

Taking out a law suit against Microsoft for using the message fatal error in Windows 10, applying for life insurance, applying for bankruptcy, buying a brewery, pretending to die several times in front of your relatives, access to plenty of cushions,

Can you prepare for death and dying?

Disable the air bags in your car, build a pyramid, pack a suitcase, learn the harp, enter a burning building without protective equipment to get an idea of ‘the other place’, empty the fridge, don’t buy green bananas, more cushions

What do you say to a friend who is facing death?

‘Cheer up,’ ‘I have to confess everything,’ ‘Well I am sorry I just thought a chicken costume would brighten your day,’ ‘weather is going to be better by next week,’ ‘ever thought of becoming a vegetarian?’ ‘I’m visiting you from now on – your husband has gone on a cruise,’ ‘ The hospice wants to start a bagpipe band,’ ‘ The Mafia are after me; would you live in my flat for a short while?’ ‘ The hospital are submitting their success rate figures this week. You’ve got to leave.’ ‘Sorry I gave you a shock – this scythe is for cutting the grass this afternoon.’ ‘Do you want a cushion? ‘

What can we learn from death?

The Highway Code is not as stupid as it seems, do not trust bungee jump instructors, some food is not as good as it looks, commercial airlines do not carry parachutes, tattoo your intended last words on your wrist, death is not all it’s cracked up to be, if I had gone to university what good would it do me now? Cushions are a blessing,

What does it mean to leave a legacy?

Empty the rubbish bins, mow the lawn, publish your school poems as an e-book, publish everything as an e-book, someone else is going to have to put those shelves up now – Someone else will like that pile of cushions.