Saturday, July 25, 2009

PARabNORMAL: Paranoia and Other Things Necessary for Survival

Anyone who reads this is going to initially be drawn to one opinion of me and that is that I am paranoid. Therefor, before I even begin on paranoid ramblings of the like we will explore further, I must explain why I am not paranoid and hopefully you'll at least understand.
I have been drawn to the paranormal for as long as I can remember. My mother had a book about the Great Wonders of the World and the paranormal "Time-Life-Book-series" about mysteries and unexplained phenomena. These were a favorite of mine as a child. I remember reading them on the floor when it was raining; television and video games within my reach yet I was consumed by the things I was discovering.
The list was endless as resembles the first 3 season of the X-files. Bigfoot, The Sphinx, telekinesis, poltergeists, The Loch Ness Monster, Atlantis, and so many other amazing things were at my disposal within the bookshelf in my family's game room. My multiplying curiosities mined the local library for paranormal information - some of it leading to conspiracies.
The greatest of the unexplained is the conspiracy that doesn't exist. I was exposed to concepts such as Freemasonry, the Illuminati, Skull and Bones- all the
basics. I remember the moment where I first read about the Illuminatii . I was sitting in one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs which was situated right on the border from the "KidZone" and the big people's library. I don't remember the details but I remember the moment, like a snapshot at this point. The words are hard to make out and slightly blurry but nonetheless this was the moment that turned me into the man I am today.
This quest for information and the truth turned into a biut of an obsession in my 20's. I don't know if it was the pot, the shrooms, or just plain growing up but for a while there I suspected myself of being paranoid. It took me sometime time to realize that although I love to read and talk about conspiracies and think them through, what I truly love is trying to disprove them. Most conspiracies can never be proven so if someone can disprove it then it must be false but some are more complicated than that. Some are like one of those crazy logic problems you always skipped over in that book of puzzles you convinced Mom to get you from the store. Some require much thought and cunning to disprove. It's like solving a brain teaser.

Now the bookshelf in my game room has been replaced by this laptop on my table and the handful of books has become an entire world of information at my fingertips at 4:21 in the morning when I'm trying to relax after a late night at work. What I discovered in my 20's is that I am not paranoid because I know I am paranoid. People who are truly paranoid don't think they are paranoid because they believe the paranoid thoughts. I know my enemy, even if it doesn't exist, and I will not be surprised when just one of the thousands of Diabolical conspiracies turns out to be real. In the meantime I hope to share some of my favorites with you.

1 comment:

barb said...

I love this, Dave. I wonder if i still have that book. Just think, all knowledge is now at our fingertips. Keep writing:)
Mom