Conspiracy theories are laughable, and their quick viral spread demonstrates why they're not true.
Decades ago, NSA mathematicians developed an algorithm which is extremely predictive of how long something will remain secret.
The primary factor is how many people know "the secret".
Basically, if one person knows a secret, there's a pretty good chance they might be successful in taking that secret to their grave.
Once two people know a secret, there's a very slim chance it will remain forever secret - regardless of how severe the penalties might be for talking. Given enough contact, humans always tell you who they are - they can't help themselves. Once two humans know a secret, they experience an almost inexplicable feeling of loss of accountability, especially over time. There's something wonderful about that, Something certainly very human, which makes us different from machines. We're self-disclosing.
Once a secret is known by more than a handful of people, all secrets are a very short-lived commodities with a very predictable spoilage rate. People are particular about who they tell secrets to, but the term "going viral" basically sums up what happens next. The eventual difference between telling your spouse or telling wikileaks is ultimately not very meaningful.
Some people mistakenly think secrets becoming public is due to the efforts of "enemies", but disclosure of secrets is always the result of disclosures by your most trusted associates, friends and family members, because no one shares their secrets with enemies - and just as we can't keep a secret, enemies are really bad at hiding their intentions and who they are.
From another perspective, one of my Uncles told me, "When I hear about conspiracy theories I always remember that I work with these people, and they couldn't plan a successful church picnic." |
