Why Stupid Monkey?
Why indeed. It's quite simple really. A simple perusal of any daily newspaper is enough explanation. The amount of stupidity, fuzzy thinking, irrationality and sheer bullshit that we regularly feast on without questioning its validity or importance is staggering. We are, as a whole, unable to comprehend statistical probabilities. We accept what is fed us in the media as true and relevant. We don't generally like to think. We are, in many respects, just stupid monkeys. To borrow a line from an old Joe Jackson tune, 'they wouuldn't print it if it wasn't true. Yeah, they would and they do.
I am not sure where to go with this just yet. The media in general is an entertainment. While there is a great deal of good, critical analysis of important topics by some in the news business, it has largely been geared to peddle pap to the people. As an example, let's look at the recent H1N1 pandemic sideshow, which seems to have settled down finally. For months there though, the media were pushing this coming pandemic as akin to the plague, surely destined to kill millions al over the world. Rightly, there was an intense effort to get as many people vaccinated as possible. But then stories began to appear about deaths occurring shortly after a vaccination was administered. This sprurious link was suddenly a reason NOT to get vaccinated. Hell, some people died after the vaccine! To some then, having oneself vaccinated was not to far removed from playing Russian Roullette with five bullets in the chambers. In reality, the actual death rate specifically linked to side effects from vaccination was below what might be expected. This is a testament to our grasp of medical science, and immunization in particular. Some people will suffer heart attacks after going to a movie, or eating a slushie, or taking a shower. This does not mean that going to see a film, or getting a beverage or scrubbing filth off oneself is an inherently dangerous occupation. Perhaps some tens of people may have died from reaction to an immunization, but the number who die from the seasonal flu itself is between 30 and 50 thousand per year in the U.S. alone.
Another, perhaps better example is the rush to install full body scanners in airports to thwart any terrorists that might decied to emulate the failed attempt to down a plane that occurred around christmas. Suddenly, a non-incident had the transportation safety folks scurrying around frantically trying to put in place even more elaborate protocols and equipment to thwart his new threat. These measures do nothing to stop terrorists, and merely provide the illusion that they will improve our safety. In fact, they are an over-reaction that costs us time and money, makes travel onerous and annoying and in fact increases anxiety and fuels the view that we really are at grave risk. Right, 9/11. It was a horrible act carried out by religious nuts (and religion itself is truly the domain of the stupid monkey) that killed thousands of people. So what happens? After the hysteria died down a little, cockpit doors were strengthened. A good move I guess. Then a shoe bomber, who again failed in his boneheaded plan, manages to scare the bejesus out or us, thanks again to over-the-top media babble, and now we have to take off our shoes for inspection before boarding a flight. Then the attempt to take down a plane with liquid explosive compounds, again a big fail, and now we have to give up our water bottles and contact lens solution just in case we are really master chemists set on murder. Of course, these failed attempts by slow-witted idiots serve the terrorists well in that they create fear and confusion and cost us money, time and efficiency. They win.
Look, the likelihood of getting blown out of the sky by a terrorist is minimal, certainly less than thoseof getting flattened by a car or slipping down a flight of stairs and cracking open the ol' melon. The extreme security measures employed at airports have not, to my knowledge, identified a single terror suspect. What's more, these knee-jerk responses are reactive. They do not identify potential threats before they are attempted. The only real way to do this is the gathering of intelligence on such matters and sharing information between juristictions and countries. Still, theatrical measures such as scanners, x-ray machines and the like lull us into the feeling that we are safer this way.
Other irksome beliefs such as those in alternative medicine, (which is an oxymoron as, if it is an alternative to medicine, it is not medicine), a link between autism and vaccines, hauntings, paranotmal bullshit, astrology, god belief, etc. are rampant. At best, these are harmless pursuits undertaken by the credulous and intellectually lazy-at worst, they dangerous and life-threatening.
Question everything, you stupid monkeys.
