What's the point?

Somebody brought up a good question to me today.

This is ATS so obviously most of us here have read on subjects such as the NWO, Illuminati, creation vs evolution, Bohevian grove, satan, God, aliens, end of the world, etc, etc.

My friend asked me: What's the point of knowing "the truth" about the above topics if there is nothing you can do about it. Let's say hypothetically that the NWO will enslave us in five years, and you spent five years trying to figure it out. Well you just waisted five years only to find out that you will be a slave and didnt use those five years to make yourself happier, or spend time with your kids, family etc.

Why spend all this time researching the truth when the truth will only make you unhappy. Why research the truth when theres nothing you can do about it. Instead of researching conspiracy related topics only to find out that your government is corrupt and you will die in five years, why not spend your time making yourself happier and spending more time with family, etc.

I hope you guys understand what I am getting at, and would like your thoughts on it.

Thanks in advance!

Although knowing the truth may make us unhappy and it may seem there is nothing we can do about it, I can assure you that if the truth did come out about any of these topics and it not only endagered my life but the lives of millions of other people, I wouldn't just sit back an take it!

If the truth does come out we can all pull together and try to prevent any wrong doings!

I have thought along these lines myself.I look at people who have no concerns besides getting wasted on the weekend and wonder if I would be better off not knowing the things I have researched and instead should just join the party.Many years ago in high school I developed a obsession with reading history,political autotbiographies,and conspiracies, and as a result my friends thought I must be crazy because of the amount of material I was reading. As one of the more important players on the football team, I had some popularity which of coarse translates to a open door for female attention,but my friends were horrified that I would turn down a party to stay home and read a book.

Since then I have run into some of my old teamates from time to time and they are still the same partying,women chasing,unconcerned people they were then for the most part,and then there's me,the "conspiracy guy" according to friends and family.I've calmed down over the years and don't invest to much time into my conspiracy and reading hobbies,but I still have to wonder if I've wasted to much time on something that may never be proven or happen.

I believe in never being caught off guard and being aware of global events if possible,but you can live your entire life researching and educating yourself to be aware of these things,and end up leaving no time time to actually enjoy life.

Well personally, when I'm on ATS my mind tends to get gloomy and too much thinking going on but soon as I leave ATS again I go back to my ignorant mode, put all I 'know' somewhere where it's out of sight in my mind and return to being blissfully unaware and enjoy 'reality' and some much needed relaxation. Do what has to be done (work, groceries etc.). And when I feel the need to remind myself of another possible reality I go here.

As to why find the truth?
Because before we know the complete truth we can not know if or what we can do about it. You need to know the nature of something in order to succesfully act against it. And because even if the real truth isn't our conspiracies I simply deserve to know the reality in which I live, I deserve to see my surroundings for what they are. I'm not a horse I don't like wearing a head piece with eye caps. It makes a mess of my haircut.

[edit on 19/5/2007 by David2012]

By this same logic, why should we try and understand God, the universe, or the meaning of life?

there's nothing we can 'do' strictly speaking, about any of these things, if we understand them, yet people spend their lives figuring it out. everyone asks the question, more than once, and most spend a great deal of time pondering about it, many going to great lengths to try and figure it out.

and yet, none of us can do anything about it. If we found out that 'God' was a completely hostile being and we were all bound for the big soup-pan at the center of the earth, there wasn't a lick of a thing we could do about it. If we figured out that the meaning of life was completely biological, and there was absolutely nothing spiritual about it-- we're here to breed, pass on our genes if they're fit to do so, and then die and rot in the ground-- we couldn't do a damn thing about that either.

and yet, we all continue to search. nobody's going to stop. because for some things, for some of us, whether or not we can change it doesn't matter-- we NEED to know. some of us aren't looking to save the world, or for a happy ending. the knowledge matters to us more than anything else, be it good or bad.

just my take on the whole thing.

Well humans are born curious about the world they live in. From being an infant, throughout childhood, and all though adulthood.

We ask questions and get answers, but then when we get the answers we want to know "why?". It's been like that since the Renaissance. We can't just listen to what others tell us, we want to find things out for ourselfs.

Like the example you said in the opening post. Somebody tells us NWO is going to take over. Well we want to find out why? Why are they going to do it, how, when, all that good stuff. Sure it might be a waste of time but thats how people are.

Once you stop trying to figure out things for yourself you just listen to others - become a follower.

My take on it.


[edit on 19/5/2007 by enjoies05]

I'm going to point my finger at movies, for the simple fact that almost all of them have happy endings, so we come to expect happy resolutions, in fact we as a society have gotten to the point that negativity as a whole is frowned upon. We are spoon fed the idea that to entertain negative thoughts is to damn us to failure automatically, so we envision, focus, visualize and honestly believe nothing can go wrong, then when it does we go to the doctor to get a pill to cope with a problem that we set ourselves up for. In short we try because we believe that in the end we will win some glorious victory with a sweeping score and amazing camera work, but life has shown time and time again that it doesn't really work like that.

Yeah,like many of the others said above,in one way or another....some people are happier not knowing.Ignorance is Bliss right? I just think some of us have such a driving curiosity that we have to know,come Hell or high water.

If you see things from my viewpoint,being that the reason we're here is to discover and utilize what our main purpose or meaning is,then it becomes a question of Do you want to live up to your full human potential,or be just another cookie cutter meat puppet.To me that's not a hard choice to make.

Because I'm interested in how things work, to be honest. If there are hidden variables, I like to know about them. Also, to me, peoples beliefs about how the world works is almost as important as it actually is. So, for example, if a lot of people do believe the NWO is going to enslave us all in 5 years (to use one of the OP's examples), I'm not only interested in why people believe that, but how it affects their actions.

Being a semi-detached observer can sometimes really suck all the fun out of it though, I must admit.

Last night they showed V for Vendetta on HBO. What a coincidence.
It's a good movie. I like the main characters choice of words and the way he says them.

I appreciate all your opinions on the matter.

I love this topic. It's one of my favourites actually.

Tne truth deseveres to be known. It's that simple...if I'm living a lie...a mapped out puppeteer lie, I deserve to know that. It doesn't matter if I can do nothing about it or not. The thing is this...when the truth is known...something changes. You may not become a super hero...you may not organize a hit on the big guy, whoever he may be. But your state of mind changes...& that's where it starts. Little truths change the way we live...even if it's a little. But that's only if you cre about what truth you've found. If you do not care...nothing changes...but that's not always so.

From the truths I've learnt, I can no longer say I am the same person. One thing I've learnt most importantly is that this world is no joke. My perception of what the world was before...was very...very wrong.

I think differently now. I'm more focused...less trusting, but more focused.
Ofcourse, I go on living my life. My body does what it does..& so does my mind.

Also, I'm not too fund of V for Vendetta...personally...I expected more from it. It sucked...to me anyway!