If

Posted on July 11, 2002 in IRC/Chat Thinking

The word “if” doesn’t seem to exist in some chatters’ vocabularies. “Bin Laden’s alive,” they declare. Or “He’s dead. We got him.” And what evidence do they offer for this? There is no body or living man.

Everyone wants to own a certainty. Sometimes the certainties they tout switch every day or with every new debate they begin. They can’t see that while we live through times much is hidden from us. Sometimes they are hidden from us by the beliefs we hold, the certainties that historical investigations will overturn. It may take centuries before a relatively complete version comes together. In the meantime, you can expect the public to be vulnerable to rumors, instant revisionism, and popularizations of events. The little lies about welfare queens and the terrorist that lurks inside every Muslim suit some people better than the complexities and uncertainties entailed in seeking the facts.