Page 47 - Psychoceramics and the Test of Fire

Cabalocracy and the Hall of Mirrors

contradictions. Who, in short, can you trust, in a field of uniformly
untrustworthy bidders for your trust?”
I blinked. This was not what I thought his theory was about. My
briefing papers said the hall of mirrors was a metaphor simply for the
projection of one’s own pre-existing predilections to paranoia, and
that the truth could not be found unless one understood and
overcame those sociopathic tendencies. This was already a far cry
from most conspiracy theories, and doubtless what had made it stand
out to Al Magnus. My own disparaging view had been that Curtis
Capra was trying to suck in nervous Nellies for a series of expensive
self-help lessons, that he didn’t really have anything substantive to
market. Now I saw that it was subtler than that. He was talking about
real uncertainty of unknown origin. Was this the message he needed
to tell the world?
“If I understand you correctly, Mr. Capra, you are saying that I
shouldn’t take you at face value, nor should you assume that I am a
neutral seeker of the truth.”
He leaned back in his chair.
“If you followed my argument, you must come to that
conclusion.”
I didn’t like that. The upper hand was still the one in his pocket. I
had to make a transition back to my own agenda before he
discovered my insincerity and took it amiss.
“Then you might not believe me,” said I with self-contradictory
conviction, “but I had another purpose in locating you and listening
to your ideas. Although I am a profoundly skeptical person, I have
repeatedly found myself attracted to conspiracy theories as a way to
make sense of the mess mankind has made for itself. Maybe I am just
a lapsed believer determined to find a malign causality where no
explanation but dumb luck is needed, but it bothers me that I keep
vacillating between accepting plausible theories and their equally
plausible denial. So I don’t know if the problem is in me or not. You
are the first one to explain the entire phenomenon and put the
responsibility for dealing with it right where it belongs, in the eye of
the beholder. I’m convinced that your ideas are important enough to
be shared with everyone. Thanks to some inheritances I am
financially secure and can easily afford to give you whatever you need
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