People who don't believe in God don't believe in nothing; they believe in anything and everything.

Fans of The Da Vinci Code - and other conspiracy nuts - use their view of conspiracy as a way of dealing with their fear of death.

Carl Olsen points to a recent study that connects belief in conspiracies with anxiety about dying:

Belief in 'Da Vinci Code' Conspiracy May Ease Fear of Death [LiveScience.com, Sept. 16, 2011]

What seems at first glance to perhaps be something a silly bit of pseudo-academic nonsense is actually quite the opposite. The article is about a study—"The functional nature of conspiracy beliefs: Examining the underpinnings of belief in the Da Vinci Code conspiracy"—conducted by Anna Newheiser, a doctoral student in social psychology at Yale University, that examines why people fall for the conspiracy theories presented by Dan Brown in his best-selling, worst-written novel. But why use Brown's novel?

"The Da Vinci Code" was a good starting point, Newheiser said, because unlike other conspiracy believers, Da Vinci conspiracy believers are not marginalized as tin-foil hat types.

The researchers gathered college students who had read the book and conducted two studies. In the first, they asked 144 students to rate their agreement with Da Vinci conspiracy beliefs, such as "The church has burned witches and other 'heretics' to keep the truth about Jesus hidden." The students also filled out questionnaires about their religiosity, biblical knowledge, enjoyment of "The Da Vinci Code" novel or movie, and their fear of death. They also answered questions about New Age beliefs, such as "The whole cosmos is an unbroken living whole that modern man has lost contact with."

The study (which can be purchased online) revealed some findings that are more than a little interesting:

The students most likely to believe the conspiracies in Brown's novel were those who enjoyed the book the most, expressed the most New Age beliefs, and felt the most anxiety about dying. People who were religious, knowledgeable about the Bible and desiring of social approval, on the other hand, tended not to buy into the Da Vinci conspiracy.

Next, the researchers called 50 of the original students back and presented them with historical evidence that the Da Vinci conspiracy is false. They found that among the most religious participants, this counterevidence lessened the belief in the conspiracy. Nonreligious participants, however, did not budge.

The study, published online Sept. 7 in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, is preliminary, Newheiser said. But the finding that people with death anxiety are more likely to believe in the Da Vinci conspiracy jibes with the theory that conspiracies, as wacky as they can be, provide a sense of comfort to adherents.

Which indicates, among others things, that contra the "wisdom" of the day, religious adherents are more open to logic, arguments, and facts than are non-religious folks. But many of us religious zealots already knew that. So why are people attracted to conspiracy theories? The (partial) answer is rather commonsensical, but also revealing:

Conspiracy theories "can alleviate people's sense of loss of control by giving them a reason that things happen," Newheiser said. "In this case, it's particularly interesting because it might help people who are nonreligious or non-Christian to understand the events related to early Christian history."

Religious people have their own understanding of those events, Newheiser said, which may be why they were more easily persuaded that the Da Vinci conspiracy was false.

And much of "their own understanding of those events", as Sandra Miesel and I explained in detail in The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code (Ignatius, 2004)., is based, again, in historical fact and logic. Yes, many Catholic scholars disagree about the details and meaning and such of this or that event, but they at least use what is known rather than what they wish had been the case. I've often said that one of the beautiful things about conspiracy theories is that the lack of evidence is almost always used as evidence. "Well, of course there's no evidence that Jesus was married!", exclaims Captain Conspiracy to his faithful band of merry-challenged followers, "Why? Because the Catholic Church got rid of the evidence!" Or, as Newheiser says, "There is past research showing that conspiracy beliefs don't really respond to counterevidence very well, because they're not based on logical arguments to begin with. Showing logical arguments against them doesn't change people's minds."

If nothing else, the attention being paid to Newheiser's study answers at least one question that Sandra and I put forth in the conclusion of our book, where we wrote that

The Da Vinci Code is a perfect post-modern myth, pulp fiction style. Occasionally clever and hip, it is never wise or insightful. Often cheesy, it is never artful. Seriously contrived, it is never believable or engaging. As Amy Welborn, another Da Vinci Code debunker, acidly notes, the characters are one-dimensional and the novel "is neither learned nor challenging – except to the reader’s patience. Moreover, it’s not really suspenseful, and the writing is shockingly banal, even for genre fiction. It’s a pretentious, bigoted, tendentious mess."

So what is The Da Vinci Code. Is it just a fad? A one hit wonder? A novelty novel? Will people remember it in ten years? Will it matter? Is it worth writing an entire book in response to it? We think it is necessary, especially considering the impact and influence the novel has had and continues to have. Our hope is that readers will not only consider the truth about specific topics and issues, but will agree that Truth does exist and needs to be respected. "Truth, once it is rightly apprehended", wrote Ronald Knox, "has a compelling power over men’s hearts; they must needs assert and defend what they know to be the truth, or they would lose their birthright as men."

Here is the Live Science article.
 
Here is the link to the article, which has these highlights:
 

► We examined predictors of belief in the Da Vinci Code conspiracy theory. ► Conspiracy beliefs were positively associated with death-related anxiety. ► This relationship was mediated by religious and New Age beliefs. ► Exposure to counterevidence reduced conspiracy beliefs for religious individuals. ► Conspiracy beliefs may help individuals attain a sense of meaning and security.

That last point seems intuitively true.

This could be really, really bad.

Perhaps,speculates Energy and Capital, the BP well has causes a weakening and fissuring of the surrounding geological strata, which will cause a mass release of oil outside of the BP well.

Geologists are pointing to other fissures and cracks that are appearing on the ocean floor around the damaged wellhead.


According to CNN:

The University of South Florida recently discovered a second oil plume in the northeastern Gulf. The first plume was found by Mississippi universities in early May.

And there have been other plumes discovered by submersibles...

Some geologists say that BP's arrogance has set off a series of events that may be irreversible. There are some that think that BP has drilled into an deep-core oil volcano that cannot be stopped, regardless of the horizontal drills the company claims will stop the oil plume in August.

And:

Obviously, the oil and gas pressure hasn't fallen off


In fact... it's increased.

The problem is that BP may not only have hit the mother of high-pressure wells, but there is also a vast amount of methane down there that could come exploding out like an underwater volcano.

I recently heard a recording of Richard Hoagland who was interviewed on Coast to Coast AM.

Mr. Hoagland has suggested that there are cracks in the ocean floor, and that pressure at the base of the wellhead is approximately 100,000 psi.

Furthermore, geologists believe there are another 4-5 cracks or fissions in the well. Upon using a GPS and Depth finder system, experts have discovered a large gas bubble, 15-20 miles across and tens of feet high, under the ocean floor.

These bubbles are common. Many believe they have caused the sinking of ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle.

That said, a bubble this large — if able to escape from under the ocean floor through a crack — would cause a gas explosion that Mr. Hoagland likens to Mt. St. Helens... only under water.

The BP well is 50 miles from Louisiana. Its release would send a toxic cloud over populated areas. The explosion would also sink any ships and oil structures in the vicinity and create a tsunami which would head toward Florida at 600 mph.

Now, many people have called Hoagland a fringe thinker and a conspiracy theorist. And they may be right... But that doesn't mean he isn't on to something.

Coast to Coast is "batshit nuts" and Hoagland is - as far as I know - always wrong, which is somewhat reassuring, but:

EPA finds high concentrations of gases in the area


The escape of other poison gases associated with an underground methane bubble (such as hydrogen sulfide, benzene, and methylene chloride) have been found.

Last Thursday, the EPA measured hydrogen sulfide at 1,000 parts per billion — well above the normal 5 to 10 ppb. Some benzene levels were measured near the Gulf of Mexico in the range of 3,000 – 4,000 ppb — up from the normal 0-4 ppb.

More speculation of doom

The Oil Drum, an industry sheet, recently ran an article about the sequence of events that tried to stop the oil spill.

The upshot of industry insiders was that after trying a number of ways to close off the leak, the well was compromised, creating other leaks due to the high pressure. BP then cut the well open and tried to capture the oil.

In other words: BP shifted from stopping the gusher to opening it up and catching what oil it could.

The only reason sane oil men would do this is if they wanted to relieve pressure at the leak hidden down below the seabed... And that sort of leak — known as a “down hole” leak — is one of the most dangerous kind.

No stopping it

It means that BP can't stop if from above; it can only relieve the pressure.

So, more oil is leaking out while BP hopes it can drill new wells before the current one completely erodes.

BP is in a race against time... It just won't admit this fact.

The author also notes the odd fact that BP agreed to cave in to Obama's financial demands in 20 minutes, unlike other companies that have fought tooth and nail for years and decades.

Let's hope this is all tinfoil hat stuff.

The Catholic Supreme Court

Six out of the nine Supreme Court justices are Catholic.

But does it matter?

Nonetheless, quake in fear, you fundamentalists, uber-Calvinists, Conspiracy Loons and legion of Dan Brown readers.

The Vatican is in control.

The Real Question is, "Is it a coincidence that she's from Northern California?

As Mark Shea observes, "A concerned citizen probes the sinister lawn sprinkler conspiracy and holds forth on the shocking changes which have take place in the laws of physics over the past 20 years."