In the light of the sum total of all evidence, the above is inconsistent with reason, logic and common sense, inviting the ridicule of the rational individual. Such ideation, undoubtedly less conspicuous in pre-scientific cultures, is starkly profiled in the modern world. The U.S., for example, has long been duly acclaimed as a world leader in theoretical science and its practical application in technology - yet, though certainly not alone in spawning conspiracy theorists, it's ironic that so many its citizens seem to live in a kind of twilight zone where large swathes of reality are ignored and rejected in the process of sustaining false beliefs.


"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Wheeler