Nope, this is not a post about birds.
This is a post about those wonderful and wondrous people you might find a photo of next to the entry for "Crackpot" or "Dingbat Nutter" in the dictionary.
Of course, not everybody thinks that's true, and a venue like Hive is perhaps home to an above-average concentration of Loons due to the allure of a publishing venue where their content can't be hidden or erased by the Thought Police of a Facebook or YouTube.
The Nature of Loons
I have always found Loons absolutely fascinating on account of of their uncanny ability to latch onto a small snippet of actual facts, then pull those facts completely out of context and finally fabricate an entire reality around the result.
Sometimes they manage to create an entire Universe, complete with their own wiki.
I see my fair share of Loons in their natural habitat because Mrs. Denmarkguy works in the somewhat "New-agey" end of the mental health and wellness industry, which is a popular place for them to roam.
Mrs. Denmarkguy herself could easily become a loon, but she differs from Loons because she's highly cognizant of why she almost "seems psychic" — it's actually her training as a Jungian analyst, a degree in psychology, working in the field of adolescent criminal psychology, being a mentalist and profiler with federal law enforcement, years as a priest/minister along with a combination of extremely high emotional intelligence and extraordinary intuition.
However, she chooses not to don a cape and turban and stare at a crystal ball in a dimply lit tent, even though what she does would put most carnival psychics to shame.
Where the Wild Loon Roams
The New Age and Metaphysics industry is not the only place Loons roam. You can find them in politics, in the sciences, in the medical professions and various other places.
One of the places we regularly see them is at the UFO/Paranormal Conferences we sometimes go to as "vendors."
Most people there are just interested in discussing the possibility of extraterrestrial life and whether UFOs have really been sighted... and then there are the Loons.
I've even come across them in as staid and boring a field as old postage stamps for collectors where the occasional loon will show up and claim that an "obscure" law grants every one in the land the "right" to send letters for 2 cents.
A Growing Species!
I suppose I have noticed an upsurge in loon sightings in recent years, perhaps most prevalent since about the time the phrase "Alternative Facts" became a cultural phenomenon, but with its roots in the advent of self-publishing online.
I have often been taken to task for not taking a huge variety of wingnut theories seriously, and most often I get accused of being "one of THEM" and labeled as "not very open minded" by people who are completely incapable and unwilling to even consider that their offbeat perceptions might not be what's actually unfolding in front of their very eyes.
This post has grown out of some musings I penned in my paper journal this morning, as I was trying to (a) parse the particular claims of a person who evidently declared herself running for US President back in March and now purports to be the "true" President, (b) look her up on one of my favorite web sites, The Encyclopedia of American Loons and (c) trying to find some kind of common threads as to what makes someone go on one of these strange escapades into alternative worlds evidently only they (along with a handful of cultish supporters) are able to perceive.
Reality Without Facts
Now, when I walk outside on a rainy day, I get wet. If I ask 100 people around me what happens when you walk out into the rain (without an umbrella) they are likely to say that you get wet.
So when I am confronted with someone who claims that what actually is happening is that a specific frequency emitted by nanotransmitters distributed by Microsoft via chemtrails are scrambling my nervous system and neurons to where I just think I am getting wet... I tend to ask for some proof and evidence.
That can go OK for a little bit, but when I am unwilling to agree that a rambling 400-page website and the same 50 rabid supporters constitute "conclusive proof," the next step becomes that I am the one at fault.
The Fastest Gun in the West
In certain types of debate, typically in writing but sometimes verbally, the "Fastest Gun in the West" gambit is one of those argument techniques that has no effective counterpoint.
"Since you can't prove that God DOESN'T exist, it proves that God DOES exist!" is a classic example.
No, it doesn't. The only thing proven is that we can't prove anything with currently available information.
I call it "The Fastest Gun in the West" after the 1800's traveling circus/carnival trick in which a cowboy was SO FAST on the draw that you couldn't actually SEE him pull and holster the gun. It was impossible to disprove, because there were no 1000-frames-per-second movie cameras in the 1880's.
The Black and White World
One of the things I have observed about most Loons is that they inhabit a black-and-white world in which there is only "what THEY believe" (true) and "everything else" (false).
A bit like religious cultists, "possibilities" do not exist in their world. But even though they may have absolute conviction that they (for example) can "walk on water" nobody's ever actually seen them walk on water. And yet... walking on water is "the absolute truth."
But there are always perfectly good reasons for that, right down to "having eaten the wrong thing for breakfast."
Loons and Selfishness...?
If there are any common threads among Loons, I'd have to submit that they would include an almost pathological need to be "special" combined with a strange kind of selfishness/self-absorption in which the only thing relevant in their lives is their perception... no matter how or whom that perception and those actions might harm or impact negatively those around them or their environment.
And perhaps that's where I take issue with "Loony" theories and movements. It's one thing that you sit in your basement and receive "transmissions from the aliens who sit underneath the Pentagon and plot to take over the world" and stay there... quite another when you start insisting that that perception will now be imposed as external reality on everyone else.
Particularly without a shred of 3rd party verified evidence.
Of course, "evidence" is like quicksilver when you are talking to a Loon; it morphs and changes as the need and situation dictates.
Most Loons are Pretty Harmless!
Of course, most Loons are actually pretty harmless. The most harm they do is liberate a few gullible and suggestible people of the money they donate to their "causes."
But some go a little bit further... and leave us all scratching our heads. Or most of us, anyway!
The real danger occurs when someone who seems reasonably sane and rational reaches a position of power and influence, and then turns out to be a Loon... and due to their position and influence can cause considerable mental, emotional and physical harm to a large number of people.
I'll let you fill in your own blanks there. Hint: Just look to history!
And with that, I'm going to sign off for today and say thanks for reading. Do keep in mind that this post is both satire and reality at the same time. All I can suggest is to exercise due diligence when you encounter a Loon, no matter how charming or personable they might seem!
Have a great remainder of your weekend!
How about YOU? Come across any interesting Loons along your way through life? Did you feel intrigued? Or repelled? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20210102 22:58 PST
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