Users of
Internet Explorer 6.x
or before should be aware
that this site works best in
Firefox (best choice) or
Internet Explorer 7.x.
Some helpful links:
 |
| IE 7 at Microsoft |
Disclaimers
Site
Is it journalism? Is it docu-drama? Is it archeo-porn? Is it a window into a 5GW operation? This last Sunday evening, without the distraction of NFL football and not being a fan of Desperate Housewives, my television landed on the Discovery channel and The Lost Tomb of Jesus. The program was promoted as a James Cameron (Executive Producer) documentary and was followed by an hour-long discussion hosted by Ted Koppel including the film’s Director and Writer Simcha Jacobovici and several archeological and theological experts.
In a nutshell, the program is about a tomb that was discovered in Jerusalem in 1980 during a construction project. Inside the tomb were several ossuaries, or boxes where the bones of a person are kept. The mystery begins when several of the boxes are discovered to be inscribed with what are possibly the names of the persons whose bones are inside them. These names, when taken together and with a bit (some would certainly argue more than a bit) of massaging, suggest that this tomb belonged to the family of the biblical Jesus and contained not only his remains but those of his mother Mary, two of his brothers (who were disciples), possibly Mary Magdalene and perhaps the remains of his son. The claims are backed up by the suggestion of science and the statistical probability of this combination of names being found in any other tomb in Jerusalem.
It seems that I look at the world now with 5GW glasses. I can’t read a spy novel or listen to a newscast without a little thought in the back of my head prodding me to consider how something would work as a part of, or engineered by, a 5GW campaign. For this particular program that little, persistent thought was armed with an air-horn, and waving a banner while leading the official 5GW marching band. It wasn’t the subject matter; though finding remains of a person who could have been the biblical Jesus in sufficient quantity to conduct DNA testing certainly is provocative, but rather the positioning of the evidence that caused a blip to appear on my 5GW radar.
It has long been one of my, admittedly cynical, beliefs that people have an amazing ability to justify almost any action or idea to themselves. Especially when they have previously acted in that manner or held that particular thought or opinion. A student can find a way to justify putting off homework for just one more television show. Somebody with an almost maxed-out credit card (and more debt besides that) can find a reason to buy one more piece of clothing and pay for it with the plastic. A thief can decide that stealing really is the best way to get something they want. It is what gives racists the confidence in their bigoted beliefs. We have all done it. I am guilty of it myself. It comes from selfishness and from mental laziness, and it is, as I see it, the currency, or the leverage if you prefer, of a 5GW organization. This consideration has long been one of my central ideas when considering how a 5GW organization would attempt to manipulate actors in systems and this is what jumped out at me while watching The Lost Tomb of Jesus.
Evidence and Pattern, Deception and Salesmanship:
I don’t think the filmmaker was attempting to deceive the viewer but rather to make the best, and most persuasive, case possible for this to be the family tomb that was the final resting place for the body of the biblical Jesus. Framing this as a documentary, complete with scientific testing of evidence and expert opinion may make for accusations of intellectual dishonesty, but in all reality the worst that can be said of the validity of the evidence and its testing, is that what was done was done more to make a theory more plausible (and therefore better television) than to show how tenuous the connections, and therefore the pattern they represent, may really be. That’s salesmanship. A salesman may frame a fact in such a way as to encourage a favorable reaction, and that may in a way be deception, but ultimately the buyer will make the decision to buy or not. With the docu-drama/documentary, or a salesman in general, the viewer/buyer is usually very much aware they are being targeted.
In a 5GW campaign everything turns around. The 5GW organization may take evidence, true or not, and place it in a pattern, real or imagined, that leads the actors being targeted to create a meme based on their own pre-conceived ideas, trusting (in fact counting on) their target’s ability to justify almost anything to themselves. If the 5GW organization is smart, the pattern itself is tailored specifically to take advantage of the target’s existing biases. In this way the deception is not really in the positioning of the 5GW organization, but in the selfish and lazy self-deception of the targeted actors.
Posted by Arherring on Mar 5, 2007 05:23 PM
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: The Lost Tomb of Jesus.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://dreaming5gw.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/77.
8 Comments
Maybe I’m just jaded, but I really am beginning to think that docu-archeo-porn flick was all about riding the cash wave created by the Da Vinci Code.
But just incase it isn’t I wrote a comprehensive and scholarly rebuttal of the film’s evidence please visit ExtremeTheology.com.
Hmm. Some questions: Could the rhetoric leading up to the Iraq invasion could be viewed as 5GW? What about (not in anyway to relate the two) Hitlers Mien Kampf and the succession of the Third Reich? Where does propaganda end and 5GW begin? Or are they reciprocal elements of each other?
Chris Rosebrough,
Thank You for bringing more information to the discussion. As for cashing in on the DaVinci Code, aside from literally cashing-in, a case could be made that The Lost Tomb of Jesus, The DaVinci Code, the re-discovery of the Gnostic Gospels and other events/items that can be used to possibly debunk the divinity of Jesus Christ or cast doubt upon the story of the Bible as maintained by the Church could be considered analogous to an iterative 5GW camapign as discussed elsewhere on this blog. Each does seem to capitalize on the ideas (memes) created and propogated by its predecessor.
Subadei,
It is too easy to say that propaganda is merely a component of 5GW. I think 5GW encompasses a larger scope than propaganda but propaganda campaigns do offer lessons for 5GW campaigns. I think the main difference between the two is that propaganda seeks to confuse and misdirect thought while 5GW seems more likely to guide and re-contextualize thought.
Thanks for clarifying. The division is much clearer in that context.
“The 5GW organization may take evidence, true or not, and place it in a pattern, real or imagined, that leads the actors being targeted to create a meme based on their own pre-conceived ideas, trusting (in fact counting on) their target’s ability to justify almost anything to themselves. If the 5GW organization is smart, the pattern itself is tailored specifically to take advantage of the target’s existing biases. In this way the deception is not really in the positioning of the 5GW organization, but in the selfish and lazy self-deception of the targeted actors.”
I would liken this process as similar to an advertising or PR campaign: play to the biases and desires of the target to convince them at a decision is truly in their best interests—one that we have chosen. Subliminal messaging, perhaps?
People have been fighting over the nature of Jesus for many centuries now. I think that, more amazing than the fact that these instances are occurring which seem to focus upon the utter humanity of Jesus, is this fact: That those who would do so nonetheless seem rather focused on the subject.
You see, that is not entirely 5GW, in itself, because what it does is reinforce the dedication of adherents on either side, or both sides, of the debate, if the debate is theism vs atheism. If it is not that, but merely a debate about the nature of Jesus, then it supports, directly or indirectly, the very notion that he is someone with whom we must come to grips. It idolizes him, even if some want a human idol and others want a divine idol.
When I first read this post, I was in the midst of trying to fix bugs in this site’s setup, so I didn’t have much time to focus in on Arherring’s comment directed at Chris Rosebrough, although I wanted to reply. It’s a very good analysis, although I wonder if we should go further back in time to find the inauguration of the iterative loop. Dan over at tdaxp has been conflating historical practices of Christianity with 4GW, not 5GW — most recently in a peculiar comment, made peculiar by his mention of a characteristic of a “Christan 4GW attack” while linking a post concerning 5GW! — but I’m prone to view the development of historical Christianity through the lens of 5GW while admitting that any 5GW campaign lasting centuries may also employ 4GW tactics (and other-generational tactics) as well. There has been a ‘Christ-program’ iterating for some time, now; or perhaps we should say, several programs, not all the same; i.e., however manifested, all efforts have gone to maintain peculiar consiliencies — not all of them successful operations. So..
I wonder, Arherring, exactly how you would separate these two? I.e., just thinking aloud at this moment, wouldn’t attempts to re-contextualize actually have a high probability for confusing those who are over-familiar with, or quite entrenched in, some already-existing ‘contextuality’ (environment)? If so, how would we know the difference, when whatever’s happening is happening?
I think you’ll be interested in this. Iran’s culture ministry is essentially claiming that “300” is a form of psychological warfare.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=2277§ionid=351020101%3C/p%3E
Of course, we all know this claim is BS—“300” is a comic book adaptation. The government has nothing to do with it.
But let’s have a thought experiment here. Assuming, in (a parallel universe maybe) that Iran’s claims were correct, would such an effort fall under 4GW or 5GW?
I too find that when I watch documentaries or read non-fiction, I keep wondering (only a little bit) am I being manipulated by a 5GW. If so how would I tell?
Usually my brain snaps back and reminds me to not be paranoid or a conspiracy-monger.
I most likely would be clueless if I was in the wake of a 5GW. I would most likely not believe it if somebody told me. I would think they were nut.
That is why 5GW is going to happen. Because it can. Because we are programmed to not believe, and to view those who do believe as nutjobs.