51–60 of 125 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
btw the password to their secret ceremonies is 'fidelio'
That is the reference password, yes. What is the secret password?
Isn't the whole idea behind a secret society that the general public doesn't know about it? I thought that's what secret meant.
One of the most fundamental characteristics of evil is that the evil person cannot help but desire to gain fame for their crimes. (Just look up how many criminals have been arrested by their social media posts.) A Secret Society might be completely secretive, and yet be unable to resist helping themselves to claiming some credit. Kind of like the Anonymous hacker group in their day. Or Ross Ulbricht adopting the name…
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks of himself as evil. Everyone is the hero of his own story.
Take “the dread pirate roberts” you know it’s a reference to The Princess Bride right? The hero of The Princess Bride?
Now Ross ram a high drug site on the dark web. Was Ross evil? He certainly didn’t think so. He philosophically disagreed with drug laws. The Silk Road didn’t trade in things Ross thought were evil (I seem to recall from the write up in wires that he banned human trafficking etc). He simply thought everyone should have the right to choose for themselves. I bet he thought he was providing a service.
Was he evil? Not in his own mind. Did he seek fame with his name? Err, no? He was choosing a handle to specifically mask his name (he always planned to play the “it was the other dread pirate roberts the whole time” card)
I don’t think you can point to a single person who thinks of themselves as evil. (Even psychopaths don’t think of themselves as evil, they just don’t think other people are worthy of consideration. —I seem to recall that hitler was a vegetarian. If you asked him he’d say he was a hero of his people.)
And as for criminals seeking fame… probably no more or less than any human seeks fame. Or maybe to say it another way, everyone probably seeks recognition of skill.
'The Power of Ritual in Prehistory: Secret Societies and Origins of Social Complexity' by Brian Hayden is a super interesting read on the origin of secret societies. Apparently there has always been a dynamic in communities that whenever there is a production surplus (according to the author happens in 'transegalitarian societies'), there tends to be a very small number of individuals that feel entitled to the surplu…
Last month, I had that moment every parent¹ dreams of. My daughter asked me, “what’s ‘the Illuminati’?” It was fun explaining the whole concept of secret societies and conspiracy theories in terms that would be intelligible to an 8-year-old. My kids (her brother is her twin) had a hard idea with the whole concept of secretly coercing somebody to do something that’s not in their interests.
Isn't the whole idea behind a secret society that the general public doesn't know about it? I thought that's what secret meant.
Believe it or not, a "secret" society refers to the secrets they hold , not that the society itself is secret. The Masons are public about their existence (if quiet) but their inner "rites and rituals" are secret.
Secret societies have an air of mystique around them, but often they're just social clubs with extra steps. People are social creatures, and having something to belong to is healthy for most!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Believe it or not, a "secret" society refers to the secrets they hold , not that the society itself is secret. The Masons are public about their existence (if quiet) but their inner "rites and rituals" are secret.
IIRC Freemasons describe themselves as a society with secrets, rather than a secret society.
Secret societies have an air of mystique around them, but often they're just social clubs with extra steps. People are social creatures, and having something to belong to is healthy for most!
Those are the fake secret societies the real ones make in order to make you think they’re all just glorified social clubs. /s
Last month, I had that moment every parent¹ dreams of. My daughter asked me, “what’s ‘the Illuminati’?” It was fun explaining the whole concept of secret societies and conspiracy theories in terms that would be intelligible to an 8-year-old. My kids (her brother is her twin) had a hard idea with the whole concept of secretly coercing somebody to do something that’s not in their interests.
Wait till they find out about the parental concept of secretly coercing somebody to do something that is in their interests!