“It didn’t happen” as a theory

Refusal to see what seems impossible to ignore is not restricted to politics: Danger on the seas as walls of water sink tankers. Apparently, enormous freak waves that can shatter any ship afloat are fairly common occurences at sea. Nonetheless, experts and authorities have shrugged off reports of the waves in spite of the physical evidence of smashed ships and oil rigs and the testimony of thousands of survivors. Somewhere here there ought to be a lesson in why accepted views of something can be so messed up, and maybe even hints how to turn them around.
Posted by Jim Kalb at November 13, 2002 06:32 AM | Send