1. Accelerator231

    Accelerator231 Contributor Contributor

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    I just thought of something about the Mulder character archetype

    Discussion in 'Entertainment' started by Accelerator231, Jan 26, 2020.

    Ok, let's face it. We all know of the Mulder and Scully dynamic. Where Mulder is the one that believes everything. From bigfoot, to aliens, to the pyramids, to voodoo. We all get a laugh at this, and in the end, he's proven either right or wrong.


    But here's the thing. What if there's something else that gets him to believe that. Something... else. Like, say, him being the father to a magical girl. Or, say, a hunter of vampires. Or anything else. Let's face it. If your daughter turns out to be magical, and is scouted out by a UN-esque interdimensional task force that uses magic, and can use teleportation and has a boy that can turn into a ferret.... well, what's so crazy about it?


    If your daughter can fly and teleport, what's so insane about bigfoot or the sasquatch or the hide-behind. Compared to your daughter, they're relatively fucking normal. If you know that magic-using, interdimensional aliens exist that can turn invisible and trump all terrestrial sensory equipment exist, why won't you believe in alien abductions or cow mutilations? If you know people who can shapeshift and turn into animals... well, your coworkers may call you crazy for calling birds government drones or trying to talk to cats, but are you sure that it isn't them using their tech to spy on you, or Linith/ Liese/ Arf/ Blair coming in their cat form to talk to you?


    Yeah, that corpse that's insanguinated may be the murder victim of a serial killer with a specific fetish. Or it may be a vampire; It's not that insane, you've killed a dozen of them. That girl that died after her boyfriend swore to put a curse on her? Yeah, he wasn't within 50 miles of her when it happened, but let's just check it out, shall we?


    One has to wonder how living in an urban fantasy setting, or a setting where the strange and absurd is actually real, would fuck with people's understanding of what's real and what isn't. Pizzaria that's a front for a child trafficking ring? Well, you've fought the illuminati and century-old cabals of wizards. That isn't so outrageous.....
     
  2. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    It would get your message across better without the vulgarities.

    As for the question, it would depend how many people know. If everyone knows, the extraordinary becomes mundane, and everyone accepts it.

    If only a few people know, and it's relatively hidden, the ones in the know will believe everything to various degrees, other will treat them as a joke, or simply mad. It's not unrealistic to believe in aliens but not magic, or vice versa.

    People who are inclined towards conspiracy theories tend to believe ALL conspiracy theories.
     
    Vaughan Quincey likes this.
  3. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    If I remember right it isn't that Mulder really believed in everything, it's that he didn't automatically take a skeptical approach like Scully did. So he has the attitude that an actual scientist should have, but Scully has the attitude many people have who consider themselves intelligent, including many scientists. Didn't he have a poster that said "I WANT to believe"? He just took an open-minded attitude and decided to actually test each hypothesis as if it could be possible, to honestly find out if it's true, rather than start with the close-minded attitude that we already know everything and whatever isn't already proven by science is to be scoffed at.

    This is Plato's Allegory of the Cave. He said imagine if a group of people were chained in a cave in such a way that their heads are fixed forward, and they see a shadow play on the wall before them but can't turn to look behind them. One of them breaks free and looks back, to see the actual figures moving across the mouth of the cave that are casting the shadows. What if that person now goes out into the real world and interacts with the things casting the shadows, learns about their true nature and how they function, and comes back to tell the others, excited about his new discoveries. He said the others would probably kill him.

    It was about being a philosopher, and how the mob will react when they're told something that doesn't fit their pre-determined paradigm. A mob is far less intelligent than an individual, and the individuals that make up a mob will all drop in intelligence to the level of the mob, even if they know it's wrong. Human behavior in a situation like this is just like that of dogs or other animals. Friendly dogs when in a pack will become just as vicious and aggressive as the pack itself, then when alone again they become their normal selves. It's a form of compartmentalization.

    What the mob of 'normal' people believes often becomes an overpowering conspiracy theory, and they'll break out the torches and pitchforks for anyone who dares suggest one of their sacred cows might be wrong.
     
    Naomasa298 likes this.

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