Viraldice: Baltimore Police Officers Caught Planting Guns on Unarmed Victims They Shot

emember when allegations first came out about Harvey Weinstein? No, not last October when the New York Times ran its article – years before – when the Hollywood whisper network was in full effect.

"So and so producer rapes girls," the whispers went. "So and so producer uses spies to stalk people."

 

No one believed them. In fact, if I’d heard those whispers then, I wouldn’t have believed them either. Who could believe that a person – any person (outside of some crazy foreign dictator) – could actually use Israeli Mossad agents to stalk and harass people.

Then the Weinstein allegations hit the New York Times, and with it the revelation that yes, Weinstein had used multiple spy companies with such ominous (and stereotypical) names as Kroll and black Cube to not only spy on his victims but also to gaslight them using false aliases.

This revelation was beyond shocking. So shocking, we couldn’t believe it until there was proof. Weinstein had remained above suspicion for years by playing on one of the basest of human instincts – skepticism.

It’s human nature to be skeptical. Skepticism is one of those basic things that keeps us alive. If it’s too good to be true, it is. Conversely, if it’s too unbelievable to be true, it is. This is basic human programming.

 

Another thing we depend on is authority figures. They help us parse through our skeptical instincts to discern what’s real and what’s not.

For the most part, this serves us well. When it goes horribly wrong, however, it really goes sideways, as in the case of the Baltimore police department.