“Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true, but many other things are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.”
-Thomas Sowell
The impossible is often only impossible because we believe it to be. Without actual evidence false truths bore their way into our minds simply because they are accepted and repeated. Ideas like man never being able to fly with the birds, marijuana being dangerous and illegal, regulatory agencies like the one formerly known as the MRA being set in stone, and sea monsters not existing.
Yes, sea monsters. Those legendary creatures that have been spotted for thousands of years, all over the globe. Unusually large cephalopods, thought to be extinct prehistoric marine life, and other such entities that have been filed under the topic of ‘cryptozoology’ and associated with sleep deprived ship captains, tourist traps, and childish imagination.
The easy (and therefore more commonly accepted and repeated) train of thought is to dismiss belief in the possibility of their existence as foolish. To embrace the hubris of mankind, seize the intellectual high ground, and assume that if these creatures were out there swimming around we would have found proof by now. After all, thousands of ships criss-cross our oceans every day, modern technology brings us wonder after wonder, and the internet makes it seem as if the entire natural world is under the watchful eye of science. When the mind is closed to a concept any arguments against that idea make perfect sense no matter how speculative.
But when the mind opens up and places sea monsters into the realm of possible, honest analysis takes place free from the thoughtless art of knee jerk dismissal, and their existence seems, based on the same type of speculative evidence, to be much more possible than impossible.
Numbers vary, depending on the source, but only about 5-20% of our oceans have been explored. Just the surface is an area of well over 300 million square miles. Estimates place the combined total volume of the water that covers over 70% of our planet at about 49 quintillion cubic feet. The average depth is around 2.3 miles, with a maximum depth of nearly seven miles.
Setting aside how woefully ignorant we are of the vast majority of what is going on underwater at any given moment, consider what we do know. Large marine animals do not make homes to sleep in or raise their young. Do we expect to find sea monster nests? Beings who exist in water tend to swim, never touching any ground. Are we going to find sea monster tracks? Marine animals also tend to have highly adapted senses designed to pick up on subtle vibrations (do not tap on glass), smell things like blood from miles away, and even detect invisible electromagnetic fields. Do we expect to catch a sea monster unaware in a vibrating smelly motor boat covered in gadgets like radar that work by sending pulses of electromagnetic fields?
Even the idea of increased sea traffic, and therefore more eyes on the water that should have seen something, is not all that sound. No longer at the mercy of the wind, ships now follow strict lanes as they move from port to port guided by Global Positioning Systems. While more eyes may be on the water, those eyes traverse the same routes repeatedly. Noisy oil leaking ships on high traffic highways probably stand less of a chance of encountering a sea monster than silent ships of sail that were forced into varying routes by the winds.
As far as science having life under the sea categorized and understood lock stock and barrel, nothing could be further from the truth. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “About 226,000 marine species have been identified and described so far. These are but a small portion of the total: researchers estimate that the ocean may be home to 700,000 marine species, and likely not more than a million,” and “More marine species have been discovered in the past decade than ever before with an average of 2,000 discoveries per year.” Our best guesses even admit that we know of the existence of less than half of the living things in the oceans. As recently as January 2021, marine biologists announced the discovery of a brand new 41.5 foot long (on average) whale in the Gulf of Mexico. Rice’s whale may have as few as 50 total specimens on the entire planet.
A simple shift in perspective opens the door to ideas which in turn leads to questions and research that then create possibilities.
Before man figured out how to fly, a couple of crackpots from Ohio had to determine once and for all in their own heads that it was even possible. Only then did serious inquiry occur, which led to the idea seeming quite possible, which led to making it happen, which turned into a multi-billion dollar industry that sends thousands of people soaring through the skies each day.
Similarly, prior to profiteers openly making millions of dollars selling pot while trying to muscle everyone else out, some grass roots cannabis activists had to believe their beloved plant could even be legal. Despite the easy to accept and repeated train of thought that it was dangerous and should never see the light of day. Open minds led to thinking about the ‘how’, rather than dismissing it as never going to happen.
Our next impossibility is the abolition (or at the very least the keeping in check) of the power
hungry government body that spreads misinformation and rules over cannabis with an iron fist, the entire plant encompassing Cannabis Regulatory Agency. An idea that is immediately shot down and considered not possible by those who just lived through legalization. Less than ten years after tearing down barriers, changing public opinion, bringing an illegal drug into the light of day, and making millions off it.
hungry government body that spreads misinformation and rules over cannabis with an iron fist, the entire plant encompassing Cannabis Regulatory Agency. An idea that is immediately shot down and considered not possible by those who just lived through legalization. Less than ten years after tearing down barriers, changing public opinion, bringing an illegal drug into the light of day, and making millions off it.
But is it really impossible? Perhaps all we need is an open mind.
