So, after being sidetracked somewhat into the definition of fascism, let us return to your original question on the nature of anomalism. I'm not going to bother with a detailed definition of the term, we've all had plenty of experience with it here on the Zone, as well as in society as a whole. As your article suggests, it seems to arise because folks feel a sense of helplessness and threat, and they gravitate to some external factor or driving cause that explains everything according to some simple, strightforward formula. Anomalists don't just believe in UFOs, they believe the government is covering up what it knows about UFOs. The element of of conspiracy seems to be key to the anomalist mindset. I can tolerate a lot of crazy speculation, but the minute people start talking cover-up, government plots, secret societies, or the rest of the paraphernalia of anomalism, I immediately put up my bullshit filters. From their point of view, inside their heads, they can't see their own eyes glaze over into a rapt stare the minute they start explaining to you what "THEY don't want you to know." For the anomalist, shit never just happens. There is always a reason, and its usually a sinister one.

This is not to say there aren't genuine conspiracies and coverups, there certainly are. Governments, businesses and oher collective entities certainly work in secret, promoting agendas and methods that they may prefer others not find out. In some cases, it may not even be particularly sinister. In our society, we expect to have privacy and discretion in our affairs, both collective and individual. But there is something off-putting about the breathless air of "I know something you don't", which is followed by a "they're doing everything they can to cover it up" which eventually morphs seamlessly into a "how can you not see this, it's plain as day". Eventually it ends up with "You are just afraid to admit it to yourself". When this happens in science you can fight it with research, observation, experimentation, scholarship. When it happens in other fields, like politics or economics or religion, you cannot use reason or logic to combat it. These people already know the truth, and they know you're trying to obscure it. You can't get very far against that attitude.

This is why our discussions of anomalism led me in my post above to a discussion of Narcissism, Paranoia, and fascism. The fascist is a political anomalist, not necessarily because what he believes is wrong, but because he dismisses all criticism of his beliefs as the actions of an organized cabal determined to hide the truth so it can take over the world (cue diabolical laughter).. Anomalists, OTOH, are not necessarily fascists, I suppose people can believe in Bigfoot without believing primate anthropology is engaged in a campaign to Hide The Truth. Still, even though the anomalist is not always certifiably paranoid, they inevitably drop some variation of Hamlet's Horatio speech into their conversation. ("There are more things in heaven and earth..."). The anomalist instinctively, if perhaps unwittingly, is anti-science, and that arises from a general feeling of anti-intellectualism. Science is smart guys talking big talk. They're elitist, know-it-alls, smarty pants, wise-asses, they "have no common sense". You know the talk. Its the plea of the liberal arts major who dropped out of engineering because he couldn't hack the math.

The sad truth is that many of the issues anomalists argue so fervently, political and economic theory, religion, psychological and sociological questions, morals, philosophy, literary criticism, and even history, cannot be settled by research. These are often questions that have no yes or no answers, some aren't even valid questions. And remember, there is no sure way to prove there is no Bigfoot. You can only prove there is one.

A historian can determine exactly when the Civil War was fought, how many died in it, where the battles occurred, who were the generals and even some of the privates. But no historian can tell you why the Civil War was fought. We are still debating that one, and every generation of scholars comes up with new ideas, all of them reasonable, none of them conclusive. Even the people who fought the war may have had different reasons why they fought, depending on where they came from and which side they were on. Some kinds of questions need to be asked, but they don't necessarily have any answers.

Still, as the article points out, people derive a bit of security from knowing why things REALLY happen, and by exposing the hidden puppet masters that pull our strings and dupe our simpleton friends. And folks whose lives are in turmoil and futures in doubt are more vulnerable to these pursuits, and more likely to bet their lives and sanity on them. It gives them some comfort to believe they are fighting the good fight.