The Unbeliever Believer

Today's random thought is prompted by passing through the living room and seeing a discovery channel program on the Loch Ness Monster and how basically you'll see whatever you want to see; if you believe in the monster, you'll see it even if what you're really seeing is a block of wood. The brief part I saw showed a bunch of tourists on a bus and the tour guide at the front asks how many people believe in the Loch Ness Monster. About 7 people raised their hands (8 if you count me raising my hand in the living room but that is a separate issue).

And that got me thinking about tour guides in general -- I think there must be a standard policy about tour guides and what I'll lump as "supernatural things". Because I saw this clip and I thought, I'd like to ask (and I'll bet somebody probably did) whether the tour guide himself believed in the monster. And then it struck me that I didn't need to ask because I knew what the response would be.

Pause for a moment, think to yourself what you think the answer would be, and then tell me if it meshes with what I'm about to say.



Along the lines of,
"Well, I don't know whether I believe or not. I've seen/heard some strange thigns I can't explain, though [may at this point regale you with said story]. I try to keep an open mind."

I was trying to think because it seems really odd that when I think about it pretty much any time I've gone on a tour of something like that it seems like that's ALWAYS the answer, or something really similar to it anyway. I think it's a standard pat answer so you can play both sides of the believe/disbelieve fence and not subtly antagonise anyone in your tour group who may have the other view. If I went to scotland and my tour guide was all "there is no loch ness monster it's a load of crap", or to roswell and got "it was a weather balloon, people, no matter what a bunch of crazies will tell you" or whatnot, I'd be turned off of the guide personally. Because I'd feel like he'd just quashed me without reason (because you can't really prove these things one way or the other, IMO). And if I didn't believe in a roswell UFO crash I would be highly annoyed if some lunatic tour guide kept talking about a government conspiracy.

So this way they keep everyone on the tour group nice and mellow.

Which raises into question what the tour guide *actually* believes. I'd ask one, if they didn't already have a pat response for it.