We all Need to Believe (in Something)

Luke Scott, a baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, believes that Barack Obama was not born in this country.  Whether he pursued this belief by joining a lawsuit to unseat the president is not clear.  But he made it clear, Obama is foreign-born and not good for this country in any case.

Another ballplayer, Milton Bradley, is as famous for his belief that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans as he is for his numerous tantrums and tirades on the field.  He's been on the disabled list for mental health issues lately, though.

Now, we may scoff (or cheer) at their beliefs but I know one thing - we all need to believe in something.  A former colleague of mine in the newspaper business used to harangue me in the press box that, "You need to stand for something.  Otherwise you'll fall for anything."  Now I tended to disregard his advice because, frankly, my colleague was a certifiable loon who was later arrested for stalking an ex-girlfriend while dressed in women's clothing (and heels).  I'm not sure he was convicted, but I'm still certain he's crazy.

But nowadays, I tend to side with the loony tunes.  Recently, I was reading an article about the efficacy of psychotropic drugs (you know, Prozac and the ilk) for treating depression and there seemed to be two basic conclusions that rest in tension with one another:  1) that most drugs have no measurable effect on depression and feelings of mental well-being but 2) the belief that the drugs are working to lessen the depression (i.e. the placebo effect) is the strongest indication that the symptoms will be relieved.

So let me get this straight.  If I merely believe the pills work, they will work?  How about all the people who read the study and realize all the money poured into psychiatric pharmaceuticals is wasted?  They are completely shit out of luck now, aren't they?  How about this disclaimer for Prozac -- "actual knowledge of this drug's ineffectiveness may be hazardous to your mental health."

Because let's face it, knowledge is power and power is dangerous.  It can eviscerate beliefs -- Prozac makes me unsuicidal, Kevin Cooper is innocent, early humans walked with the dinosaurs (don't kill me, Milton) -- puncture sacred cows (we're not talking about you, Oprah) and basically make other people look stupid.  Now who wants to do that?

Believing in something means, I think, believing in other people, being part of a community.  I, for example, believe my children will grow up to be productive members of society and that belief is far important than I actually know about them (like the fact that my son leaves his pen in his pants and it soils the rest of the laundry).

So I guess here I am, living in the land of Hope, kind of like Bill Clinton, the man from Hope, Ark., who sought to blot out the pain of his alcoholic father but sticking his member in every skank and gopher hole he could find.  "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow," the refrain of the Fleetwood Mac song played over and over at his inauguration.   I'm not sure that's what BC was thinking about.

So let's think those PG thoughts, stay off the Prozac and stop mixing our mammalian epochs with our reptilian ones.  And hopefully tomorrow, the Mayan apocalypse will be staved off for another day and we will still be here.