From Inspector Gadget to the Armada: the pattern that doesn't exist

From Inspector Gadget to the Armada: the pattern that doesn't exist

There is a very fine line between intellectual play and conspiracy theory. In a recent conversation, someone claimed to be able to connect the dots between Inspector Gadget, the writer Clarice Lispector and the Spanish Armada. The only common thread: having watched the detective series as a child.

The method of connecting the dots

The method recalls that of someone who builds mysteries where there are only names. Anne Bancroft, Hugh Walpole, Peter Bogdanovich, Italo Calvino, Orson Welles, H.G. Wells and Christopher Priest are cited as pieces on the same board. Nothing is proven, only suggested. The only thing they share is being references of Western culture, which amounts to saying that everything is connected to everything.

This way of reasoning has a name: apophenia. The human brain looks for patterns even where there are none. When you also mix authors from different centuries and fictional characters, the result is a tangle impossible to unravel. And yet, it appeals to those who feel part of an elite capable of seeing beyond.

The problem comes when this logic is applied to politics or history. If someone links the Spanish Armada to a TV series, it may just be a pastime. But the same mental scheme applied to vaccines, elections or finance produces real consequences.

Perhaps the wisest thing is to remember that the Spanish Armada was sunk by bad weather and logistical errors, not by a hidden plan of the cultural secret services. Sometimes, things are not connected. And accepting it doesn't make us less intelligent; it makes us more honest.