William Isaac Thomas

William Isaac Thomas

I have decided to write about William Isaac Thomas because I completely agree that "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences". Simply put, if I believe in something, even if that something is a lie, the consequences in believing are very real. Throughout our history we have had so many examples of this that it could be ironic to call W.I. Thomas a prophet (Vissing, 2011).

Another good saying, I think that would align with W.I. Thomas's quote is one of my own. The person is smart, the people are stupid. Do you remember back in 1999 when everyone was so worried about the millennium virus that was going to knock out all of the government's computers because all of the programmed clocks only went to Dec 31st, 1999? People all over the United States started stock piling food, medical supplies and common household items because somebody decided to make something that was a complete lie somebody else's reality. Even though the millennium bug never actually devastated anything, the reality of the situation was that the consequences of the belief created a real Pandora's Box for many people.

It literally takes nothing at all to get the people in a panic. Back in 1973 the rumor of an expected shortage of oil caused the "toilet paper panic" which caused smart people to act completely stupid and stockpile supplies of toilet paper. The consequences of a belief have more substance than the actual belief that created the cause and effect of the situation. If a person would take the time to actually look back on our history they would find thousands of historical events that are remembered not for the belief itself, but for the consequences that belief spawned (Merton, 2010).

Religion is my first example of dire consequences because someone defined the situation itself as real. Thousands of people have died, been murdered and been martyrs over the past few thousand years because a belief, rumor or lie was defined as real. Had these people who so willingly absorbed these situations as real known that the real consequences of their beliefs would cause genocide in some cases, I seriously doubt we have so many different religions. I do not doubt faith; please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say. What I am saying is, in those situations in which an angel was seen, or a demon spawned from hell itself, if the person who was not actually killed for this belief had known that thousands of others would die because of the consequences, would they have still ventured forth and created such a real situation from a mere thought (Merton, 2010).

My next example is murder itself. In November of 1978, the world was shocked by the suicide deaths of 913 members of the People's Temple cult. Jim Jones, the proclaimed leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown, Guyana, a remote community that Jones carved out of the South American jungle and named after himself. Because of one man and his beliefs, 933 people suffered the real consequences of death. I can understand a person or a people dying for inalienable rights such as freedom, but to die, or give up your life because of belief that has absolutely no substance to its foundation is absurd.

These are not isolated incidents relating in just one period of time either. As far back as we can document, humans have proven that as a people we are stupid, as a person we are smart. Even going back as far as the Old Testament in the Bible, the story of Nimrod and the people he convinced to build him a tower to reach the Heavens so that he could shoot God and take over as supreme ruler. According to the Bible, when God saw the multitude of people gathering together like this, he split them up, created new languages for these people and spread them across the planet. Again, because of an idea, people suffered the real consequences of the aftermath (Merton, 2010).

But it's not at all confusing. Most people need someone to lead them, give them hope and inspiration. I am not one of these people so although I understand what they need I do not understand why they need it. But because most people need someone to lead them they end up falling victim to the