So you think Bigfoot is nothing more than a made up creature? Maybe you’re right. But keep in mind that no deities offer any proof of their existence either, yet billions of people swear that He/it/they exist. You simply can’t prove a negative.
Okay, to be fair, you can prove a negative. But only in so much as the laws of physics dictate something can’t occur. Physics proves, for example, that the Earth cannot be flat (there are not turtles all the way down!). Billions of people throughout history had or currently have faith in the existence of God, Allah, [the sun god] Ra, Santa Clause, a cure for baldness, etc. Similarly, science has faith that our current understanding of physics correctly dictates that all matter is made of two elemental particles: quarks and electrons. These simple particles allow for matter of infinite variation and infinite complexity to form—bacteria and humans, mailboxes and polling booths, literally everything on Earth.
Bigfoot, if it were to exist, would also consist of these quarks and electrons. Physics allows it. It can’t be ruled out. I hope you can agree that—no matter how miniscule the chance—there is at least the tiniest possibility that Sasquatch could exist. Lloyd Christmas had it spot on when he said, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!” In agreement? Great!
Now, here’s an important concept to realize regarding the ol’ one-in-a-million chance. Say you begin at 0% belief—an absolute certainty that Bigfoot is nothing more than a myth— and decrease your certainty to allow for a one-in-a million long shot. Your belief just increased infinitely. This is the same mathematical concept behind why when you input “1 divided by 0” into your phone’s calculator, it returns “INVALID OPERATION.” Calculators don’t like infinity. One-in-a-million may as well be a certainty when compared to infinity. It should be no surprise, then, that changing somebody’s mind from an absolute, to allowing even a tinge of doubt is the most difficult step in their transition to an alternate belief. Getting you over the fence should be easy from here.
Before we venture to that middle ground between maybe and maybe not, I’d like to break for a little story that has little to do with this argument, other than influencing the title. A gentleman I know tends to pronounce Sasquatch as SAC-watch. I will not present this fella’s name for a couple reasons. I didn’t get his permission, and he is an adamant supporter and practitioner of all the rights afforded to him by the 2nd Amendment. “Better safe than sorry,” I always hear people say. As to whether his articulation is intentional or not, I’m on that proverbial fence. Regardless, I’ve always pictured a tailor kneeling with one of those chalk pencils behind his ear and a mouth like a pincushion, getting a bit too personal with measurement of the trousers’ inseam. I’ve never had one of these measurements performed on me, yet I know that tailors and pins exist.
No human had ever seen a living giant squid until the early 2000s. The coelacanth was thought to be extinct for 70 million years until a specimen was caught in a fishing net off the coast of Madagascar in 1938. Bacteria were killing us long before we first observed them in the 17th century. Just because we don’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
With the combination of deforestation and satellite photography, humans living like our ancestors did tens of thousands of years ago have recently been spotted deep in the Brazilian rainforests. These are members of our own species that with our vast technology, we are just now discovering. And, yes, for lack of a better term I’m using “discovering” in the same false sense of the word we use for when Columbus happened upon the shore of an already inhabited land.
If we remain unsure of the extent of our own species, how can we be so quick to rule out another entity altogether? You’ve likely also heard of the following: Kraken, Loch Ness Monster, Chupacabra, Yeti, Jersey Devil, Mothman. The List of Cryptids entry on Wikipedia sites no fewer than 53 other creatures that cryptozoologists believe may exist, but science has never proven. With the mammoth size of some of these cryptids, one might think that they’d be easy to find if they did exist. The world, though, is a very large place. Even those that are thought to be confined to a local area, like Nessie, have the luxury of great depths in which to hide. We are now searching for life on other planets and moons in our solar system, while we still have so much to learn about the fauna in the depths of our Earthly oceans.
So, we can’t rule out the existence of Bigfoot. At the same time, we can’t exactly criticize those non-believers that demand solid proof before their minds will be changed. There’s the occasional claim of a Bigfoot sighting, a grainy photo every now and again purporting to capture the beast, and even footprints that cryptid hunters allege must be from Sasquatch. A lot of this sounds awfully familiar. We can’t rule out the existence of God, yet non-believers demand proof. There have been countless alleged visions of Jesus, ranging from the Shroud of Turin to His likeness on a piece of toast. One of these beliefs is encouraged, taught, and worthy of worship. The other is dismissed, belittled, and relegated to the realm of conspiracy theory. Billions of believers don’t make something true. Nor does a relatively small number of faithful make something false.
So you still believe Sasquatch is likely nothing more than a made up cryptid? Tell you what, I really should have chosen a more comfortable fence to sit atop. This chain-link is really cutting into my upper thighs and endangering my . . . well, you know. Although Bigfoot’s existence can’t be completely ruled out, I have to choose a side to leap toward. Over near the Western horizon congregate all the alien abductees, paranormal practitioners, and conspiracy theorists. The seeing-is-believing, science-has-the-answers, demanders-of-proof cluster along the Eastern front. Backlit by the setting sun, the safer bet is to bound forward. So, I guess, yeah, come to think of it . . . You’re Probably Right.
[011] September 23, 2020