Urban Legends Rule The World

We are all familiar with stories commonly known as urban legends which make the rounds as fact but which in reality are made up tales.Of course they all have a component of possibility which snares the gullible.That is they all sound plausible until they undergo the rigors of critical thinking then they fall apart.If the amount of information processing needed to correctly discern their truth or falsity is greater than what is available then they will be believed especially if that belief is reinforced by others or more specifically by those in authority. Some urban legends are harmless but others are self reinforcing which will assume the shape of a mental virus and so can grow to enormous scales in terms of numbers who believe and therefore have teeth which can bite a non believer.Religion of course with it's angels who talk to certain people but never really say anything useful falls into this category.Angels tell you what to wear which anyone can do but never tell us how to cure cancer which is difficult and would be a litmus test for something speaking to God.So since large parts of the world are governed by or influenced by different religions we are all effected by urban legends.Can it be any wonder that if there are extra-terrestrial beings they want nothing to do with us.