Bird Spies in Context of Mandik

The Theory
A recent conspiracy theory has come to the attention of the public that birds are not real. Rather, that they were, but were almost entirely eradicated by the government and what we see around now are replicas used as surveillance tools to spy on us. It all started in the 1940s when the world was terrified and paranoid of a socialist regime. The CIA decided that in order to find the communists that were lurking in the community, they needed something better than stationary cameras. On top of this, the rich were mad about the birds pooping on their cars and fancy clothes, etc. So alas in the late 50s, the plan was devised to eliminate the birds. Operation Water the Country commenced, the plan to release a chemical from planes high in the sky that would instantly kill the flying birds but not being powerful enough to make it to the ground and harm any humans. The pilots never came forward because they were told they were only watering the nation's grass. President JFK found out of the plan and confronted the agents, ordering them to pull the plug on the surveillance operation. He was assassinated a month later. The birds were created, and have been spying on the American citizens ever sense.

CTs According to Mandik
In Shit Happens, Mandik takes pieces from the notes of Keeley and Coady, the elements he chose for his own definition of CTS are:
1. explanations of
2. historical events in terms of
3. intentional states of multiple agents (the conspirators) who, among other
things,
4. intended the historical events in question to occur and
5. keep their intentions and actions secret

Breaking Down the Elements

Part One:
Explanations of… As he goes on to describe, in this context an explanation means to say something "is (or is a true description of) an efficient cause of an event." [page 207]. So this doesn't exactly match the CT in question. If the case had been more like "why were there so many dead birds turning up in 1959," or "people have been finding fake birds with microphones in them all over the country," then this would serve to explain this. What it does indirectly serve as an explanation to is the JFK assassination. Though without any evidence that JFK uncovered a secret operation, or that there even was an operation in the first place, there isn't much in terms to work with.

Part Two:
Historical events in terms of… To say an event is historical Mandik doesn't just mean it happened in the past, but also that the past event is a token rather than a type. In other words that it is particular and concrete rather than an abstract concept. Mandik directly mentions the JFK assassination as a token, with its counterpart being the general concept of past assassinations. The CT we are discussing does not actually mention anything concrete, except for the Red Scare of the 40s and that JFK was assassinated. None of the "evidence" has any historical accuracy or solid standing.

Part Three:
Intentional states of multiple agents (the conspirators)… The point which Mandik considers the most important. Its existence is implied with the fourth and fifth elements, but the redundancy is to stretch its importance. He says "explanations… by [CTs] attribute a large role
to the intentional states—the beliefs and the desires—of the agents involved" [207]. The intentions of the conspiracy is to make us… distrust birds(?). Ultimately that stems from not trusting the government or the CIA, but at its core, the contributors of the conspiracy are called "Birds Aren't Real." We are supposed to be suspicious of birds as they are agents of the government.

Part Four:
[These agents] intended the historical events in question to occur… Mandik states "intentionality is implicit… insofar as it is required that
the historical events explained were intended by the conspirators." The conspirators in the CT would of course be the CIA, according to the CT, everything was planned so that no one would find them out. The only accurate historical event that could have been conspired would the JFK assassination. The CIA weren't in cahoots with anyone, they were operating alone to weed out the communists. They weren't conspiring to assassinate JFK, they were only conspiring to monitor the public. So because of the lack of intent, it misses this mark as well.

Part Five:
Keep their intentions and actions secret… Just playing the other side and maybe it is all true, this means the CIA did a hell of a job not being found out. I mean from tricking the OWtC pilots, to creating life-like flying animals, to assassinating the president. They have done a flawless job at not being found out. When you look up the operations and the claims of "Birds Aren't Real," the only thing that comes up is the page. It objectively it does not make much since to believe the CT. If JFK were assassinated for finding them out, how has this entire sub-genre of theorists managed to become mainstream without being wiped from the internet or monitored themselves. If they were able to commit such heinous acts all for the sake of a coverup, than why do I see ads for "bird watching goes both ways" t-shirts.

Conclusion
So, its seems that this idea of bird spies misses just about every one of Mandik's requirements for the definition of a conspiracy theory. While interesting to think about, and most certainly just something fun for the internet to joke about, it can, in the eyes of Mandik, be dismissed.

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