Rumour has it...

The rumour spreading in areas hit by the tsunami seems to be getting worse. On Monday, we saw aerial photos of turbulent tsunami waters that many Sri Lankan Muslims now believe to be the signature of Allah, who sent the tsunami as punishment for those ignoring His laws. Most level headed people would have had the same sinking feeling as Zoe from crazybrave suffered. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is a common occurence in times of disaster as people try to make sense of the happenings around them. Over at DogfightAtBankstown, they've found the name for it.

Worse happens when rumours stem from misinformation. In the first few days after the tsunami we saw televised images of large crowds suddenly fleeing coastal areas amid rumours of another imminent tsunami. This hampered the efforts of aid workers at a time when they could have made the biggest difference. How many badly hurt people had to wait hours before their rescuers returned after the scare? How many badly hurt people couldn't hold on any longer during that time? You can't blame the people who running scared. One tsunami is one more than enough.

Sadly, rumours are still badly affecting the lives of people whose lives have been devestated by the tsunami. The fishing industry, already affected because large numbers of fishermen are understandably too fearful of another tsunami to head back out into the water, is taking a second blow because consumers fear the fish are feeding on human remains. Jobs lost, lives ruined. Elsewhere, we have astrologists predicting further tsunamis, sending fear into communities that shouldn't have to endure any more. One astrologist went so far as to say that if his prediction of a tsunami did not eventuate, he would kill himself. The tsunami didn't happen. The astrologist didn't take up his own offer. I can only guess this astrologist's community had seen too much death in the past few weeks to be baying for his.

Maybe when things have settled down somewhat, when the rebuilding is underway, we can leave a few copies of Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit lying around wherever the soothsayers have taken up residency.