How To Lie

Central to the The Da Vinci Code (which I said yesterday I wouldn't write about) is the Priory of Sion, which author Dan Brown claims on the first page is an actual secret society founded in 1099. I checked up on it and sure enough it's a fraud, but that was obvious based on the "facts" in the novel.

It's bad enough he claims they're an ancient society that's successfully kept a huge secret for centuries (a secret Dan Brown knows). What really gives it away was the list of Grand Masters. Not merely members, but Grand Masters. At any given time, there can be only one.

Now you can't just take a famous guy and choose him as Grand Master. He's got to be trusted to keep secrets, so you've got to induct him when he's young, and have him work his way up.

Yet, the list of grand masters includes Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and other great artists and thinkers. (Just geographically speaking, the Priory gets around.) The group sure got insanely lucky choosing so many before they became famous. (Actually, a secret society would probably prefer a leader not in the public eye. Maybe they weren't lucky.)

It reminds me of how all those past-life regressions show people being kings and queens, never slaves or serfs.

If you're gonna create a fake society that goes back centuries, you can have a few celebrity members, but not a string of world famous Grand Masters. It's just too silly.