WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:08.480 You're in the place where mysteries and the missing meet. We're conspiracies lurk around 2 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:19.039 every corner. Welcome to the deep Dark Truth. Welcome back to the deep 3 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:23.839 dark Truth. I'm Mo, I'm Chip, and I'm Liky, And today 4 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.760 we're going to be talking about various Internet rabbit holes that I've fallen down that 5 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:34.240 never became full episodes. I've got a couple too, and one of these 6 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:40.159 during the course of this became its own full episode. So today I'm going 7 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:45.320 to be talking about Cicada thirty three oh one. On January fourth, twenty 8 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:49.799 twelve, a mysterious image was posted to four chan. Soon it would be 9 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:54.719 one of the most frequently discussed Internet mysteries. The image was simply a block 10 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:59.280 of white text on a black screen. It read, Hello, we are 11 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:03.159 looking for the intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test. 12 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:07.519 There is a message hidden in this image. Find it and it will 13 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:11.359 lead you on the road to us. We look forward to meeting the few 14 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:17.439 that will make it all the way through. Good Luck thirty three oh one. 15 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:22.120 The intelligent people did not engage with this, so they failed the test 16 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.719 already. When the image was decrypted, it took you to an immager link, 17 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.319 and that imager link it was a picture of a duck and it said, 18 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:34.640 whoops, just decoys. This way looks like you can't guess how to 19 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.840 get the message out. But if you were to take the words guess and 20 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:44.719 out using a scenography tool called out guests, you got a different message, 21 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:49.680 and so on and so forth. It then directed you to a Reddit form, 22 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.719 and naturally it took off on Reddit, and as Reddit is the living 23 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.560 room of the Internet, Tales of the Cipher made its way into mainstream Internet 24 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:02.319 culture. Every One wanted to know how to solve the mysterious puzzles, but 25 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:07.159 in order to reach the next puzzle, you had to solve the previous ones 26 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.840 in no particular order. The rest of the puzzles contained book ciphers, QR 27 00:02:12.919 --> 00:02:17.120 codes that were posted all over the world, mysterious answering machines and trips to 28 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:21.680 the dark Web. I do want to take a second, though, and 29 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:27.000 post one of the examples, which is this answering machine message which you can 30 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:32.879 hear right now. Very good, you have done well. There are three 31 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:39.039 prime numbers associated with the original final dot j peg image three three zero one 32 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:44.360 is one of them, you will have to find the other two. We 33 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:47.439 don't apply all three of these numbers together and at a dot com on the 34 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:54.240 end to find the next step. Good luck, goodbye. There is also, 35 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.960 like I said, QR codes that were posted on telephone polls and various 36 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:06.680 places found in many major cities throughout the world, showing that this puzzle had 37 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:12.800 at least global connections whoever was associated with it. There was also web pages 38 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:17.120 using the tour browser. But who was thirty three oz one a hacktivist group 39 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:23.280 like anonymous, a cult, a secret society, or maybe they didn't really 40 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.840 exist at all and the puzzle was simply a recruitment tool for a three letter 41 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:32.800 agency then say the CIA, the FBI, LSD, whatever. Those who 42 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:38.719 solved the first set of puzzles in twenty twelve leaked the alleged email they sent 43 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:44.400 when they reached the end is now a direct from Wikipedia quote. The first 44 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:47.439 puzzle was solved by Marcus Wanner. According to him, those who solved the 45 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:53.479 puzzles were asked questions about their support of information freedom, online privacy, and 46 00:03:53.560 --> 00:04:00.400 freedom and rejection of censorship. Those who answered satisfactorily at this stage were invited 47 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:06.120 to a private forum where they were instructed to devise and complete a project intended 48 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:10.919 to further the ideals of the group. He did not finish his work on 49 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:15.599 a method of general decryption, and the website was then later removed, which 50 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.240 is the case for a lot of these puzzles. In fact, at the 51 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:28.480 end, the original image was then replaced and said simply again a black image 52 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.439 with white text. Hello, we have found the individuals we sought. This 53 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:36.839 is our month long journey ends for now. Thank you for your dedication and 54 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.399 effort. If you are unable to complete the test or did not receive an 55 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:46.560 email, do not despair. There will be opportunities like this one. Thank 56 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:51.120 you all thirty three oh one. It also says ps and has a long 57 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:57.279 bout of numbers, then backslash long bout of numbers, backslash long bout of 58 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:02.920 numbers, indicating that there's at least three different words or sentences or messages within 59 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:10.600 it. Allegedly, the original email was then leak thirty three O one Cicada. 60 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.920 This has been modified from your original text in order to remove your Uber 61 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:20.040 Secret identification signature. If you think it belongs to any particular applicant, it 62 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:25.519 does not and you do know what I mean. I'm guessing this is the 63 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:30.160 leaker put this through some type of encryption code so that they wouldn't be immediately 64 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:34.360 outed as the one that leaked the email. Do not share this information. 65 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:40.040 Congratulations, your month of testing has come to an end. Out of the 66 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:44.040 thousands who attempted it, you are one of the only few who have succeeded. 67 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:47.439 There is one last step. Although there will not be any hidden codes, 68 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:53.360 or secret messages or physical treasure hunts, this last step is only honesty. 69 00:05:53.560 --> 00:05:56.680 We have always been honest with you, and we shall continue to be 70 00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:00.120 honest with you, and we expect you to be honest with us in return. 71 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:03.839 You have all wondered who we are, and so we shall now tell 72 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:08.639 you. We are an international group. We have no name, we have 73 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.639 no symbol, we have no membership rosters, we do not have a public 74 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:16.000 website, and we do not advertise ourselves. We are a group of individuals 75 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:21.240 who have proven ourselves much like you have by completing this recruitment contest, and 76 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:27.199 we are drawn together by common beliefs. A careful reading of the texts used 77 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:31.560 in this contest would have revealed some of those beliefs that tyranny and oppression of 78 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:36.680 any kind must end, that censorship is wrong, and that privacy is an 79 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:42.240 unalienable right. We are not a hacker group. We are not a war 80 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.800 as group. We do not engage in illegal activity, nor do our numbers. 81 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:49.639 If you are engaged in illegal activity, we ask that you cease any 82 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:54.959 and all illegal activities or decline membership at this time. We will not ask 83 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:59.600 questions if you decline. However, if you lie to us, we will 84 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:03.519 find out. You are undoubtedly wondering what it is that we do. We 85 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:08.959 are much like a think tank, and that our primary focus is on researching 86 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:15.040 and developing techniques to aid the idea as we advocate liberty, privacy, security. 87 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:17.920 You have undoubtedly heard of a few of our past projects, and if 88 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:21.120 you choose to accept membership, we are happy to have you on board to 89 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:26.360 help with future projects. Please reply to this email with the answers to the 90 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.600 next few questions to continue. Do you believe that every human being has a 91 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:34.639 right to privacy and an animity and it is within their rights to use tools 92 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:42.040 which help obtain and maintain privacy, cash, strong encryption, nimity software, 93 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:46.120 etc. Do you believe that information should be free. Do you believe that 94 00:07:46.199 --> 00:07:53.199 censorship harms humanity? We look forward to hearing from you. Thirty three oh 95 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:59.399 one. The Cicada in Cicada thirty three oh one comes from the imagery associated 96 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:05.759 with the puzzles of you guessed it a cicada plot twist? Is it like 97 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:09.600 a metaphor because they sleep for seven years or whatever and then they strike? 98 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:13.639 That would be really cool, But I do not think so so, because 99 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.680 he did do puzzles for several years. The last public and verified communications from 100 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.399 Cicada thirty three oh one was in April of twenty seventeen. Oftentimes, those 101 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:31.759 communications have been verifying that they weren't associated with some sort of hacking that happened 102 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:35.639 or some sort of something that was bad. We're not quan on. Yeah, 103 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:39.759 people speculating are they a terrorist cell? Things like that, and only 104 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:46.000 had they actually commented and released statements if news organizations picked up those things. 105 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:50.799 If that makes sense, real news not read it. Yeah, not just 106 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:56.200 like online speculation, but like, hey, now ABC News is speculating that 107 00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:03.519 we're hackers that were not hackers. So the original message was posted to four 108 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:09.120 chan, but it was posted to four chan's paranormal board. So I'm personally 109 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:16.639 of the opinion that we were like witnessing the creation of a creepy pasta or 110 00:09:16.919 --> 00:09:22.480 some type of like alternate reality game, a purposeful splash to the Internet, 111 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.519 if that makes sense. So, like the puzzles were real, and there 112 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:33.639 was involvement obviously from people all over the world because the QR codes popped up 113 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.879 all over the world. But I really think that it was like an intentional 114 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:43.000 conspiracy versus what they say it is, if that makes sense, like viral 115 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:48.600 marketing, but not it didn't actually come to perruition as marketing. Yeah, 116 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.440 like I could just see us doing it, Oh yes, what I'm saying, 117 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.759 Like I could just see us being like, we're gonna do this, 118 00:09:54.360 --> 00:10:00.039 but we Also that's the thing that I don't understand about the motivation. You 119 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:03.200 would use it as a tipping off point, Like the last clue would be 120 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.279 the QR code and it just like goes to our Spotify, you know what 121 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:11.600 I mean, Like we would use it for something, even if it sends 122 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:15.919 somebody to a petition, I would understand, but the end goal is so 123 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:20.360 unclear. While it seems like but they don't believe in censorship, and this 124 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.960 and that, But they're not a hacktivist group like they say they're not a 125 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:33.600 hacktivist group. What's the point if you're not actively working towards specific goals, 126 00:10:33.080 --> 00:10:37.639 to reaching those goals versus like, oh, I just don't like this, 127 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:41.279 we don't like censorship. Okay, Well, then you're recruiting people to do 128 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:46.519 something about it, right, But it seems like that we recruited you to 129 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:50.600 do something about it part never happen. Where's the call to action? Exactly? 130 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.600 Where's the call to action? If you're watching us on YouTube right now, 131 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:01.120 we need you to smash the thumbs up and don't forget to ring that 132 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:09.600 bell subscribe? But it's like it's raising awareness type of we're not actually asking 133 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:13.440 you to do anything, but just raising awareness is in self a thing. 134 00:11:13.879 --> 00:11:18.679 But I feel like the reason awareness part didn't come until the very end. 135 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:22.960 And I also feel like that's not the part that people focus on. And 136 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:26.360 so you have to realize people aren't going to focus on that part when it 137 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:33.159 seems like you're recruiting for a secret society, right, you have to realize 138 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.840 that that your message will be completely lost in the puzzles. What they claim 139 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:43.120 is their goal. Then they were successful. We don't know how many people 140 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.159 recruited. Maybe everyone answered no, I don't believe in freedom. How many 141 00:11:46.200 --> 00:11:50.639 people in the world with the conspiracy and around this and around the QR codes 142 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:56.200 and around everything and around all that, we're thinking about that now, like 143 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.240 there are two main points that they wanted humanity to think about. And I 144 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.480 see, and that's what I'm saying. I think that maybe that was their 145 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:07.360 message. But I just don't see how I couldn't see that that message would 146 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:13.960 be lost because while we're bringing up the fact that's what their end goal was, 147 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:18.519 that's not the intriguing thing about it. And it's not the thing that 148 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:22.919 if you're telling somebody quickly, sure, what is Cicada thirty three one? 149 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:26.600 You probably never even mentioned that, right, I say, Oh, it 150 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:31.679 was this series of puzzles. It started on the internet. Everyone was trying 151 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.879 to figure it out. It was crazy. There was all these different parts 152 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.519 to it, and you had to like solve one to get to the next 153 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:43.000 one. But at no point are you like, yeah, they were probably 154 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:50.639 recruiting to like stop censorship. I don't know. Yeah, yeah, their 155 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:54.159 heart wasn't the right place, I guess. But if we did it, 156 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:58.279 and we didn't have, you know, the Spotify link. It would just 157 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:03.799 be because we want to be extra. The real excitement around it was having 158 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:09.279 this massive conspiracy that wasn't planned until until it was just said that it was 159 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.559 just a message and this is who we are and this is what we want 160 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.879 to promote. So like, I kind of disagree that from hearing it. 161 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:20.399 From my perspective, I didn't even know about this at all. I'm more 162 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:24.879 intrigued by their message and it has got me thinking about it, and that's 163 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.879 the thing that I would remember most about this. I'm surprised I didn't I 164 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.440 didn't know about this or knew it and forgot it. Yeah, you probably 165 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.120 knew it and forgot it. Probably you know who knew about it and didn't 166 00:13:35.120 --> 00:13:39.240 forget it? Hank Green. This is a second book of his, Like 167 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:43.240 some of it sounds like it could have been a quote from the book. 168 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.759 I was. I'm sitting here like, oh, so he just lifted this 169 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:52.360 straight up from Missicada? Got it? How long did these games trials? 170 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:56.320 Things go on? For the first puzzle started on Jadruary fourth, twenty twelve, 171 00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:01.559 and it was about a month long, and then the second the next 172 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:07.919 year on its anniversary January four, twenty thirteen, and then there was another 173 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:15.840 round on January fourth, twenty fourteen. But that third puzzle nobody ever solved 174 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:18.279 it all the way through. There wasn't one post sent January four, twenty 175 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:24.600 fifteen, but the following year, since the previous twenty fourteen puzzle was not 176 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:30.679 ever completed. There was a clue that was posted in twenty sixteen about the 177 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:37.000 twenty fourteen puzzle. So are we are we saying that the people who solved 178 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:43.000 twenty twelve got an email and then a new puzzle came up entirely or were 179 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:48.799 they all the same line? First puzzle January of twenty twelve. They last 180 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:54.039 one month, the people get the emails that they have made it all the 181 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:58.600 way through. Then there's a second round the following year in twenty thirty, 182 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:03.639 so they're distinctly separate. So they're distinctively separate it It does not appear that 183 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:09.360 it was still ever solved, But then again, someone could have solved it 184 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.960 and kept their mouth shut as they should. There might just not be any 185 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.679 leaks. Yeah. Yeah, there is a website though that will be at 186 00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:22.320 the top of our sources that walks you through the first set of puzzles in 187 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:26.879 great detail and you'd like to learn more about them. Also even tells you 188 00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:33.679 how exactly to solve them, whether it's various websites or various cryptography sites to 189 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:39.039 use, etc. Etc. Just kind of bookmark that for D and D 190 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:43.639 puzzle ideas. Okay, got it? What hell you're like, all right, 191 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:48.799 there's a QR code that is in Switzerland, Send us the puzzles, 192 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:52.639 send us the third puzzle, and we will say, oh, okay, 193 00:15:52.759 --> 00:16:00.440 I make none of those same promises whatsoever. We will chip and I will 194 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:03.559 solve I See. The thing is, it's not even that I don't think 195 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:07.919 that people are capable of it. I think that just the kind of people 196 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:14.440 that hyper fixate. Like to me, deciphering binary just sounds a miserable, 197 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:18.600 like that doesn't sound like a good time, Like a lot of it just 198 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.559 doesn't well, Yeah, like a lot of places you just throw it in 199 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:26.639 a translator, but a lot of like the kind The only thing that I 200 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:32.600 would have super been interested in. But this is just specific to me is 201 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:38.519 the part of the first set of puzzles there was a book cipher It led 202 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:47.279 to this original text by Thomas Bullfinch that was all tales about King Arthur and 203 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:51.360 the Knights of the Ground Table and and very specifically the Holy Grail. This 204 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:56.159 puzzle is nicknamed the Holy Grail because of this specific passage that it's taken, 205 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:03.879 and then it just forms a new separate like there's a sentence that's fun, 206 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:10.160 like going page to page. And there is a genre of experimental fiction. 207 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:15.839 There's this book s by Doug dorriston JJ Abrams, and there's another book called 208 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:21.759 House of Leaves, and those books are are similar, like very specifically with 209 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:25.720 House of Leaves, some pages are meant to be read out of order or 210 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:32.480 upside down, or there's different hidden codes within the book that I find fun. 211 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:34.240 The rest of it, yeah, I don't find if. It's just 212 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:38.839 like this is busy work essentially, I have to just sit here and go 213 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:45.640 through. I think it's very much like the solving the mystery aspect is what 214 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:49.160 pushes a lot of people. But there is a lot of code and sourcing 215 00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:52.400 involved, and if you don't know where to look, then you're just googling 216 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:57.359 to try and figure out what you should even be using to un encrypt something 217 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:03.240 or decipher or something, and that's just not fun, right. This is 218 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:07.680 where a chip comes in. Google food Master Mikey is putting you to work. 219 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.559 I'm the intern. Do you guys have any theories? Just based on 220 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:15.559 what you know? Obviously not getting too crazy deep into it, but based 221 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:21.880 on what you've heard. Clearly it's someone just fucking with everyone. It's just 222 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:26.160 us in a different timeline. It's fun to make people go on a red 223 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:30.200 herring, Mikey, what about you? I think the opposite as a meaning, 224 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.079 I think it exists. I think what they say is true. I 225 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:37.519 think they're just a think tank that creates change. But secretly I want that 226 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:41.119 to be true if I agree with their ideals. But I don't believe in 227 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:47.720 optimism, so I want to believe in a secret society. I also want 228 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:49.039 that to be true. I know that there has to be some type of 229 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:55.119 international involvement, so it's not that I doubt it being true. I don't 230 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:00.799 understand if that's their purpose. Why they thought that that would be what most 231 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:04.440 people got from the puzzles. Well, supposedly their thing. They don't care 232 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.880 what the general public knows. If they're going by what they say, it's 233 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:11.839 to find people who are helpful to them. Well, that's true. I 234 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:17.079 think they're just trying to find diligent, good moral people who are hard working, 235 00:19:17.240 --> 00:19:22.839 diligent, determined smart. It's just that this test it shows that someone 236 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.640 is stubborn and will solve a puzzle. It does not have anything to do 237 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:32.839 with morality. Yeah, exactly to me, the puzzles and like the mystery 238 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:36.839 of it. Yeah, but then coupled with the honesty aspect of it and 239 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:41.599 probably the reason they chose them in the first place. If it's a call 240 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:45.440 out to the whole Internet, the kind of people that it attracts are going 241 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:49.720 to be people that want to solve the mystery, not necessarily people that it's 242 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.960 their dying passion. Like, for example, I can say, yes, 243 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:59.039 I believe censorship is bad and I agree with these ideals, but that also 244 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:04.359 doesn't mean that I want to make that specifically my cause that I'm doing a 245 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:10.640 think tank for definitely my priority, even if I think right. Also, 246 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:14.920 you could just lie that says just say yes, I do. Like the 247 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.200 if you do illegal activity, please see saw the legal activity. This was 248 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:22.160 my favorite part of the whole thing. I love it. They want to 249 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:26.519 make it very clear that they are not endorsing any kind of illegal activity, 250 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:32.000 and like, if you came here because you wanted to be a activist or 251 00:20:32.039 --> 00:20:34.200 this or that, they want to make it clear that this isn't the place 252 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:40.759 for you. I do think the messaging because going back, it's a way 253 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.920 to lead out people who that may be immoral or cheat or take the easy 254 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:49.960 way out, and that's not the type of people that they're trying to collect. 255 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.720 Yeah, but it just seems like that you would say that at the 256 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:59.119 beginning. I'm not doubting what they did, but the order in which they 257 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:00.880 did it. If they would have said it at the beginning, we're a 258 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:06.559 think tank, or even like the second puzzle, we're a think tank. 259 00:21:06.960 --> 00:21:10.519 This is our mission. We want to make sure that you agree with these 260 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:15.960 ideals, saying somebody has already done all this labor of doing this before they 261 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:21.200 find out what the mission is. And I think they would have attracted more 262 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:26.640 like minded people if they told those people like, hey, do you hate 263 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.359 these things too? Do you like these things too? Do you want to 264 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:34.599 make change? We're looking for people that are highly intelligent, blah blah blah, 265 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.519 and included that in that statement. Sure, where there's a margin of 266 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:42.759 error that you might not get interested because you come out the gate with and 267 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:47.480 now you know it's that's a completely different tone though, if you do it 268 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:51.400 that way, and it's if you're like, hey, come join our liberal 269 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:53.640 think tank. Here's some puzzles. Does not come off the same as here 270 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.680 are some puzzles. That's true. I just feel like there was a better 271 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:03.279 time in the process then right at the end. Yeah, most of those 272 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:07.319 people might just be like, yeah, I was just here for the puzzles, 273 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:10.240 thanks, man, you know what I mean. You don't want that 274 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:12.960 to be and that's fine. Maybe they're not looking for numbers though, that's 275 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.440 true. Maybe they're just looking for like the dedication. Yeah, they're testing. 276 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:23.240 It's one big giant test. But you're it is weird to lay all 277 00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:27.839 the eggs in the basket at the end and really only test them on like 278 00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:33.359 what I mean, your ability to solve puzzles. Determination and intelligence maybe and 279 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:41.160 perseverance. That's yeah, And I feel like there's other ways to be intelligent 280 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.279 and bring things to the table that have nothing to do with puzzles either. 281 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:52.440 There is this thing about if you you do small asks and the more a 282 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.279 person has said yes, to here last, the bigger the thing, they'll 283 00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:57.920 go to a bit of a sunk cost fallacy. So once they've gotten to 284 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:03.720 the email sort of got them in a way simply because they did this whole 285 00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:07.359 fucking thing, and they're like, I saw that fucking puzzle. They're invested. 286 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:12.799 Yeah, they're invested at this point. Yet. So, Mikey, 287 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.839 as our resident boomer, do you know that everything has become crab? Crab? 288 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:25.759 Everything become crab? No, you're not anili No, Well, as 289 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:29.160 the Internet will tell you, everything in the world is becoming crab. The 290 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:34.799 one true evolution of nature is that crabs just keep evolving. It's a good 291 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.319 shape. So I was like, I wonder why that is. And the 292 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:47.680 answer is it's not that interesting. It's not that interesting, But let me 293 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:51.599 tell you about it. So what you're basically saying is that crabs are like 294 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:56.359 evolving more so than most of the species on this planet all the time. 295 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:02.559 Is that what you're saying, Well, there's been five instances entirely separate from 296 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:07.960 each other, where the crab shape the crabness has evolved. And that's interesting. 297 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:12.200 I see what you're saying. More species are starting to evolve towards the 298 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:17.079 crab shape. Is that what you're saying. Yeah, I would prefer to 299 00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:21.519 be a lobster. They're immortal, but that's just me. Yeah, what's 300 00:24:21.559 --> 00:24:26.279 that about. What's the I haven't looked into that? That should be your 301 00:24:26.359 --> 00:24:30.920 next Internet rabbit hole, Mike. We've contributed. It's so bizarre. I 302 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:33.960 would very much like to be immortal. I mean, the ANSWER's got to 303 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:37.559 be within them. Depend It depends so much on the rules of the immortality. 304 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:41.720 And where's the phone of youth? Well, it's obviously in the lobsters. 305 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.319 Have we looked it's also the jellyfish is a jellyfish. Yeah, that's 306 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:49.759 true. If you bred a lobster with a jellyfish. Things are becoming more 307 00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:53.519 crab like. Period. Why well, first, what is crap? What 308 00:24:53.559 --> 00:24:59.119 are we calling when we say something evolved to be crabbly? It's a relatively 309 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:03.279 flat, round us body shape. There's the flattening and bending of the pleon, 310 00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:08.559 which is the abdomen type thing of the lobster, the dobster tail ish 311 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:14.279 type thing. So there's that, there's the lack of a significant tail, 312 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:21.279 and then the like certain things the sternites have fused into at least partially a 313 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:26.119 single sort of Sternham type thing going on, and that one's complicated. Don't 314 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:29.319 ask me to explain it in detail. Meaning instead of having like two rib 315 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:33.240 cages, it's kind of being coming one type. Yeah, yeah, something 316 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:37.839 like that. Similar to that, you have sort of the reduction of certain 317 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.759 muscles, specifically the ones and the legs that do the forward and backward, 318 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:45.079 not the side to side. Got it. The reason we think this is 319 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:53.160 interesting is because there were like five instances of entirely unrelated crustaceans that move towards 320 00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:57.759 this, And it's interesting because they're in vastly different environments as far as the 321 00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:02.319 ocean is concerned. These ones lives on a volcano, an underwater volcano, 322 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:04.680 and these ones live on the coast. What do you mean they both became 323 00:26:04.759 --> 00:26:08.559 crab. That's weird. It see. To me, ending up in like 324 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:17.640 a flatter shell shape makes sense because of how heavy the ocean it actually is 325 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:19.519 when you're on the bottom of it, and so to me, it makes 326 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:22.920 sense that they would become flatter in the same way that sting rays became flatter. 327 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:30.160 But also my biggest thing is protection, probably because basically creating a back 328 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:36.599 shape and exoskeleton and flattening the surface can protect your internal ones underneath instead of 329 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:41.400 being exposed outward, so that they're coming in and their internal organs that need 330 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:45.119 protecting are underneath their biggest surface, you know. Yeah, And they would 331 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:49.200 keep their legs and not swim for that exact same reason, because then their 332 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:55.720 their belly is never exposed to anything except for the ocean floor. Those are 333 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:00.880 basically some decent guesses as to like, you know, all just aren't certain 334 00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:04.160 why this happened, but here are some hypotheses. Having the pleon bent in 335 00:27:04.279 --> 00:27:08.640 under you is less surface area for a predator to grab, no lobster tail 336 00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:14.000 grabbing. You have a lower center of gravity. That's probably helpful. There's 337 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.480 lots of gravity down there. Defensively, it's really good. All of them, 338 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:21.440 I guess all of them hold their eggs with the curved under pleon, 339 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.960 and so if that's underneath you, that's a lot easier to protect. For 340 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:30.119 the ones that do have the side to side movement, running side to side, 341 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:33.000 when all your predators expect you to run forward and backward, that helps. 342 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:38.079 It's confusing them and maybe the flatter rounder body is better for like hiding 343 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:42.440 in crevices or under rocks or shit like that, or looking like a rock. 344 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:47.240 Yeah, so why isn't this a full episode because it's it's not that 345 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:51.400 interesting. It's just that down a rabbit hole and ended up with a dead 346 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:55.640 end. Yeah. Yeah, sometimes that happens with rabbit holes. Sometimes you 347 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:59.920 think it's going to be a very interesting I prefer those because the three day 348 00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:03.039 rabbit holes aren't fun. Yeah, the three day rabbit holes are a lot. 349 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:07.640 Right. I want an answer, but I don't want a boring answer. 350 00:28:07.799 --> 00:28:11.960 These were only crustaceans who evolved into it. There's no not even crustacean 351 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:17.119 that's evolved crablely. There's a lot of species, more than five I think 352 00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:21.200 that evolved away from crab. They're like, we're done with being crab. 353 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.519 And it's just a specific example of convergent evolution, and there are lots of 354 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:32.759 those. For example of really interesting one, there are animals that can sleep 355 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:37.079 with half their brain while the other half is awake. It's called uni hemispheric 356 00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:45.799 slow wave sleep, and it evolved separately in migratory birds like thrushes, dolphins, 357 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:49.720 whales, manatees, and seals. Yeah. I think I maybe knew 358 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:56.519 that about thrushes feels like a Brennan Lee Mulligan bird fact. Not everything become 359 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:00.839 crab it boring convergion evolution. It's interesting. In general. Those are Internet 360 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:04.640 rabbit holes I've fallen down. If you want to suggest some that you think 361 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.240 we should check out, you can send them to the Deep Dark Truth Podcast 362 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:11.920 at gmail dot com or text them to the tipline at three one three three 363 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:15.880 five three four one one. Until next time, I'm Tho, I'm Chip, 364 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:22.279 and I'm Mikey wee by by by. That's all, folks, You 365 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:27.640 just listen to the Deep Dark Truth Podcast. See you next time, and 366 00:29:27.799 --> 00:29:32.960 remember your local cryptids want to meet you.