By Nick Nelson
Issues and Ideas Editor
What do Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, guitarist Jimi Hendrix and billionaire Bill Gates have in common?
Well, according to literally thousands of Internet sites, all three made secret pacts with the devil prior to excelling in their fields.
It started with Jimi Hendrix. In the 1970s, conspiracy theorists circulated rumors that the incomparable lefty guitarist had sold his soul in exchange for uncanny guitar playing prowess. Ask your professors. They probably remember.
Next it was William Henry Gates III. The rumors about him range from a Hendrix-style pact to the accusation that he is actually the Antichrist. The richest man in the world, according to these rumors, owes his fortune to diabolical dealings.
Finally, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling worked for peanuts as a waitress and lived off the government until she made a pact with the devil. Her books (which are all about witches) have since caused a craze among children and adults alike and have netted her millions. Or so the legend goes.
Of course I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing these rumors are as rooted in reality as dragons or Dumbledore (apologies, Potter fans).
So what sparks these vicious rumors? What makes thousands of Web geeks maintain sites that proliferate these slanderous accusations?
I think it's the fact that we as non-rock stars, non-billionaires and non-bestselling authors need these rumors to feel okay about our comparatively mediocre lives.
I mean, nobody points to a guy who runs a junk yard or to a student journalist who works hunched over a computer and says, 'No way that guy got there on his own!'
People who invent and spread these rumors neglect the reality that the successes of the Hendrixes, Gates and Rowlings of the world almost always follows years of hard work and preparation.
To believe such a rumor is to let yourself off the hook in a way. That's because when we acknowledge that successful people are successful because of hard work and persistence, or maybe because of being spiritually in tune, we must also admit that we have the same potential.
So it's much easier to simply chalk these successes up to diabolical dealings.
So when you visit Google and type in 'Harry Potter' and 'Satan,' don't be surprised at the 189,000 results the search will yield.
Or when you type in 'Jimi Hendrix' and 'devil' and find 238,000 pages that contain those words.
Finally, when searching 'Bill Gates' and 'Antichrist,' don't bother searching through the 34,600 pages the search will yield.
They are pages made by and for people who can't accept that fact that they might owe their own mediocrity to themselves alone.
Hendrix, Gates and Rowling may not be ideal role models for all of us, but their successes follow hard work, inventiveness, persistence and practice.
That much, at least, we can admire.
And while some Potter fans are wondering what kind of devilry is delaying the sixth installment of the half-wtich's adventures, they can probably rest assured that Rowling writes on her own.