Things Not Seen

Mind Control Made Easy

Or, How to Become a Cult Leader:

A 'hypercosmic God'

...The John Templeton Foundation announced the winner of the annual Templeton Prize of a colossal £1 million ($1.4 million), the largest annual prize in the world.

This year it goes to French physicist and philosopher of science Bernard d'Espagnat for his "studies into the concept of reality". D'Espagnat, 87, is a professor emeritus of theoretical physics at the University of Paris-Sud, and is known for his work on quantum mechanics. The award will be presented to him by the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on 5 May...

...

Unlike classical physics, d'Espagnat explained, quantum mechanics cannot describe the world as it really is, it can merely make predictions for the outcomes of our observations. If we want to believe, as Einstein did, that there is a reality independent of our observations, then this reality can either be knowable, unknowable or veiled. D'Espagnat subscribes to the third view. Through science, he says, we can glimpse some basic structures of the reality beneath the veil, but much of it remains an infinite, eternal mystery.

Looking back at d'Espagnat's work, I couldn't help but wonder what the Templeton Foundation – an organisation dedicated to reconciling science and religion – saw in it that they thought was worth a £1 million. Then, scanning the press release, I found it:

"There must exist, beyond mere appearances … a 'veiled reality' that science does not describe but only glimpses uncertainly. In turn, contrary to those who claim that matter is the only reality, the possibility that other means, including spirituality, may also provide a window on ultimate reality cannot be ruled out, even by cogent scientific arguments."...

More from New Scientist.

Prince Philip, Island God?

Honestly, if this one didn't come from the BBC, I wouldn't believe it: "Britain's Duke of Edinburgh may be planning a quiet birthday celebration at home this weekend, but there will be feasting and flag-waving in an isolated jungle village in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, where he is worshipped as a god..."

This reminds me of a phenomenon that has come to be known as Cargo Cults:

An isolated society's first contact with the outside world can be a shock — often the natives will first assume that the newcomers are spiritual beings of some kind who possess divine powers. With time, however, it will inevitably become apparent that the outsiders are mortal and that their power comes from their equipment (or cargo). Cargo cults tend to appear among people that covet this 'magical' equipment, but are unable to attain it easily through trade. Given their relative isolation, the cult participants generally have little knowledge of modern manufacturing and are liable to be skeptical of Western explanations. Instead, symbols they associate with Christianity and modern Western society tend to be incorporated into their rituals as magical artifacts. Across cultural differences and large geographic areas, there have been instances of the movements independently organizing.

Famous examples of cargo cult activity include the setting up of mock airstrips, airports, offices and the fetishization and attempted construction of western goods, such as radios made of coconuts and straw. Believers may stage "drills" and "marches" with twigs for rifles and military-style insignia and "USA" painted on their bodies to make them look like soldiers, treating the activities of western military personnel as rituals to be performed for the purpose of attracting cargo. The cult members built these items and 'facilities' in the belief that the structures would attract cargo. This perception has reportedly been reinforced by the occasional success of an 'airport' to attract military transport aircraft full of cargo[citation needed].

Today, many historians and anthropologists argue that the term "cargo cult" is a misnomer that describes a variety of phenomena[citation needed]. However, the idea has captured the imagination of many people in developed nations, and the term continues to be used today. For this reason, and possibly many others, the cults have been labelled millenarian, in the sense that they hold that a utopian future is imminent or will come about if they perform certain rituals.

Via Wikipedia.

It's actually somewhat unclear how many of these cults still exist, however the term was popularised in part by the remarkable physicist, Richard Feynman who used the expression "cargo cult science" in a speech he gave at Caltech and later as a chapter heading in his brilliantly readable autobiography, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

In the speech, Feynman pointed out that cargo cultists create all the appearance of an airport right down to headsets with bamboo "antennas", yet the airplanes don't come. Feynman argued that some scientists often produce studies with all the trappings of real science, but which are nonetheless pseudoscience and unworthy of either respect or support.

You can get a full copy of the speech in pdf form here.

The Creation Museum

Here's a controversial one from me to get people going!

May 28th saw the opening of the $27 million Creation Museum in Cincinnati, USA.

The mainstream reaction is unsurprisingly skeptical and the response in the blogosphere, doesn't seem to be that much more positive. I'm not actually sure I expect the Christian response to be particularly uniform either, at least on this side of the Atlantic.

Here's what the Museum has to say about itself:

“The Creation Museum will be upfront that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of faith and practice, and in every area it touches upon.”

“We’ll begin the Museum experience by showing that 'facts' don’t speak for themselves. There aren’t separate sets of 'evidences' for evolution and creation—we all deal with the same evidence (we all live on the same earth, have the same fossils, observe the same animals, etc.). The difference lies in how we interpret what we study. We’ll then explore why the Bible—the 'history book of the universe' — provides a reliable, eye-witness account of the beginning of all things.”

I'm wondering what the Bettany's think generally and what kind of response the museum getting in the UK? In your churches? Maybe it's not even on the radar...