A Parade of Modern Science Reversals

A Parade
of
Modern Science Reversals

by
Stephen D Evans
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A Parade of Modern Science Reversals

Copyright 2010, by Stephen D Evans All Rights Reserved Published in the United States of America, Los Angeles
Cover Art by Stephen D Evans
About-Face!
So how can anyone in his right mind seriously entertain alternative histories, science or medicine? Remember the t-shirt from the 1960s sporting the motto: Challenge All Authority. I want the other one that says: Doubt All Scientific Certainty. Considering how much supposed scientific discovery and advancement is actually outright reversal of previously authorized positions there should be a good market for that motto. Richard Dawkins is proud to preach his message: Trust Science. He also sounds rather desperate in his hope that science will one day find all natural explanations for the multiplying mysteries of cosmology. Despite the latest groundswell of perplexities: Its just not worth it to trade faith in Science for delusions of another kind. But you see, the puzzles of existence and life and our place in the universe (or was it plural universes?) they are indeed adding up and threatening to escape scientific controls. It has become not merely a matter of counting new discoveries; while each rock overturned reveals ten new problems for every old question resolved. No, our quest has become dogged by a worrisome trail of settled solutions proven wrong. And many earlier corrections of Classical certainties (meaning pre-scientific) are sounding hastily spoken also. So what should we say to the appeal for a post-modern faith in human sciences? The material scientists reply: Its just what Science does. If the nature of our universe is so complex as to present ever more questions than answers well, thats just how it is. Dont blame the scientist or scientific method; nor is it faulty premises. Or is it? Certainly one goal of good research must be to uncover the right questions to follow in the first place. The first questions perhaps those least scrutinized or discussedwill be most fundamental of all. It is these starting presuppositions that deserve review when logical corollaries somewhere down the road keep taking us nowhere or in never-ending circles. A successful journey begins on the right track. Else the fastest course to our destination may require quickly turning back to meekly start completely over. Premise One: The truths of existence, explaining how things started and how things work and where things are likely goingall of that will surely be proven knowable and predictable and worth our finding out. Modern successes of applied sciences (technology) are certainly convincing proof of that.
Quantum mechanics would disagree. Turns out the deck may be stacked against direct predictability. Best we can do is offer a gamblers chance at narrowing the range of possible (correction: probable) outcomes: Red Three in the corner pocket Premise Two: Possible outcomes and explanations are by definition self-limiting, allowing only material causes and effects. Extra-material, metaphysical or supernatural delusionsNOT allowed from the outset. Again, the astrophysicist must challenge this notion. At least ninety-five percent of the observable universe is apparently UNobservable. Nor has anyone actually seen electrons orbiting their nuclei. The further we search that path, the more that Matter disappears. We cannot go back in Time or Space to witness their beginnings. And where we expected to find debris settling from that serendipitous blast from the past and find it slowing downwell, it seems rather to be propelling ever faster and further outward. So the Big Bang may indeed be described as a giant rocket blast; not an aimless explosion, as once assumed. Premise Three: Our planet was never the center of it all; nothing happens for the sake of a man or Mankind. We must view life and humanity and civilization as lucky happenstance: Chance wasnt likely to happen and aint going to happen again. Therefore Earth and Man and Life itself must be relatively unimportant; cosmic rejects Priceless but pointless. The oyster never treasures its pearl. Premise Four: Energy and the motions of particles decay. Life, however, has obviously progressed from simple to most complex much as components of the simplest of atoms spontaneously recombined to form the whole chart of material elements. We have never watched this happen, nor can any technician make it happen. All we have managed so far is to accelerate decay. But obviously the good stuff happened, because Well, there it is; and here we are, after all. The third and fourth premises are evidently self-contradicting. Their prejudice is established utterly by the latest findings of astronomers and mathematicians. It appears now, post-Copernicus, that there could never have been enough time even given millions of times the estimated 13 billions of yearsno time for undirected Chance to have resulted in This: Our tiny, life-infested, watery bubble appears balanced exactly where it must be where it could only be to exist safelyin its solar system; all placed most fortuitously in just the right corner of the right kind of galaxy; itself ordered perfectly in the wake of an Event so finely tuned as to produce just the right combination of energies and elements for the birth and continuance of what? For planet Earth and emergence of Life culminating in Mans curious consciousness of Being. (Notice even this assumes such a progression was how it happened in order of Fact for some of the oldest accounts tell of human spiritual operation long before physical earth and heavens appeared.)
Yes, I know all about Cosmogonys arguments against old and new geocentricities. And I promise not to pretend any god of the gaps (certainly, He will defend His own Existence). Yet, there It is and here We are. Deserves looking at intrinsically. So it simply will not do to wave off the paradox or confusion by saying: We are only a speck, after all, in the great Scheme of things. What scheme? Whose scheme? Well, no scheme actually. And certainly Nobodys plan. And how did you determine that? You seem to know it positively. But I wont bother proving anything because its so very obvious. Of course, nobody can know yet for certain. Yet you are confident. Yes I am that Science will prevail. You maintain the utmost faith in your science. What else is there? I mean Really, your implication is primitive and unfair! What else? Precisely my point. Excuse me? I think I missed something. You did took a wrong turn back up the road somewhere. Apparently so. Therefore, in celebration of our latest epistemological triumphs: I present the following review; a sort of promenade or exhibition highlighting some of my favorite reversals of Science. It isnt my intent to discredit the disciplines of inquiry into reality; nor to cause any celebrity of science to lose face though many would consider some of these reversals to be quite as embarrassing as the Piltdown scandal. I am not any kind of scientist (though an enthusiastic student of all research). I wont bother (yet) to reference sources; I do this from fuzzy memory of past media releases. Previous scientific beliefs were common knowledge (and some remain commonly held); reversals were major science headlines, so anyone can Bling or Goggle a subject to authorize these findings. Yet I am humbly suggesting that we allow this public parade of realizations to serve as signposts. Such should signal, at least, our prompt collective about-face from stubborn academic certainty: the dogmatic credulity that a disappearing path will remain the only proper road to understanding.
To the Rear Stand! Re-Inspecting Uniformity

Astro-Physics and Geology Atoms are elementary Watsons and bosons spooking Einstein I remember a teacher in my elementary school assuring us boys and girls that physicists had identified the basic building blocks of reality: micro-particles called atoms. None could really comprehend just how tiny were these specks; nor could any of us actually look at one under a microscope (because they are moving about far too fast)But they were there. And like so many skadillions of grains of sand, their compressed mass comprises the solidity of stone as well as softness of dandelion down. Boy was that a bogus idea! Actually an imagination inherited from Newtonian physics; the teacher should have known better about more recent discoveries. On the other hand, even pioneers of quantum mechanics were reluctant to describe their findings. For the closer one peers into the substrate of matter, the less of particle one finds. It all appears to be mostly vacant space with periodic intrusions of energy more like studying the surface of a pool with a magnifying glass. Whats more, these atoms or rather, parts as quanta of atoms display disturbingly metaphysical behaviors. So one cannot really blame Mister or Mizz Teach for failing to describe Thing-ness correctly. For every such correction is awaiting an observer in order to collapse from potentiality into a materially measurable state. Catch that? The universe is infinite I mean, a finite, um multidimensional potential This one I recall again from early grades. Most of us simply refused to accept it, when at first we were told how our universe had no beginning and will never end. Turns out that our childish instincts were correct, after all. For now they tell us that Astronomy deviants were right: There was certainly this Event like a single burst of fireworks from which every particle of our universe was blasted. What they neglected to admit, however, was that Space and Time were part of the fallout of that singular explosion. And lately they tell us, it was unlikely to be the only Bang nor the only possible kind of starburst in a far larger pyrotechnic Show. The universe is static No, its shrinking I mean, its definitely expanding in a roundabout way Yes, we are talking double and triple reversals of scientific certainty here. Its really no wonder that mine would be a generation of science skeptics. Most readers will recognize and appreciate the absurdity of this very recent and brief history of astronomy. Dare we trust that they are finally describing it correctly? Everything observed accounts for everything The Wizards Apprentice and his multiplying black boxes Latest figure given the astronomers recent admissionsputs it at twenty to one. Some 95 percent of material mass is immeasurable and unknowable in terms of modern physical science. Only ten years ago, we all trusted that all was in balance and accounted for. Now measures of gravity say far from it. Next we are told that an even larger portion
of energetic space (radiant, electromagnetic, subatomic forces) is physically undetectable. Therefore, rather than admit that not all may be matter, the materialist assures us that the stuff is simply too dark to see; nothing metaphysical about it. Outer space is only an empty vacuum the return of luminous ether Just before my own lifetime, it was declared that outer space is not filled with any kind of gaseous ether. It is simply nothing. Astrophysicists have since discovered conversely that there is truly no such thing as a vacuum. Oh sure, objects behave differently in the absence of an air or water-pressured environment. But the nothing is definitely occupied by something (or perhaps Someone) extremely potent. Some say that a thimbleful of background energy would be sufficient to power all our worlds technologies for years at a time if only we knew how to access it. Perhaps it is truly another dimension, however dependent our own reality on the cohesion of its energy matrix. And the stuff of material reality actually represents comparative vacancies of energy rather than denser fields of ordered atoms. A solid brick hurtling through space is more like an energy hole or shadow in cosmic terms; while the empty space around it continues to buzz with immeasurable intensity, like waves of a heavenly ocean. Other physicists have suggested it is time to reconsider the classical notions of etheric space. Then perhaps we could get a handle on some of the persistent mysteries, like the origins of gravity and dark matter. Absolute zero means absolutely no energy another fantasy vacuum Not true, after allfor not only has it proven impossible to create an absolute zero state; the background energy of space is reluctant to rest; further, as particles of matter approach total stasis, they begin to resonate more efficiently with each others internal wavelike properties a quantum level super-conductivity. Subspace communications, anybody? Stratified rock represents eons of Earth history lone volcano breaks geologic records Recent Mount St Helens eruptions produced unanticipated results: A scalding hot cocktail of mud and lava plunged down a valley, rapidly carving a deep hard-rock canyon and a new water course at bottom. If geologists hadnt been there this time to witness the infamous before and after, they might blame the poor river for slowly worrying stratified walls to a depth equaling millions of years. They also found trees petrified to fossil hardness by quick infusion of vaporized minerals, a process previously unobserved. Whole forests were blasted out of the ground; glaciers melted into lakes. The sudden deluge liquefied mountains and submerged the trees; currents resituated timber into layered patterns many floating upright to appear like new growth amidst the thousands previously felled. As more mud and lava silt over, it is evident how that similar killing fields exhumed became wholly misinterpreted as a calendar of millennial cycles, marked by periods of reforestation following catastrophic events. Suddenly geologic time is compressed to mere months and years before our eyes. Dare we suppose that Science may regroup and reconsider all previous grand canyon scenarios? Remember those old stories about global eruptions triggering a transcontinental flood biblical and other versions perhaps not so far-fetched after all.
Micro-Biology and Genetics Nobody else is forced to wear your genes coordinating epigenetic overwear Thats righta basic precept of the maturing science of Genetics was that outer vestments of behavior or diet or other lifestyle habiliments will not affect the DNA underwear inherited by ones offspring. Nature was supposed to have insulated the purity of hidden genes from the ravaging matters of external survivalthis despite Darwinian Evolutionists insistence that adaptation to externals will transform a whole species (another exquisite contradiction). But the Genome Project presents a sobering challenge; results have proven unexpected, to say it kindly (and public media tends to portray it so). But expectation (like prediction) is fundamental to scientific methodevery grade school student is supposed to know that. The human program is not an accumulation of ever-more-complex DNA coding. The actively coding sequences are relatively tidy and efficient, while the greatest bulk (first assumed to be junk vestiges of evolutionary travail) is being revealed a sophisticated library of switching combinations, corrective communication packets, protective redundancies and functional subroutines. Any computer scientist must marvel at Natures elegant design blind and dumb as She must be. But it is the very latest science of Epigenetics that has the Darwinians reeling and medical technologists most excited. For where revealed Genomics has let them down (providing very few DNA indicators of disease), a secondary overlay like printed microtransistor modulesis intercepting and changing the game from a lottery of select mutations to one featuring free human decision and life skills. Yes indeed: It is the ways one chooses to eat and behave and prepare for crises that decides his future health and the physical predispositions of offspring that is the genetic expression of DNA coding contained in a young fathers growing sperm or a mothers lifetime clutch of egg cells. In fact, my lifestyle choices and history affect my children and my grandchildren, even great-grandchildren. The sins of the parent are likely to be paid for by progeny into the third and fourth generations, just as Mosaic Law warned Not an overblown threat of cosmic retribution, after all; rather an inherent property of genetics understood intuitively by that father of fathers. Cells are simple except when they are complex I would hope (with little certainty) that school curriculums have abandoned the term simple cell. Yet the mantra of simple to complex remains a basic tenet of the natural scientists creed. More on the Darwinian implications of this later I want to highlight here the realization that the simplest of single-celled organisms is revealed to be quite as complex in program execution as a modern major metropolis. Whats more, its infrastructure is so dynamic and environmentally efficient; a San Francisco or Taipei is truly barbaric by comparison. Add to that how cells (even primitive viruses) appear to be consciously cooperating with their neighbors and mysteriously communicative with other cellular systems, as well as the body as a whole. We should pray that human macrotechnologies catch up to ancient micro-biological standards.
Embryonic stem cells rule fat is no longer fatal It was quite the political crisis for awhile, at least two U.S. election cycles. European governments had already settled the questioncould hardly understand why Americans must create such a stir. Dead or dying babies were hardly in a position to complain, after all. To conservative, life-sanctifying Yanksthis was precisely the point. But the controversy has almost disappeared, and the good news is hardly noticed by major media. A persons own matured cells can be coaxed to relapse into a pre-selected state: adult skin cells (thousands flushed down the shower drain or lost in the bedding every day); and lately, adult fat cells are revealed the happiest volunteers. And we thought these ubiquitous citizens were doomed to a third-class existence, having suffered major valuation issues. A spare tire in the trunk may prove the best nest-egg investment of a lifetime. Macro-Biology and Evolution Life protein magic from soup to cell or was it underwater volcanic vents? Remember that first correction of early evolutionary theory: That life never generates spontaneously? That is, except in primordial soup. Collegians never seemed to notice that embarrassing inconsistency not until apparently archaic organisms were lately found lurking in most inhospitable environments. I guess it is always a question of where one goes looking. First it was hydrocarbon spills, whether natural or (Curses!) the man-mined abomination. Mother Earth hadnt time to evolve any biological remedy to human pollutants. Then some upstart went snooping, after noticing how seasonal rainfall deteriorates asphalt pavements. Probably acid rain But no! Look at thatPoor squigglies! A variety of bacteria evidently starving was found to be feeding (reluctantly) upon oil. But some decades later, I hear that the bugs arent shy about their diet at all. Theyve been gobbling oil and tar seeping from ocean floors for eons out of time. And they love it. (More implications of this find later.) Next news was the doctor down-under who dared report that stomach ulcers may be caused by bacteria. It took the scientific community ten more years to accomplish requisite peer review, meantime defaming the guys professional name. Everybody knew that living organisms cannot survive in such acidic environments, so why investigate or bother trying to replicate the claims of a quack? I wonder how many patients suffered and even died for lack of basic antibiotic therapy. My own father was one of those. Personally, I suspect it was that reversal which started a broader sea wave of suspicion. If life scientists were wrong about oily or acid baths, where might further unsuspected forms of life be hiding? They have since announced discovery of a whole new branch on the primordial Tree of Life, affectionately called extremophiles. Boiling or freezing, even oxygen-blighted and otherwise sterile or toxic extremeslife was ever poised to thrive.
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And Shizzam! The notion of lifes earliest appearance in an accidental protein gumbo is declared oh-such-a-50s problematic mess. Makes much more sense to suppose that original spores learned to grow where the sun dont shine, where O2 or CO2 are scarce Heck, we always suspected that oldest atmospheres of Earth must have been toxic to later forms of life. Perhaps oxygen itself was a onetime poison. Where else and in what other unanticipated forms might explorers discover sentients? SETIs quest for Life-as-we-know-it on other planets quantum physics and extremophiles change the game Another science drifting out of media view is the project signaling our existence to hoped-for civilizations in other locales of our universe. Based on human history, I could never understand the presumption that such Others must be better than deadly rivals. The whole venture is potentially a horrible gamble. Meanwhile, I marvel at summary dismissal of religious traditions namely that multiple classes of alien civilization had long ago converged upon our planet. Now, given the possibilities of quantum mechanics such as alternate dimensions, subatomic awarenesses, dark energies and other spooky extra-physical events; also discovery of life flourishing in wholly unexpected regions: When will they start looking for evidence of entities and even intelligences swarming in subspace, in antimatter or parallel dimensions of reality? Of course, science fiction media have played with this idea for almost half a century. But isnt it time, finally, to consider the likelihood seriously that mankind has never been alone? Priests and Seers and other metaphysical sensitives have been reporting alien (call it angel or demon) encounters for millennia. Meanwhile, more and more astronomers are sighing their admittance that the quest for contact with off-world life-as-we-know-it is probably doomed to disappointment or else (another sigh) relief. The more they search, the more evident that our cosmic situation is truly unique. I am certainly happier resting with the improbability of superhuman cyborgs or insectoids seeking to invade our solar system. At least we have a historically documented legacy of successful resistance against ambitions of demon hordes. If you are human, thank Zabumafoo or maybe it was Flipper If you can read this, thank a teacher. Those bumper stickers quietly disappeared as investigative press exposed how the most academic graduates were learning their skills in spite of public education faux pas. (That should be noted in my Socio-Economics list of reversals.) Similarly, once upon a time No, not so long agoLife Science texts were printed with the now-classic illustration of Homo-Erectus (a mythical beast) crowning the succession of Apes on the evolutionary climb to Modern Man. Yet while many of those charts remain in use (in lower grades), universities now teach that humankind is derived from a separate branch parallel to ape-kind. Both supposedly owe their lineage to an undiscovered common link more lemur-like than monkey or chimp (see Figure A). But why, I ask, do the theorists go there? Havent animal behaviorists better established our kinship with crustaceans? By far, some of the most intelligent and socially adept of
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species are dolphins and killer whales. There is even evidence of their developing abstract forms of language. And I am certain that Flipper was really laughing at his jokes. Those monkey-types are obviously faking it. Sing Auld Lang Syne for the Age of Reptiles Tweet If Darwinian evolutionists ever entertained the idea of bird species emerging from dinosaurs, they acted too smart to admit it. Then China finally opens its borders for paleontologists to explore A-thru-L of Earths fossil index. Not only did they discover strata laid upside down (so much for a coherent record); some fossils there appear to reveal that certain reptilian species sported feathers. So then, are birds (especially the flightless Big Bird) evolved from purple Barney? Whole universities have already shifted that direction. Not so fast! comes the latest pronouncement. Make room for a new and opposing theorybecause further evidence suggests that dinosaurs (at least most intelligent varieties) evolved from birds. Talk about turning convention on its head! Medicine and Psychology Coffee wont stunt your childs growth but its bad no, its good This one is a flip-flop issue only one of a long list of double reversals: fructose from corn syrup was supposed to replace sugar; margarine was promoted to supplant fatty butter; there were all kinds of substitutes for heart-stopping eggs; healthy carob instead of toxic chocolate; plastic cups and bottles would be friendlier than glass; we decaffeinated coffee to death. Now corn syrup is bad and sugar is better (though they list it as crystallized cane juice just to hide the flip back again). BPA plastics cause infertility for generations following. Margarine is made of corn and plastic. Cholesterol in eggs is good stuff, not bad after all. Chocolate and coffee the stronger, the better. Studies were faulting coffee for blood sugar and adrenal disorders, and even esophageal cancer. Others have begun to praise anti-oxidant properties of the daily cup of Joe. Lately, it appears that consensus is turning in favor of moderate coffee drinking; likewise chocolate indulgences, wine and beer. (This is not the trend, by the way, of research regarding use of marijuana or other recreational drugs). Everything from overall immuno-proficiency to hedging ones bets against cancer: Java is proving to be the legendary magic bean. But moderation is key. And this warning was recently underlined by a study of pregnant mothers coffee habits. Conclusion: too much may indeed stunt Babys gestational development. Placebos certainly cannot work except when they do When I was growing up, one heard rumor that certain family doctors would slip sugar pills to hypochondria-leaning clients. It wasnt illegal (though some radicals were declaring sugar a dangerous substance) and the tablets werent likely to violate the Hippocratic oath, First do no harm. Yet the use of placebos was perceived as trick medicine, both their reported effects as healing agents and their interference with
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healthcare research. Thus the standard use of double-blind trials where even the prescription of placebo therapies is hidden to eliminate its effect. What effect? Now really But really, golly, truly nowdoctors are forced to acknowledge how that mental predisposition alters biochemical and neural-physiology. Before this decade, the majority of physicians preached that You arent what you eat, and You certainly arent what you merely think about. Enter the new biology of belief. Yes, I said it: Belief. Attitude and expectation of a positive or negative outcome produces measurable results. They suspect it is hormonal, probably dopamine or natural cortisones in the vicinity of the brainstem. But the numbers are overwhelmingly significant, proving that placebos and nocebos (their cursed opposites) truly affect ones health and healing. Scans show further localized neuro-chemical response whether it be the root cause or another physical symptom of more basic energetic processes. Before I float the energetic argument, consider some recent medical history, as follows. Leeches and herbalists were quacks vampires of today Not only do modern doctors and hospitals deal in blood far more than leechcraft of oldbut those medics specializing in drawing blood will affectionately refer to themselves as vampires. They think its funny (while the subjects of their art nervously laugh along); but the label has proven prophetic of another scientific reversal. Some researchers are quite willing to mark it down as yet another placebo effectthat the practice of bloodletting ever seemed to work. But others recognized that such an ancient and persistent practice surely deserves more thorough investigation. Im sure they actually expected to discredit it to death; but results were undeniable. For certain maladies, the therapy works wonders and it is especially effective using river leeches specially bred. Seems the worms know a trick of painless incision that knives or needles (or human vampires) can never pretend. As if leeches werent creepy enough some wounds are benefiting dramatically from the voracious attentions of maggots (also laboratory grown). The yuck factor may ever remain one facet of medicinal science. Wonder drugs will save the world until antiseptic is proven toxic One of the darkest seasons of our parenthood for my wife and mewas the day we rushed our boy from the doctors office to Emergency for a bone infection. It was the scariest of reversals, with impending life or death consequences, when one doctor was contradicted by a colleague upon our worried return; the first had mistakenly called it merely a spider bite or bruising and sent us home. Fortunately, hospital doctors were able to guess at a timely therapy, before blood tests and scans were indicative. Then we were surprised again when the patient was released to our care to recover in a home environment.
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No, they dont like to keep an otherwise healthy child in hospital for longer than necessary to stabilize and decide upon treatment. The familiar home environment is healthiest, however unsanitary; because the friendly bacteria help restore a natural balance of resistance to further invasive bugs. Despite the incentive of additional hospital revenue; it has proven persuasively hazardous (legally) to risk introduction of hospitalborne superbugs resistant to antiseptics and our best antibacterial therapies. Vaccination may be a gamble, but its our civic duty except when the doctors pass Yup Thats what finally dissuaded us as parents from complying uncritically with the standard schedule of vaccines for our children. Doctors were reported to have declined the procedure for their own children and grandchildren. The jury remains out (though hardly deliberating) over the issue of vaccinations long-term and epigenetic effects. In some cases, questions remain as to short-term efficacy as advertised And then we were required to sign the paper informing us of known possible side effects, as scary or more ominous than the childhood disease at issue. I remember the doctor at the hospital where my young boy was treated. Vaccines are consistently proven safe in trials, was the statement he recited; and he emphasized the word safe like all of them doas if it bore specialized meaning intended to transfer culpability for risk right back to the subject or parents; meanwhile retaining our cooperation just long enough to complete the operation. After that its too late for challenges. It was like when the nurse told me as a kid that the injection wouldnt really hurt and anyway, its over quickly. It did hurt, of course; she knew that I knew by the way she said the word hurt that it would. We bought the vaccines, for all of our children; except when the pertussis shot became unavailable as a separate (more expensive) injection. At the time, the issue was a toxic preservative used for combining vaccineslater discontinued. Even so, I find industry arguments suspicious and unpersuasive. Can they blame me? Just last night, I read of yet another study concluding that common viral infections (cold and flu) appear essential as conditioning of a body for optimal immune response to lifethreatening pathogenic invasions. Flu vaccines may actually produce the opposite of that classically intendeddisabling the bodys most effective disposal of truly serious biological dangers. Long ago, I read of similar studies regarding shots for measles and chicken pox. Energetic therapies deserve to be outlawed new market for alternative medics Now, considering such history (recent medical science reversals) I am persuaded to reevaluate medicines outside the allopathic reserve. Yes, its a wild world of alternative therapies; but the track record of conventional drugs is daunting, to put it mildly. Except in clear cases of emergency surgical intervention, I am finding myself open to approaches that avoid the accepted chemical operations. Part of that is from having lived long enough to observe results of drug therapy over lifetimes of older relatives. Add to that the growing company of family doctors who seek alternatives for themselves and their familiesincluding various chiropractics and energetic treatments for allergy, back
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and joint disorders, as well as hormonal imbalances. My doctor always reminds me to supplement my diet with vitamins and strenuous exercise. Ten years ago, a patient never heard such a thing from AMA-approved physicians. Yet today, one can even find insurance to cover application of far-out sciences; such as acupuncture, aroma-therapy and bio-psychology programs. Chiropractors may have been the first in western society basing their practice on a science of energetic body processes. New studies every month are confirming the validity of ancient eastern medical models that assume some kind of other-dimensional body of life underlying bio-chemical systems. Such a view even begins to make sense of homeopathic remedies. Its the sort of development one might expect were biologists to begin looking for answers where indicated by other physical science reversals. Biologists should allow their studies to be informed by the findings of Physics, and vice versa. Neurology is fixed and dead brain cells are irreplaceable I will be what I will to be This is a biggy! I remember noting it during public school health classes warning students against use of drugs. Problem was that it also carried the fatalistic message that ones personality is determined before birth. So a person prone to addictive behavior and substance dependence is predestined to a subhuman quality of life. Rehabilitation is doomed to failure. Of course, nobody ever actually preached that equation. This belief resulted primarily from the standard presupposition that a human brain works like any other computational machine. To carry any volume of electromagnetic signals, the neurons must basically die ahead of time (like so many copper wires); and they do so very early in life. But every experiment aiming to demonstrate such a model has utterly failed. Neurologists have since admitted that reality is proven much as our Sunday School teachers taught: a person is designed to choose freely what quality of life he may lead. Mental attitude is everything gratitude, respect, obedience, etc; self-discipline and healthy habits follow (despite contrary circumstances; i.e., poverty); then the needed neurons and networked connections are dynamically reformed. So what does this mean in the wild? Some good character may be inborn but if it isnt practiced, the neural synapses go slack; and bad habits (including habits of thought) rewire the brain. More importantly, even a genetic predisposition to destructive behaviorit neednt spell miserable demise. Add to that the dynamic of epigenetics: so ones good effort and practice during this lifetime even when less than successful, and especially during male adolescencewill positively impact future generations of genetic predisposition. Those Boy Scout programs and their backward conservative values may be key, in practice, to progressively civilizing future society. The cultural struggle for our young mens attitudes and minds is truly the war to end all wars. Energy and Environment Petroleum is a disappearing resource bottomless wells A century ago, automobile engineers had to decide which technology to invest in: electric motors or gas engines. The choice was easy, as more and more oil resources were discovered. It became even cheaper when middle-east production entered the world
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market. But environmental scientists wanted to spoil the party. Gasoline is a fossil fuel exploiting eons to supply mere hours of polluting energy. The resource will soon be depleted So the world must either lower living standards or find alternative energy sources. By the time I graduated from college, the pressure was on big time, and the Mideast oil cartel started playing power games. Meanwhile, my country was shutting down access to domestic oil reserves, and cost of living began rising exponentially; because now most every industry depended upon oil, including manufacture of all kinds of plastics. Alternatives were not looking very helpful, short of a breakthrough in nuclear fusion. The future of modern life-as-we-know-it looked grim. Then a curious report surfaced: One oil well pumped dry had somehow replenished itself. Where was the new oil coming from? Lab experiments have proven now that oil is not exclusively, nor even primarily, the product of biomatter conversion. The term fossil fuel is a mistake. Now geologists have learned how to locate oil reserves far deeper and more plentiful than ever suspected when searches were limited to shallow fossilized fields. General media and politics havent yet seized upon the newsBut it appears there was never any crisis after all. There is no good reason that oil production shouldnt proceed more cheaply and safely than ever. Petroleum is the least efficient energy source dead birds and dirty glass We have learned how to burn gasoline and coal more cleanly. Hybrid-electric cars because of battery weight and repair expenseare indeed least efficient while burning gas; but their electric motors would be useless if power plants werent burning coal and oil. Even fuel cell technology is said to work better using hydrocarbons. So why does the mantra continue that petroleum energy is least efficient? Wind and sunlight is free; doesnt pollute like carbon fuels. I believed the claims and wondered like everyone else why investment didnt shift that direction. What about new hydro-electric generation ideas? Ocean waves and tides are free also. There is even technology now to deal with nuclear power waste. Cold fusion is a proven fact (though hardly usable). Turns out that environmental activists are now resisting development of most every energy alternative. Solar energy farms are best located in wastelands and deserts. But they require water lots of itto wash and cool the glass panels. So we burn oil to transport the water, itself a precious commodity; then we boil off the water in hopes of maximizing solar energy conversion. Windmill farms are expensive and unsightly. Even environmentalist Senator Kennedy complained of installations decorating his commute. All these technologies are said to disturb local wildlife, especially the flying and swimming kind. Suddenly we dont hear so much about wind and sun; less about water sources. Even our leftist president wants to build nuclear plants and reinstate domestic oil drilling, despite protests of old-school tree huggers. This is a major about-face.
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Petroleum use is irredeemably polluting tar baby bugs When I was young, we had smog-alert days during every heat wave. I remember well the aching lungs. Cars congesting the roads amounted to a pitiable fraction of the numbers out there now. Yet today, I hardly ever hear of schools closing due to smog levels. L.A. sunsets are no longer near as interesting. Obvious success of emissions controls represents one example of government regulation actually helping. However, further regulative goals threaten to bankrupt whole states to achieve a zero emissions standard. All CO2 emissions are declared poisonous though everyone knows that plants cannot grow without it. None could ever have guessed that the lowest of life forms might rescue us from such self-destructive nonsense. Remember the oil-gobbling microbes? They are being genetically modified: Oil and tar goes in one end, and processed gasoline comes out the other. Diesel-farting bugs may save our economy one day. Time to convert those giant beer and wine tanks to magic petroleum digesters instead. Landfills will consume our living spaces garbage for sale Even trash especially paper and vegetable wasteis in demand as an ongoing energy resource. No more landfills converted to stinky parks They are valued methane plants when properly engineered. The U.S. military is developing the technology now to make their operations entirely energy-independent within a few years. Even the rawest sewage is proven burnable for supplemental energy production. Modern humanity makes forests and species vanish ghosts of disappearances past Popular science says: American forests are a tiny fraction of their ancestral grandeur and can never recover naturally. The North American Bison was hunted to the brink of extinction by invading Europeans. The Plains Indians and ancient Mayans lived in harmony with the earth and brother species. Modern human populations and lifestyles will accelerate the erasure of natural plant and animal forebears. Extinctions are adding up faster than naturalists can discover and name those surviving. Uncelebrated corrections tell: We now have far more acreage of North American forests than Europeans first discovered. Indigenous tribes and climate change had already shrunk buffalo herds to a small remnant of primordial numbers. Mayans and their forebears were stripping rainforests bare for centuries to make room for their farms and city centers; in fact, the forests have grown back like weeds to hide ruins from all but most advanced archeological scans. Most ancient American cultures were systematically raping the land, persecuting their neighbors and basically destroying themselves. Zoologists and botanists publish discovery of hundreds of new species every year. And curiously, many of those are proven to be living successors of fossilized finds presumed extinct. Latest admissionthe taxonomy of dinosaurs requires a thorough revision, as many of those believed to have been separate species represent juvenile stages of maturation (much as we see today with birds and fish).
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Anthropology and Civilization Early humans had no music, art or government; no soul ol time Neanderthal religion It has been assumed that prehistoric man was not capable of culture or mythological imagination. Such attributes certainly require greater evolution of brain and community. Meanwhile, more artifacts are surfacing that can only be explained as ritualistic in purpose and design. What if the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons were actually relatively sophisticated races, more advanced culturally than Homo Sapiens? Perhaps it was more like the Roman conquest of the Greeks. Relative brain size like other forms of bulk doesnt necessarily indicate moral superiority. Primitive man lacked abstract language and writing skill universal cave doodles Just yesterday I read about some rogue re-evaluation of human petroglyphs. Of course prehistoric tribes had no inkling of grammar or penmanship. Squiggles and dots on the oldest of cave drawings were always overlooked as random or childish scribbles. Why then do such figures in Europe closely resemble those found on other continents? The variety and consistency of drawings would suggest hieroglyphic significance. Seems those old guys practiced some sort of global symbology most likely for religion or trade. Archeology proves the Bible is a book of fables Ramses was the delusional liar I challenge any reader to investigate evidence for the standard belief. New proofs are uncovered every month establishing that it was the pharaohs and emperors of powers surrounding Israel who perpetuated revisionist histories. Successors of those cultures still practice the ancient arts of propaganda And they are proud of it. The biblical record is uniquely candid and complete, never sparing leaders of the chosen people the historical judgment they deserved. That fact alone should predispose researchers to consider that even miracle stories were probably founded in fact. Population apocalypse Mao, Hitler and Lenin follies My grandparents educators believed their cultures and governments had evolved beyond the practice of genocide or war. Later, title of a popular book may have blinded my generation to painful truth. We were so mesmerized by looming threats of population explosion, that whole history departments hardly noticed reports of atrocities perpetrated by revered leaders of our humanist age. Multiple millions of those deliberately slaughtered or negligently starved would dwarf any of the barbarous accomplishments of humanitys religious past. Yet, purely secular motivations sought correction of natural trends genetic or economic. Latent evolutionary faults (unpurged) must culminate in such cultural horrors as described by 20th century doomsday prophets; their predictions echoed as quasi-scientific warnings of Future Shock. Mankind and Earth can never adapt to such ballooning numbers and changing modernist demands. The warnings seemed thoroughly reasonable; I believed them. Many of our parents believed it too. Most sobering realization must be that my fellows and my children are no more purely evolved than their forebears: We are as capable as our great-grandsires of perpetrating horrors. The really candid anthropologists and economists admit that growing populations and changing technologies present at least as much promise as
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challenge. Most recent decades prove it inarguably so. The warring and terror and enslavement allowed to continue round the globe do not generate from regions where cultural advancement has rooted and bloomed. No its the ethnically pure despotic governments and ideological terrorists that stubbornly refuse to peacefully adapt.
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Change step March! of the Raphus Cucullatus

Finally, I am beginning another listthis one features current scientific certainties that I suspect (propose) to be candidates for reversal. Think of it as a watch list of What-Ifs, a registry of endangered beliefs What if this also is mistaken? Perhaps the idea is destined to go the way of the Dodo. In some cases my suspicions are shared by boldly qualified researchers of opposing evidence; otherwise it may be intuition, or simply my wish-filled fanciful thinking. By certainties I mean where science professors are likely to include accepted findings in a text or lecture series; where politicians are persuaded to base policy and/or legislation upon a perceived consensus of prevailing belief; also established theory and conclusion so treated as fact that any further research or theorizing will likely be premised upon it. For instance, anthropologists believe that no civilization capable of building large city structures existed prior to BC 4500. Therefore recent scans revealing evidence of giant manmade structures seismically submerged under oceans and dredged-up artifacts dating 12000 BC these are immediately dismissed as probable misrepresentations and therefore hardly worth further investigation. Of course, the new findings may prove after all to be misleading and so further corroborate established belief. But what if the consensus is wrong? And shouldnt every scientist want it verified? No? Why not? And what makes that question irritate you so?
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Figure A: Conventional Theories of Evolution
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Double time Forward! My Watch List of Endangered Beliefs

Astro-Physics and Geology Metaphysical life on other planets: a question of angels on a pin Astro-anthropologists (I made up the title) seem so sure that other-worldly entities must be carbon-based, water-dependent, gravity-bound and temperate-zone forms of life. What if SETI was conceived to search the wrong heavens, after all? What about inner space? Let the most respected theories of quantum physics inform the project; look for intelligence and design and ordered signals of entities reaching out from super-material dimensions. I suspect that somebody somewhere has already conducted such a quest only to be scared back from the brink of madness. Nevertheless, we may not be so far from a science able to close the gaps separating faith from fact; chemistry from alchemy; astrology from astrophysics; religion or mythology from history. Metaphysical life on our world: bees knees and their inexplicable sense of direction There remains so much unaccounted and probably incomprehensible within restraints of physical science: especially regarding the innate intelligence of insects and animals even the single-celled varieties; their awesome migratory smarts; metamorphosis magic and intricate social organizations. Yet zoologists refuse to entertain stories regarding parallel dimensions of earth environment. What of the legendary hidden realmswhole kingdoms of faeries and gremlins? Animals appear to know when a disaster approaches, before anything registers on the most sensitive of technological instruments. Tradition explains that bees dont find so much as follow their way to flowers; similarly for migrations of butterflies or bats. Natural conundrums investigated metaphysically may offer clues to cross-dimensional symbioses between animals and other entities. Micro-Biology and Genetics Bodies as symphonies of Light: molecular messaging via subspace I capitalize Light to infer the widest range of electromagnetics, from subsonic to the highest frequencies of the whole spectrum. I am watching daily for results of studies verifying the metaphysics of energetic health technicians. It is claimed that a nanobiological level of messaging best explains efficacies of chemical, hormonal and pathogenic acts. How else can a cell one among astronomical numbersknow immediately what instruction is received by a fellow at the opposite end of the body? Latest research suggests that stem cells are coordinated to transform and rebuild specific organs by means of vibrational cuesflowing currents, pressures and tensions surrounding. Biologists have yet to reconstruct how mutilated skin reforms its original identifying finger print. Will they consider the possibility of a formative aural body or energetic template? Experiments are demonstrating how light can be used to heal or destroy within biological environs. Tuned to a specific wavelength, white light was effective to purge live blood of a viral infestation. The membrane of a virus is comparatively brittle, so the vibration shatters the buggers without harming surrounding body cells.
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Macro-Biology and Evolution Intelligent alien fellows: redefining life as we know it and evolutionary process Before we can ever consider other forms of life elsewhere, zoologists must brave to look again (and again) at our home worlds totality of environments. A big part of such a turn-about means reconsidering when and where evolution might plausibly happen. Even observing quickstep propagations of fruit flies, bacteria and viruses there has never been a recorded case of material evolution of species. Multiply the generations of mutations and adaptations: and a fly remains a fly, a bacterium remains the same species of bug; likewise every humanly-selected dog breed remains a dog. Let go of the bias reserving the term life for flesh-bound entities; then one may entertain the possibility (not a new idea at all) that physical corporality is only one form; not the original form, never the most populous form, nor the form of bodyhood most conducive to change. Of course, then, Science must subsume the idea of uncarnate living soul or spiritelse some other quantum definition. New species result from coding mistakesepigenetics and genomic hybrids It has been exciting to follow the recent frenzy to reverse-engineer the epigentics of DNAs ninety-eight percent junk or noncoding sectors between genes. But so far, that effort is limited to medicine. Im afraid that paleo-archaeologists will be less enthusiastic about implications regarding zoology, past and present. It was hoped that the unexplained sections of DNA might provide a means of reconstructing the evolutionary Tree of Life a sort of calendar or logbook of genetic history. The more of junk DNA that is recognized to have current or active significance, the less of supposed evolutionary vestiges there remains to map as record of the origins of species. Among those genomes decoded thus far, a few have emerged to thoroughly confound the geneticists expectations. Some species are comprised of extremely odd combinations that defy natural theories of evolution. Imagine uniquely squirrelish or birdish or treeish DNA inserted into chromosomes of a monkey; or a sea slug modified by ocean algae to derive sustenance (like a plant) from the sun. Another ocean hybrid has proven that two completely unrelated evolutionary lines sea squirt and urchinwere conjoined as something unique. It is every bit as mysterious and wonderful as the metamorphosis of worm to butterfly though we were somewhat acquainted with that (while no more able to explain). Some argue away anomalies as a consequence of surviving viral infections. Others regard it as evidence of deliberate (however inscrutable) genetic engineering. Neanderthals migrated out of this world but they left behind heap Big Foot prints Genetic archeologists have already found DNA evidence to suggest that some of the bigbrowed guys (or gals) interbred with those upstarts standing taller. They say now that more genetic variability exists between clans of chimpanzees than between all current races of men. We are perpetrating a very limited (select; remnant) range of human DNA possibilities. Paleontologists claim to have isolated several extinct hominid lines; though none dare refer to them any longer as ancestors of modern human evolution (more about this problem later). Ancient accounts (some biblical) refer to rival humanoid lines. Consider the sons of Cain, children of Anak or so-called giant nephilim. Such races
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were reported to have departed from preferred adamic modes of development (the sons of Seth); many represented abominations resulting from alien interferencessubhuman or superhuman deformities. Rather than dismissing these records as mythological dreams: What if anthropologists were to regard ancient myth as a distorted collective memory of that which was? Think of such stories as giant footprints shadowing Historys less explored dominions. If you are human, thank an ape or was it a cuttlefish (human-spirited invertebrates)? As noted, paleo-anthropologists are no longer so eager to point to a modern ape as anything very close to the ancestor of man. Yet we continue to imagine a missing evolutionary link more ape-like than lemur or rat. If present conditions are not, in fact, key to the past; if an evolutionary process required a more malleable, pre-flesh and prebone density of corporeality; if higher intangible attributes (such as intelligence and emotion and consciousness) were also part of a long process culminating in human there demands nothing limiting pre-humanity to quadruped mammals. Smarts were never the special domain of apes. Dolphins appear most verbally able (brains proportionately larger than human); the octopus is most inventive and adept at use of tools. No animal compares to the cuttlefish for depth and variety of expression of feelings. Swarms of single-celled microbes are proving more self-aware and magically community-minded. I am quite willing to entertain a broader view: an inverted mode of evolution. What if human volition and creativity pre-existed the advent of physical species? What if the varieties of animal forms are rather vestiges of previous adamic adaptations? Maybe we are more closely related to cephalopod nature than anthropoids, after allat least spiritually or mentally speaking. The fossil record may represent only the latest devolutions merely those least malleable, hardened formsbodies originally designed to accommodate human evolvements. This could hardly be more out-of-step with the current scientific drill. However, I find it worth thinking aboutAnd no, it wasnt my own idea or fanciful dream. As a model of human development, this set of theories predates Darwins by several millennia (see Figures A and B). Medicine and Psychology Sometimes I think like a nut: evolution of consciousness and ancient adepts So long as I am tripping out of ranksmay as well march to my own drum. I am starting with an assumption completely opposite to that inferred by modern anthropologists. What if ancient man was never primitive? Just because we find artifacts of subsistence styles of living dating back to prehistoric agesit doesnt necessarily follow that Fred Flintstone was simple-minded. As earlier reviewed, there is good evidence for the reverse. Certainly, we can deduce from studying previous cultural writings that modern consciousness is most rationalistic, most materially inventive and democratically minded compared to previous races. But Socrates was by no means simple. Nor was Moses or Ramses.
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I find myself playing a mind game, imagining what future archeologists might deduce from diggings regarding our societal values and smarts if all they found were remains of summer encampment at a wilderness refuge or park. The American natives were considered primitive, at first, by visiting Europeans. Then archeologists began studying so-called Mound People sites. Turns out, the indigenous tribes that early immigrants encountered were remnants; descendants of refugees who survived enigmatic catastrophes (probably disease) having decimated the prior continental civilization. So perhaps even Cro-Magnon man was far more sophisticated than artifacts can tell. And if latest deep-sea finds prove to be ancient ruins, after all maybe our self-aggrandizing notion of civilizations evolution is also inverted fact. Surely, ancient worldviews must have been different; self-consciousness was probably alien to ours. The normal mind of long ago might well have been nocturnal, clairvoyant or atavistic. What we experience as dreaming might have been their keenest awareness, and physical existence comparatively crude. Inmate cultures found in modern mental institutions suggest such an alternative life-style. When ones mind is otherwise occupied, physical/material demands recede into fuzzy background. This also implies that ancient leaders and adepts must have practiced a completely different method of science; different styles of medicine, societal values, government and education. Like many animal species, self-hood had more to do with the Collective: a family or tribal we-hoodor so one might imagine interpreting biblical record more literally. And again, the alternate modes of thinking seen among mentally misfitting citizens may present echoes of civilizations past. Many of them seem to know things and understand minds of people inexplicably. Some are able to solve the insolvable and cure the incurable as mere afterthought. Seemingly petty concerns occupy their whole attention, while media-blitzing issues and events hardly matter. Im not saying that the psychotic represents a different kind of health. On the other hand translocate a modern academic into a pre-Flood community then see whos treated as idiot or savage intruder. Insurance wont have to pay for that: prayer, light and other energetics go mainstream Current marketed forms of energetic therapies may be scheduled for obsolescence. Once the word gets out that healing energy like sunlightis generally free and accessible, it doesnt matter that insurance wont cover that. Published studies establish that energetics work; it is likely the magic behind all kinds of placebo. The same research further verifies what we should already know: Prayer works best in numbers. Where two or three agree is the age-old accord; and conjoined good intentions of a whole community of believers can move mountains. This is true using a fleet of hydromechanics. It is likewise the key to overcoming all kinds of disease. Battling a society-wide epidemic with allopathic injections is like fighting termites with a sword. Just last night, I was reading how allergy science must finally acknowledge rival homeopathics. The key is confronting the irritant in tiny doses instead of avoiding or dodging it. Conquering threats to health and happiness requires that individuals engage in concert with an empathetic network of family and friends; most effectively in fellowship
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with a larger body of like-minded folk. Doctors hospitals expert pathologists these may be helpful; or they may be hurtful, initiating a nocebo effect, sowing distrust of a bodys healing smarts. Energy and Environment Global cooling I mean warming I meant to say, Change Our internationally-ordained high priest of climate change eschatology (Senator A.G.) was very unhappy with his congregation this week: Too many deniers; even in the wake of scandalous media exposs involving the fixing of data, miscopying, obscuring, misrepresenting and carelessly losing key data files. So much for peer review. One of the most outspoken of deniers declared: I always expected that the global warming scam must eventually be exposed But I never thought it would happen so quickly. It is proving to be a rather dizzying reversal. It was accompanied by tragedy this week as the third major earthquake in a month rocked our earth (literally, shifting its axis). Nobody dares try to blame increased seismic activity and resulting tsunamis upon climate change but hey! Give them time. Media moguls hardly blink when record blizzards get credited to man-made warming. But a large enough contingent of doubting meteorologists saw it coming and made their case clearly enough to infect whole nations with their professional apostasy Australia and New Zealand such that their governments were replaced with a mandate to reverse devastatingly oppressive regulatory policies. Now, theres a gloriously political about-face! (notice, no blood.) Happily those schisms are past and may prophesy reversal of looming U.S.A. entrapment by the cult of cap and trade. Two of our states announced suits against the EPA for declaring CO2 a toxin to earth life. May as well deprive farmers of necessary water because pumping disadvantages bait fish Oops! They already got us Californians there. Wellwhats left? Perhaps taxing the air we breathe. Thats every good socialists dream Oops, again. Doesnt air require some carbon dioxide? Besides admitted transcription errors, the science media is quietly leaking more about glaring research and modeling omissions. Appears that planet Earth is quite adept at restoring its carbon equilibrium (even erasing our messy footprints). The faithful scientists neglected to account for major environmental processes. Perhaps they were too busy measuring cattle emissions and ocean currents to observe how multiplied acreages of microbes in ground are subsuming their share of CO2 tonnage. They counted the disappearing rain forests and lower atmospheric systems, only to dismiss the whole upper stratas absorption of excess carbon. Naturally, it has been there all along to help sweep up the spew of volcanoes. Likewise our ocean floors another main player chomping volumes of carbon detritus. Funny how very inconvenient truth can really be. Future tribal ethic: live in harmony with the earth (man as savior, not monster ) But I believe even the Republican Party is taking lessons from Earth Herself. For the most deserved predictions of the doomsday environmentalists are unlikely to come to pass. We have learned some important lessons as technological beasts. At least in the U.S.A., vehicle emissions regulations are doing their job (quite effectively for
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government fiat). Certainly, we have a lot more to learn; but as certainly, our modern swarm of human civilization is remaking itself to save more of Earth than destroy it. Just look at the newest potential (already discussed) for turning our garbage into viable energy. Why, its almost Nature-like in resourceful elegance. At least our zoologists are trying to fulfill that ancient (biblical?) calling as caretakers of animal species. Heck we are even rediscovering live surviving representatives of fossilized extinctions. It would be spooky if it werent so wonderful. So, why cant we celebrate? Media was actually starting to hail how responsibly we closed the ozone hole; until global warmists shook their shushing fingers. You see, the message was mixed: hoping to distract politicians from the promising sign (like that very first rainbow) which some ozone depletion represents For Earths ozone layer actually serves to vent atmospheric overwarming. Anthropology and Civilization Early man lived like animals, because they were animals GEICO cave man revolts Which came first: the monkey or the man? Of course, man evolved from animals, most would affirm. But what replicable evidence actually supports that assumption? Why, its only logical And even the Bible says that animals came before people. What does the biblical account actually say? Yes, physical plant and animal kindred appeared before material man. But notice that God spoke, and his speaking brought forth from earth and water the subhuman life of our planet. When it came to man, it was a different formula. God first made man in our likeness, not like animals. It doesnt say: Let the earth (or the water or animal kind) bring forth people. Man was originally like the godsprimarily an entity of spirit. Not until Genesis chapter 2, after conclusion of the creation song, are we told how mans physical body was formed from the stuff of earth. And only then do we learn about a division of sex starting with humankind. All efforts so far either via paleontology or geneticsto establish the evolutionary lineage of humans They have failed to maintain any consensus from theory. Technically, by standards of scientific method, no hypothesis has actually graduated to the level of proper Theory by way of physical evidence or demonstration. Nobody has replicated how a lower species is selectively advanced (naturally or otherwise) to a higher adaptive form. In all their experiments, a dog remains a dog; a fruit fly or bacteria or nematode worm never strays from reproducing after its own kind; else it stops propagating altogether. I think it is time we approach the subject of Origins from a whole new set of suppositions. Suppose humankind really did start out differently, compared to lesser life of Earth. Suppose that the fossil (and genetic) record indicates not a progressive evolution, rather devolvement from a higher softer-bodied set of forms to lower hardened material representations. And being materialized, the physical generations exhibit lessening variability; the DNA coding is comparatively fixed and more narrowly selected; and thus mutations are more prone to mistakes that are mis-adaptive (disease, shortened life spans and deformation). I submit that the evidence is better explained as
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showing devolution and descent from metaphysical to physical, spiritual to material, creative complexity to simpler rigidity and thus vulnerable to mass extinctions (see Figure B). Sure, we see (and demonstrate) some limited adaptation within this species or that. But epigenetic principles of variable gene expression will dominate that physical science very soon. How so? Because thats where the evidence leads and its our best hope for correcting inherited disorders at root of all kinds of human suffering. Modern man grew from primitive savagery evidence for advanced ancient races So what if apes (or apelike hominids) descended from a higher ideal of man? Likewise consider the more savage races, both contemporary and prehistoric. If man was originally made godlike as the biblical account asserts, then we wont be surprised to find evidence of advanced civilization predating global geologic catastrophes. It makes as much sense (maybe more) to presume that many primitive remains represent a refugee state or standard of subsistence survived from exceedingly more civilized forebears. Anthropologists neednt even entertain fantasies of alien interferences to admit such a plausibilitynamely that ancient races of man were highly intelligent and technologically inventive. Their primary mode of communication was likely very different as per a less rigid physiologytheir science and technologies strange to us. But persistent archaeological mysteries might look less puzzling than simply foreign, indicating a prehistoric humanity more spiritually than physically oriented. Wherefrom the Sphinx? It is probably far older than the pharaohs; ancient Egyptian art was imitating something earlier. Which prehistoric farmers had the smarts to develop edible corn? We know that all our commercial grains could never have evolved in the wild. What botanical art derived seedless banana hybrids from less palatable varieties? There is no historic record of such a science, exceeding the ambitions of the latest in genetic engineering. What if other plant and animal species had intelligent help developing along lines and intentions more serving of human masters? Consider the domestic horse or milk cow: paleontological record of their origins and distributions is a tangled mess (like dog breeds) compared to naturally selective varieties of bird or lizard. Both arks were larks Indys conquest of modern scientific arrogance Despite cartoonish parodies of both ark stories, its actually beginning to look promising for another set of archeological reversals of belief. Latest news reports that Coptic Christian churches may have the lost Jewish Ark of the Covenant preserved and obscured among multiple replications. Naturally, they arent too eager to clarify the matter, inviting massive pilgrimages of media and relic hunters. The government of Iran may be similarly protecting their mountain border, being part of the ancient Ararat range. For one very promising find is said to be located there, challenging the authoritative assumption that Noahs construction could only be legend. An alternate site was recently identified as the probable Sinai mount. Ruins of King Davids palace were excavated; most recently a large wall and foundation, likely Solomons temple. Again, these
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discoveries contradict all the most learned positions regarding biblical text as fabricated history. So how could any scientist acknowledge a migration of many thousands of refugee families having crossed the Red Sea on foot? The sea floor cuts far too steep and deep, even assuming it emptied of water. However, lately a natural bridge was discovered closer to sea level at the traditional site of crossing; and photos are circulated of coral encrusted chariot wheels submerged under water in the sand. Are local Arab governments interested in pursuing these clues? No way, Yoshe. Socio-Economics I know its hardly hard science. However, much of political back-and-forth is supposedly premised upon scientific certainty. Even voter polling is higher mathematics applied. Government debt wont matter black legacy of deficit spending and recession I have a dream: vanishing public debt. (I also heard tell of three Irishmen walking out of a bar.) The national debt certainly matters to U.S. creditors, and especially increased deficit spending. We must answer to our children and grandchildren for the resulting impossible burden of taxation. They must answer to the Chinese and Japanese and other national guarantors. I can only pray that falling dollar value wont trigger a new century of worldwide warring. For decades, my city has pretended similar airs over their public arrears; my state has likewise proven foolish. Countries smaller than L.A. County are suffering financial judgment. It may take a little longer but surely as bigger, the harder we fall unless we can move a foot forward. Bankruptcy Man will come to the rescue: a rationale for ID thieves Why, I ask myself: Why would one seeking to burgle my good character and financial reputation be persuaded that he is the victim, not me? For that is precisely how they justify their art. Having once fallen snugly into the safety net called Chapter 11 (likely more times than one) it is no stretch for him to expect that nobody was actually harmed in trying (via theft) to even the score. Family finances fall, business ventures fail, politicians and governments default all the time. Yet the system remains to reduce liabilities and help debtors to regain their feet. That is one reason why ID theft will be a growing problem: false testimony was the original legal term. When our highest officials and institutions display such lack of conscience and foresight, what else can we expect of our citizens? Still I continue to teach my kids good spending habits and wise financial planning even when the only reward is some aliased wise guy leeching my accounts. I continue to hope in the natural cosmic law: that our sins will find us out. U.S. Social Security ensures my future insecurity ever diminishing returns of labor Both conservative presidents Reagan and Bush attempted to salvage SSA reserves. Both were persuaded to back off and let a future administration face the music. For fail it must (as wise Yoda would say it). Perhaps it can help to secure the situations of my parents.
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But my children cannot hope the same for me. So, like my grandfather, I mustnt count upon an elective early retirement. This laborer wont blink when the safety net finally collapses. Every year requires more and more workers to contribute a higher and higher percentage of their wages to What? one single retirees security. My father and uncles have graciously attempted to contradict my fears. Thanks guys But if this latest market meltdown (and consequential loss of my private retirement savings) teaches us anything true, it is the basic unfaithfulness of mammon. I would rather live and work resolutely than yield my ethic to growing cynicism. No country can NOT afford universal health care enter the Chilean HSA Maybe its those ancient Incan genes; the people of Chile seem to understand better than anyone (better than the U.S.) how to govern their flourishing economy. While other countries were flinging their populace down the democratic socialist path, Chileans were replacing their tax-and-spend public superfund with private health and retirement savings. Their leaders foretold the ignoble fall of socialist mechanisms and the resulting indignities of dependent peoples. If only Perhaps U.S. leaders will also see the light. Only a month ago, Chilean cities and villages were ravaged by monster earthquakes and tsunami flooding. Though devastated, they were prepared for as much. The country expects to see normal private commerce largely restored under momentum of its own resilience within weeks of national recovery efforts. So far, it appears so. In contrast, hurricane and ocean surge damage to one North American region has required years of welfare assistance. Local economy and governments were paralyzed as they awaited federal management. It was ultimately private aid organizations expediting recovery; though the same region and others like it remain just as vulnerable, being more dependent than ever upon state subsidies. History of governments and economies has well established this pattern of societal devolvementStart by expanding state help of the least advantaged in terms of healthcare and food; add free education and housing entitlements; then keep authorizing more and more government oversight, government bailouts and insurance regardless of the cost or the growing indebtedness of future taxpayers. Eventually, we are faced with the irresistible and inevitable solution of government ownership and control of larger economic sectors. And it isnt merely a slippery slope, this separation of citizens from inalienable rights and obligations; its a deliberate foot-in-door strategy (can you say conspiracy?) by many very well-intentioned, self-appointed social engineers. Guns cause crime but MacGyvers bombs are just cool Did you hear the tale of two citiesU.S. of America cities? This same story has played out similarly on an international scale; but it remains a debate of domestic policy as to the future of 2nd Amendment rights. One city council voted to effectively ban the private ownership of firearms. Leaders of a neighboring city did the opposite: reinforcing the legal ability of its people to arm against outlaw threats to life and property. Almost immediately, the disarmed city began seeing their crime rates increase, while the armed sister city saw the opposite. Would-be criminals smartly following the path of least
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resistancewere migrating, shifting operations almost entirely from one sovereign jurisdiction to the other less sovereign land of opportunity. Oh! And I almost forgot to mention that the criminals brought with them their illegally-acquired weaponry. Gun control inhibits only good citizens; it actually encourages and enables the bad. Countries like Switzerland and Israel realized this fact of life preservation long ago. Else whole governments find themselves in the paradoxical role of MacGyver: improvising high explosives where a tidy handgun would have sufficed. I guess many lawmakers lack some schooling in basic mechanics. Guns, like engines and fire crackers, work on the principle of combustion; being merely bettercontrolled smaller explosions. War is never the answer unless they threaten my brothers house Periodically I am confronted again with the mantra: War is not the answer. While I want to agree that modern evolved society should have grown out of the need for war it remains obvious to me that criminals and rogue states have not. Those prone to violence as a means to getting their way are persuaded not by words or welfare moniesby superior violence, sad as that may be; likewise the regrettable collateral threat to innocent bystanders. That latters suffering is a result (arguably necessary) of democratic standards, a system presuming the innocence of one accused until granted due process of law. In other words, law enforcers must largely wait for criminal intent to result in actual crime before attempting any arrest. Therefore, the first line of defense against such threats remains with the private citizen; even while that same freedomloving father and property owner is further deprived of his ability to defend. So I find myself rehearsing this simple set of scenarios: If a stranger entered your home (armed or not) threatening your good health and propertywould you hesitate yielding to angry violence to protect yourself and your precious household? Answer: Of course not. Even if local laws declare that you shouldnt attempt it; only the least conscientious of adults would be so paralyzed, when it comes to preserving their own. And any good political scientist must acknowledge that a modern law-based society will otherwise collapse. Even a North Korean or Cuban totalitarian thug assumes a citizen is best motivated by the self-interested urge to protect ones own. Capisce? If your neighbors home was similarly threatened, would you consider violent resistance justified? What if it was the neighbor threatening you? How about your own brothers home in a different neighborhood; even a distant city or state? My brother lives on the opposite side of the globe; and I would feel a threat to him quite the same as to myself or immediate neighbor. If their local police failed to properly serve and protect, or if state legalities outlawed effective self-protectionI would feel personally offended; my own rights must appear equally at risk. After all, what entitles me (or another) to basic freedoms and protections exceeding theirs? For that matter, wouldnt the same arguments apply to the neighbor of my brother, or that of the brother of his wife? What about the brother of a neighbor that I do not know, on
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the other side of my block; or another opposite my brothers block in a country far from my own? Distance and unfamiliarity does not neutralize the legitimacy of basic rights to self-preservation. It becomes impossible to contest any governments obligation to exercise sufficient force protecting its law-abiding citizenry, as well as due-process rights of its accused. In such an instance, war is precisely the right answer, whether on a street or over national boundaries. Where a neighbor is heard expressing repeated verbal intention to harm my household; especially where I observe that same neighbor preparing to carry out that threat (such as hoarding weapons or dangerous chemicals; training attack dogs, etc.): I would consider myself negligent for failing to make preparation or requesting pre-emptive action by local authorities. A countrys foreign policy cannot be so very different from natural rules governing other neighborly relations. War can and should usually be averted; but prohibited, even when fighting back is the appropriate answer? Here is another belief rooted in a brand of political science just begging to be ignobly reversed. Politicking must be scripted, including supporter networks SpaceBook for Congress A social networking service that is candidly reporting of all constituents concerns: This may restore a truly representative form of government where burgeoning populations have so distanced homes and businesses from their elected public servants. The Home School movement of the past three decades demonstrates a whole new model for grassroots-driven politics. It is possible again, applying current information technology and standards, for the Elect to answer directly to electors ALL constituents; not merely a chosen few supporters committed (for better or worse) to keep advancing their favorite candidate. Of course, the average voting public will be far savvier and less vulnerable to various forms of graft when empowered in such a manner. The pol and staff must be more careful what is said or written off the cuff for every statement is rendered on the record. Sure, I can email my representative in a trice as it is; but any response is obviously scripted. I dont expect that a MyFace page will enable politicians to answer each message in person (though more of that is likely to happen). But when a networking system is tailored specially for dynamic reporting of participants arguments and positions: each voice will find itself immediately joined to a plurality of those believing similar. Staffers and pundits can be equipped to better inform the boss, complete with real-life (instead of photo-oped) examples. What if a politician for whom I did not votewere to prove himself so responsive to my issues nonetheless? I might be persuaded to re-elect the knave, regardless of party affiliation; we might also see more changing theirs after actually serving a term.
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Figure B: Alternative Theories of Origins
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The Parade Goes On and On

Dont mistake me I value excitedly the pursuit of physical science, even while maintaining this basic distrust of academic certainty. But you cant expect to have it both ways, say the Richards and Carls. Oh, but I can and I do. I spend money to apply what seems to work; then I maintain a healthy skepticism about everything scientifically confirmed old and new, oldest and recently reversed. I would even question what has worked for me, because history is full of about-faces regarding apparently operable assumptions. This attitude used to be accepted as the nature of human inquiry. At least I am trying to recognize and examine my biases; it is modern science educators that appear to be hiding theirs. So, why cant a modern mind let go completely of fancy, of wives tales and wishful thinking? Why not simply and humbly trust the consensuses of Science? It would certainly be easier intellectually. It might even be simpler morally; less stressful socially or professionally (at least, for many of the less-compliant collegiates). My concise answer, of course, is that scientists and Modern Science keep getting it blatantly wrong. It will never be human nature to invest so recklessly as that. Besides, if the current experts are proven wrong about this world, or having mistakenly corrected their elders Perhaps it bears reconsideration, after all, of what Ancients said long before modern scientific certaintywhat was known intuitively or atavistically about this world and the next.
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A Parade of Modern Science Reversals

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A Parade of Modern Science Reversals

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A Parade

Modern Science Reversals