Recently a friend sent a link to an
interesting piece onPeter
Mark Roget,
he of the Thesaurus. Amongst his
many accomplishments was a book debunking the then popular study of
phrenology, invented by one Franz Josef Gall.
Aware of how many thoroughly discredited
ideas still have modern day adherents 80 did a
google search on the matter - and yes,
of course, they are out there. One
can occasionally still see in New Age stores and junk/antique shops a
pottery bust with various sections of the skull marked out and
labelled according to phrenological lore. What were the claims of phrenology
and how was it presumed to work? Basically this was that certain areas of
the brain performed specific functions and the level of development of said
functions could be determined by examination of the outside of the skull
(reading the bumps). Physiognomy, the art of
judging character from the features of the face or the form of the body
generally has been around for a long time but Gall attempted to put things
on a "scientific basis". He called the study cranioscopy but it was the word
phrenology that gained common currency. Although generally viewed as an
aberrative pseudoscience by most medical people today phrenology did act as
a precursor to current ideas of the localization of cerebral functions
although Gall envisaged these functions as properties of separate "organs"
within the head. Modern imaging techniques have shown that areas of the
brain do have specific functions but
are unrelated to the claims of the phrenologist. This has not stopped an
attempted revival of the pseudoscience as several websites will attest. The
Phrenology Page is nicely
representative, its defensive tone familiar to any devotee of suchborderland beliefs. A look at
the
The Pre-Historic Type
page from this site is most enlightening,
not particularly about phrenology but about the mindset of the author, with
its musty, Victorian vocabulary and ridiculous assertions. In contrast to
the brute apemen examined there a
link is provided to a phrenological analysis of the skull of no less than
the late
King Baudouin of the Belgians. Some
quotes give the flavor of the piece.
"The upper part of
the skull however is extremely well built, showing a full development of the
intellectual and moral faculties."
"Benevolence, located on the
upper front, at the roots of the King's hair, is extremely well built out. and
illustrates the innate goodness of the King's mind, his unbiased kindness and
altruism."
"The top of King Baudouin's head
shows an extraordinary development of Veneration and Spirituality. These two
faculties determine the whole upwardly thinking of the King, whose deep
spiritual and religious feelings were almost of a mystic nature. Conclusion:
an extraordinary cranial development shaping a mind of the highest nobility."
How the obviously (and obsequiously) royalist author,
Peter van den Bossche, can ascertain veneration or spirituality from
the shape of the skull is not explained. As ever, The Skeptic's Dictionary,
has a short but informative
essay and also supplies many interesting links,
foremost of which leads to the wonderfully named Museum of
Questionable Medical Devices. Further
information phrenological can be gleaned
here
and
here(this
last link is particularly interesting). Mark
Twain also had a run in with the bump readers detailed here
courtesy of Skeptical Inquirer.
Keeping it in
the Family
The problem with believing every word of
the christian bible is that now and again the believer is driven to the most
peculiar lengths to explain certain awkward entries. When incest is the only
way out of a tricky situation you would assume
that even the most rabid bible basher would think twice. But no. One of
the old chestnuts that godless atheists and others like to ask the biblical
literalists is who was Cain's wife? For the benefit of those whose Genesis is
a bit rusty he was one of Adam and Eve's two sons - the other being Abel,
whom Cain murdered. As Adam and his bone clone wife were the first people in
the world that should just leave the three of them, mom, dad and their
murderous offspring. Yet in Genesis 4:17 Cain "knew his wife, and she
conceived, and bare Enoch.......". Hold on, let us do a head count. Adam,
first man, one, Eve, first woman, two, Cain, first murderer and surviving son,
three. Even the most arithmetically challenged fundamentalist can only make
three out of this calculation. So, to repeat the question, who was Cain's
wife? One explanation is that god created other races besides that of Adam,
and Cain married a woman from one of these. This is not generally accepted as
it would contradict the idea of Adam as sole ancestor of humankind - apart
from those loonies such as Kingdom Identity Ministries who need a
creation of separate races for them to sneer at (See
Miniature Pet Crud -
Chosen Racists). What is needed is some creative (creationist)
thinking. Genesis 5:4 states that Adam "begat sons and daughters". It is not
specific as to when these offspring were born but perhaps Cain's wife was one
of these. This is the route taken by a couple of websites -
Christian Answers and
Bible
Answers. Now if Mrs Cain is in fact Cain's
sister we run slap bang into one of the most widespread taboos right across
the world and right across cultures - incest. So how do these morally upright
people deal with this - bearing in mind that they are the first to accuse
humanists and atheists of having no morals? They go with incest! Here is how
Christian Answers puts it
"If we now work
totally from Scripture, without any personal prejudices or other
extra-biblical ideas, then back at the beginning, when there was only the
first generation, brothers would have had to have married sisters or there
would be no more generations!We are
not told when Cain married or any of the details of other marriages and
children, but we can say for certain that some brothers had to marry their
sisters at the beginning of human history."
A very similar tack is adopted by Bible
Answers. Apparently this is justified by the need to populate the Earth -
although why god did not work the old hokum on a spare rib and create Cain a
wife from scratch is a bit of a puzzle. For a deity it must be a fairly
trivial trick. Christian Answers bravely goes on to tackle the risks of
inherited problems resulting from breeding with a close relative. This happens
now but back then Adam and Eve were created genetically perfect and so errors
could not happen. By the time of Moses "degenerative
mistakes would have built up in the human race to such an extent that it was
necessary for God to forbid brother-sister (and close relative) marriage
(Leviticus 18-20).[12] (Also, there were plenty of people on the earth by
then, and there was no reason for close relations to marry.)"
Well,
that's another biblical mystery solved. It is best to leave Christian Answers
to sum up - as we stand in stunned admiration of the mental gymnastics that
make incest a part of god's plan.
"Genesis is the
record of the God who was there as history happened. It is the word of One who
knows everything, and who is a reliable witness from the past. Thus, when we
use Genesis as a basis for understanding history, we can make sense of
questions that would otherwise be a mystery."
Imaginary
Lines
The reality of Ley lines is
one of those beliefs that give an impression of great antiquity. Prehistoric
perhaps or at the very least Iron Age - a part of ancient lore? Try 80 years
old. It was in 1922 that Alfred Watkins,
antiquarian and amateur archaeologist published "Early British Trackways". In
it he noted that ancient landmarks could be joined by straight lines criss-crossing
the map. He believed that he had found traces of trade routes from the distant
past. Many of the alignments he found are interesting but,
as with many other claims of alignment,
(the name
Hancocksprings to mind here)
given enough features on a map you can find almost anything from Watkins' ley
lines to astronomical constellations to giant astrological figures (or the
face of Elmer Fudd for that matter).
It was for others, after Watkins' death,
to suggest these lines were more than trade routes but were somehow magical
and connected to "Earth energies". These ideas have found great currency
amongst New Agers tied in with fantasies of an energy network stretching
across the globe. Unsurprisingly many of these alignments and power linkages
have been
confirmed by dowsing. (As has been pointed out
before, confirming one piece of
malarkey by using another proves absolutely nothing - except a great capacity
for self-deception.) A good basic gobbledegook-ridden
introduction to some current beliefs on the subject,
dragging in quantum physics, Rupert Sheldrake and metaphysical healing,
can be found
here.
There is a large number of other websites devoted to
ley lines,
earth energies and
alignments with mystical or sacred
sites - some of them very well produced but
none of them capable of providing a shred of proof of the existence of ley
lines - apart from the aforementioned dowsing, or intuition or some other
non-rational process. From what is admittedly a very
short perusal of these pages there certainly does seem one mystery upon which
there is no single accord - is leyline
one word or two?
Hybrid
Hilarity
On the subject of words, what is a hybrid word? One
type is fairly common such as television or automobile - a word whose elements
come from more than one language. The technical term hybrid itself has two
conflicting derivations when used in this context, both denoting disapproval.
(The Latin "hybrida" referring to the offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar
and therefore by implication that of a free Roman and a slave or foreign
mother is one. The other, claims descent from the Greek "hybris" in the sense
of an outrage or violation.) Old style grammarians view hybrid words with
abhorrence and stoop to using terms such as barbaric to describe them. All of
which 80 is sure would amuse the creators of the
next site with the hybrid name of
Insolitology which they explain thus on their
Unfrequently Asked Questions
page "Insolitology is a term coined
by us, from the Latin "insolitus" (which means "unusual, strange, uncommon"),
and the Greek "logos" (which means "study"). It is therefore the study of the
unusual and strange."
Insolitology is an enjoyably irreverent website with a
mass of fascinating, weird and unusual links. Unusually Insolitology drew
80's attention with an email -"Hello
! You seem to like entertainment sites based on crackpots. I thought you might
like to check out our new site,
www.insolitology.com . We
write about the biggest crackpots on the Internet, and get some entertainment.
Sorry if it's not to your tastes."It certainly is to
80's tastes - the links page of parody sites is
enough to lose you hours of otherwise productive time let alone the
Inexplicable Sites
page.
Insolitology - barbaric hybrid or not
- is highly recommended.
Quick Hits
Any regular reader cannot
help but notice that 80 makes frequent
mention of The
Skeptic's Dictionary by Robert T. Carroll,
Professor of Philosophy at Sacramento
City College. AtThe Center
for Inquiry - West website he answers the question
What
is a Skeptic? with great thoughtfullness and
insight.
"The
Southern Poverty Law Center,
founded in 1971, is a non-profit organization that combats hate, intolerance
and discrimination through education and litigation." This organization and its web project
Tolerance.org
deserve support and encouragement - it is frightening how much past baggage is
still with us in the 21st century and these people have the guts to do
something about it.
For 30 years NASA's Landsat satellites have been
imaging the Earth - to celebrate the anniversary visit the online gallery
called Our Earth As Art
- and see many beautiful, mysterious and awe-inspiring pictures of the home
planet.
Further to the piece in last month's issue ,
Perilous Pool Hall, and the
recent news of another
asteroid we may all get to know intimately in 2019 here is another site
dedicated to the detection and possible deflection of Solar System debris, the
imposingly named
Spaceguard Central
Node. Here you can find links to all manner of
information on the study of Near Earth Objects and
also to a regular magazine called, aptly enough
Tumbling Stone . This has
sections on the latest news, an archive of images, a cartoon collection and
more. For a more immediate visual
impression of the crowded inner Solar System
this
diagram from the Minor
Planet Center will certainly surprise and possibly petrify
you. To counteract this do take a look at NASA
pouring cold water (well,
luke warm water) on the idea of imminent impact.
Stop
Press
Almost too late for
inclusion Brian C has sent word of a remarkable website. Called
In His Image, it offers, for free, web
page backgrounds, email stationery and special graphics all of a particularly
cloying christian nature. Brian in fact suggested 80
could make use of these wonderful facilities, most especially the page
backgrounds. Sadly 80 has to decline the idea on
the grounds of taste - or lack of it. One background selection in particular
turned 80's admittedly delicate stomach -
Father's Pets.
This a nauseatingly cute and twee collection of cuddly animal images of baa
lambs, ducklings, and little birdies. A far cry from the stench of blood and
burning animal sacrifices that used to emanate from the Temple in Jerusalem -
attended by Jesus and his disciples, who continued to attend even after their
leader's demise. Now, if In His Image could knock up a good burnt offering
page background that would be worth considering, or perhaps the
spitting in the blind man's eyes episode would make a nice subject (Mark
8:22).
Quotes
"Operationally,
God is beginning to resemble not a ruler but the last fading smile of a cosmic
Cheshire cat." Sir Julian Sorell Huxley
"Those who desire to give up Freedom in
order to gain Security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."
Thomas Jefferson (Perhaps John Ashcroft would
like to put this on his office wall next to the 10 Commandments.)
"Ignorance is preferable to error; and
he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes
what is wrong."
Thomas Jefferson
"Quotation, n. The act of repeating
erroneously the words of another. The words erroneously repeated." Ambrose
Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911
"We have to remember that what we
observe is not nature in itself but
nature exposed to our method of searching."Werner Heisenberg
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put
away childish things." Corinthians I 13:11
"That should include your religious
fantasies, Paul." Ross W Sargent
