Book Review: Suppression of Inventions and other Discoveries

‘Suppression of Inventions and other Discoveries’ by Jonathan Eisen chronicles one of the darkest sides of our culture. As the topics of misinformation, campaigns, attacks by orthodoxy and other unpalatable wrongs is a good fit for a large collection I think, the author has grouped this book into four sections.

In section I, alternative medicine is examined with emphasis on the way modern medicine. How the medical companies and their agents have constantly obstructed any foray into new fields, however nontoxic and inexpensive, the methods of medical treatment proposed. How, a large multitude of suffering patients with serous degenerative illnesses like AIDS, cancer etc are denied possible cure as a result of such obstructionist approaches.

Section II deals with the efforts taken by organized science to suppress independent research, especially of unorthodox in nature. How the state has constantly resorted to burning of books, destroying laboratories and obstructing pure thought. Selective suppression of certain works of Freud, the water wizard, Schauberger, Egyptian history and Dr Velikovsky, Neurophone which works towards enabling one to hear sounds utilizing signals from the skin and Dr Batteau, are some of the notable instances covered here.

Section III is about UFO and extra terrestrials and the involvement in these, by governments. How certain enthusiasts of science beat anti-gravity and how their discovery do not fit into the current view, how they establish a connection between electricity and gravity, and how they encounter discouragement from every quarter of state and its authority, are discussed in this section. Critical insight into the many sightings of UFO as well as, the controversies surrounding the US Moon mission and its historical background are few of the exciting parts of this section.

Section IV is about the quest for fuel savers and the call for alternate energy and how that is stymied by established science. Pogue’s research into the possibility of utilizing fuel vapor, the aura around Nikolai Tesla, Lester J Hendershot’s machine utilizing the magnetic field of Earth, Henri Moray’s foray into Radiant Energy, Pacheko and the technology to trap hydrogen, are some of the interesting descriptions contained here.

This book is an eye opener. It familiarized me with two things. People take a lot of interest in exploring, collecting data, analyzing and reaching conclusions. People also take a lot of interest in preventing someone from exploring, collecting data, analyzing and reaching conclusions. The former, I knew. Now I know the latter.

Each chapter of this book presents a unique case of unparalleled machination, and there is suspense at every turn of page. I found this book arousing, one that will also leave you with a plethora of thoughts.

WHAT is SEXISM?

I came across the following as the most common examples of sexism. All these examples struck me as fallacies, all of these but based on man’s misplaced judgment. For, though the observed nature, like being assertive, showing competence, etc. may be dispersed in a similar manner among men as well as women, the underlying reasons will be very different. Man chooses to be so, to satisfy some of his desires of domineering, whereas for the woman, the adopted nature is only for meeting the ends. (Women generally do not have any unfulfilled desires of control and oppression. Also, if and when she has any of submission, people, mostly men, are there always at her call!)

-If women are assertive, it can be seen as aggressive.  Women have to walk a thin line between being too nice and too forceful. 

The substantial difference between man and woman is that it is easy to please a man, for, he will always find a need for whatever is offered, but impossible to do that to a woman except by meeting the real need. And it is not difficult to see that man’s assertive nature is easily containable, mostly, by feeding his ego. In the case of a woman, the assertive nature being closely linked with the real issue at hand, there is hardly any room for shortcuts like in the case of man. Rather than confronting the real issue (This is by force of habit, as, when we deal with men, we rarely concentrate only on the real issue), we find this as another example of the aggressive nature of women.

-When women are successful, they're often called "bitchy" and seen as less likable.

As we saw above, women unfortunately do not sport such unnecessary ‘niceties’ as men. This generally makes them unpopular with the male crowd, as well as inviting unpleasant epithets if they happen to become successful. Not that women are too nice when not promoted, they are only more popular when they are shouldering lesser responsibility, as in that case, lesser may be the occasions demanding nicety. And in this case, the woman’s ‘unsophisticated’ nature goes unnoticed.

-Women are more likely to get lower initial offers.

Could be true. In the case of women, pay is not the main concern, as, unlike men, they are not looking for a plum offer. As employers might be already aware, they are not looking for a reason to change the present job, which men generally are.

-Women are less likely to get credit in group projects.  It may be a combination of men being assumed more competent than they actually are and women not actively taking credit for their work.

True, for a man, credit is required at frequent intervals to keep his morale at an acceptably high level. Women tend to form fairly long time relationship with ones work, making such showering of credits, unnecessary.

-Women are assumed to be incompetent until they prove themselves. 

This in fact is true for both men and women, they are assumed to be good for nothing, unless they prove otherwise. But, in the case of man, the first thing he does will be to show his prowess, how beneficial his presence, how costly his absence and as a result, how irreplaceable he is.  And a woman does not take any such efforts to show ones value.

-Women get promoted on performance, and men get promoted on potential.

No, not al all. Both get promoted on performance, but the nature of performance differs. In man’s case, after quickly completing the assigned task, one devotes his time and energy to glorify what one has just completed (or to diminish others’), by pontificating on questions like how much of improvements are possible. In woman’s case, performance strictly is limited to the task which has been assigned. Thus in woman’s case the work get assessed lower than what one does, while in the case of man, as it includes the time spent on other things, the assessed value is generally more than ones effort.

-Talkative men are seen as competent, and talkative women as incompetent. 

Look at any man who is talkative. More often than not the topic of ones speech will be about past accomplishments, and how, if time and place permitting, one can produce such wonders again. Or how worthy, ones efforts are and, other areas that are mostly abstract. When it comes to women, not only that they generally avoid the imaginary, but also discuss the merits of all things wise and wonderful which few of the gentlemen around can afford. As the discussion is not of our liking, we label those who initiated that as unworthy.

-When women show anger, they are often judged as too emotional. 

In fact, except in ones personal affairs, there is no place for emotional expressions, other than for the purpose of supporting ones aims, efforts or desire. Hence such expressions of anger etc might lead to unexpected results if the underlying intent is not conveyed clearly. Some people forget this while showing emotions and get themselves marked temperamental. No one is to play with emotions without realizing this.

-Women are often interrupted or ignored in meetings. 

That the main purpose of a meeting or conference is to create an atmosphere conducive to solution of our problems rather than the solution itself, is well known. As mentioned earlier, women being too professionally focused in their outlook might miss this point, and as a result, their constant devotion to certain particularities may seem to get overlooked. Therefore what gets overlooked is not the person but the solution behind the person, as it takes away another opportunity for creating a conducive environment.

-Women are judged more harshly on their appearance. 

Mostly for a gentleman, it might be okay if someone question his dress, but it is anathema if someone questions his caliber. And for a lady it is okay to cast aspersions on her caliber while finding a spot on her dress is unthinkable. Hence we judge women on their appearance (other things are okay with them!) and ridicule the professional behind every man (he doesn't care for other things!). And ridicule is invisible but appearance is widely seen.

As we can see from the above, all of these examples are easily explainable as particularities of human behavior, and, based on the existing theories of human transactions, have no element of sexual influence in it. Why do we then consider these, incorrectly, as examples of female suppression and institute means for castigating males? And the males tolerating this happily? Isn't this the price males pay for remaining superior?

Yes, I think it is another method to keep the real woman away from competing with the man.

Book Review: One-Two

In One-Two, Igor Eliseev narrates a story with a difference. Faith and Hope are two conjoined babies, who find themselves special. In the words of one of them, “Very long time ago, when the earth was inhabited with centaurs and unicorns, there also lived beautiful two-headed people. As the millennia passed by, they built the houses and cities and lived happily ever after. But once upon a time the two most beautiful women who were joined together gave birth to an unusual girl. As soon as she came into the world, she gave her two mothers such a terrifying sight that they grew numb with disgust: their daughter had only one head. “How ugly she is, the gods must have cursed us for something,” one of them just uttered and burst into tears. All night long the women were inconsolable but at daybreak, after arguing for long, they finally decided to take the terrible child into the woods and leave her there though they perfectly knew she wouldn’t be able to survive alone.” “She managed to survive. Trees gave her shelter from heat and cold, wild animals brought her food, she satiated her thirst with water from a river. Some time has passed; the girl has grown up strong and healthy and gave life to the whole race of the one-headed people who populated all our earth and still dwell there.”

They spend their childhood in a foster home and obtain primary education. Though the constant interruptions fro humiliations from society is always there, some light also could be seen – separation surgery is possible.

This novel is a graphical presentation of the difficulties and obstacles these girls meet on their way. And how they are putting up with all the public cynicism along with other constraints and conflicts. How they find a justification for their condition and accept it? This novel gives a good description of the search for answers to these and many other questions the protagonists face.

One-Two is a riveting novel that taxed (desirably, of course!) my psyche from the very first page to the last. The drama and its settings are so chosen as to give a sense of time and place, the main events being towards the later half of last century. It is a very good book to read, the theme, a refreshing variation, the narration, an easy and enjoyable style with each one of the characters also greatly different from the common. Cute illustrations and even cuter fonts for the imaginative chapter names also stand out, lending an aura of a real dream.

The Most Significant Question?

What is the future of matter? What is the future of life?
These may be the most pertinent questions, our future generations will ever face.

At present, I think matter is being thought of as something having a life cycle, which can be identified with the life cycle of a star. That is, NEBULA - STAR - RED GIANT - RED DWARF - WHITE DWARF – SUPERNOVA - NEUTRON STARS - BLACK HOLES. Hence what we consider as matter would only be one of the forms of matter, perhaps corresponding to the state of a star as STAR. Nebulae, which generally form from the gravitational collapse of gas in the interstellar medium, cause this cycle to go on. As the material collapses under its own weight, massive stars continue to form in the center, replacing those that went on to become a red giant etc. And this enables the continuation of this cycle. I think we need to examine, what form, matter will take in each of the other states of a star, NEBULA, RED GIANT etc.

Similarly, if we look at life and evolution, we can see life beginning with single celled organisms. As described in my book, The Unsure Male, for escaping from the agony involved with the reproduction process, evolution comes in, with each new species having better ways to allay this agony, compared to its predecessor. Life thus continues through many intermediate forms to reach finally, the human form. And for want of an agent for promoting it, which I have tried to describe in the same book, evolution is likely to come to a full stop with humans. Or in other words, the life cycle of life, which begins with single celled organisms, comes to an end with humans. Life’s path therefore is, UNICELLULAR – INTERMEDIATE FORMS like reptiles, birds, fish, mammals etc – HUMANS. Human is the only species where the reproduction process is devoid of visible agony, which is a strong indication that the process of evolution is coming to its end with this species. 

Book Review: A New Ethic for Humankind

‘A New Ethic for Humankind’ by Fred G. Thompson is a book trying to show that in view of the increasing population, energy shifts,  resource consumption and pollution, the creation of a sustainable world will need massive change in human attitudes and actions, in fact a ‘‘new ethic’’ for humankind. It tells how, the principles of conduct needs to be changed to create the New Ethic.

It begins with an overview of the ‘Cassandras’ of our planets future, those who have been predicting a dismal period ahead for the world, like Richard Carson, Alvin Toffler and Al Gore. It then goes on to examine population growth and specific cases relating to some of the fastest growing countries of the world. And the author observes, population control has shown some possibility of achievement, but economic growth has not, therefore we need to develop a form of "holistic economics" to modernize economic theory and practice with a view towards a sustainable planet. Next chapter examines a natural consequence of population and economic Growth, environmental breakdown and its effects like climate change and global warming.

Observing the changes in our lifestyle and consumption pattern was something happened naturally, the author tries to examine it further, at what point will this consuming lifestyle be changed, slowed down or even reversed, driving the world away from an unsustainable future? The book then lists down the blockages that are stopping us making progress toward reasonable goals, like public apathy, denial, compassion, cost, political will.

The book then examines the path to the future, attending specifically on a suggested action path, of traditional organizations like government, industry and household social inventions like the Red Cross and YMCA, and other specialized communities. And an excellent summary brings the book to a close.

Of course the background, the main influences and the present position regarding environmental issues are given a good hearing in this book, but, what could have been the most interesting part, the discussions about future scenarios of these issues, are given only a scant mention. The author suggests a multitude of possibilities, both from the organizational end and from the functional end of the task in hand, as well as introduces new and rather revolutionary ides of communities with specific interests and strength. But another important aspect of a new stance like this, which may be suited well for governments, of unifying all these efforts towards the task of establishing a conducive environment for growth for tomorrows world, need to be addressed anew.

Book Review: SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS

SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS by Carlo Rovelli is a book about the most challenging theories of today’s scientific world. I opened this book and on reading the first line, instantly selected it for review, for it says, ‘These lessons were written for those who know little or nothing about modern science’. True, these lessons cover the fascinating aspects of the great revolution that has occurred in physics in the twentieth century, and of the questions and mysteries which this revolution has opened up.
The first lesson is dedicated to a beauty, Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Einstein's major breakthrough in realizing Newton's gravitational field is not a field at all but is spacetime itself is explained here. The extraordinary idea, a stroke of pure genius that the gravitational field is not diffused through space; the gravitational field is that space itself. This is the idea of the theory of general relativity. Newton’s ‘space’, through which things move, and the ‘gravitational field’ are identified now one and the same thing.
The second one is about quantum mechanics, which opens to us, some of the most baffling aspects of modern physics. Unlike relativity, the basic tenets of which are easy to understand, quantum theory - wave particle duality, entanglement, the uncertainty principle - have left even the theory's great founders uncertain. Rovelli zeroes in on one of the essential qualities of quantum mechanics and elaborates how, its laws "do not describe what happens to a physical system but only how one physical system affects another". I find it an illuminating thought that the same emphasis on the philosophy of interactions which lies at the heart of quantum theory also underlies the science of emergent complex systems like the weather, the stock market, biochemical networks and social networks.
The third is dedicated to the cosmos, which talks about the Big Bang theory and the architecture of the cosmos, but for gravitational waves. What all contributed to the present idea of cosmos like radio telescopes, particle detectors and other means of foray into space is discussed here.
The fourth is dedicated to elementary particles. Quarks and electrons, Higgs bosons and neutrinos find mention here. How all this culminated in the Standard Model of particle physics, and how it remains incomplete and the opportunities of further discoveries are detailed here. How we have arrived very far from the mechanical world of Newton and Laplace, a world of long precise trajectories in geometrically immutable space, to one of continuous, restless swarming of things.
The fifth deals with quantum gravity. The fifth lesson tackles the marriage of general relativity with quantum mechanics, which so far could not be solemnized. Universe contracting into a nutshell, time and space disappearing altogether, and the world dissolving into a swarming cloud of probability are some of the esoteric topics discussed here.
The sixth is on probability and the heat of black holes. The sixth lesson takes us on a journey into one of the most exciting frontiers of modern physics: the union of thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and relativity, posing questions like why time seems to flow only in one direction. As Rovelli explains, the arrow of time seems to be inextricably linked with the flow of heat. Time, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, statistics; it's all here, and it's all tantalizing.
The final section of the book returns to ourselves, and asks how it is possible to think about our existence in the light of the strange world described by physics. The lesson ties it all up together as Rovelli talks about the ultimate entity that allows us to figure all this out - the human brain. He ponders the delectable paradox that an entity which is composed of particles and fields and quanta can also decipher its own mysteries. (I used to have a similar question, how can we know about life when we are in it? We should able to see life from the outside, to understand it better!)
What touched me most is the total absence of mathematics. The author has taken an intrepid step in answering the problems of our existence without the help of mathematical formulae. And that has paid of well. This remarkable book will go a long way in making clear, the reigning issues of physics, that too, some of the most complex ones.