Science and Other Lies

Before we dive into my blog, I wanted to give some back story.  As many of you know that I am a part-time historian, and from reading my blog you also understand history is not an “exact science”. Many historical facts and figures we believe are true, come down to us from the history being remembered or written by people who have an agenda.  There is a quote attributed to Winston Churchill, but I am sure there are other variations, which go back further, “History is written by the victors.”

There are conflicting accounts of historical facts, and we must always look at both sides of history.  In my novel "Legend of the Mystic Knights" I tried to describe living history as accurate as I could. Some information such as how the process to make Damascus Steel, a metal prized for its strength and durability, is now lost forever, all that is left is a “guess” by historians. I want you to remember this in the next couple blogs and apply it here too, because “exact science” is also not an “exact science”.

I also must note, I believe truly in most science. I believe in evolution and climate change, so the next series of blogs are not about climate denial, etc. I wil,l however, touch upon this topic later.

When I was younger, we believed in the information which was provided to us. People like Walter Cronkite were always on top of the list for most trusted Americans. We believed that news which was given to us was real, and that the people who presented it to us tried to be fair and impartial. Gradually, things changed, and news and also science became politicized and commercialized.

In terms of news, we all know how politicized that has become. Stores are sometimes even fabricated, for a political end. We all understand that this is done one both ends of the political spectrum, but Rupurt Murdock of Fox News has perfected it.

We could possibly accept the fact of information can be manipulated by the owners of news outlets, but what about science.

We believe that science is an analytical study which is conducted without any other influences upon it. Science to us was something like math, 1 plus 1 will always equals 2. This concept of science is totally wrong, and science is influenced by many outside forces, social, political and economic.

When I was a teenager, I was fascinated by legends of the Abominable Snowman, and other cryptic creatures. So it was this interest in the early 1970’s that I watched a show dedicated to the Loch Ness Monster. This program was advertised to show a photograph of the monster. Furthermore, this was not a cable network, where programs like “Here comes Honey Boo Boo” is shown on the “THE LEARNING CHANNEL” (all I ever learned watching that show once, was some people should be allowed to have kids), this was a time when there were only 3 major networks.

It was August 1972 and there was an expedition led by Robert Rines, of the ACADEMY OF APPLIED SCIENCE, a Massachusetts and New Hampshire based organization dedicated to stimulating the interest of high school students in science, technology, and inventions. He had claimed to have taken some very unique photos from under the water at the bottom of the lake. These photos revealed a fin or flipper of a creature swimming by the camera.

As Paul Harvey used to say; “Now the Rest of the Story.” The pictures appeared to be faked. Not only did the Academy of Applied science produce these fake pictures (if you see the originals they appear to be rocks), they were enhanced by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. These enhancements were more adjusted by the Academy of Applied Science team to look even more like a flipper (today we would call that process photo shopped).

The example above is not a grainy photograph put out by some hunter in the middle of the woods. It was a program broadcasted by a television network and advertised that a scientific group had conducted the search for the Loch Ness Monster.

The Academy of Applied Science is an organization founded by Robert Rhines, a graduate of M.I.T. and Georgetown University, who put his reputation on finding evidence of the Loch Ness monster. This group spent a substantial amount of money, and in the end of the expedition, they had little to show for it. They had to come up with something to give credence for the money they spent, so they enhanced a photo of a group of rocks to look like a flipper.

I know the story of an expedition to seek out the Loch Ness Monster, is hardly science, but consider the fate of the PLANET Pluto. This is a topic I will deal in depth in my next blog, but here are some facts you should consider. A group of the International Astronomical Union in 2006, which consisted of ONLY 424 handpicked astronomers (less than 5% of the world’s 10,000 astronomers), voted to demote Pluto to a non-planet status. So basically, more people’s opinions are considered relevant each week on “American Idol”, then deciding the destiny of an entire planet.

So basically, a hand full of astronomers, chosen for their opinion on the topic, decided for everyone one on earth if Pluto was a planet or not. This was not done by the discovery of new information; they did this by changing the definition of a planet, which then excluded Pluto. The outcry of this was widespread, and has led to considering voting again to include Pluto as a planet; this vote may come as early as this year.

My point being is that this is a matter of opinion, not fact. When opinions become science, then science is no valid as a discipline of knowledge. We must look at where and why the science originated, before we considering it is science at all.

We will continue this discussion next week; including a tale of horror about the Chicken Heart that ate New York City (I am actually serious about that).