Ruddy Mode of Life

Astral Facts, May 2013

Astral: (Theosophy) Consisting of, belonging to, or designating, a kind of supersensible substance alleged to be next above the tangible world in refinement; as, astral spirits; astral bodies of persons; astral current.

Ruddy Mode of Life

Back when the Smothers Brothers comedy music was popular, Tommy Smothers played the role of the “goofball” brother and, in that role, he used the phrase “ruddy mode of life” in an interesting Spooneristic^[1] Freudian slip about the “muddy road of life.”  In the past few weeks, I have noticed how “ruddy” the modes of life can be, especially in a Humanities Sciences mode, as content crisscrosses like threads in a DNA sample.

Recently my wife and I had a “date night” but not the stereotypical dinner and movie outing.  (I tried that once before we were married and her comment after the movie was that we had wasted so much time sitting in silence in the theater when we could have been talking to each other.)  Instead, we went to a lecture by Dr. Steven Meyer previewing the content of the soon to be published book, Darwin’s Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Record.  This took place at Northwest University in Kirkland, cohosted by The Discovery Institute.  Of course, the stereotypes again jump to mind, for the school is a Christian college associated with the Assembly of God Church and The Discovery Institute is closely connected with the theories of Intelligent Design.   To further set the stage for stereotypes, the presentation was held in the main auditorium at the school – the chapel.

Nonetheless, we didn’t hear any scripture verses.  Meyer gave an overview of Darwin’s theory, including Darwin’s own concerns about “missing links” that he anticipated being further studied, as well as the evidence for the Cambrian Explosion and more recent large fossil discoveries in British Columbia and China which Prof Meyer said all cast a long shadow of doubt over Darwin’s views. 

Meyer noted that such discussion is frequently discussed among the scientific community but avoided in the textbooks and in most schools.  Meyer expressed his wishes for more open dialogue.  He mentioned that when Jun-Yuan Chen,  a paleontologist working on the fossil field finds in China,  lectured in Seattle, he refuted Darwin’s views based upon his research,  Consequently,  he faced strong opposition here in the US, to which he said, “In China we can criticize Darwin, but not the government; in America you can criticize the government, but not Darwin.”

In his preview of the book, Prof Meyer noted a variety of theories being suggested as alternatives to the Darwinian view.  Meyer said he supports the Intelligent Design approach.

Although some in the audience resembled the stereotype of the inflexible fundamentalist kept “pure” by natural and selective inbreeding, primarily the tenor of the folks lining up at the microphone at the end were questions and comments from people identifying themselves as biologists, engineers, physicists, and others involved in scientific and technology fields.  Many of them asked for clarification of complicated aspects, but in an inquisitive rather than antagonist tone, primarily in accord with Dr. Meyer’s views.

Then a few days later, the word came that Bill Nye (“The Science Guy”) hit the news when some people in Texas took offense at the content in his presentation, citing their religious views as the source of protest.  Apparently, the problem hinged on the fact that the light from the moon is reflected light and the offended people in the audience felt Nye was ridiculing their understanding of the biblical reference to the moon being created as a “great light” in the sky.  (Whether they were offended that he was suggesting they were too stupid to realize moonlight is reflected light, or they thought he was he was suggesting religion is stupid is unclear.) 

This latter event has sparked an interesting private discussion amongst the Astro-Facts and Astral-Facts folks, for certainly the Bill Nye episode has put both sides in the greater community up in arms unnecessarily.  Again, the desire has been expressed for more open and “courageous” communication from both sides of the issue.

As the folks on the Astro side have explained, the “scientific” approach deals with the “reality” of life, where experiments can be conducted to reveal principles that predict outcomes, and it is important to allow situations when these outcomes might not occur, which would then indicate the claim was incorrect - without the potential to disprove, "proof" is suspect.

Unfortunately, this invalidates most Astral-Facts because they don’t exist within the physical realm.  It is difficult to confirm intelligence when it exists (if it does exist, that is).  It’s a real Catch-22 to try to confirm that something outside physical reality is the cause of physical reality when the only allowable evidence is restricted to what is in physical reality.

Then, in the “ruddy mode of life” a horse wandered off up in my hometown of Redmond.  It didn’t return to the stables that evening and the folks searched frantically to find it, but to no avail.   In desperation, they called an “animal communicator” and emailed her a picture of the horse.  While sitting her own home, the “animal communicator” concentrated, “made contact” with the horse, and within three minutes suggested where to look.  Within five minutes, the searchers located the missing horse, trapped in a nearby ravine.

http://mynorthwest.com/874/2284706/Meet-The-Animal-Communicator-Who-Located-a-Lost-Horse-In-Redmond

For some of us this boggles the mind, but for others it stimulates the brain.  Either way, such events can get the blood pumping, so it’s always a good idea to watch for the cross-traffic as we plod along the “ruddy mode of life!”

Walter Lowe
Astral Facts is a somewhat regular presentation of Humanities Science, produced in the bowels of the Humanities Science offices during the academic year.

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[1]In case the term is unfamiliar:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism