THOTH -A Catastrophics Newsletter- VOL II, No. 5 March 15, 1998 EDITOR: Amy Acheson PUBLISHER: Michael Armstrong LIST MANAGER: Brian Stewart CONTENTS: ECHOES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy Acheson PARADIGM AND PERCEPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mel Acheson ELECTRIC UNIVERSE CD AVAILABLE . . . . . . . . . .Robert Dunlap WATERY MOON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wal Thornhill ANTARCTIC MICROBES . . . . . . NASA/Marshall>Space Flight Center Comments by DEDavis ---------------------------------------------- I saw a Peacock with a fiery tail I saw a blazing Comet drop down hail I saw a Cloud with Ivy circled round I saw a sturdy Oak creep on the ground I saw a Pismire swallow up a Whale I saw a raging Sea brim full of Ale I saw a Venice Glass sixteen foot deep I saw a Well full of men's tears that weep I saw their Eyes all in a flame of fire I saw a House as big as the Moon and higher I saw the Sun even in the midst of night I saw the Man that saw this wondrous sight Anon (17th century) ---------------------------------------------- ECHOES By Amy Acheson I found the above poem on a London subway. (Well, I wasn't actually in London, but I found the poem in the archives of an Internet site that's maintained by the folks who display poems on the London subways.) I couldn't help but be impressed that most of these "wondrous sights" listed by the anonymous poet seem strangely resonant with the mythical backdrop of the Saturn thesis. Not because a catastrophe of Saturnian dimensions occurred in the 17th century!--but because the poet was still immersed in the literary and symbolic echoes of more ancient events. Perhaps the true meanings were lost ages ago, and now the symbols can only appear unlikely and incomprehensible, twisted by time into mere hearsay. But, by Zeus, he couldn't have done more justice to ancient motifs if he'd read Symbols of an Alien Sky the day before he penned the poem. Echoes of the Saturnian epoch STILL surround us. For example, California's storms this winter were the result of "El Niño", linked to Christmas, with Santa and flying "chariots" and the north pole. Certainly there are countless instances in which deep mythical images have been projected onto terrestrial events, and perhaps it is this very process that helps to preserve these enigmatic images long after we have forgotten their original references. What about the Chicago fire? Or the legends of King Arthur? The blackmplague? The death of Caesar? We expect to find symbolic references to gods and planets and comets in all of these tales. And we do. But will we cultivate the necessary discipline to find the EVENT which first gave meaning to the symbols? Amy Acheson thoth at whidbey.com ---------------------------------------------- PARADIGM AND PERCEPTION By Mel Acheson At the risk of repeating what everyone knows, I'll relate some thoughts upon re-reading Thomas Kuhn's 1962 essay, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. His thesis was an instance of itself. The prevalent opinion was that scientific knowledge accumulates incrementally toward ever more accurate approximations of "the truth", embodied in facts that are "out there". Kuhn's study of the history of science-plus some observations from the psychology of perception-led him to conclude that incremental accumulation only occurs within the purview of a "paradigm": a set of general assumptions, common procedures, and preferred instrumentation. His contention that occasionally paradigms change in a revolutionary way that breaks the continuity of incremental accumulation was itself a revolution in epistemology. Contrary to that prevalent opinion, data and observations are not fixed and stable but dependent on the paradigm in which they occur. They "are not 'the given' of experience but rather 'the collected with difficulty'Š. [T]hey are selected Š for the fruitful elaboration of an accepted paradigm" (p. 126). When paradigms change, perceptions change, and the transition "is a reconstruction of the field from new fundamentals" (p. 85). Science becomes a whole new ball game. Kuhn describes a process in which intervals of "normal science" are separated by episodes of "extraordinary science". A science begins with more-or-less aimless fact-gathering. In the absence of a conceptual context, facts "seem equally relevant" and their gathering "produces a morass" (p. 15-16). A multiplicity of schools spend most of their time arguing over and reformulating fundamentals. At some point, a unifying idea persuades everyone to accept it as fundamental. That frees up researchers to explore its ramifications in depth and in detail. This begins the interval of "normal science", which Kuhn compares to "puzzle-solving". It's the articulation of the expected. Scientists try to make nature fit into the box. However, the detailed research guarantees the discovery of some puzzles that can't be solved. The pieces that won't fit into the box are usually set aside. But when the quality and/or quantity of these anomalies can no longer be ignored, a "crisis" occurs: The search begins for a bigger box that will convert the anomalous into the expected. Kuhn lists several characteristics of crisis: a proliferation of ad hoc explanations, a willingness to try anything, recourse to philosophy, expressions of discontent, a search for assumptions, the discovery of new phenomena, and the advent of new paradigms by newcomers to the field. All these characteristics can be identified in present-day science, but this doesn't compel the conclusion that a paradigm shift is at hand. The list is composed in hindsight and is, at best, only necessary. It's not sufficient. The most that can be said is that, as with earthquakes, a shift will happen "someday". The resolution of the crisis comes when most scientists accept a new paradigm and the few holdouts die or are simply ignored. It's a process of competition and persuasion. Kuhn calls it "conversion" (p. 151). He has been criticized for thus making science "extra-scientific", but I think it only recognizes the social aspect of scientific activity and the non-absolute quality of cognitive activity. Confirmation and falsification-the criteria of "normal science"-have little relevance to conflicts of paradigms because they are largely defined by the paradigms they serve. This circularity results in opponents talking through each other. The proponents of different paradigms are separated by three incommensurabilities: their "definitions of science are not the same"; their "terms, concepts, and experiments fall into new relationships one with the other", and they live "in different worlds" and "see different things". (p. 148-150) Communication can only occur on a more fundamental level: the level of competition and persuasion. The important factors are comparisons of problem-solving ability, appeals to suitability or simplicity, and-perhaps most important-the prospect of more interesting puzzles (predictions of new phenomena are especially convincing). In other words: utility, aesthetics, and promise. Kuhn gives few suggestions for facilitating paradigm shifts. He compares them to gestalt switches, in which one's perception of an object changes: You see a vase in the picture you previously saw as two faces. He then claims that, while the person experiencing the gestalt switch can alternate between the two visions, the scientist experiencing a paradigm shift can't. The alternation in gestalts is accomplished from the ground of a larger viewpoint that includes both visions (e.g., seeing the vase/face as lines that are interpreted two ways), but a paradigm is the ultimate viewpoint for science, being the vision that defines what science is. There is no "external standard with respect to which a switch of vision could be demonstrated Š. The scientist can have no recourse above or beyond what he seesŠ." (p. 114) But even as he describes the problem he demonstrates the solution. His entire essay is an evaluation of paradigms from the larger viewpoint of history. He intimates that scientists will have difficulty with this because their belief in incremental accumulation of knowledge generates a "temptation to write history backwardŠ. The depreciation of historical fact is deeply Š ingrained in the ideology of the scientific professionŠ." (p. 138) But his essay shows a "recourse above" is possible. Another "external standard" is cognition-based epistemology (an understanding of the nature of understanding, or insight into insight, if you will). A paradigm, after all, is a product of that activity we call "knowing", and knowledge of knowing provides a ground for the evaluation of its products. There may be more grounds. They are similar to the metalanguage in logic, which is a language in which one can talk about the language in which propositions are formulated. It's a matter of nested viewpoints, or a hierarchy of levels of abstraction, each level of which includes all the ones within. The difficulty in communication between paradigms thus seems more the practical one of willingness to step away from one's emotional attachment to a particular paradigm. Or rather it's to transfer some of that "energy of belief" to other paradigms: to walk a mile in their moccasins, as the saying goes. Seeing several paradigms from this more inclusive viewpoint is to see them as constructs of human intelligence. The categories of "right" and "wrong", "correct" and "erroneous", cease to have meaning (at this level), and doubt and change are no longer threatening but exciting. Instead of right and wrong, the important values become just those Kuhn mentions: utility, aesthetics, future promise. Viewing this historical succession of paradigms makes one aware of what's been called the "Finder's Fallacy": the tendency to stop looking when you find a solution that's "good enough". For those who enjoy a good paradigm shift, the motto of Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies, is apropos: "Good enough never is." You can always build a bigger box. Mel Acheson ---------------------------------------------- ELECTRIC UNIVERSE CD AVAILABLE By Robert Dunlap Wal Thornhill and Robert Dunlap are pleased to announce the completion of their first co-production of "The Electric Universe" available on CD-ROM. Version 1.0 has been completed and is ready for release. The CD will include the 'Workshop notebook' and several new additions. The CD-ROM formats include All Mac and Windows 3.1, Win95 and NT. CD-ROM allows the full colour and clarity of the slide presentation to be seen and facilitates searches for information. The cost is $44. "The single most devastating argument against Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision has been that it defies the laws of physics. But following decades of further research by David Talbott, Ev Cochrane and Dwardu Cardona, the weight of evidence is now overwhelming that our skies were very different within the collective memory of the human race. So, can it really be true that in the historical blink of an eye, in the last few decades of the twentieth century, we know all about the laws of physics? The Electric Universe exposes the ignorance underlying modern cosmology. It shows that the key to a true understanding of our universe and the recent history of the solar system comes from acknowledging simple electrical interactions between all matter in the universe. The result is an astounding concordance between ancient testimony of planets battling in the sky with thunderbolts, and modern plasma physics. Proof of the thesis comes from the unique electrical scars of battle seen on the surfaces of those planets. The result is a glimpse of the exciting new science of the third millenium." *A Special QuickTime movie of Velikovsky at the 1974 McMasters Symposium has been added as a bonus. This two minute sync sound clip is worth the price of the CD. To order by email contact: robert at redprods.com ---------------------------------------------- WATERY MOON By Wal Thornhill The recent headlines from NASA about water being discovered on the Moon near the poles came with the lame explanation that it probably results from meteoric and cometary bombardment. It has been said that our Moon would not look out of place if it were orbiting one of the giant outer planets. But when it comes to the inner solar system, the well known cosmologist, Irwin Shapiro, has said of theories which try to explain the presence of the Moon orbiting the Earth that the best explanation was observational error - the Moon does not exist! Many of the moons in the outer solar system show evidence of water ice being present in far greater quantities on their surfaces than the Moon. Of course, according to the Saturnian theory our Moon would likely have been one of the minor "dwarves" in that system which got tangled up with the Earth at the time of the breakup of that system. And since there was reported to be a lot of water associated with the process of that breakup, it would be expected that the Moon would show some evidence of water ice having been on its surface very recently. Given the severe heating and cooling of the Moon's surface by the Sun, the only place surface water ice has a chance of surviving is at the lunar poles. The Moon itself is one of the driest bodies in the solar system, being depleted in all volatile elements and with water at the Apollo sites measuring in parts per billion! The likelihood of ice having survived at the lunar poles over a period measured in thousands of years is much greater than over the billions of years required by conventional cosmogony, when the Moon was thought to have had its last major influx of cometary impactors. Even a comet every million years or so is not going to leave much water behind, especially if it hits anywhere other than at the poles. And that also assumes that comets are merely dirty ice cubes - despite evidence to the contrary. On balance, the evidence of water on the Moon supports the Saturn theory of the genesis of the Earth-Moon system. Wal Thornhill ---------------------------------------------- ANTARCTIC MICROBES Marshall Space Flight Center Press Release http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast12mar98_1.htm Exotic-Looking Microbes Turn Up In Ancient Antarctic Ice March 13, 1998: Two scientists exploring a microworld locked in ancient ice have found a wide range of lifeforms from fungi, algae, and bacteria to a few diatoms - and a few items with strange shapes. "We've found some really bizarre things - things that we've never seen before," said Richard Hoover of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Hoover and Dr. S.S. Abyzov of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been examining deep ice core samples from the Vostok Station about 1,000 km (620 miles)from the South Pole. The objects have fanciful names - like Mickey Mouse and Klingon . . . based on passing resemblances. Hoover expects that most will fall into known categories of microorganisms as he and Abyzov study the images. . . . Th(e) "Mickey Mouse" shape is actually part of a colony of fluffy microbes buried for several thousand years in the Antarctic ice. What appears to be Swiss cheese (in the enlargements) is actually the filter through which the melted ice was drained. Electron beams drilled holes. [photos may be seen at website above] As might be expected, they have found a lot of atmospheric dust and debris, and possibly some cosmic dust. "There are some dust particles with unusual spectra," Hoover said. "Which may be cosmic dust particles." The ESEM allows the operator to designate a point on a specimen and then scan with X-rays to determine what elements are present. The ratios found in some of the dust particles do not match ratios expected in terrestrial dust grains. "Mickey Mouse" and other colonies of small microbes appear to be out of the ordinary. These are fluffy white objects, about 1 micron wide and resembling cotton balls. "Here's the shocker," said Hoover, pointing at the ESEM monitor, "these small coccoid bodies are covered with all this incredible fibrous structure." The filaments appear to be about 30 to 40 nanometers wide (that's about 1/10th a wavelength of visible light). "It's difficult for me to say what it is," Abyzov said, "but I tend to agree that this is biological," possibly a fungus. "There are all sorts of microorganisms in the ice. Some are readily recognizable as cyanobacteria, bacteria, fungi, spores, pollen grains, and diatoms, but some are not recognizable as anything we've ever seen before," Hoover said. Many will turn out to be known. It's just that they look different under the ESEM, which provides details that are not available through other microscopes. . . . They have also found a number of large cyanobacteria with nanobacteria attached. "What is clearly going on is that when microorganisms freeze, they shut down and go into this anabiotic state," Hoover explained. Anabiotic means alive but inactive, like suspended animation. Russian scientists have been able to revive and culture bacteria, yeast, fungi, and other microbes found in ice cores. "One of the things that was really exciting was that many of the cyanobacteria from 1,243 meters down had lots of antimony," Hoover said. The X-ray spectrum showed carbon, oxygen, zinc, silicon, aluminum, and potassium - all chemicals common to life. But it also showed an abnormal amount of antimony, a toxic heavy metal. "It was not just one of these that had it," Hoover said, "but microorganism after microorganism." Gregory Jerman, the ESEM operator, noted that the metal content has varied with depth. At some levels the microorganisms show large quantities of antimony, while in others zinc rings the bell More unusual shapes found in the Vostok Station ice resemble a porpoise, Thanksgiving leftovers, and a sphere. These names will give way to proper scientific names as Hoover and Abyzov identify them in the coming months. With more than 150 ESEM images and almost as many spectra recorded, Hoover and Abyzov next go to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. There, Dr. Ken Nealson will try to extract genetic material from the microorganisms. . . . COMMENTS by DEDavis: Wow! Exciting news... I've long been intrigued as to what could be lurking under the Antarctic ice. Just to pick up on something in that report: Aluminium is most definitely NOT a common biological metal: in fact, as far as I am aware there is not a single known organism on Earth which uses it... (Aluminium is all bound up in minerals and is not available to the biosphere... although man's global industrial waste and attendant acidification is doing its best to change that, and poison us all... Some organisms tend to accumulate it in their tissues [tea, for example] and in humans it has been linked to Alzheimer's disease). As for antimony... well, that's certainly very unusual as well. However, [until] some microbiologists & biochemists analyse some of the biomolecules from these organisms,(instead of giving them silly names from Star Trek), we won't know if this Al and Sb is actually part of their biochemistry or just ingested toxins. Who knows what else is down there? Some old news-reels from 5000BC ? ("Today the new millenium Tower on the plain of Shinar was demolished by terrorists from the sinister "Cult of Thoth" sect... governmental sources blame repressed homosexuality for these evil actions...") DAVE ;-) PS from later: it occurred to me last night, whilst far from a computer, that high concentrations of aluminium would indicate some sort of environmental pH drop (acidification). A likely culprit could be acid rain from atmospheric sulphur dioxide, caused by widespread volcanism or, indeed, extraterrestrial rains of fire & brimstone. That this Velikovskian scenario could have blitzed life on Antarctica just prior to the formation of an Ice Cap which put all the little microbes in suspended animation, is, of course, just pure speculation on my part... ---------------------------------------------- PLEASE VISIT THE KRONIA COMMUNICATIONS WEBSITE-- http://www.kronia.com/~kronia/ Other suggested Web site URL's for more information about Catastrophics: Subscriptions to AEON, a journal of myth and science, may be ordered at the I-net address below: http://www.ames.net/aeon/ http://www.knowledge.co.uk/xxx/cat/sis/ http://www.flash.net/~cjransom/ http://www.knowledge.co.uk/xxx/cat/velikovskian/ http://www.access.digex.net/~medved/Catastrophism.html http://www.grazian-archive.com/ http://www.tcel.com/~mike/paper.html Immanuel Velikovsky Reconsidered, 10 Pensée Journals may be ordered at the I-net address below: http://www.e-z.net/~mikamar/default.html ----------------------------------------------- The THOTH electronic newsletter is an outgrowth of scientific and scholarly discussions in the emerging field of astral catastrophics. Our initial focus will be on a reconstruction of ancient astral myths and symbols in relation to a new theory of planetary history. Serious readers must allow some time for these radically different ideas to be fleshed out and for the relevant background to be developed. The general tenor of the ideas and information presented in THOTH is supported by the editor and publisher, but there will always be plenty of room for differences of interpretation. We welcome your comments and responses. New readers are referred to earlier installments in issues of THOTH posted on the Kronia website listed above. Go to the THOTH page and click on the image titled "Thoth: the Egyptian God of Knowledge" to access the back issues.