One hundred monkeys meet an equal number of skeptics
by - Written: Nov 29 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Examines many different angles of the paranormal world from a skeptical viewpoint
Cons: True believers may take offense; quality varies between articles
The Bottom Line: Although the quality is obviously variable because it's an anthology, I recommend THE HUNDREDTH MONKEY AND OTHER PARADIGMS OF THE PARANORMAL.
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| Kidnykid's Full Review: The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the P... |
THE HUNDREDTH MONKEY AND OTHER PARADIGMS OF THE PARANORMAL (hereafter shortened to HUNDREDTH MONKEY, after the similarly-named New Age book) is a collection of Skeptical Inquirer articles about the paranormal. Given the name of the magazine from which these articles originally hail, the tone of the articles included in this volume is, of course, highly skeptical. Therefore, this collection won't sit well with those who are true believers in paranormal phenomena and alternative-medicine procedures.
However, fans of people such as the late Carl Sagan might enjoy HUNDREDTH MONKEY. As a matter of fact, Dr. Sagan wrote an article included in this volume, entitled The Burden of Skepticism, which is well worth reading. The title of the article suggests what the content is about; in order to be skeptical, one must actually think and examine, and think and examine some more. This is a burden greater than many people would care to take on, because thinking and examining things in microdetail is hard work. It is far easier to follow along with the crowd, believing everything the crowd believes without examining those beliefs.
I would also highly recommend the article on chiropractic, written by William Jarvis, because it explains why those who used to be down on chiropractic disliked it so much. Even if you don't agree with the author's conclusions, you will enjoy reading about the skeptic's version of the history of the field. If you are already scientifically inclined, you might actually learn something from this particular article. Based on what one chiropractic student of my acquaintance has told me, there are areas in which chiropractic education has improved over the years, but I found myself intrigued by the information presented in this chapter. Many chiropractors - if what they put on the windows of their offices is to believed - are selling what amount to New Age nostrums that have not been fully tested by the scientific establishment, and it is well worth seeing what the skeptics have to say about chiropractic before one actually pays a chiropractor a call.
The Hundredth Monkey phenomenon - actually a metaphor for what is known scientifically as critical mass - is explained well in a chapter ably written by Ron Amundsen. Although I won't spoil your reading pleasure by going into detail, the Hundredth Monkey phenomenon is a story about monkeys and sweet potato washing on a remote island, and describes how one of those monkeys just "got it" even though he was on another island and didn't get specific instructions on sweet potato washing by other members of his species. This article debunks this story, as originally told, by stating the true nature of the story. It turns out that the story was intended - even though it is somewhat fictional - to be a metaphor for a psychological version of critical mass. If an isolated member of a given species of monkey can learn to wash sweet potatoes without instruction from those members of his species which live on another island and do not have access to him, then it is possible for human beings who live in remote areas to learn the "correct" New Age philosophy without having had direct contact with (much less instruction from) those New Agers living in areas isolated from the student.
What this article taught me was that people often - not always, but often - play fast and loose with the facts. In situations like this, in which people fudge facts to suit their own ends, accuracy is less important to the authors of a mythos than is the moral of the story. Also, I learned that it might help readers of a given book or article to know when you are speaking of myth and metaphor (for example, when reading Edith Hamilton's classic MYTHOLOGY), and when you are speaking of real-world scientific truth. This differentiation was missing from the original Ken Keyes book entitled THE HUNDREDTH MONKEY, and I understand that there were readers that actually thought the story really happened the way Keyes told it.
THE HUNDREDTH MONKEY AND OTHER PARADIGMS OF THE PARANORMAL is the sort of book I recommend, with the proviso that it is an anthology of articles rather than a book written by a single author. This means that the quality and readability of the articles is variable, and that some articles are better or more readable than others, or both. It is likely available at a local public library, particularly if you live in an urban area, and I'd advise trying to get a copy, if you can find it on the shelf.
Recommended:
Yes
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