The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science

The New Inquisition by R.A.W. will change your relationship with the fabricated world you have built around yourself. I feel inspired and optimistic after reading this, I'm truly lucky to have come across such a gem. Turns out all you need is a new perspective...

This book is Robert Anton Wilson's look at how science went wrong in the 1900s. There are many books dealing with the same topic, but there are few, if any, writers who can match Wilson's quirky, insightful, and humorous prose:"There remains, of course, Scientific Method (SM), the alleged source of the certitude of those I call the New Idolators. SM is a mixture of SD (sense data: usually aided by instruments to refine the senses) with the old Greek PR. Unfortunately, while SM is powerfully effective, and seems to most of us the best method yet devised by mankind, it is made up of two elements which we have already seen are fallible - SD (sense data) and PR (pure reason) can both deceive us. Again: two fallibilities do not add up to one infallibility. Scientific generalizations which have lasted a long time have a high probability, perhaps the highest probability of any generalizations, but it is only Idolatry which claims none of them will ever again have to be revised or rejected. Too many have been revised or rejected in this century alone. Certitude is seized by some minds, not because there is any philosophical justification for it, but because such minds have an emotional need for certitude."The main point of the book is how science fell prey to Fundamentalist Materialism or the New Idolatry, as Wilson calls it. This is basically the failure to adhere to the scientific principle of empirical testing and remain model agnostic. What this means is that scientists begin to pay more heed to pet theories, ego, career, and popular paradigms than to actual data, and let honest, open inquiry fall by the wayside. He uses data from a wide variety of sources, including hard science and some fairly fringe areas. He challenges the status quo and argues quite convincingly that science has followed much the same path as religion in this regard, even to the point of calling dissenters "heretics." Wilson's ability to shake entrenched notions and cause one to entertain new thoughts is quite singular, and I consider him one of the most important writers and thinkers in Amercia today. I highly recommend this and his other works.

I actually sought this book out after reading an unfavorable review by a notable skeptical organization(wink, wink, science cops:) I think it was an ultimately fair critique of the modern skeptical movement and asked some really big questions on why skepticism has come to mean automatically dismissive. Dean Radin has a book called "The Conscious Universe" which dissects the motives of skeptics in more detail(as well as offering one of the most convincing arguments for psychic phenomena of the 20th century). Bottom line: Read this if you want to see how science has been tainted with politics. If your an irrational skeptic, don't read it unless you like having a nervous fit.

In many ways we have made little progress from the days of the Holy Spanish Inquisition; on TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, from the halls of Academia and the halls of religous institutions to the halls of Congress, we are showered, bombarded and pressured to THINK a certain way...and woe to those who preach heresy. Wilson's book strikes me as a plea for free, and sane, thought. Wilson will point out with devastating clarity how often we are straight-jacketed into reality tunnels both of our own making and those imposed on us by EXPERTS. (digression here...if you enjoyed this book and Wilson's shots at the "experts", watch the film FAKE by Orson Welles. Great fun.) Wilson challenges us to be Creative Agnostics, to not be so quick to dogmatize, to be a little less constipated about how Universe works and acts. Warning though...if you are a layman, as I am, to scientific and philosophical terminology, keep a good dictionary of those terms handy! Is well worth it, though, fellow laymen! Wilson is the Groucho Marx of Academia; if he is obnoxious, it's only the more to point how insultingly pretentious the EXPERTS are that he gives the rasberry to. And ohhhhhh what a relief it is... Buy this book, keep some dictionaries handy, bowl of popcorn, and for God's sake watch the skies...

Like all of Wilson's books, The New Inquisition makes one think, and look at the world in a completely new way. Wilson is one of the most brilliant and open minded writers around, and he is funny to boot. Both fundamentalist theists and fundamentalist atheists ought to avail themselves of his books. "The New Inquisition" basically sends the fundamentalist materialists (such as Richard Dawkins, et al) a big and well-deserved thump upside the head. As biologist J.B.S. Haldane remarked, "The universe is not only queerer than we imagine, it is queerer than we CAN imagine". Or Spinoza's remark that the human mind is to the mind of God as a dog is to the Dog Star. Anyone, scientist or theologian, who thinks they can explain anything away uncritically is dead wrong. We live in an era where materialistic science is accepted as uncritically as the Catholic Church was in the Middle Ages. If more people read "The New Inquisition" (and other of Wilson's books) we might start to change that and think for ourselves.Now we know who the little boy who shouted out "The Emperor doesn't have any clothes on!" was - it was Robert Anton Wilson, and thank God (or thank Dog) he's still pointing out naked emperors for us to see.

Disregard the countless citations of weird things falling from the sky because it all contributes to this book's power. After reading "The New Inquisition" I see everything around me in a completely new way and notice things I never thought of before. For example, I am more aware of the illusions and restrictions created by language and that my teachers do not know everything and that a lot more is possible than most think. I am just an average highschool student but the ideas in this book were very accessible and I honestly think that a lot more progress in anything would be made if more people read books like this.