the sawpit

The Arrogance of Physicists

I just finished reading the new paperback edition of Ann Finkerbeiner's 2006 non-fiction book, The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in post-war American history. Finkerbeiner dispels some of the myths surrounding this clandestine organization of brilliant scientists (including many Nobel laureates) who, in addition to their regular teaching and research positions at major universities and think tanks, have worked outside the scrutiny of the open scientific community in order to solve classified problems for the government. More importantly, it asks the tough moral questions surrounding the development and use of nuclear power, and "dual use" technologies. Finkerbeiner's interviews with current and former Jason members -- Freeman Dyson, Sid Drell, Richard Garwin, Charles Townes, Marvin Goldberger -- are surprisingly casual, and very candid. All have given a lot of thought to their moral obligations as scientists, academics, citizens, and government advisors. Of course, the members of JASON (as they prefer) are very careful not to divulge any classified information. One Jason scientist insisted on being identified as Dr. X in order to remain anonymous. Apparently, being publicly identified as a Jason can be problematic.

The Arrogance of Physicists had been the book's working title because, as the author explains, "a physicist can solve any problem in any field by figuring it out from first principles, from the ground up." And this gives the physicist a feeling of superiority to other fields of science, such as biology or chemistry. Apparently, physicists do not see this humorous term as an insult. Among the arrogant physicists of the Manhattan Project who advised Jasons' first official members were Edward Teller, Hans Bethe, Enrico Fermi, and Robert Oppenheimer -- known for his opposition to the hydrogen bomb during the early years of the Cold War which resulted in his security clearance being revoked. Although they knew Germany's scientists were also working to build an atomic bomb, they still felt a strong sense of moral responsibility. Many Jasons have dedicated their lives to ensuring that nuclear research is kept in civilian control, and that the international community prevents further proliferation and testing.

One of the main catalysts for the creation of Jason, was the Soviet's successful 1957 launch of Sputnik and Sputnik II which carried a dog about the same weight as an atomic warhead. Congress quickly demanded more defense research and better scientific education. Jason grew out of this swell of government funding but it was created by academics as an independent advisory organization in order to be as immune from the pressures of politics as possible. The logic being that only independent outsiders can offer the government unbiased advise based on pure science. Of course, Jason has always been politically savvy, otherwise they could not have survived until today.

A Sect of One: Emerson's Unity of God

More than any other American writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) has influenced my ideas about God, religion, the creative mind, and the very nature of human existance. In honor of the 202nd anniversary of Emerson's birth, I have decided to post a paper I wrote back in college on the subject of Emerson's secular spirituality. After taking a class on Melville, my fellow literature majors and I petitioned our professor to offer a class soley on the writings of Emerson. He granted our wish and this paper is one of the results of my academic explorations into this uniquely American thinker.

The Authority of the Soul: Finding God in Emerson

Emerson's vision of God is secular, and at times can be seen as pantheistic; however, even this is too narrow an interpretation. The "Unity of God" found in his Unitarian beginnings blooms into a self made reality where "appearances indicate the fact that the universe is represented in every one of its particles. Everything in nature contains all the powers of nature," and is thus, the "hidden stuff" of an active God.

Naturalistic Chinese philosopher, Hsun Tzu (300-230 BCE) asserted that "each of the thousand things attains its harmony, and thus grows. Each obtains its nourishment, and thus achieves full development. We do not see their activities but we do see their results. This is what is called spirit." Emerson's unity is not wholly new, it has its roots in ancient Chinese Naturalistic Confucianism as well as other predecessors. When Emerson speaks of "following one's nature" and the spontaneous flux of nature, he is echoing their philosophy in one respect, and yet he strays from all tradition.

We don't have Emerson speaking of meditating on God in order to ignore or shut out the world of appearances (as we do in, say, certain schools of Buddhism and Vedantic Yoga) but rather, we have a delight in nature and the senses as shown in his essay The Poet: "Every line we draw in the sand has expression; there is no body without its spirit or genius." Emerson regards nature as the soul of the body: "We stand before the secret of the world, there where Being passes into Appearance and Unity into Variety." Nature and all that comprise reality in the universe are but "externalizations of the soul." Emerson asserts, quite clearly, the self-existence of nature and the soul in Self-Reliance: "Where there is he, there is Nature," and that, "Time and space are but physiological colors which the eye makes, but the souls is light: where it is, is day; where it was, is night." Thus, the result is an intrinsic connection to our "being" and the "becoming soul."

Nature sets the groundwork for Emerson's concept that, "the beauty of nature shines in his own breast" and therefore, God is an unknowable and mysterious "essence" What is he really telling us? If the world is a "divine dream" then it does not account for matter. "It leaves God out of me." So the "nature of things" must be comprised equally with the "soul and the world." He makes this claim in Compensation: "An inevitable dualism bisects nature, so that each thing is a half, and suggests the other thing to make it whole..." But where does God fit into this dualism? Emerson gives us, like Hsun Tzu, an account of the invisible force behind nature, for "spirit, that is, the Supreme Being, does not build up nature around us, but puts it forth through us, as the life of a tree puts forth new branches and leaves through the pours of the old." Emerson tropes nature, claiming that it "reflects the spirit," and that "all of nature is but a metaphor of the human mind." So, the dualism is simply the "whole" in a state of dependent flux and change - a dualistic unity, if you will.

If nature, the mind, and the soul are changing constantly, then that is the ultimate law of God. Those who are bound by tradition, by the past's attempts to know God, will fail. As Emerson writes in his journal prior to the Divinity School Address: "there are parts of faith so great, so self-evident, that when the mind rests in them, the pretensions of the most illuminated, most pretending sect, pass for nothing…" Emerson is claiming that there is a secular way to know the soul, and ultimately God, which relies solely upon individual insight. Yoga meditation has been described by Swami Sivananda (1887-1963), as "the extinction of all functions of the mind, the art of emptying the mind and making it a blank page." However, we should not interpret Emerson's faith to be an ultimate by-product of meditation, but that’s no reason to dismiss it entirely. The simple control of breath has been considered for ages to be a vehicle to peace of mind.

In the book Christian Yoga by J.M. Dechanet, the author asserts that with breath control one "directs the energy towards the centers where the true self will come to realize its own real nature." Dechanet's reasoning is that the Christian can utilize the methods of Yoga without accepting the religious and philosophical beliefs of Hinduism. Emerson goes further because he claims no loyalty to Christianity as a dogma any more than other faiths. "The instinct of man," he states in Circles, "presents eagerly onward to the impersonal and illimitable, and gladly arms itself against the dogmatism of bigots with this generous word out of the book itself," that even "the Son be subject unto Him who put all things under him, that God may be all in all." Emerson, in his constant experimenting admits that the words of God are as "fugitive as other words," and that is because "this surface on which we now stand on is not fixed, but sliding" and that "Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit."

Ralph DeMarco (11/13/89)

The Torture Papers

Cambridge University Press has just published The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib. The book was edited by Karen J. Greenberg, executive director of the Center on Law and Security at NYU, and Joshua L. Dratel, a Guantánamo prisoner defense lawyer. It features U.S. Departments of Defense and Justice legal memos which document the rationale for torture. Check out National Public Radio's Fresh Air with Terry Gross to hear Joshua Dratel and Karen Greenberg discuss this important book. The Chronicle of Higher Education has posted a review here. There will be an open forum on "Guantanamo: The Supreme Court Case and the Extent of U.S. Power Over ‘Illegal combatants’: What Will it Mean?" at the Center on Law and Security at NYU on February 4.

-- No God for Ireland! he cried.

So I was having a pint the other afternoon at the James Joyce Public House in White Plains reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, when I had an epiphany. There is a section in the first chapter that deals with the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, a Protestant Irishman who was the leader of the Irish Home Rule movement. In 1890, after a series of political setbacks, Parnell's seven year affair with the wife of a former Home Rule party member became public knowledge. He was condemned by the Catholic church, lost his parliamentary leadership and all hope of ever uniting the country again. He died the following year. Ah, back to my epiphany. The family of Stephen Dedalus is split on the matter of Parnell, the fallen King. They ruined Christmas dinner over it. Some things never change. So what is the proper role of religion in politics? How can we find common ground when everyone is so passionate about their beliefs? My epiphany was a question I can't answer.

* * *

He poured sauce freely over Stephen's plate and set the boat again on the table. Then he asked uncle Charles was it tender. Uncle Charles could not speak because his mouth was full; but he nodded that it was.

-- That was a good answer our friend made to the canon. What? said Mr Dedalus.

-- I didn't think he had that much in him, said Mr Casey.

-- I'll pay your dues, father, when you cease turning the house of God into a polling-booth.

-- A nice answer, said Dante, for any man calling himself a catholic to give to his priest.

-- They have only themselves to blame, said Mr Dedalus suavely. If they took a fool's advice they would confine their attention to religion.

-- It is religion, Dante said. They are doing their duty in warning the people.

-- We go to the house of God, Mr Casey said, in all humility to pray to our Maker and not to hear election addresses.

-- It is religion, Dante said again. They are right. They must direct their flocks.

-- And preach politics from the altar, is it? asked Mr Dedalus.

-- Certainly, said Dante. It is a question of public morality. A priest would not be a priest if he did not tell his flock what is right and what is wrong.

Mrs Dedalus laid down her knife and fork, saying:

-- For pity sake and for pity sake let us have no political discussion on this day of all days in the year.

-- Quite right, ma'am, said uncle Charles. Now, Simon, that's quite enough now. Not another word now.

-- Yes, yes, said Mr Dedalus quickly.

He uncovered the dish boldly and said:

-- Now then, who's for more turkey?

Nobody answered. Dante said:

-- Nice language for any catholic to use!

-- Mrs Riordan, I appeal to you, said Mrs Dedalus, to let the matter drop now.

Dante turned on her and said:

-- And am I to sit here and listen to the pastors of my church being flouted?

-- Nobody is saying a word against them, said Mr Dedalus, so long as they don't meddle in politics.

-- The bishops and priests of Ireland have spoken, said Dante, and they must be obeyed.

-- Let them leave politics alone, said Mr Casey, or the people may leave their church alone.

-- You hear? said Dante, turning to Mrs Dedalus.

-- Mr Casey! Simon! said Mrs Dedalus, let it end now.

-- Too bad! Too bad! said uncle Charles.

-- What? cried Mr Dedalus. Were we to desert him at the bidding of the English people?

-- He was no longer worthy to lead, said Dante. He was a public sinner.

-- We are all sinners and black sinners, said Mr Casey coldly.

-- Woe be to the man by whom the scandal cometh! said Mrs Riordan. It would be better for him that a millstone were tied about his neck and that he were cast into the depths of the sea rather than that he should scandalize one of these, my least little ones. That is the language of the Holy Ghost.

-- And very bad language if you ask me, said Mr Dedalus coolly.

-- Simon! Simon! said uncle Charles. The boy.

* * *

He was for Ireland and Parnell and so was his father: and so was Dante too for one night at the band on the esplanade she had hit a gentleman on the head with her umbrella because he had taken off his hat when the band played God save the Queen at the end.

Mr Dedalus gave a snort of contempt.

-- Ah, John, he said. It is true for them. We are an unfortunate priest-ridden race and always were and always will be till the end of the chapter.

Uncle Charles shook his head, saying:

-- A bad business! A bad business!

Mr Dedalus repeated:

-- A priest-ridden Godforsaken race!

He pointed to the portrait of his grandfather on the wall to his right.

Do you see that old chap up there, John? he said. He was a good Irishman when there was no money In the job. He was condemned to death as a whiteboy. But he had a saying about our clerical friends, that he would never let one of them put his two feet under his mahogany.

Dante broke in angrily:

-- If we are a priest-ridden race we ought to be proud of it! They are the apple of God's eye. Touch them not, says Christ, for they are the apple of My eye.

-- And can we not love our country then? asked Mr Casey. Are we not to follow the man that was born to lead us?

-- A traitor to his country! replied Dante. A traitor, an adulterer! The priests were right to abandon him. The priests were always the true friends of Ireland.

-- Were they, faith? said Mr Casey.

He threw his fist on the table and, frowning angrily, protruded one finger after another.

-- Didn't the bishops of Ireland betray us in the time of the union when Bishop Lanigan presented an address of loyalty to the Marquess Cornwallis? Didn't the bishops and priests sell the aspirations of their country in 1829 in return for catholic emancipation? Didn't they denounce the fenian movement from the pulpit and in the confession box? And didn't they dishonour the ashes of Terence Bellew MacManus?

His face was glowing with anger and Stephen felt the glow rise to his own cheek as the spoken words thrilled him. Mr Dedalus uttered a guffaw of coarse scorn.

-- O, by God, he cried, I forgot little old Paul Cullen! Another apple of God's eye!

Dante bent across the table and cried to Mr Casey:

-- Right! Right! They were always right! God and morality and religion come first.

Mrs Dedalus, seeing her excitement, said to her:

-- Mrs Riordan, don't excite yourself answering them.

-- God and religion before everything! Dante cried. God and religion before the world.

Mr Casey raised his clenched fist and brought it down on the table with a crash.

-- Very well then, he shouted hoarsely, if it comes to that, no God for Ireland!

-- John! John! cried Mr Dedalus, seizing his guest by the coat sleeve.

Dante stared across the table, her cheeks shaking. Mr Casey struggled up from his chair and bent across the table towards her, scraping the air from before his eyes with one hand as though he were tearing aside a cobweb.

-- No God for Ireland! he cried. We have had too much God In Ireland. Away with God!

-- Blasphemer! Devil! screamed Dante, starting to her feet and almost spitting in his face.

Uncle Charles and Mr Dedalus pulled Mr Casey back into his chair again, talking to him from both sides reasonably. He stared before him out of his dark flaming eyes, repeating:

-- Away with God, I say!

From A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.