Are Universes Thicker than Blackberries?

Last Book Read - Are Universes Thicker than Blackberries?  - Martin Gardner

In this book the prolific Martin Gardner offers a collection of writings on science, mathematics, religion, literature and the paranormal. This work is much less cohesive than his previous books. It's really more of a random collection - something like what his blog would be like, I would guess.  The scope of the book is much more general, and the subjects are discussed far too narrowly, resulting in a lack of the dense insights found in Gardner's usual work, hence I have few comments to make.

The title chapter quickly dismisses the possibility of alternate universes, using Occam's razor.  This subject, while begging for further exposition, is never returned to in this book.  Moving through the section on science, one issue I find with Gardner is his view of postmodernism.  Here he refers to the views of postmodernists as "crazy", held by "professors of literature who know almost nothing about science."  I think these remarks show a superficiality, and an examination of Einstein and Heisenberg could reveal the foundations of a postmodern science.  Furthermore, works like The Postmodern Turn show the progress of science in the postmodern age.

Moving on to religion, while discussing false messiahs, Gardner makes some interesting points about liberal christians who take the Second Advent as a symbol of gradual progress in the world, not a literal second coming.  This point is highly relevant to the socio-political controversies of 2010 and something all churches would be wise to consider.

The section on literature mostly deals with very obscure works, many long out-of-print novels, and some poetry, the meaning of which I can't grasp.  The most profound ideas are in terms of one of Gardner's favorite authors - G.K. Chesterton.  While discussing Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday, Gardner presents intersting points about the problem of evil.  Natural evil, being less explainable than human evil can only be blamed on God.  This presents a problem for the theist.  Here, Gardner, borrowing from Henry James, points out the difference between life  (as individually experienced) and merely existing. He continues discussing one of his favorite topics, the mysterium tremendum. Illustrated in terms from Chesterton, nature must be viewed "as the back of reality", the front being unobservable to us.  Through horror "we pay for the mysterious gift of free will."

The final section, concerning the paranormal seems out of place in this collection and would probably have been better as a seperate volume.  Although mildly interesting, most of the topics here are too specific to be deeply engrossing.  As a magician and debunker of the paranormal, the most interesting element here is Gardner's analysis of investigating magicians.  He discusses why scientists are the easiest persons to fool - because they think too logically.  The only true investigation of psi activity, Gardner argues, can only be done by another magician.

While an entertaining read, the core of Gardner's thought is much better presented and expounded in works like Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener.

Something the Boy Said

As Lost moves into it endgame, we can now see the adventure accelerating.  So far this season we have seen serene, picturesque locales that are reminiscent of the quest in Myst [1].  But, now we see the battle between good and evil erupt into an engagement between two individual powers and the prophecized results are beginning to have catastrophic ramifications to individuals, past, present and future. I expect that the overly literal explanation of a Christ / Satan conflict is far too obvious to be the fundamental narrative.  Although, we have seen one individual in Christ-like performances, and the other has been labeled the "incarnation of evil".  Perhaps more significant to the nature of the show are the sci-fi overtones.  There is a definite Star Wars theme, as acknowledge by the "Obi-Wan" reference.  But the candidate/recruit element also reflects to the Jedi/ Sith conflict, where individuals carry on a tradition of a cold war-like conflict, ready to oppose the other, bringing "balance" to the force.  Furthermore, the Sith rule of two, or "there can only be two" may have some kind bearing on these individual forces that control the island.  Also present is a Highlander quality, involving immortals intent on killing each other.  Soon we will know if "there can only be one" will apply here, with one individual becoming triumphant.



[1]  The Myst reference was something that was also picked up by many others in various forums at the same time it occurred to me, after the lighthouse (as well as the cave) appeared.