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Oct. 28, 2005 I owe the UK audience an apology and intended to offer it with this post even before Hal von Leubbert posted his article, “Ron Lewis is a Thoughtful Guy”. When I started writing my article with which he disagrees, I had intended a different conclusion, one that consisted of original thoughts, as I’ve admonished others here for lacking in the past, on my frequent theme of media bias. Alas, I was interrupted once, then hurried when I tried to finish it later, with the net result that I pretty much just paraphrased the writings of another author I had just finished reviewing. I only included minimal thoughts about the media. Thus, when Hal compliments me as thoughtful, I can’t accept his nice words. In fact, the thoughtful part of that article he admired belonged to Howard Bloom and I am at fault for not attributing him properly in my post. So Hal, while I envy your bulging biceps and will accept your claims of judo mastery et al, I am forced to compare your credentials to Mr. Bloom’s when I decide who to believe. Are you aware of the man? Let me share his amazing story with you, found on several sites dedicated to him. I quote: "Howard Bloom is a Visiting Scholar at New York University, executive editor of the New Paradigm book series, a founding board member of the Epic of Evolution Society, and a member of the New York Academy of Sciences, the National Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Society, the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, The International Society of Human Ethology, and the Academy of Political Science. He has been featured in every edition of Who's Who in Science and Engineering since the publication's inception." "Bloom is also the founder of two international scientific groups. The first was an academic circle called The Group Selection Squad," whose efforts in the mid-1990s precipitated radical re-evaluations of neo-Darwinist dogma within the scientific community and in publications ranging from The New York Times and The Scientist to Science News and Natural History Magazine. The second group, launched in 1997, is The International Paleopsychology Project, a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to mapping out the evolution of complexity, sociality, emotion, perception, and mentation from the first 10(-32) second of the Big Bang to the present." "Now for the adventures. Bloom plunged into microbiology and theoretical physics at the age of ten, collaborated in the creation of a computer that won a Westinghouse National Science Contest prize when he was thirteen, won an award for his participation in research on the immune system at the world's largest cancer research center at the age of sixteen, and did research on programmed learning and Skinnerian techniques at Rutgers University's Graduate Department of Education before entering his freshman year of college." "In 1968, Bloom graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from NYU, then turned down four graduate fellowships in clinical psychology and made a daring move for a budding scientist. He escaped academia and infiltrated the highest levels of pop culture. His goal? To research what he calls "the dark underbelly of mass emotion." "First, Bloom edited an experimental graphics/literary magazine that won two National Academy of Poets prizes. Then, he co-founded the leading avant-garde commercial art studio on the East Coast and was featured on the cover of Art Direction magazine. In 1971, he became head of a national music monthly, Circus, and was credited by veteran Rolling Stone editor Chet Flippo with inventing a new genre - the heavy metal magazine. In 1976, he founded The Howard Bloom Organization, Ltd. and worked closely with Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, John Cougar Mellencamp, Kiss, AC/DC, Run-D.M.C., Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Simon & Garfunkel, Diana Ross, and Bette Midler. Bloom was a fearless explorer of pop subcultures, helping underground movements like punk, rap, disco, new age, and fusion-jazz get their footing." "Bloom also tunneled into politics, writing position papers for two winning Congressional candidates, handling publicity for Amnesty International's first benefit concert, overseeing publicity for the first Farm Aid benefit, and working with the United Negro College Fund, the National Black United Fund, and the NAACP. In 1986, he co-founded a national anti-censorship group, Music In Action, and went toe-to-toe with Tipper Gore in a struggle to preserve the freedom of popular music's artists and its fans." "In 1981, while he was moving toward the peak of the entertainment industry, Bloom quietly shifted back to evolutionary and social theory. The first fruit of his analysis was The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History (1995). The second was Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From The Big Bang to the 21st Century (2000)." ------------------------- Kinda impressive, huh? Although nothing about judo, hmmm. And he doesn’t seem to have had to live off the land at any point in his life hiding from government assassins. Here’s what some people think of him and his work: Dr. Christopher Boehm, Director of the Jane Goodall Research Center, says, "Howard Bloom should be taking notes on what he is doing virtually every minute of every day; he is literally making scientific history." Noted neurobiologist Walter Freeman, author of How Brains Make Up Their Minds, proclaims, "I am speechless with admiration, overwhelmed by virtuosity." Concludes Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Evolution's End and The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, "I have finished Howard Bloom's two books, The Lucifer Principle and Global Brain, in that order, and am seriously awed, near overwhelmed by the magnitude of what he has done. I never expected to see, in any form, from any sector, such an accomplishment. I doubt there is a stronger intellect than Bloom's on the planet." From the Washington Times: his work "addresses a topic that more timid and conventional sources are not inclined to confront: the nature and causes of human evil. ...vigorous...fervent...a freshly viable theory of human social evolution." "Bloom's work marshals a quantity of evidence reminiscent of Darwin's 1859 Origin of Species." - Dorion Sagan, Wired "The Lucifer Principle has become an underground sensation in the scientific and literary communities...." - The Independent Scholar ------------------------- Needless to say, I’ve only scratched the surface. It would seem obvious, noting that his admirers run the gamut from the New York Times to Wired magazine and his work spans our culture from rap music to clinical immunology, that we’re talking about one of the leading intellectuals of our generation. So, Hal, I gotta hand it to you, you do recognize thoughtfulness when you see it. But that part about me (really, him) being wrong? You don’t mind if I stick with Howard Bloom’s opinion do you? However, if I need someone to kick some @ss for me, or tell me how to live off of milkweed and grasshoppers until I can return to civilization, I’ll look to you. Thanks for being there for me!! ------------ About the author: Ron Lewis is a software salesman extraordinaire, albeit habitually unemployed, with no significant accomplishments at age 47 other than two wonderfully talented children who take after their mother. All his friends note his keen insight, bad eyesight, doggedly jaded disposition, and rugged bad looks. A third person seems to recall that he talks too much. Email: grnacres@direcway.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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