Fringe Science, pros and cons.

That image may be closer to reality than you might think. An Italian team of researchers used a novel ground penetrating satellite technology to image the ground under the pyramid of Giza. What they found seemed impossible, large spiraling cylindrical shapes extending far below the surface. The chances that teams actually dig beneath the pyramids to confirm or debunk this finding in our lifetimes is small. The information is still interesting, and I personally find it quite compelling. The pyramid in Giza is shrouded in mystery. How was it built? Why are there no hieroglyphs? Why are the chambers arranged so weird? Hypotheses abound with theories ranging from the journey of the soul after death to my current favorite, an ancient power station. I love the creativity involved here, and I personally get a little turned off by experts who say we have it all figured out. Traditional dating puts that thing back over 4000 years and many believe it’s older!

I was recently on a cabin retreat with some friends from college and got into a mild conflict with an old friend. I’m currently reading the book “Charged” by Gerald Pollack which suggests that electric charge may be a largely overlooked contributor to many fundamental forces here on Earth. From gravity to wind to flight he makes a pretty good case that charge may be involved in ways science hasn’t considered yet. As a chiropractor I love this stuff. We chiros exist in a world full of confirmed yet overlooked effects. I am biased towards alternatives based on my lived experience. My friend has a PHD in chemical engineering and works for a large corporation. His worldview is shaped by structure and rules. He is rewarded when he hits predetermined metrics. When I suggested that most great breakthroughs happen outside of academia, he took that personally. He has been very successful within this system. His PHD was required to be novel, so he must be thinking nontraditionally. We did not throw blows and found common ground. We agreed that iterative progress through traditional training programs is how we’ve progressed as a society. We also agreed that there have been a few mavericks that made world changing discoveries in non-traditional ways.

There’s a bigger theme here and it may have something to do with psychology. Disagreeableness may sound like an unwelcome personality trait, but it is commonly shared by CEOs and entrepreneurs. These are often the people that are willing to challenge the status quo in order to change the world. Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, Nicola Tesla, and Martha Stewart are good examples of people who pushed against the norm in order to find their own brand of success. Henry Ford – famously described as “monomaniacal”. Steve Jobs – passionate and abrasive. Martha Stewart – Perfectionist. Nicola Tesla – Loner. Elon Musk – Workaholic with Asperger’s. Agreeable people keep the world working. Outliers break the status quo. There’s probably some perfect ratio.