There's an old movie called "The Gods Must Be Crazy" about a cargo cult in Africa that gets established when a Coca-Coca bottle is dropped from the sky. Very much in the same vein as the Melanesian worshippers, I think.
I remember this movie well! The main character (I think) throws a super thick coke bottle back up to return it near the beginning, and that thing comes back down hard! There was a lot of physical comedy, and I'm not sure all of it ages well, just in case anyone's interested in going back to re-watch today.
Excellent question! I suspect that there is plenty of truth to the idea, but also plenty of nuance. I don't think it was merely a lie told in order to make white people feel superior, exactly, although I'm also sure that amplified the story quite a bit.
There's an old movie called "The Gods Must Be Crazy" about a cargo cult in Africa that gets established when a Coca-Coca bottle is dropped from the sky. Very much in the same vein as the Melanesian worshippers, I think.
I remember this movie well! The main character (I think) throws a super thick coke bottle back up to return it near the beginning, and that thing comes back down hard! There was a lot of physical comedy, and I'm not sure all of it ages well, just in case anyone's interested in going back to re-watch today.
It was an '80s movie- not all of them age well. But the anti-capitalist (or at least anti-Coke) message is still evident.
loved that movie! iirc their language was a series of clicks which made the premise even odder. I think there was even a sequel
The clicking language is the actual language of the Xhosa tribe.
I remember there being a sequel, and I remember it being epically terrible.
Were the Melanesians actually imitating the cargo crews, or was that the faulty assumption of white observers?
Excellent question! I suspect that there is plenty of truth to the idea, but also plenty of nuance. I don't think it was merely a lie told in order to make white people feel superior, exactly, although I'm also sure that amplified the story quite a bit.
was cool to see that video; wasn't Feynman the O-ring guy when the Space Shuttle exploded? Substack is fertile ground for pseudoscience posers
Yes indeed! Classic moment in science history.
Incidentally, "Melanesia" is also the name of the country Trump thinks Melania is from.
No, that's what she had when she agreed to marry him.
Touche!
I'm reading a wonderful book now called Mind the Science by Jonathan Stea https://substack.com/@jonathanstea?r=3p5dh&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile
Perhaps as in a religion, they were performing the rituals out of hope…