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 could be argued that the "religion" that dominates the US (in particular), that is unbridled consumerism is a gigantic all-consuming cargo cult
The credo's being - I shop therefore I am - If in doubt go shopping or shopping as therapy
Even as young as two years old the normal US toddler brainwashed to be a "faithful" consumer can easily recognize all the famous brand name Logos.
It could be argued that the gigantic shopping malls are the bright shining colorful and of course oh so clean and sterile temples/cathedrals of this cargo cult.
Advertising, particularly on TV is the 24/7 call to prayer and participation in the cargo cult. If you want to be happy come to the bright shiny cathedral and purchase the latest bright shiny colorful cargo (communion wafer) or experience.
Miraculously, as if out of nowhere all of the bright colorful cargo appears every day
Everybody knows that happiness is to own purchase the new must have "magical" piece of cargo.
Everybody knows that happiness is a clean toilet bowl and a germ-free house.
If somehow the supply of cargo ceases there will be hell to play.
Very few people even begin to wonder or find out where all the cargo comes from. Or the human and animal blood sweat and tears expended in creating this cargo, and the ever expanding environmental destruction too.
Yes, this is a very good analogy/observation. We should apply this metaphor anywhere we think it might apply, for doing cargo cult behavior is silly in all its applications.
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.
It could be argued that the "religion" that dominates the US (in particular), that is unbridled consumerism is a gigantic all-consuming cargo cult
The credo's being - I shop therefore I am - If in doubt go shopping or shopping as therapy
Even as young as two years old the normal US toddler brainwashed to be a "faithful" consumer can easily recognize all the famous brand name Logos.
It could be argued that the gigantic shopping malls are the bright shining colorful and of course oh so clean and sterile temples/cathedrals of this cargo cult.
Advertising, particularly on TV is the 24/7 call to prayer and participation in the cargo cult. If you want to be happy come to the bright shiny cathedral and purchase the latest bright shiny colorful cargo (communion wafer) or experience.
Miraculously, as if out of nowhere all of the bright colorful cargo appears every day
Everybody knows that happiness is to own purchase the new must have "magical" piece of cargo.
Everybody knows that happiness is a clean toilet bowl and a germ-free house.
If somehow the supply of cargo ceases there will be hell to play.
Very few people even begin to wonder or find out where all the cargo comes from. Or the human and animal blood sweat and tears expended in creating this cargo, and the ever expanding environmental destruction too.
Yes, this is a very good analogy/observation. We should apply this metaphor anywhere we think it might apply, for doing cargo cult behavior is silly in all its applications.
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…