"Scientists exploring Martian dust devils are forced to locate the 'cause' of the electrical discharges in solar heating and the resulting mechanical energy of air convection. But in the Electric Universe, rotating columns of air are a natural consequence of atmospheric electric discharge. Rotating columns are the prevalent forms taken by electric currents in plasma. A researcher unaware of the global circuitry involved will be limited to mere discussions of localized charge separation. Effect will be confused with cause. Charge separation will be attributed merely to the physics of dusty air circulation within the vortex."
In a gist, the "Electric Universe" model proposes that the solar system owes its formation to an era of catastrophic interplanetary electrical discharges. To my mind, it simply replaces some planetary anomalies, such as the genesis of the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars, with a much larger one. After all, nonscientists, and especially New Agers, are known to be greatly impressed with talk of ill-defined "energies" and "currents" that allegedly underlie the boring materialist world of rocks and atoms.
Especially troubling are the supposed mythological links one finds associated with the "Electric Universe." Clearly Velikovskian, they help make the Cosmos less distant by suggesting the Sun's retinue of worlds took shape within our species' short existence. The Electric Universe model tells us that we're not "mere" galactic citizens, but front-row participants to forces that resolutely defy mainstream comprehension. And even though I'm very aware of the limitations of staunchly mainstream consensus science, this implicit anthropocentricism is what concerns me the most about theories of cosmic thunderbolts.
1 comment:
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