The Theorem: An Utterly Fantastic Claim!
CNA is reporting on what the author, Douglas M. Arone, claims is a revolutionary new book entitled “The Theorem: A Complete Answer to Human Behavior.†It is being published in the U.K. and is set for release there on December 26th. What caught my attention was the subtitle, which seemed a little bit of a bold claim to me. I thought, o.k., he has some new abstract theory about human behavior that he thinks provides more insight than any current theory. That is not his claim. He is claiming much more. He is actually claiming to have the perfect model of human behavior that explains EVERYTHING! This is what the book says about itself:
In addition to the behaviors, disorders and usable model included in The Theorem, there is also a larger message. The Theorem is the story of nature inside of us all. It is the story of Nature’s minimal requirements. The discovery is the definition of our natural laws that bind us all, yet obeying them will allow us to live free from her forever. It is a gift or a curse, and the story of man’s battle against Nature. This discovery allows us to look at the world we have created for ourselves and ask the big questions. It allows us to re-examine this world and see the future and see where we want our civilization to be in a hundred or even a thousand years. For one does not have to be a scholar of history to look back on our past and see the fighting against each other and begin to believe that it is very possible that we can do better. We will do better! Mankind is a very young experiment of Nature and we have survived long enough, though it has always been a fight, to earn the right to know more, and soon we will all know more. To learn this, we must step outside of our fears and beliefs for a moment and begin to see a bigger picture. This is the discovery of a large amount of knowledge and within such a magnificent gift rests a magnificent responsibility.
[Update - the link to the open letter below is now to a cached site; for reasons which will become obvious the publishers quickly removed the letter from their site after this post came to their attention]
Did you catch the claim? This model will free mankind from “Nature†forever. If this is not the proclamation of the Enlightenment gospel then I am not sure what is. Arone claims that we now have the “technology†to improve mankind, no, rather, perfect mankind. If this at first sounds like some screwball hype (it certainly does to me), Professor Arone claims to have amassed a list of 41 psychologist/researchers who are endorsing the book. Does this sound creepy, outlandish, strange? Then you have to read the open letter from the author. It is no antiseptic, scientific, dry letter. It is very strange, the man almost sounds as if he has made a pact with the devil:
No, this discovery never belonged to me, but I must confess that I treated it as though it was mine. I did everything I could to nurture and support it, for while I never owned it— Nature’s secret into mankind’s behavior— it certainly owned me. I surrendered entirely to the obsession it undoubtedly deserved, and then gave more. If it swallowed me whole, well, that mattered little, as it quenched any and all intellectual curiosity that I, any one man, could generate. Then I went back through history, and the model answered all of those questions as well. Deeper and deeper, day upon day, I began breaking through levels of consciousness that no drug could provide, no religion could promise and no meditation could silence. This model simply possessed the answers. There were no more questions, only answers, some as complex as Nature herself . . . .
It was a personal victory for me as well. My father was a writer and philosopher. To please him I had read over 200 of what are generally considered the greatest books of all time. I had read every classic and then, when I was finished with these, I read the obscure classical writers and philosophers. But now I was free from them all, and because I now knew they were not right, I could, for the first time, see these individuals for who they truly were: mostly damaged children, oddballs of society, and in their self-centered pain they would covet that which was around them in an attempt to explain the reason for this pain. Yes, for the first time in my life I was free from the intellectual chains that had bound not only me, but had bound all men since the beginning of time. . . . Once I almost worshiped these books— now I used them to prop up speakers and end tables. Finally, I pulled a big blanket out into my backyard and let the rain fall all over them. This was an appropriate ending, for it was Nature that had freed me, and therefore it should be her to help me erase my past. It was an act of liberation, a celebration of the break in the intellectual chains that had bound me. With my freedom, I continued to grow and elevate through levels of consciousness. Every answer was given, I saw everything in a different light and all was understood.
The scary thing is that this psychologist seems to be making some grandiose philosophical claims that it is hard to see that even the most accurate model of human behavior could warrant. I will not be surprised to find out that he professes materialistic determinism. I don’t know, maybe it is just a hokey publicity scam to sell a book. It will be interesting to see what if anything comes of this. If this turns out to be authentic, I will also be very interested to what this model can add to Christian anthropology.
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Sounds like a man giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. Scary indeed. He gives no credit to God…it can only mean one thing. As fas as what his model might add to Christian anthropology, how could it be expected to yield anything useful? Are you able to get good fruit from a corrupt tree?
Comment by Eric — December 15, 2005 @ 9:49 PM
Dr. Weston in CS Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra (2 of his 3 science fiction books) has appeared in full top hat and tails.
Very nice. Just in time for the Narnia rollout. Another guy who aspires to shave the planet like a cueball.
Comment by Plato's Stepchild — December 15, 2005 @ 10:31 PM
Bizarre! Just to clarify, the linked page states of the list of people (41, you say?), “These individuals are currently reviewing The Theorem: The Complete Answers to Human Behavior for endorsement. We will post the specifics of the endorsements on this Website when received.” So it’s not clear whether any of them have actually endorsed the book yet. Should we be relieved?
Comment by The Sheepcat — December 16, 2005 @ 12:29 AM
Eric – I know what you mean. However, if it is truth then there will be something to be gained if it is sophistry then you are right, it will add nothing.
Sheepcat – you are right; it is ambigous as to whether they have already endorsed his theory yet or not.
I have been thinking, a better title for the post might have been “My Precious.” Dr. Arone’s letter brings to mind something that Gollum from Tolkein’s Fellowship trilogy would have written about the ring…
Comment by David — December 16, 2005 @ 8:52 AM
Plato’s stepchild,
Dr Weston indeed. That was my first thought. Very creepy and demonic.
Comment by MelanieB — December 16, 2005 @ 9:06 PM
Dearest Gentleman,
I see you have taken an interest in The Theorem:A Complete Answer to Human Behavior. I am grateful for this to say the least, as right now, at this moment, this little book needs all the help it can get to be on it’s way. The fact that some of you gentlemen have looked so deeply into the work assures me that you are scholarly men, this is even more gratifying. You are also men of deep faith and if the Open Letter offended that faith, I am truly sorry.
If I may however defend some of these lofty allegations against my work and myself by providing a few clarifications- this would be appreciated.
The first is that the publisher of The Theorem is a Christian man. In fact John Hunt has been a Christian publisher for over twenty years. Most all of his titles are Christian titles, either about religion or mans interpretation of religion. John is a man of tremendous faith and conviction, this is why I chose to publish The Theorem at his firm. It was the only reason I assure you.
The importance of The Theorem for the Christian community cannot be undervalued. The Theorem, beyond any shadow of a doubt proves that the human fetus is conscious. In fact I would challenge anyone of any conviction or opinion to read the work and come to a different conclusion. The model included in The Theorem
is validated by over ten years of hard scientific research, as what I did not say in the letter, is that I was constantly attempting to disprove the model, thus saving myself and my family the initial embararasment of presenting this unified model of behavior to the general public. However the evidence was too strong and the model was too accurate to hold it back for the selfish reason of saving face and avoiding humiliation.
As you would imagine I have suffered much of it already, for this work, and as I see here it is likely only begining.
While you think that it is odd that I do not publicly give credit to god for this discovery, I think the end result would be more bizzare if I did. Imagine if someone were to say that they made this great discovery and it was because of god, or worse, that god spoke directly to them and told them that these were the answers, well then ,from a modern and not historical perspective, I would be cautioned by such an individual.
Concerning the moment of discovery, I am only honestly portraying my interpretation of it. At that moment, over ten years ago, I experienced neither savior or devil, or any male spiritual presence at all. Instead I felt the feminine presence of Nature. This is my honest interpretation of those events.Now this is not to say that god does not deserve any credit, perhaps he chose to enlighten me, in a nontradional way. It is possible that I have not fully interpretated the experience, and it is likely that I will never fully interpret the experience to my satisfaction or to the satisfaction of gentlemen like you.
Comments about the letter, and about me personally are fair game, however in the end, those who believe most in the preservation of the fetal life will gain the most out of this work, regardless of my personal interpretations. On the other hand those that believe in the preservation of fetal life will have the most to
lose by my demise in the eyes of the Christian community. Therefore please think of the long term benefits of the general acceptance and undrstanding by everyone of fetal consciousness and the impact this will have on the gradual elimination of abortion, which destroys the gift of Nature and God.This, in contrast to the enjoyment you realize by such baseless and hurtful remarks.
Douglas M. Arone
.
Comment by douglas arone — December 17, 2005 @ 6:24 AM
[...] Well, my friend Jamie warned bloggers earlier this year that you never know who is reading. Of course, did I listen. Well, at the time I did, but alas, in the heat of battle I forgot. My post on Thursday about a new book entitle The Theorem, reflected my reaction in a not so charitable tone I’m afraid. Here is the author’s response: Dearest Gentleman, I see you have taken an interest in The Theorem: A Complete Answer to Human Behavior. I am grateful for this to say the least, as right now, at this moment, this little book needs all the help it can get to be on it’s way. The fact that some of you gentlemen have looked so deeply into the work assures me that you are scholarly men, this is even more gratifying. You are also men of deep faith and if the Open Letter offended that faith, I am truly sorry. If I may however defend some of these lofty allegations against my work and myself by providing a few clarifications- this would be appreciated. The first is that the publisher of The Theorem is a Christian man. In fact John Hunt has been a Christian publisher for over twenty years. Most all of his titles are Christian titles, either about religion or mans interpretation of religion. John is a man of tremendous faith and conviction, this is why I chose to publish The Theorem at his firm. It was the only reason I assure you. The importance of The Theorem for the Christian community cannot be undervalued. The Theorem, beyond any shadow of a doubt proves that the human fetus is conscious. In fact I would challenge anyone of any conviction or opinion to read the work and come to a different conclusion. The model included in The Theorem is validated by over ten years of hard scientific research, as what I did not say in the letter, is that I was constantly attempting to disprove the model, thus saving myself and my family the initial embararasment of presenting this unified model of behavior to the general public. However the evidence was too strong and the model was too accurate to hold it back for the selfish reason of saving face and avoiding humiliation. As you would imagine I have suffered much of it already, for this work, and as I see here it is likely only begining. While you think that it is odd that I do not publicly give credit to god for this discovery, I think the end result would be more bizzare if I did. Imagine if someone were to say that they made this great discovery and it was because of god, or worse, that god spoke directly to them and told them that these were the answers, well then ,from a modern and not historical perspective, I would be cautioned by such an individual. Concerning the moment of discovery, I am only honestly portraying my interpretation of it. At that moment, over ten years ago, I experienced neither savior or devil, or any male spiritual presence at all. Instead I felt the feminine presence of Nature. This is my honest interpretation of those events.Now this is not to say that god does not deserve any credit, perhaps he chose to enlighten me, in a nontradional way. It is possible that I have not fully interpretated the experience, and it is likely that I will never fully interpret the experience to my satisfaction or to the satisfaction of gentlemen like you. Comments about the letter, and about me personally are fair game, however in the end, those who believe most in the preservation of the fetal life will gain the most out of this work, regardless of my personal interpretations. On the other hand those that believe in the preservation of fetal life will have the most to lose by my demise in the eyes of the Christian community. Therefore please think of the long term benefits of the general acceptance and undrstanding by everyone of fetal consciousness and the impact this will have on the gradual elimination of abortion, which destroys the gift of Nature and God. This, in contrast to the enjoyment you realize by such baseless and hurtful remarks. Douglas M. Arone [...]
Pingback by COSMOS-LITURGY-SEX » The Template: The Author Responds — December 17, 2005 @ 1:15 PM
Well, eliminating abortion is a fine goal, but I think David is right to approach this book warily. The author points to publisher John Hunt as a Christian and man of deep faith, but how many Christian publishers have a section in their catalog for Astrology/Numerology?
http://o-books.rmlconsult.com/oBooks/catalog/index.php?cPath=31
According to a book description in another category, we can read, thanks to a channeller, “the revising of the letters of Paul by the one who was incarnate as Paul.” This publisher is playing with fire.
Comment by The Sheepcat — December 17, 2005 @ 6:36 PM
Let’s go over a couple of things here.
Initially David reported Mr. Arone said the following in his letter:
“I began breaking through levels of consciousness that no drug could provide, no religion could promise and no meditation could silence. This model simply possessed the answers. There were no more questions, only answers, some as complex as Nature herself…I continued to grow and elevate through levels of consciousness. Every answer was given, I saw everything in a different light and all was understood.â€
Now Mr. Arone is saying:
“I experienced neither savior or devil, or any male spiritual presence at all. Instead I felt the feminine presence of Nature.†And was it an accident that he spelled god with a small “g†?
Sorry but you’d have to be blind not to see New Age…and more, written all over this. Mr. Arone has had a conversion experience but what supernatural power did he meet? And let there be no doubt that the author left himself wide open to all these “baseless and hurtful†remarks. He is proposing “A Complete Answer to Human Behaviour,†as well as a discovery which, if obeyed, “will allow us to live free from her [Nature] forever. Notice he has no trouble capitalizing nature but not God. On the website advertising the book, it states that it contains “likely the very answers mankind has been seeking since his beginning.â€
Such absurd and blasphemous claims put his book on a level higher than Holy Scripture, Our Lord Jesus Christ AND the Church, to whom we look for our salvation and the means to continue living in a state of grace in the midst of this “vale of tears,†which will certainly not be bridged until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to Mr. Arone, “Mankind is a very young experiment of Nature,†and we must “begin to see a bigger picture.†Is Jesus Christ in that picture? No. The author’s discovery “allows us to re-examine this world and see the future and see where we want our civilization to be in a hundred or even a thousand years.†By such words, in fact, the author has made a good case for describing himself, and/or his discovery as “saviour†of the world. Is he therefore one of those “messiahs†of which Jesus warned? I say yes.
Furthermore, proving that the human fetus is conscious, or alive for that matter, is hardly a breakthrough for Christians or for society. And it’s unlikely to change anything about the abortion holocaust because it is not primarily a problem of education, as Mr. Arone supposes, but rather a deep rooted spiritual problem. It does however say something about the man’s judgment as well as his naiveté.
I don’t doubt the man is sincere, but my original assessment, as indicated in the first posting above, still stands, and more adamantly so.
Comment by Eric — December 17, 2005 @ 10:05 PM
Very perceptive on the little g and the capital N. I noticed the link to his open letter link on David’s original post is now off his website. This whole thing is rather creepy. I think his book will be a new age type of thing, on his website he writes.. This book is more than anything— about you! And all the convincing in the world about how one theory or the other is valid will not compare to the single connection you will make to one that actually is. This, more than all other attributes is possibly The Theorem’s greatest asset.
Comment by shelray — December 17, 2005 @ 11:44 PM
“Interpretated”? OK, Mr. Arone is a psychologist, not a grammarian, but still…
Comment by dannyboy — December 19, 2005 @ 9:29 AM
[...] I have heard nothing back yet from Douglas Arone since his response to my initial post on his strange new book, The Theorem. However, Jimmy Akin has an insightful assessment that is well worth reading. [...]
Pingback by COSMOS-LITURGY-SEX » The Theorem: An Update — December 19, 2005 @ 4:07 PM
[...] Shelray explained to me that the open letter was taken down from the Book’s website. If you read my first post you can guess why. Luckily, it has been cached. Take a look. [...]
Pingback by COSMOS-LITURGY-SEX » The Theorem: Update Number 2 — December 19, 2005 @ 8:23 PM
When I read the original comments by the author, I was inclined neither to believe he had succeeded nor that he was in league with demons. There is a third possibility – he is a crank. By that I mean the phenomena of people who mistakenly think they have solved one of the world’s great unsolved problems singlehandedly. The quotes given has all the earnmarks of the crank: incredible claims, pseudo-scientific claims, megalomania, etc. I think you should check out http://www.crank.net – a site specializing in keeping track of such cranks. If you read a few, it will sound vaguely familiar
Comment by Albert — December 21, 2005 @ 11:24 PM