jumpedonthe bandwagon and
rescheduledtheir classvenueto
the film theatre, thusforcing the
entireclass tore-watchthis stark,
grim, panic-inducing horror twice
more, as if seeing it oncewasn’t
bad enough.
Ihave to sayIwas in shock
foragoodfew months after
watching thisfaux-documentary
horror story. My innocencewas
well and trulyshatt ered and I
felt agut-wrenching panicevery
time the localfactorysirenset
off its bansheewail at lunchtime.
Icouldn’tworkout whynoone
wasdoing anythingabout the
situation–adults, parents, teach-
ersother kids seemed starkly
oblivious to the film’sbleak
projection of the likelyfuture. It
colouredmywhole summer and
indeedformanyyears fo llow-
ing Iwas verygloomy about the
futureprospectsforBritain, and
indeed the whole of humanity.
Ienduredalengthyfeeli ng of
complete detachment, asIfeltas
thoughIwas the onlyperson who
could see what the futureheld.
CertainlyIadoptedamuchmore
short-term ‘live forthe minute’
attitude, which in retrospect defi-
nitelydid impact onmy studies
–and my whole career and life
choices.Theexpectation of the
schoolwasthat youweretobe
independent, tough andresilient,
so Inever mentionedmy abject
fear and sub-surface near-panic
to my parents (teacherswould
have beenthe last peopleyou
would have confided anything
in), oreven thatIhad beenforce-
fed the film once, let alone three
times.
In terms of the haunted
generation stuff,the wackyweird
or slightlyscaryTVoutputwas
not even apale shadowofthat
castby the themes, threadsand
starkreality ofTheWar Game.
In today’slitigious age,Ioften
wonder howsuchpsychologically
reckless actionby teacherswould
be viewed. Ican’timagine staff
in secondaryschoolsherding
theirYear 8s intoashowing of
an unexpurgatedversion of,say,
TheTexasChainsaw Massacreor
suchlikefor numerous iterations
of viewings with impunity.
Inever discussed withmy
parentsmy deep-rooted fear
and chronic mental disturbance
resulting fromwatching the
film.Theconfidence theyhad
in that the school in providing
aprogressive caringand
supportive environmentwas
left untarnished. However,as
afullypaid up member of the
haunted–nay traumatised –
generation,Iheld other views. I
have oftenwondered ifIshould
be calling Saul Goodman to seek
appropriateredressforwhat
would nowundoubtedly passasa
primafacie case ofchild abuse.
DavidEBerry
Sheffield, SouthYorkshireLying
In areviewofthe filmabout
Theranos (“TheInventor:Out for
blood in SiliconValley”) inNew
Scientist(30 Mar 2019,pp42-43),
there is asubtlesurprise in the
penultimateparagraph:
“Perhaps the film’sbest
insight comesfromDan Arielyat
DukeUniversityinNorth Caro-
lina. He describesanexperiment
in which he askspeopleto roll
dice, telling them theywillbe
paid what the diefaceshows if it
is thenumber they were thinking
of.Ofcourse,peoplelie –asplay-
inghooked up toalie detector
confirms.If themoneyisgoing
to charit y, playersstill liebut
defeat the lie detector.‘If it’ sfor
agoodcause,you can still think
of yourself as agoodperson,’says
Ariely”.
Thereare at leastthree
thingsaboutthisthat sound
awfullywrong: 1 Silly me,I
thoughtthe liedetectorwas
themostdiscreditedpiece of
scientific hardwaresince the
perpetualmotion machine...and
yetit’sstillbeing used in serious
research (albeitatDuke) and
referenced inNewScientist! 2
Lie detectordesign mayhave
advancedoverthe years, but I
still think it’s pretty easytotell
if you’re hooked up to one.If so,
would youlie ifyoubelievedthe
machine reallyworked? Isure
wouldn’t. (On theother hand,
if youneeded themoneyand
didn’tcareaboutthe outcome,
youmight lie anyway –but then
you’dprobablybesorelaxedthat
thelie wouldn’t show up on the
detector.) 3 Apsychologistwhose
model of the humanmindissosimple that he thinks people
wholie automatically think of
themselvesasbad persons,can’t
have been around alot. Equally,
the notion that“giving money
to charity” is universally and
uncritically regarded asAGood
Thing, is laughably naïve.Lots of
people don’tgivemoneytochari-
ties onprinciple; manymoreare
extremelyselective about which
charitiestheysupport.
Allinall,thisisonlyone ex-
ample of howNewScientistoften
lapses into unscientific thinking.
IwishIhad collectedexamples
of thisoverthe years–there’s
usuallyacouple in eachissue –
but I’m just too lazy.
Nils ErikGrande
Oslo,NorwayBlack imp
Igreatly enjoyedthe Black
Imp story[FT386:75]. Ihave
much personal knowledge of
Southfields and Engadine Street
in particular, as my uncl ehas
livedonthe corner of Lavenham
Road/EngadineStreetforthe
past 50years(he is now72).
Previously, my mother livedthere
as well asmy grandparents. I
completelyagree with Karen
McCloud that the houses there
aregloomywith an oppressive
atmosphere.Ifelt the same as a
child about visiting the bathroom
on the first floor,which used to fill
me with dread, asIwould have to
go up the long, darkstaircase.The
staircase in particular always had
an oppressive feeling andIstill
feel the samewaywhenIvisitmy
uncle’s house.
Russell Atkins
By emailNo such
parkRegarding the
reviewofSpirits
in Stone:The
Secrets of Mega-
lithic America
[FT386:59]:
Mount Shasta
NationalPark
in south Oregon
is as imaginary
as manyofthe
“alignments”mentionedby the author of the
book, Glenn Kreisberg.While
both features areinthe Cas-
cades, Crater LakeisinOregon,
and isaNationalPark.Mount
Shasta is in Northern California,
147 miles distant,andis part
of the Shasta–Trinity National
Forest, andhas the further
designation of US National
Natural Landmark.They are
both interesting places to visit,
Crater Lakebeing just that, a
volcanic crater,while Shasta is a
volcano,inside whichdwell the
Lemurians, whoventureforth
in their spaceships, cleverly
disguised as lenticular clouds.
(Sorry, couldn’tresist).There-
viewer’spoint that long distance
alignments in Great Britain are
not shown on the map isvalid;
the identification of the map is
not... or did Kreisbergcompact
the twonatural features into an
imaginarynational park?
RachelHazard
By emailRidiculous!
Thearticle Zombies,Vampires,
KillerClownsby TeaKrulos
[FT387:57]isone of the most
ridiculous articlesIhave ever
read. Ihope Kruloswasjoking.
His argument thatvampire
movies aremadeduring
Democratic administrations
and zombie movies during
Republicanadministrations is
not onlypoorlyresearched and
illogical,but idiotic.What about
moviesabout ghosts,werewolves,
invadersfromspace,serial
killers,etc.? Give me abreak!
GregorySumrall
By emailFT389 73