Question:
Isn't it true that many researchers in this generation and in many previous
generations knew about and had read the story of Moses and therefore it is likely that
the wisdom of that story contributed to the shape of modern scientific research and
practice?
Answer:
There is no doubt that a large percentage of researchers in many generations have
studied the story of the copper snake, and it has inevitably helped to shape modern
scientific practice. For example, one of the first steps in combating a new infective
agent is to name the agent and to try and create a model of the cause of the disease.
Thus many models of the HIV already exist. One can go to a bookstore or the internet
to have the experience of looking at the cause of AIDS. Our approach adds something
additional to this current state of the art and it is important to explain this in detail.
Modern science is to a large extent, although not 100% tied to a mechanistic model of
disease. Just as an infection comes with an exposure as well the manifest experience
of being exposed to a noxious influence, a cure comes with a substance and a logical
mechanistic explanation as to why the substance will heal. This second effect is
known as the placebo effect; however it is more than that. The placebo effect merely
seduces the patient into thinking he is being healed. A cure not only convinces the
patient it will cure, it has already convinced the Doctor, and usually almost all
members of the health profession that it will heal the patient or at least ameliorate the
condition to the extent demonstrated by double blind studies. The psychological
aspect of a proven cure is thus much greater than a mere placebo effect. In this regard,
the development of models of disease causes, are tied to discovering a mechanistic
cure for the disease. The process and motivation for developing these models are
utilitarian, and are tied to the vestigial G-ds, as it were, of the science of alchemy
which formed much of the basis of modern scientific treatment. Models are developed
so that scientists can find cures for disorders, which as often as not are based on the
biochemical realities known to modern science. The iconoclastic archetypes of this
process are ionic and molecular repulsion and attraction, atomic valences, and
properties of receptors, etc. This process, while at times very effective in extending
life, can, at the same time, be very demeaning to human beings. People do not wish to
live merely to testify to the power of atomic valences. While beneficiaries of such an
approach are gratified with the results and if cured will put the disease process behind
them and go on with the process of living, nevertheless, the recipients are gratified by
the results, and not necessarily by the means of the results, which they probably
merely tolerated without giving them a great deal of thought. And, as frequently
noted, people in the late stages of cancer, who otherwise are given no hope for
survival based on our mechanistic understanding of the disease process, will very
often live until the completion of a family life event, such as the birth of a grandchild
or the marriage of a child. This phenomenon therefore testifies to other forms of cure,
which cannot be entirely described mechanistically. This form of healing is described
by the science of psychoneuroimmunity. The science teaches that our state of mind
influences the nervous system, which subsequently influences the function of all the
organs of the body including the immune system. And while the actual effect of these
phenomena may be mediated through mechanistic processes, the actual transduction
of states of feeling to mechanistic processes is done by the fully evolved human body
and not by a conscious process of a scientist. And furthermore, the controllable ways
of effecting this process, of inducing positive psychological states of mind in a patient
suffering from a condition, are often vastly different than means investigated by a
traditional scientific researcher.
Therefore, in creating a model of the HIV virus, suitable for inducing a positive
mental state, such as Moses successfully induced in the victim of snake bit on the
desert, I saw no need to confine myself to the limitations of mechanistic
utilitarianism. Quite the contrary, the first step was to admit that under the right
circumstances, human beings have the ability to transmit positive stimuli into effect
mechanistic action, themselves. The challenge is to find the proper stimuli. The next
step in the process was fairly obvious. Moses had used the technique of exposure to a
copper model of the cause of a condition to rapidly auto immunize Israelites in the
dessert to the fatal effects of snake bite. Here we are in the 20th century facing a
condition that is killing millions of humans each year, without a known cure. We
furthermore are now equipped with the ability to understand how the copper snake
might have worked, and we are thus freed from the pitfall of many Jews in subsequent
generations, who fell into the practice of worshipping the copper snake and attributing
divine powers to it. So how can we not apply the technique of the copper snake to this
condition?!
The copper model of HIV, which stands above eye level, presents the model of the
virus in an environment freed of traditional mechanistic considerations. Furthermore,
it is possible that the substance of the copper snake, copper, contributed to its
effectiveness. And, furthermore, as noted by sages in the past, the act of looking up,
with the implication of looking towards the skies, reminiscent of "Heaven," are other
factors which our model adds to a merely scientific and utilitarian model of the virus.
Finally, our model(s) will all be owned by People for a Bill to Build the Beit
HaMikdash. As the organization seeking access to the location of the previous Jewish
Temples, the final resting place of the copper snake, we are creating a powerful
psychological connection between the copper virus and the source of the spiritual
tradition which produced the copper snake.