A detailed critique of modern cosmology and physics, arguing for a fundamental re-evaluation of core concepts like space, matter, and the historical narrative of science itself. The analysis posits that the prevailing scientific worldview is founded on historical distortions and a flawed, reductionist methodology that excludes consciousness as a primary component of reality.

The central arguments are as follows:

Historical Misinterpretation:
Widely accepted scientific histories, particularly concerning Isaac Newton, are inaccurate. Newton's actual physics, for instance, held that all motion requires a continuous force, a concept diametrically opposed to the principle of inertia central to "Newtonian mechanics." This illustrates how foundational ideas have been altered and simplified over time.

The Archetype of the Sphere:
The ancient conception of the cosmos as a finite, all-encompassing sphere with no "outside" represents a coherent metaphysical system. This "sphere metaphysics" integrated all life through a universal "World Soul" (Anima Mundi), providing a sense of cosmic belonging that has been shattered by the modern view of a meaningless, mechanistic universe.

The Indispensability of the Ether:
The 19th-century concept of a mechanical "ether" as the medium for light was abandoned following the reportedly "null" results of the Michelson-Morley experiments and the rise of Einstein's relativity. However, this historical account is flawed; the experiments consistently showed small, positive results. The concept of the ether is, in fact, indispensable for physics and has continually reappeared in other forms, such as the quantum vacuum's zero-point energy.

The Primacy of Consciousness:
The most profound failure of modern science is its reductionism—the attempt to explain life and consciousness as byproducts of fundamentally "dead" matter. Any cosmological theory that does not treat consciousness as an integral, foundational aspect of the universe is inherently incomplete and leads to insoluble contradictions. The fundamental fields of the universe are ultimately proposed to be fields of consciousness and will.

In essence, the analysis calls for a new scientific paradigm that reunites physics with philosophy, reinstates a form of the ether concept, and places consciousness at the core of cosmic reality.

1. Re-evaluating the History of Physics

A critical examination of the history of science reveals that established narratives often misrepresent the original theories of key figures, leading to a distorted understanding of scientific evolution.

The True Newtonian Physics:
The common understanding of "Newtonian mechanics," particularly the principle of inertia (that uniform rectilinear motion is force-free), is a significant departure from Isaac Newton's own beliefs. Newton was convinced that any motion, regardless of its nature, required a continuous, sustaining force to maintain it. The version of his work that became standard was heavily influenced and reinterpreted by figures like Leibniz, creating a simplified and altered "school mechanics" that is not faithful to Newton's original, more subtle interpretations.

Einstein versus Newton: Popularization and Legacy:
A key difference between the two physicists lies in their relationship with public perception. Albert Einstein was the first great popularizer of his own theories, skillfully using his media stardom in the 1920s to shape his own legacy. Consequently, most modern interpretations and perceived oddities of relativity theory can be traced back to Einstein himself. In contrast, Newton's work was largely interpreted and popularized by others, leading to the aforementioned distortions.

2. The Archetype of the Sphere: Ancient and Modern Cosmology

The geometric form of the sphere has served as a central, archetypal figure in cosmological thought for millennia, representing a model of a complete and integrated universe.

The Ancient Spherical Cosmos:
For nearly 2,500 years before Copernicus, the cosmos was almost exclusively conceived as a perfect sphere. This model was not merely geometric but deeply metaphysical. A crucial dogma of this Aristotelian worldview was that the cosmic sphere had no outside. The existence of an "outside" would open the door to the possibility of other cosmic spheres or worlds, a concept that was fiercely rejected. The realm beyond the sphere was considered a non-spatial, non-temporal domain of the divine.

The World Soul (Anima Mundi):
This spherical cosmos was not empty. Following Plato's Timaeus, it was understood to be completely filled with a "World Soul," an all-encompassing life force. Every single living, sentient being was considered an integral part of this World Soul, incapable of "falling out" of the totality. This created a coherent "sphere metaphysics" where everything had its place within a single, shared interior space.

From Finite to Infinite:
The concept of the World Soul was revived in the Renaissance by Marsilio Ficino, still within the context of a finite sphere. It was Giordano Bruno who first extended this idea to an infinite cosmos, which he metaphorically described as an "infinite sphere."

Parallels with Modern Cosmology:
The ancient Aristotelian universe bears a surprising resemblance to the modern Big Bang model. Both posit a self-contained totality. This raises a critical and often ignored question for modern cosmologists: "What is space expanding into?" If space is not expanding into a pre-existing, larger space (a "hyperspace"), then the claim of expansion is a pure, unproven assertion.

The Modern Alienation:
Referencing the work of Peter Sloterdijk, the modern consciousness is described as having been "catapulted" out of this containing sphere into a "numbing nothingness." The contemporary cosmological model presents a universe of mechanistic, senseless, and ultimately dead processes, leaving humanity feeling isolated and thrown back upon itself. This psychological void fuels counter-movements like astrology, which represent an attempt to regain a sense of integration with the cosmos.

3. The Contentious History of the Ether

The concept of an "ether"—a fundamental substance or medium filling all of space—has been a persistent, if controversial, idea in both Western and Eastern thought.

Ancient and Asian Conceptions:
The ether was originally conceived as the "quintessence" or fifth element, a fine, subtle substance from which the celestial bodies were formed. A parallel concept exists in Asian philosophy as "Akasha," which is seen alternately as a form of consciousness radiation (Buddhism) or as space itself (Hinduism). This ambiguity—whether the medium is in space or is space—is a recurring theme.

The 19th-Century Problem of Light:
After the work of Thomas Young and others proved the wave-like nature of light, physics was confronted with a major problem: if light is a wave, what is the medium that is waving? The hypothesized medium was the ether. This led to profound paradoxes, as the ether had to possess contradictory properties: it needed to be thousands of times denser than steel to support the immense speed of light waves, yet simultaneously be so fine that it could permeate all matter without resistance.

Field Theory vs. Ether Theory:
Michael Faraday's introduction of the "field" concept in the 19th century created a parallel line of thought. A distinction was drawn between the two ideas:

• Ether: Was conceived as a quasi-material, a subtle substance.

• Field: Was conceived as explicitly non-material. Einstein particularly admired this aspect of Maxwell's field theory, as it dispensed with mechanical, material components.

4. A Critical Perspective on Relativity and the Ether's "Demise"

The rise of Einstein's theory of relativity is commonly credited with abolishing the need for an ether, a narrative that is presented here as a significant oversimplification.

The Michelson-Morley Experiments:
These famous experiments were designed to detect the "ether wind" created by Earth's motion through a stationary ether. The canonical story is that they produced a "null result," proving the ether did not exist. This is presented as a historical falsehood. In reality, the experiments never produced a perfect null result; they consistently measured small but persistent "ether wind" effects.

The Foundation of Special Relativity:
Einstein's theory is re-characterized not as a "relativity theory" but as an "absolutist theory." Its foundational move was to take the observed constancy of the speed of light and elevate it to a fundamental, absolute principle. To maintain this absolute, all other physical quantities—namely space and time—had to become relative and malleable. The entire framework of space-time was thus rebuilt around this single axiom.

The Ether's Apparent Abolition and Subsequent Return:
Physicists like Max von Laue celebrated relativity for having "freed" them from the vexing ether problem. The ether was declared non-existent and became a taboo topic in mainstream physics. However:

• Einstein's Reversal: In a 1920 lecture, Einstein himself reversed his position, stating that physics could not do without an ether, though it had to be a new kind, different from the 19th-century mechanical model.

• General Relativity: The theory of General Relativity describes space-time as a dynamic, malleable entity, which is in itself a quasi-materialistic conception.

• Quantum Ether: The idea re-emerged in quantum physics through the concept of the vacuum's "zero-point energy," effectively a quantum ether.

5. A New Framework: Consciousness, Fields, and Gravity

The final and most critical part of the argument proposes a radical restructuring of physics to integrate consciousness as a fundamental property of reality.

Gravitation as a Radial Field:
An alternative theory of gravity is proposed, drawing on Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno. In this view, gravity is not an attractive force between particles of matter. Instead, it is the effect of a radial field that extends from the center of a celestial body outwards. At the very center, the gravitational effects would cancel out, meaning that celestial bodies are, in a fundamental sense, neither "heavy" nor "light." This model avoids the paradoxes of infinite density that plague standard gravitational theory.

The Primacy of Consciousness:
This is the central philosophical thesis.

• Any theory that fails to include consciousness as an integral component is inherently reductionist. Reductionism, the attempt to explain life by reducing it to dead matter, is deemed logically impossible and leads to a "vicious circle of contradictions."

• Consciousness is not a late, accidental byproduct of material evolution. It must be a fundamental property of the universe, existing at all levels and in various dimensions.

• The fundamental fields of reality—the modern successor to the ether—are ultimately consciousness fields and will fields ("Willensfelder und Geistfelder").

Distinguishing the Ether from the World Soul:
A crucial distinction is made: one should not be too quick to simply equate this fundamental field/ether with the classical concept of the "World Soul." The relationship between them is complex and non-identical, representing a subject for future inquiry.

6. Conclusion and Future Outlook

The analysis concludes by asserting the necessity of reviving and reformulating the concept of the ether and fundamentally reorienting scientific inquiry.

The Ether's Necessity:
A coherent physical science is impossible without some concept of a universal medium or fundamental substrate, whether it is called "ether" or something else. To deny it is to remain trapped in an untenable materialism.

A Predicted Resurgence:
The topic of the ether is predicted to grow in importance and urgency in the coming years, as the limitations of the current paradigm become increasingly apparent.

Reuniting Science and Philosophy:
The ultimate goal is to heal the "fatal" schism between the natural sciences and the humanities. This can only be achieved by creating a unified understanding of reality that fully integrates the objective phenomena of physics with the subjective, spiritual, and conscious dimensions of existence.

Plant polarity is a fundamental, intrinsic property that dictates the asymmetric organization and growth of plants, most visibly expressed in the root-shoot axis. Experiments on monocot leaves and inverted cuttings demonstrate that this polarity is not determined by cell age, plane of division, or gravity. While the mechanism of polar auxin transport is now well-characterized, the primary origin of polarity itself remains one of botany's great unsolved mysteries, with environmental electrical gradients proposed as a compelling, yet under-explored, initiating factor.

1. The Obvious Clues: It's All About Direction

You can see polarity everywhere in the plant world:

Roots vs. Shoots:
The most basic polarity. Roots seek darkness and soil; shoots seek light and air.

The Regeneration Trick:
If you cut a willow branch into pieces, each piece knows which end is which. The end that was closer to the roots will sprout new roots, and the end that was closer to the sky will sprout new shoots. It’s as if every piece has its own tiny compass.

Like a Magnet:
If you break a magnet, each piece becomes a new, smaller magnet with its own north and south pole. A plant is the same. Its polarity runs through the whole thing and is replicated in every part.

2. The Hidden Messenger: The "Growth Hormone" Auxin

So, how does this "compass" actually work? The key is a plant hormone called Auxin. Think of it as the body's messaging system.

It Flows One Way:
Auxin is made in the shoot tips and actively transported downwards towards the roots. It’s a one-way street. This flow is the physical expression of the plant's polarity.

It Controls Growth:
This flow of Auxin tells the plant what to do:

• It keeps side branches in check (a principle gardeners use when they "pinch out" tips to make a plant bushier).

• It tells the roots where to grow.

3. The Detective Work: Testing the Theories

We knew Auxin moved with polarity, but why? What sets the direction? Sheldrake spent years testing the popular ideas.

Theory 1: It's about cell age.

• The Idea: The older end of a cell might determine the direction.

• The Test: He studied grass leaves, which grow from the bottom (so the oldest cells are at the top—the opposite of most plants).

• The Result: Auxin still flowed straight down to the roots. Verdict: Not about cell age.

Theory 2: It's about how cells divide.

• The Idea: The direction a cell splits might set the polarity.

• The Test: He looked at tree stems that thicken, where cells divide sideways.

• The Result: Auxin still flowed straight down. Verdict: Not about the plane of division.

Theory 3: It can be reversed.

• The Idea: Maybe we can flip the plant's compass by growing it upside down.

• The Test: He rooted a tomato cutting from its top and grew it upside down. The plant adapted, but when He measured...

• The Result: The Auxin inside the stem still tried to flow to the original roots, even though they were now at the top! Verdict: The polarity is deeply stubborn and hard-wired.

The Big Conclusion from all this:
The polarity isn't a simple result of growth; it's a fundamental, built-in property of the plant's very cells.

4. The Deep Mystery: Where Does the Compass Come From?

This is the frontier. If polarity is so fundamental, how is it established in the first place? My work with simple ferns gave a clue. When their cells shrunk, they pulled away from their walls in a polar way, showing that one end is literally "stickier" than the other. This proves the polarity is physical.

But what sets that up? Sheldrake has a hypothesis: Electricity.

• The Earth itself has a giant electric field. The ground is negative, and the air is positive. A tree, rooted in the ground, is like a lightning rod in this field.

• Recent experiments show that flower petals have their own electric fields, guiding charged particles to their tips.

• The Proposal: This natural atmospheric voltage might be the invisible hand that initially "tells" the plant cells which way is up, setting their internal compass for life.

This is the exciting, unanswered question. It’s a simple idea that no one has fully tested on growing leaves. It’s a mystery waiting for a curious mind to solve.

In a nutshell:
A plant’s polarity is its internal, unshakable compass. We know it uses the hormone Auxin to express this direction, and we know it's a physical part of every cell. But the secret of how the compass is first set may be written not in biology, but in the very electricity of the world around us.

The standard reading of Goethe's Faust as a hymn to ceaseless human striving is a profound misdirection. A clear-eyed analysis of the text's structure, its emotional payload and Goethe's affiliation with secret societies reveals its true function: it is a sophisticated cautionary tale engineered to instill a deep-seated fear of the pursuit of forbidden knowledge—a "memeetic vaccine" designed to promote intellectual submission.

It's a critique of the transgressive act of seeking gnosis—direct, unmediated knowledge of the cosmos—which the narrative frames as a catastrophic act of hubris. The detailed evidence for this reading is embedded in the very architecture of the drama:

The Premise: Faust's Quest is Forbidden Gnosis, Not Noble Science.

The play meticulously establishes that Faust’s sin is not curiosity, but the specific rejection of sanctioned paths to truth in favor of forbidden ones.

Rejection of Sanctioned Knowledge:
His opening monologue is a wholesale dismissal of the entire edifice of institutional learning. He doesn't just find philosophy, law, and medicine lacking; he saves his most profound contempt for theology, the ultimate source of sanctioned truth for the masses. By declaring it "empty, dusty trash," he symbolically burns the bridge of accepted spiritual authority.

The Turn to the Forbidden:
His subsequent turn is not to empiricism, but to the occult. He doesn't conduct experiments; he consults the Necromanticon and gazes upon the "Sign of the Macrocosm," seeking a vision of the universe's hidden architecture. His ultimate act of defiance is summoning the Earth Spirit—the raw, untamed, and non-Christian force of creation itself. The Spirit's devastating rebuke—"You are like the spirit you comprehend, / Not me!"—is the first and most critical lesson of the propaganda: The direct pursuit of primal knowledge is not for mortals. You are fundamentally unworthy. This immediate, shattering failure is designed to associate the very desire for gnosis with despair and humiliation from the outset.

Mephistopheles as the Tempter and the Hollow Promise.

Mephistopheles is the embodiment of the serpent's promise, and the narrative systematically exposes his offer as a fraudulent and corrosive trap.

The Corrosive Nature of His "Enlightenment":
Every experience Mephistopheles facilitates is a carefully crafted lesson in degradation. The scene in Auerbach's Cellar is but a depiction of base, meaningless debauchery where men act like animals. The Walpurgis Night is a chaotic, grotesque, and confusing orgy of the senses, a parody of wisdom that offers no real insight. Mephistopheles core philosophy is negation—"I am the spirit that always denies." The play demonstrates that the knowledge and experience gained through this pact do nothing but systematically dismantle meaning, value, and connection, leading the seeker into servitude to a cynical and destructive master.

The Irrefutable Core of the Argument: The Gretchen Tragedy.

This is the masterstroke of the propaganda, the mechanism that translates intellectual transgression into a visceral, terrifying moral lesson for the audience.

A Direct and Inescapable Causal Chain:

The play constructs an ironclad logical sequence: Faust's pact → his seduction of Gretchen → total societal and moral collapse. The chain of destruction is meticulously detailed and unavoidable:

1. The death of her mother: Killed by a sleeping potion provided by Faust, turning a tool of convenience into an instrument of matricide.

2. The death of her brother, Valentin: Murdered by Faust in a duel, where Faust is directly aided by Mephistopheles's magic, corrupting the code of honor into a treacherous slaughter.

3. The drowning of her illegitimate child: A direct consequence of the illicit union, for which she is morally and legally responsible.

4. Her own execution for infanticide: The final, public destruction of the individual.

Innocence Annihilated:
Gretchen is not just an innocent; she is a symbol of pious, simple, traditional virtue. Her utter physical and moral ruin is the direct, unavoidable result of Faust's intellectual and spiritual transgression. This is the primary engine of fear: The pursuit of forbidden knowledge damns the seeker and unleashes a plague upon the innocent, destroying the family, the community, and the very concept of purity.

The audience is meant to internalize this: the intellectual's hubris will be paid for with the blood of your daughters.

The "Salvation" as a Divine Exception That Proves the Rule.

Faust's redemption is the final, reinforcing component of the cautionary tale.

An Incomprehensible Miracle:
Faust's salvation is not achieved through his striving. It is a deus-ex-machina event, a complex theological and mystical intervention involving choirs of angels and the "Eternal Feminine" that is deliberately placed beyond rational understanding or human emulation.

The Practical, Fear-Based Takeaway:
For the average person, the emotional and logical conclusion is straightforward. They have sat through a narrative where 99% of the story demonstrates that Faust's path leads to the horrific death of an innocent girl and his own moral decay. The final, cryptic salvation appears as a bizarre, unearned miracle—a loophole they cannot possibly expect for themselves. The resonant lesson is:

"Do not walk this path. If you do, you will end up like Gretchen—ruined, dead, and damned—not like Faust. His salvation is the incomprehensible exception; her tragedy is the predictable rule." Faust's salvation is how Goethe sees his own role in constructing this psychological operation for what he understands to be the greater good.

Goethe’s Secret Society Affiliations and the Agenda of Controlled Enlightenment

To understand Faust as a tool for social control, one must first examine the architect and the intellectual environment that blueprinted his work. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a high-level initiate of the very secret societies that sought to reshape European civilization through the controlled dissemination of knowledge.

Goethe’s Documented Involvement:

• Freemasonry: Goethe was initiated into the Freemason lodge "Amalia" in Weimar in 1780. Freemasonry, in the 18th century, was a central network for the spread of Enlightenment ideals, deism, and rationalism, but it did so within a structured, hierarchical system of initiations and graded secrets.

• The Illuminati: More significantly, Goethe became a member of the infamous Bavarian Illuminati, founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776. The Illuminati were not a myth; they were a radical, secretive order with explicit goals to infiltrate institutions, oppose religious influence, and promote a new world order based on reason and secular morality. Their methods were explicitly elitist and manipulative. They believed in guiding the masses toward a predetermined end, often without their full understanding.

The Secret Society Worldview: Esoteric vs. Exoteric Truth

The core principle of these societies, derived from ancient Gnostic and Platonic traditions, was the division of humanity into two classes:

The Initiated Elite (Esoteric):
Those capable of understanding the true, complex nature of reality—a pantheistic or deistic universe where God is an impersonal force and moral codes are philosophical constructs. This group possessed the "hidden light" of gnosis.

The Masses (Exoteric):
The vast majority, deemed incapable of handling the raw truth without falling into immorality, nihilism, or social chaos. For them, a simplified, metaphorical, and often traditional religious framework was necessary to ensure social order and moral compliance. This is the direct equivalent of Plato’s "Noble Lie."

The Motivation: Why Keep the Masses in the Dark?

The motivation was a paternalistic and ultimately authoritarian philosophy of governance. The stated goal of the Illuminati was to overcome religious "superstition" and monarchic "tyranny." However, their methods reveal a deep-seated belief that this transition had to be managed.

Preventing Social Collapse:
They feared that tearing down the foundational myths of Christianity too abruptly would lead to a vacuum of meaning, resulting in anarchic hedonism or a collapse of the social order. The masses, in their view, needed a moral compass, and traditional religion, however flawed, provided that.

Maintaining Control of the Transition:
By controlling the narrative, the elite could phase out old beliefs and phase in new ones at a pace that ensured stability—their stability. A populace terrified of the consequences of seeking knowledge outside the church would remain docile and manageable during this long-term societal re-engineering project.

Protecting the Power of the Elite:
Ultimate power resides with those who control the fundamental narratives of reality. If the secret of their gnosis—that they had moved beyond good and evil as defined by the church—became common knowledge, their authority would be undermined. Their power depended on maintaining the dichotomy between what they knew and what the people believed.

Applying the Motive to Faust:

This context transforms Faust from a personal philosophical exploration into a strategic cultural intervention.

The "Noble Lie" in Practice:
Faust is the perfect "exoteric" teaching for the masses. It uses the familiar, powerful imagery of Christianity (God, the Devil, Heaven, Hell, sin, and salvation) to deliver a new, secret-society-approved moral lesson: "Stay in your lane."

A Warning from the "Inner Circle":
The play is a message from the initiated (Goethe and his ilk) to the uninitiated (the public). It says: "We have explored the path of forbidden knowledge. We have seen the Earth Spirit. We have consorted with Mephistopheles. And we tell you: it leads to the destruction of everything you hold dear. Therefore, remain content with the simple faith provided to you. Do not seek what we seek. The shepherd (whether the Church or we, your enlightened rulers) knows what is best for you."

The "Noble Lie": The Monopoly on Dangerous Knowledge

The core of the argument is not that the path depicted in Faust is safe, but that its portrayal as the only possible outcome is the central deception. The power of the warning is weaponized to create a monopoly on knowledge.

The pursuit of transgressive, unmediated knowledge (gnosis) is not a game. It carries profound risks.

The Corrosive Potential of Cynicism:
Mephistopheles embodies a real danger: the spirit of absolute negation that can strip life of meaning, reducing all experience to hollow sensation and leaving the seeker in a state of servitude to their own base nature.

The Real-World Consequences:
The Gretchen tragedy is a powerful dramatization of a genuine principle: actions have consequences, and the unrestrained pursuit of personal enlightenment, divorced from ethical considerations, can cause catastrophic collateral damage. This is not an invented fear; it is a valid warning about hubris and moral blindness.

The Claim of Inevitability

The manipulation lies in the text's structure, which presents this harrowing outcome not as one potential risk among others, but as the predetermined and inescapable result for anyone outside the sanctioned order who attempts this path.

The Illusion of a Single Path:
The narrative offers Faust no alternative mentors, no school of wisdom, no community of responsible initiates. His only options are the sterile dogma of the university or the destructive pact with Mephisto. This creates a false dichotomy: either accept the "good shepherd" or be led to ruin by the "evil one."

The Monopoly on Safe Passage:
By making Faust's damnation seem inevitable until a deus-ex-machina salvation, the play implies that navigating these dangerous waters safely is impossible for the common individual. The implicit message is that only a pre-existing, hidden elite—the secret societies themselves—possess the map and the constitution to handle such power without self-destructing. They create the terrifying spectacle of the shipwreck to convince everyone else that sailing is suicide, thereby ensuring no one else builds a boat.

The True Purpose: Manufacturing Consent for Ignorance

Thus, the "noble lie" is this: The terrifying outcome for Faust is not just a possible risk of seeking forbidden knowledge; it is the guaranteed price of seeking it without the permission and guidance of the hidden elite.

A Controlled Deterrent:
The play functions as a controlled burn, a frightening story released into the cultural ecosystem to scare the curious back into the fold. It says, "You see what happens when you try this on your own? It always ends in ruin. Therefore, do not try. Leave such matters to those who know better."

Protecting the Hierarchy:
This maintains the power structure. The initiated retain their exclusive access to "dangerous" knowledge by convincing the uninitiated that the pursuit itself is a one-way ticket to personal and social hell. The masses, terrified by Gretchen's fate, willingly police themselves and each other, cementing the authority of both the traditional Church and the new esoteric elite that operates behind it.

Conclusion: The "Noble Lie" for Social Control

In essence, Faust is a masterpiece of psychological operations. It takes a real and potent danger and frames it as an inescapable universal law for outsiders. This is its ulterior purpose: to use a kernel of truth to build a fortress of lies, ensuring that the masses remain in a state of fearful obedience, convinced that the pursuit of the most profound knowledge is a suicide mission, rather than a journey for which they have been deliberately disqualified.

By crafting a gripping, emotionally devastating drama that inextricably links the quest for gnosis to personal despair, moral corruption, and the destruction of innocence, they install a powerful psychological deterrent. The work functions as a cultural software update, using the potent language of art to associate the pursuit of transcendent knowledge with terror and tragedy. Its ultimate goal is to enforce intellectual and spiritual submission, ensuring the masses remain within the safe pasture of the "good shepherd," terrified of the hell that awaits should they ever dare to seek knowledge for themselves.