What is fascism in general? This is a totalitarian system that implements the primacy of the interests of the state over the interests of the individual, allows (unlike communism) limited economic freedom and, as a rule, is based on a more or less explicit nationalist ideology, including xenophobia and the cult of a superior race. (Note that “ideal”, utopian communism is completely devoid of the last component; in the real world, it is true that it successfully replaces national enmity with class enmity, but in the future classless society it realizes complete equality and internationalism.) Let’s now look at the world of Noon.

First of all, we note that this world is completely totalitarian. It does not have concentration camps (the Strugatskys do not write about them, and we, following our obligations, will not assume that they are lying or hiding the truth), but it does have a very sinister and, moreover, a very powerful organization KOMKON-2. Which is just right to compare not even with the Gestapo, but with the Inquisition, because its main task is to slow down scientific and technological progress. In a certain sense, this is even worse than the direct extermination of those objectionable to the regime, for, as Romain Rolland said, "Three times the killer is the one who kills the thought." However, Komkonovites also do not disdain direct murder of inconvenient people, and even without burdening themselves with any judicial formalities - see "The Beetle in the Anthill". Actually, the authors themselves are fully aware of this, stating openly that the main idea of ​​The Beetle is that if in a society, even the best one, there is a secret police with unlimited powers, in such a society innocent people will be killed. This is allegedly asserted with condemnation, however, KOMKON-2 is not branded and is not liquidated as a criminal organization, and Sikorsky, who personally shot Abalkin, is not called a criminal, but "unfortunate." A victim, they say, of circumstances, just like some Budanov or Ulman. That is, the authors condemn "excesses on the ground" (and even then sharing sympathy between the victim and the killer), but not at all the system of secret police, censorship and destructive political interference in science in general.

Let's continue the analysis of "the best society". Why are there no concentration camps in it, by the way? And it seems to be even the opposite - dissidents like Bromberg are openly fighting the regime, there is a whole "judicist movement" that defends the right of science to develop without restrictions ... However, this movement, firstly, is extremely marginalized by the authorities, its participants are referred to only as "extremists "(although they do not have destructive purposes, do not practice terrorist methods and by no means deny the need for _reasonable_ control over potentially dangerous technologies). Secondly, only Bromberg himself is not directly repressed - a kind of exhibition, demonstration model (here, they say, we also have an opposition), under the strong cap of KOMKON-2, in his psychology completely incapable of conspiracy and, most importantly, not taking any practical action - and due to all these circumstances, it is absolutely not dangerous for the regime, although it causes understandable irritation among the Komkon leadership. How little real influence he has is shown by the fact that he is practically unknown to ordinary Komkonovs (and even more so, apparently to ordinary citizens) ("Old Man Bromberg was an extremist-theorist, and it is for this reason that he probably never entered my field of vision. For those who are trying to fight the system of totalitarian suppression of science, not in words, but in deeds, everything is much less cloudless: "It was precisely such extremist practitioners who were the main clients of our COMCON-2." What exactly they do with them is not specified. If there really are no camps, then, probably, everything is limited to soul-saving conversations in some not very comfortable rooms, from which the rebels come out "understood and realized everything", and for the especially stubborn - bans on the profession.

Obviously, the regime can limit itself to such measures only if the opposition to it is very insignificant. The first reason why the world of Midday dispenses with camps is that real fighters against the system simply do not appear in any significant numbers, even among scientists who, it would seem, are directly interested in the struggle for the freedom of science. And this is achieved very simply - all the children of this world are brought up in boarding schools, under the thoughtful supervision of specialists who, of course, are interested not only in their physical health and success in the exact sciences. That is, the world of Noon rests on mass brainwashing from a very young age, and this business is put on a solid scientific basis; Against the background of such a system, even the Hitler Youth, who nevertheless did not remove children from the family, looks like an anarchist freemen.

By the way, how effective this washing is is also clearly seen in the example of "Distant Rainbow", the heroes of which - the inhabitants of a rather extensive earthly colony - are embraced by a real bacchanalia of self-sacrifice. They absolutely do not value their lives, do not try to save themselves. This is typical zombie behavior. The decision to sacrifice scientists who are very valuable to society as a whole - and who worked on such an important project as null transportation - in order to save completely ordinary children looks, at first glance, unforgivably stupid for fascism. But let's not forget that the fascism of the Noon world is special, obscurantist-inquisitorial. In a world where COMCON-2 rules, it is difficult to expect proper respect for science; it is not surprising that it is easily sacrificed for the sake of ideology. It is possible that the death of scientists on the Rainbow - oh yes, voluntary, we do not question this! - was nothing more than covering up the tracks after the experiment that caused the disaster. However, no matter how hard we try to take the authors' word for it, in the case of Raduga, the falsity of the official version is clearly manifested: Gorbovsky, allegedly left for certain death along with the entire crew, is later found alive and healthy on Earth. And this, we note, does not surprise or outrage anyone - another evidence of total zombification.

But the fight against real opposition is only one of the functions of concentration camps. The second is economic, but it is just more important for communism; fascism, as an economically more perfect system, is less dependent on forced labor, and under conditions high technology appears to be completely independent of it. In general, the economics of the world Noon is the most delicate moment, the Strugatskys have practically nothing about it. But from the fact that in this world there is no poverty, hunger and total deficit, we can conclude that this is still not the economy of communism; at the same time, it is quite clear that this is not a free market economy either. It may be objected that the absence of poverty is an argument against only real communism, but not ideal, utopian. Good; consider the principle of ideal communism "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." It follows from this that there is no shortage in such a society at all. Meanwhile, in the world of Noon, he is; "Distant Rainbow" clearly shows how scientists the whole planet is waiting in line for the supply of scarce equipment, which is not something unique, requiring all the resources of civilization for its creation - ulmotrons are clearly mass-produced by industry - and yet they are categorically not enough for everyone. "There is a waiting list, and you're eighth there." Note that those standing in these lines are driven not even by personal (although ideal communism should satisfy them as well), but by quite public interests, and yet it is impossible to establish a supply that suits everyone (by the way, the fact is also indicative that on a planet where important and dangerous experiments, it turns out that there is only one supply ship, and it is also the only one suitable for evacuation). So, most likely, the economy of the Noon world is of a fascist type, with the leading role of the state (which copes with its role not without sin, including in terms of supplying important research) and private initiative at the grassroots level, providing everyday comfort for an ordinary citizen. True, there is clearly no cash in this world, but perhaps they have simply become completely virtualized, and all calculations automatically take place between computers in a non-cash form, or a private initiative is based on a different exchange equivalent, say, information. Such conjectures may seem far-fetched, but let me remind you that they are made on the basis of the principle of exclusion of other alternatives: the Noon economy is too good for real communism and too bad for ideal, while it is known that it is not a liberal market economy.

Finally, the third function of concentration camps directly corresponds to the xenophobic essence of fascism. This, in addition to the fight against real enemies, is the creation of an illusion of an enemy, a scary image that should frighten the townsfolk, forcing them to cast aside all doubts and rally even closer around the leaders. But from this point of view, the more terrible and elusive the enemy is, the better (up to a certain limit, of course, beyond which panic and capitulation begin). Therefore, it is not at all necessary to appoint someone specific to his role and put him in the camp; it is better if the enemy is mysteriously indefinite, powerful and threatening from somewhere outside - from across the ocean or, in the case of space civilization, from the depths of space. As we know, in the world of Noon such an enemy exists just by order - these are semi-mythical Wanderers.

There is a great temptation, of course, to fall into conspiracy theories and assume that there really are no Wanderers, and artifacts supposedly impossible for earthly science are created in the secret laboratories of COMCON-2 on the basis of the very technologies that it does not allow to be introduced. Well, or, at least, there are no Wanderers as a single culture, and their traces actually belong to completely different, unrelated civilizations. But we will not abandon the initially declared principle of strict adherence to the text. So, according to the Strugatskys, the civilization of the Wanderers really exists. But nowhere - nowhere! - in the texts of the novels there is no real evidence of the Wanderers' hostility towards people. Or to any intelligent beings in general - but there is information about their assistance to other civilizations (for example, the aborigines of Hope). (Defenders of the "World of Noon" in this place are very fond of remembering the automatic satellite that shot down the ship of the Kid's parents. However, this satellite was launched a hundred thousand years ago, and even the earthlings themselves admitted that it was in order to protect the non-humanoid civilization of the planet - and, by the way, it carried only two charges; it is obvious that the weapons of the galactic aggressors would have looked quite different.) Nevertheless, the timidly hostile attitude towards the Wanderers is taken for granted. Furthermore. While earthlings, through the service of the Progressors, shamelessly intervene in the affairs of less advanced civilizations throughout the cosmos and consider it a boon, the idea that the Wanderers are engaged in similar activities in relation to themselves horrifies them. Honest ideal communists cannot treat the international help of an older brother in this way, regardless of his race. Honest fascists-cannot be otherwise.

However, the Wanderers are by no means the only object of xenophobia of the people of the Noon world. In this issue, the fascist essence of this world, and along with the author's views, is fully manifested. "The superior race", " true Aryans"here are people (well, and to a slightly lesser extent - other humanoids, to whom people (earthlings) usually treat with a touch of patronage; the only exception - and very indicative! - is perhaps the reverence that earthlings feel for the humanoid civilization of Tagore, which has surpassed in its and, by the way, it is people (including humanoids indistinguishable from humans) that are the dominant race in the Galaxy (since the novels do not mention acts of genocide or other events that ensured this state of affairs, it remains to be stated that such a strange disproportion is no longer on the heroes, but on the authors). Non-humanoids are rare and obviously play secondary roles in the Galaxy. One of them was simply shot by the brave earthling from Noon while hunting. the world (not protected by strict laws that reign at home), for fun to shoot, without understanding, according to an unknown creature - this is typically a fascist sky style of behavior. The non-humanoids from "The Kid" are something so strange that it's generally not clear what they are; they saved an earthly child and thus deserved indulgence, but all the same, the heroes treat them more with caution than with sympathy. In general, among the non-humanoids, Golovans are most often mentioned (and, probably, the most sympathetic to the heroes and authors). A very indicative race. Firstly, they come from dogs - "friends" (and in fact - slaves) of man. Secondly, they are not a product of independent evolution, they are mutated dogs of the Saraksha people and, therefore, are secondary to the latter. Thirdly, on Earth they live in ghettos. Oh, of course, at their own request! So that onlookers who want to stare at a talking dog do not get them around the clock. And, obviously, the Golovans have every reason to expect just such behavior, which is very strange for ideal communist internationalists, but quite natural for fascists, who look at representatives of an inferior race with squeamish curiosity.

But it's still flowers. Earthlings do not disdain and deliberate killings on racial grounds. Their attitude towards non-biological intelligence is especially indicative. The Massachusetts machine was killed just for daring to think! And later they justified this barbaric, monstrous murder of a defenseless creature, who had barely managed to realize himself, with propaganda pamphlets like "Massachusetts Nightmare", "Massachusetts Horror". Yes, of course, there was a nightmare and horror, but not in the behavior of the machine ... It was even more than just the murder of an innocent person - it was genocide, since the Massachusetts machine was the only representative of its kind. In a sense, the act of the "bright" people of the world of Noon is even worse than the Holocaust, because it did not destroy all the Jews after all ... Moreover, the Machine could not cause any evil even theoretically: what can only the brain do without "hands and legs"? After all, no one forced people to connect this machine to control systems nuclear reactors or something similar! The "damn dozen" cyborgs were not directly exterminated; they were simply created an unbearable psychological climate, portrayed as madmen, fanatics, freaks, "evil wizards" and eventually driven to suicide - undoubtedly, from the point of view of promoting "racial purity" such an end to "renegades" is much more effective than the fate of martyrs. And all the same Abalkin? He was killed only for his artificial origin - despite the fact that in everything else he did not differ from a person at all ... True, other "foundlings" who did not try to connect with their "detonators" seemed to have escaped destruction - but the fact that , in the complete absence of real evidence of the danger of such a connection, from the whole multitude of possible explanations for the nature of foundlings and their medallions, the people of the "bright world of Noon" chose one - a bomb and a detonator. Androids, who are forbidden to live on Earth, are also subject to official discrimination, although they also do not differ from people in anything except artificial origin (Abalkin, faced with a "strange" attitude towards himself, at first decided that he was an android).

Quite indicative, of course, is the attitude of the people of the world of Noon to the people - unambiguously hostile even before the essence of the people became clear. Ideal communists should altruistically rejoice for brothers who have achieved more high level development than they; for the Nazis, however, to find out that they are not the highest race at all is a severe, catastrophic shock. It's funny to watch the throwing of the Komkonov, who just burned with righteous anger against the people, and then found out that he himself was people. Just like a zealous Gestapo man who learned about his Jewish roots...

So, the "bright world of Noon" is a world where the state hinders the development of science, a world of secret police and extrajudicial murders, a world of total brainwashing, a world of paranoid xenophobia, terry anthroporacism and genocide. If Light looks like this, then, really, Darkness is much more preferable...

Yuri Nesterenko.

“The photo shows Dr. James Rogers. In 1965, he was sentenced to death in the electric chair for the so-called “Massachusetts experiment”, but two days before the execution, while in the cell, he committed suicide by poisoning with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by someone one of his patients.

Recently, the "University of Massachusetts Psychology and Neuropathology", where Dr. Rogers worked, officially announced that this experiment is of great scientific importance, and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phill Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from the remaining relatives of James. And the thing is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique technique developed by him to cure seemingly hopeless patients. He increased their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one.

In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling around him, Dr. Rogers told him that they were. The whole world is covered with bugs. Some especially sensitive people they are seen, the rest are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it a secret so as not to allow panic. The man left completely sure that everything was in order with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the bugs. After a while, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from a cognitive-enphasic disorder, spoke at the trial. He thought he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of it. He stopped talking, refused to take ordinary food, except for leaves.

Dr. Rogers asked a biologist friend to write a short article in which to describe more or less scientifically the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature, there are giraffes that are practically no different from humans. That is, there are differences - a slightly larger heart, a slightly smaller spleen, but also behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking is exactly the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. By the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court found Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to the highest measure. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter that he asked to be published in some newspaper. The letter was published by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian.

This text will surely get or has already got to your stupid Facebook feed with its stupid reposts of stupid stories... And stupid Facebook readers believe it. There are many psychologists among stupid Facebook readers. And there are a lot of really stupid people among psychologists. However, even the more intelligent VKontakte was also not spared by the next wave of distribution of reposts about the Massachusetts experiment. Readers need to be prepared for the fact that this experiment will surface in idle conversations among acquaintances.

I was talking yesterday with a beginner psychologist, and she casually informs me: "Vasily, do you remember how a similar method was used in the famous Massachusetts Experiment?"
And I felt ashamed. I do not remember. But I didn’t show it and nodded my head in agreement: “Of course I remember.”

I wanted to check this story and find the original source. When I got online, I felt completely ashamed. Where did I study psychology, in what cellars? Why were they hiding from me? Even if I do not know that such a famous scientist was sentenced to death, he suffered innocently from the authorities. And it was very recently. What a shame! It’s good that he didn’t confess to a psychologist about his ignorance.

It's just strange, after all, that I had never heard of such a vivid fact before ...

But having delved into the topic, I discovered with satisfaction that the Massachusetts experiment is a famous fake. It was demolished back in 2013. For example, at

We present the ten most impressive fakes recent years, which scattered across the Internet and whose authenticity was believed by millions.

1. The speech that never happened...

"Ladies and gentlemen of the '97 class, wear sunscreen

If I could only give you one piece of advice for the future, it would be just about sunscreens. The benefits of their use have been proven by scientists, while the rest of my recommendations have no more reliable basis than my own confused experience. I will present these tips to you.

Enjoy the strength and beauty of your youth, as long as you don't like life, it passes. Trust me, in 20 years you will look at your photos and remember with a feeling that you cannot understand now. How many possibilities were open before you, and how fabulous you actually looked ... "

Many have recognized the famous "Kurt Vonnegut's Parting Speech to the Students of Massachusetts Technological University". This grand hoax began with an innocent prank by an unknown prankster.

When journalist Mary Schmich wrote an inspirational column for the Chicago Tribune in the summer of 1997, she never imagined that her writing would become so famous. Under other circumstances, this high-quality journalistic material would soon be forgotten, like hundreds of similar texts. But someone, whose name we will never know, e-mailed it to a couple of dozen acquaintances.

Everything would be fine, but in the subject of the letter it was indicated: “Parting speech by Kurt Vonnegut…”

This is how the triumphal procession of the “parting words of Vonnegut” began on the worldwide network. What is there on the network - even the media, taking the speech at face value, published it on their websites and periodicals. Of course, everyone unanimously admired the wit of the "author" and "the special style of presentation inherent only to him."

Soon, Kurt Vonnegut himself found out about his masterpiece - the editor of a women's magazine contacted him with a request to publish a "parting word" on his pages.

2 Words of Wisdom Meryl Streep Didn't Say

“I am no longer going to tolerate cynicism, over-criticism, harsh demands of any kind. I no longer have the desire to please those who don't like me, to love those who don't like me, and to smile at those who won't smile back at me..."

These words were widely distributed around the world as a statement by the famous actress Meryl Streep. Despite the fact that they began to "walk" on the Internet two years ago, the popularity of the statement does not decrease. Still: the famous and respectable actress in her age - of course, her opinion is worth listening to.

Jose Micard Texeira
How did it happen that his text was attributed to the actress? It's simple: a quote with a photo of Meryl Streep was published by a female blogger from Romania, then these words were reposted by her friends - and then the popularity of the quote grew like a snowball.

By the way, despite the fact that most Internet users are still unaware of who is the true author of the text "I'm not going to endure it anymore", Teixeira is not at all offended - those who point to his authorship call him now " great Portuguese writer.

Source 3The Brazilian Oncologist Who Wasn't a Nobel Prize Winner Who Said Nothing About Silicone Breasts, Alzheimer's and Viagra

Drausio Varella

Laureate Nobel Prize Brazilian oncologist Drausillio Varella:

“Today in the world we invest five times more money in drugs for male potency and silicone for the female breast than in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In a few years we'll have old women with big breasts and old men with hard dicks, but none of them can remember what it's for."

This chic quote is remarkable because, apart from the name of the doctor, there is not a word of truth here. Indeed, there is such a Brazilian oncologist Drausio (not Drausillio!) Varella. True, he never received the Nobel Prize, and he personally denied the authorship of this phrase on his official website in 2009.

As for the essence of the statement, here, too, we hastened in vain to take the word of authority. In fact, two orders of magnitude more is spent on research and the fight against Alzheimer's disease than on all sorts of "nonsense".

For example, on the site Alzheimermed.com.br, there is such data: global spending on the treatment and care of those suffering from Alzheimer's disease is more than $604 billion a year - and this does not include the cost of developing and testing new tools. At the same time, the annual turnover of the global market for cosmetic procedures, which includes not only breast augmentation, but also liposuction, Botox injections and laser skin correction, according to Reuters, reached $6.6 billion in 2013. And the global market for potency enhancement products (including the most popular "Viagra", "Cialis" and "Levitra"), according to a report by Transparency Market Research, even less: in 2012, its turnover was $4.3 billion, and by 2019, according to forecasts, it will decrease to $3.4 billion.

4. 34 years later: Land without a forest

A demotivator with two photographs of the Earth from space - covered with forests in 1978 and deserted in 2012, broke all records of popularity.

The authors of the fake combined two photos taken by NASA in 2002 and 2012 with different cameras installed on different satellites and at different angles. The only thing that unites the pictures is that they were both taken in January - and this is not the greenest time of the year outside the equator. In addition, both shots have been color corrected: on the left, the green is even greener than in the original photo, and on the right, due to the increased yellow-brown tone, even the ocean is not as blue as on the left.

So the picture is completely fake. It's a pity! Such visual images draw attention to the problem of deforestation of the planet - and it certainly exists. But after the exposure of fakes, trust in information about environmental situation just falls. So lie, even if "to the rescue" - this is not a method of agitation.

5. A very short story that never happened

Here is a story that is now very popular on the Internet. It is sent to friends and published on the pages of social networks under the heading "A very short story about enmity and friendship."

“Plácido Domingo is from Madrid and José Carreras is from Catalonia. For some political reasons in 1984 they became enemies. It was written in the contracts of both singers that in whatever country of the world their concert took place, each of them would perform only if the other was not invited.

However, in 1987, Carreras had a more serious opponent than Placido Domingo. Carreras was diagnosed with leukemia! He underwent several treatments, such as spinal cord transplants and blood transfusions, which required him to fly to the United States once a month. In this state, he could not work. When his finances were almost depleted, he learned about a foundation in Madrid, whose activities were aimed at supporting people suffering from leukemia.

Thanks to the help of the Hermosa Foundation, Carreras overcame his illness, and his songs, without which he could not imagine his life, sounded again. When José Carreras decided to get involved with the foundation, he discovered that Hermosa's founder, main sponsor, and president was Placido Domingo. The singer also learned that this fund was created from the very beginning specifically to support the sick singer.

The meeting of two enemies took place at one of the concerts in Madrid. José Carreras, interrupted the speech and, humbly kneeling at the feet of Domingo, in front of the whole audience asked for forgiveness from his former enemy and thanked him. Placido picked him up and hugged him tightly. This was the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the two great tenors. When a reporter asked Placido Domingo why he created the Hermosa Foundation for his enemy and extended the life of the only performer who could compete with him, his answer was short and definite: “Because we cannot lose such a voice…”

Alas, despite the fact that in 1987 José Carreras really fell ill with leukemia, and a year later he was cured of it, this beautiful story is just a beautiful fiction. To be convinced of this, it is enough to read the official statement published on the website of the José Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation (Jose Carreras Foundation, which collects donations to fund research into the treatment of leukemia). This statement says that both the foundation and Carreras himself deny this information, especially that there was ever any relationship between Carreras and the Hermosa Foundation (which apparently does not exist). Moreover, Carreras considers it necessary to state that friendship, admiration and mutual respect have always dominated his relations with Mr. Domingo.

6. Charlie Chaplin's anniversary speech

Chaplin's speech on his own 70th birthday:

“When I fell in love with myself, I realized that longing and suffering are only warning signs that I am living against my own truth. Today I know that this is called “Being yourself” (…) We no longer need to be afraid of disputes, confrontations, problems with ourselves and with other people. Even stars collide, and out of their collisions new worlds are born. Today I know that this is life.

In fact, it is translated from English into Portuguese, and then again into English, and only after that into Russian, a piece from the motivational book “How I finally fell in love with myself” by Kim and Alison McMillen, first published in 2001. Charles Spencer Chaplin died long before the release of this work - in 1977. As far as we know, he did not make any impressive speech in honor of his anniversary.

7. The last frame is a bear attack on a Japanese animal artist on August 8, 1996

Japanese photographer Michio Hoshino was indeed an excellent animalist and specialist in bears. And he really died in Russia from a bear attack. But... the famous picture of a brown bear walking into a tent is a crude fake.

It was published in 2009 as part of the "Last Photo You Could Take" PhotoJob contest on worth1000.com. Who connected the famous photographer with this picture is unknown. Moreover, the Japanese died at night, the bear killed him, pulling him out not through the entrance, but tearing the fabric of the tent.

The well-known Russian naturalist Vasily Peskov witnessed the night attack and described the circumstances of his friend's death. In addition, the photo shows a grizzly bear, which is difficult to meet in Kamchatka, since its habitat is limited only to Alaska. Hiroshino, on the other hand, became a victim of the Kamchatka brown bear.

8. George Carlin's paradox, formulated by a pastor from Seattle

The text, titled "The Paradox of Our Time", a kind of manifesto of modern man, allegedly written by the American satirist George Carlin after the death of his wife, first became popular in 2008. Since then, hundreds of times different languages published not only by admiring Facebook users, but also by many media outlets. Karlin himself, whose wife really died back in 1997, emotionally denied the authorship of this text, calling it nothing more than "snotty garbage."

The original source of The Paradox of Our Time is the 1995 collection of prayers, sermons, and monologues "Exactly Spoken Words" by Protestant pastor Bob Moorehead from Seattle.

9. Marquez left without saying goodbye

Farewell letter from Gabriel Garcia Marquez:

“If for one moment God forgot that I was just a rag puppet and gave me a piece of life, then I would probably not say everything I think, but I would definitely think what I say. I would value things not for how much they cost, but for how much they mean. I would sleep less, dream more, realizing that every minute we close our eyes, we lose sixty seconds of light. I would walk while everyone else is standing, stay awake while others sleep. I would listen when others are talking, and how I would enjoy the wonderful taste of chocolate ice cream ... ".

This text, actually written by a little-known Mexican author with the pseudonym Johnny Welch, has been roaming the Internet since 1996 with minor changes and regularly becomes a hit on blog sites and social networks.

Since the first wave of popularity of this "farewell" letter and until his death in April 2014, Marquez managed to publish two novels, a screenplay and a collection of poetry.

Marquez, by the way, along with Vonnegut, is a kind of record holder for quotes attributed to him.

10 The Massachusetts Experiment That Never Happened

Finally, for the most persistent readers who have reached this point, we offer a magnificent dessert.

The black-and-white photograph and the story of "Dr. James Rogers, who was sentenced to death in the electric chair in 1965 for the so-called Massachusetts experiment" became a cult hit in Runet in a matter of months. "Doctor" allegedly developed a unique method of treating patients.

“He increased their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one. In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling around him, Dr. Rogers told him that they were. The whole world is covered with bugs. (…)

A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from a cognitive-enphasic disorder, spoke at the trial. He thought he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of it. He stopped talking, refused to take ordinary food, except for leaves.
Dr. Rogers asked a biologist friend to write a short article in which to describe more or less scientifically the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature, there are giraffes that are practically no different from humans. That is, there are differences - a little more heart, a little less spleen, but the behavior, and appearance, and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information in order to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it.

The patient calmed down and socialized. By the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court considered Dr. Rogers a charlatan, and the experiment - inhumane. He was sentenced to death."

The story about the Massachusetts experiment gained popularity primarily in connection with the “suicide letter” cited in it by Dr. Rogers from The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The letter allegedly ended with the words:

“Some of you believe in UFOs, some in God, some in the morning breakfast and a cup of coffee. Living in harmony with your faith - you are completely healthy, but as soon as you start defending your point of view - how faith in God will make you kill, faith in UFOs - to be afraid of abduction, faith in a cup of coffee in the morning will become the center of your universe and destroy your life.<…>So it doesn't matter what kind of ghosts you inhabit your world. As long as you believe in them - they exist, as long as you do not fight them - they are not dangerous.

Dr. James Rogers never existed, and therefore no one sentenced him to execution. The University of Massachusetts Psychology and Neuropathology, where the experiment allegedly took place, is not mentioned anywhere, except for a note that has become a hit on social networks. And the man in the photo is writer and journalist Hunter Thompson. All the fuss is the result of a Facebook prank by the writer Alexander Shamarin, who decided in this way to test the credulity of his friends. Friends took the bait and shared it with their friends. As a result, Google now finds more than 11 thousand pages with a description of the experiment invented by Shamarin in May 2013. The post itself, apparently, is inspired by the story of the Strugatsky brothers "The Distant Rainbow", which mentions the so-called Massachusetts Machine - a supercomputer that "crushes people under itself."

Captured in the photo Dr. James Rogers. In 1965, he was sentenced to death in the electric chair for so-called "Massachusetts experiment", however, two days before the execution, while in the cell, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with potassium cyanide, an ampoule of which was brought to him by one of his patients.

Recently, the “University of Massachusetts Psychology and Neuropathology,” where Dr. Rogers worked, officially announced that this The experiment is of great scientific importance, and its effectiveness is undeniable. In this regard, the rector of the university, Dr. Phill Rosentern, asked for forgiveness from the remaining relatives of James. And the thing is that Dr. James Rogers used a unique technique developed by him to cure seemingly hopeless patients. He increased their paranoia so much that a new round of it corrected the previous one. In other words, if a person believed that there were bugs crawling around him, Dr. Rogers told him that they were. The whole world is covered with bugs. Some especially sensitive people see them, while others are so used to it that they simply do not notice them. The state knows everything, but keeps it a secret so as not to allow panic. The man left completely sure that everything was in order with him, resigned himself and tried not to notice the bugs. After a while, he most often stopped seeing them. A certain Aaron Platnovsky, who suffered from a cognitive-enphasic disorder, spoke at the trial. He thought he was a giraffe. Neither logical arguments nor comparison of his photograph with the image of a giraffe helped. He was absolutely sure of it. He stopped talking, refused to take ordinary food, except for leaves.

Dr. Rogers asked a biologist friend to write a short article in which to describe more or less scientifically the recent stunning discovery of scientists: in nature, there are giraffes that are practically no different from humans. That is, there are differences - a slightly larger heart, a slightly smaller spleen, but the behavior and appearance and even the way of thinking are completely the same. Scientists do not disclose this information to prevent panic, and this article should be burned by anyone who reads it. The patient calmed down and socialized. By the time of the trial, he was working as an auditor for a large firm in Colorado. Alas, the state court considered Dr. Rogers a charlatan and the experiment inhumane. He was sentenced to the highest measure. He refused the last word, but gave the judge a letter that he asked to be published in some newspaper. The letter was published by The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The letter ended with the words: “You are too accustomed to the idea that everyone perceives the world in the same way. But it's not. If you get together and try to retell each other the most simple and obvious concepts for you, you will understand that you all live in completely different worlds. And only your comfort determines your mental peace. In this case, a person who believes that he is a giraffe and lives in the world with this knowledge is just as normal as a person who believes that the grass is green and the sky is blue. Some of you believe in UFOs, some in God, some in your morning breakfast and a cup of coffee.

Living in harmony with your faith - you are completely healthy, but as soon as you start defending your point of view - how faith in God will make you kill, faith in UFOs - to be afraid of abduction, faith in a cup of coffee in the morning - will become the center of your universe and destroy your life . The physicist will start giving you arguments that the sky is not blue, and the biologist will prove that the grass is not green. In the end, you will be left alone with an empty, cold and completely unknown world, which our world most likely is. So no matter what kind of ghosts you inhabit your world. As long as you believe in them, they exist; as long as you don’t fight them, they are not dangerous.”

The hoax about the brilliant doctor executed in the electric chair has been touching readers to the core for the fifth year already. The author of The Table once again asks the question: why are we so easily deceived?

About five years ago, a story called “The Massachusetts Experiment” was widely circulated across the Internet. It talked about the American doctor James Rogers, who developed an effective but unethical method of treating mentally ill people. For this, he was sentenced to death in the electric chair in Massachusetts. The matter did not come to the execution of the sentence: a few days before the execution, Rogers was poisoned by a cyanide capsule brought to prison by his former patient.

Very soon it became clear that the whole story is a figment of the imagination of our contemporary. The hoaxer set himself no other goal than to test the limits of our credulity and demonstrate his own talent. The “experiment” is still circulating on social networks, collecting indignant comments from users: how unfairly Americans treat brilliant scientists!

Dramatic plot

The heartbreaking story goes like this. The brilliant doctor James Rogers managed to develop a treatment that helped bring hopeless patients suffering from various personality disorders back to normal life.

This helped the patient to socialize and even get a job.

The doctor did not try to appeal to the client's common sense and logic and prove to him how ridiculous his thoughts and behavior were, since it was obviously useless (criticality in a number of mental illnesses is reduced).

On the contrary, he convinced the person that his problem is real, it occurs in others, but this is hushed up in every possible way by others.

Then Rogers proposed a way to get rid of the pathology and implemented it together with the patient. For example, he ordered an article from a biologist friend to convince a client who considered himself a giraffe that this was not the first case, and such people had previously successfully integrated into society. This helped the patient to socialize and even get a job.

A bit of truth

Despite the fact that this story is fictional from beginning to end, this technique is actually used in psychology and psychiatry.

If the client thinks that he is being followed, the doctor does not try to convince him

If the client thinks that he is being followed, the doctor does not try to convince him and does not voice his diagnosis of “delusions of persecution”. But he convinces him that surveillance does not pose any danger and is rather pleasant, because it is a manifestation of attention.

The famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud also used a similar technique. He helped a patient with imaginary pigeons in his head by blindfolding him and firing a gun nearby, after which he presented two dead pigeons to his client. This helped him get rid of the pathological feeling of birds in his own head and begin to live a full life.

In a word, the methodology is more than convincing, which further reinforces faith in history as a whole.

Convincing facts

The author of the tale seemed to know well what could give the story credibility. He picked up an old black-and-white photo of Dr. James Rogers sitting casually in the middle of the room with a cigarette in his hand.

The article itself about the "Massachusetts Experiment" contains very specific facts that make it extremely plausible. The dates of the event are indicated - 1965, the doctor's place of work - "University of Psychology and Neuropathology", the name of a university colleague - F. Rosentern and Rogers' patient - A. Platnovsky. Particularly impressive is Rogers' last message, left to the judge for the last word and, according to legend, published in The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. It says that if we try to explain to another person the most obvious things about the world for us, we will understand that we exist in completely different worlds. Therefore, you should not impose your point of view on someone, regardless of the fallacy of his ideas. The main thing is that a person should be comfortable with his vision of the world.

The person from the photo

The photo attached to the article is not actually Dr. Rogers at all. This is an American writer and journalist Hunter Thompson. Like the fictional character, Hunter committed suicide. The events of this story are no less dramatic: at the age of 67, he was tormented by physical pain from operations and psychological pain from divorce, the loss of five children and other difficult circumstances of his life. But that's a completely different story.

Origin of the hoax

Where did the bike come from and for what purpose was it conceived? The solution is pretty simple. In 2013, Facebook user Alexander Shamarin published a series of sensational stories on his page. All of them turned out to be fictitious, which in no way detracts from the writer's talent and creative imagination the author, who easily made more than one thousand people believe in his stories. It is also obvious that Shamarin is well versed in psychology. The American humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers could serve as the prototype of the doctor. True, this is just a guess.

Hoaxers pursue various goals - from entertainment to political ones.

The hoaxer himself, in the post following the sensations, said that, being a cultured person, he decided to organize an exhibition at home and invite friends. To do this, he chose portraits of not the most famous personalities and came up with their stories in the spirit of those that are common on the Internet. The exhibition did not take place, but several stories ended up on the net, where they “walk” to this day.

elusive reality

Fictions and "half-truths" surround us everywhere, they concern both famous people, and some characters with whom we are unlikely to ever talk and find out how true the stories about them are. This is what the authors of sensational statements are counting on. In this sense, the old film "The Dog Wags Its Tail" is very indicative, where the technology for creating informational occasions is revealed.

Hoaxers pursue various goals - from entertainment to political ones. Thus, in 2014, a television report about a “crucified boy” attracted public attention, which was clearly aimed at inciting hatred towards Ukrainian soldiers. This is the case when the refutation of lies was available to a much smaller audience than the one who was shown the original plot.

Learning to doubt and ask questions is not a trivial task for a modern person.

There are also more harmless situations. The story of a meteorite impact in Barybino near Moscow, for example, was staged by local activists to draw attention to the planned development of the area, which, in their opinion, was leading to an environmental disaster.

Today it is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to verify the authenticity of this or that information. "Facts" lose their value, the line between reality and fiction becomes thinner and breaks through in places.

The ease with which we can arouse sympathy and noble indignation, collect under a slogan and make us believe in a fairy tale, is amazing and a little frightening. The “Massachusetts Experiment” is another proof of this, though harmless this time, but disturbing. Learning to doubt and ask questions when any information is available in one click is not a trivial task for a modern person. Thanks to user "Alexander Shamarin" for such a compelling reminder!