A critcal response to a critic

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As an author, I suppose that I should not be too sensitive to criticisms. It comes with the territory. However, Hugh Farey's  criticism posted on shroudstory.com that I did not devote enough space and energy to explaining why Picknett-Prince theory that DaVinci forged the Shroud 100 years after it was first exhibited in Lirey, France is nearly as supercilious as the theory itself (which Hugh apparently rejects also).

The complete first paragraph of Chapter One which Hugh cites in part reads:

"There have been more than 1,000 books written about the Shroud of Turin from many different perspectives. Some claim to have determined that the Shroud of Turin is a fake. Many of those insist that it was painted, the usual suspect being Leonardo da Vinci. It has even been claimed that the Shroud is a photograph created by da Vinci who managed to insert his own face onto the cloth.[i] That is fiction. Da Vinci was born approximately 100 years after the first documented exhibition of the Shroud in Lirey France. Although the clearly documented history of the Shroud dates to 1350 CE and its exposition at Lirey, there are various accounts which would indicate its existence at much earlier times." (Emphasis added)

I think that given the fatuousness of the Pinkett-Prince theory, that was enough.

Quantum Christ is not a book about "wingnut" theories.[ii] It focuses on the physical facts of the Shroud and the inferences that can be drawn from those facts. If anyone has any need to research deeply into their wingnut theory there are ample resources on the web. Let me suggest one:  http://www.shroud-enigma.com/investigation/Forger/Forger-shroud.htm

There have been two comments published thus far on the Amazon Page for Quantum Christ. One was a five out of five star review and the other was four out of five by Judith Underwood.

Ms. Underwood's review was enlightening and helpful to me:

"Excellent account of the history of Shroud research and presents a very good case for its authenticity! I was a bit disappointed that it did not delve into how the findings of quantum physics may provide a possible mechanism for the image formation."

I will be preparing a revision to answer Ms. Underwood's comment and if anyone has already purchased the book, I will provide the revision gratis. Actually, the revision of the one chapter will include a discussion of a 2010 presentation by Andrew Sullivan and Nigel Kerner[iii] which argues that consciousness was an elemental power that along with gravity pre-existed the universe and engendered it. That's my very brief summary and/or conclusion.

I was drawn to the presentation by a remark by Dr. Silverman at the recent St. Louis Conference just concluded that conscious was a preexisting force as was gravity. (My interpretation).

That's a "wow" philosophically speaking.

Let's see, consciousness that along with gravity that preexisted in what I have labeled the "cosmic chaos" from which our universe emerged. None dare call it God.

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[i] Picknett, Lynn; Prince, Clive L, Turin Shroud: In Whose Image? The Shocking Truth Unveiled, BloomsburyLondon, 1994.

[ii] I am afraid that "wingnut" may be an "Americanism" like "wanting something in the worst way." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingnut_(politics)

[iii] http://www.acheiropoietos.info/proceedings/SilvermanWeb.pdf

Ebola, Protocols and the Shroud of Turin

The terrible fears engendered by the spread of Ebola have been caused in part by the insufficiency of the protocols for dealing with the disease. But instances of scientific failures engendered by the failure to promulgate, and abide by, effective protocols are not new. It’s the gravity of the Ebola plague that brings the issue front and center. Another example of failure to adopt and abide by sufficient protocols relates to the carbon dating of the Shroud of Turin.

Let’s not get ahead of the story – and the problem. First let’s look at the C-14 process and why it can be labeled a legitimate fiasco. To do that, we must look at the importance of protocols to scientific investigation for the errors of the C-14 process are directly linked to the issue of the use, or rather misuse, of appropriate protocols.

Excerpt from Chapter 10, The Coming of the Quantum Christ

“The carbon dating of the Shroud will probably go down in history as one of the greatest fiascos in the history of science. It would make an excellent case study for any sociologist interested in exploring the ways in which science is affected by professional biases, prejudices and ambitions, not to mention religious (and irreligious) beliefs.”
Thomas de Wesselow^[i]

Checklists, Protocols and Science

Anyone who has ever received medical treatment, whether at a doctor’s office or a hospital, has benefited from the use of checklists or protocols by their physicians or nurses. Protocols represent the required steps of any procedure, which experience has shown are necessary for the protection of a patient. At times, it may seem they are merely unnecessary red tape, but behind each step in a prescribed medical protocol there is usually a story, or often many stories, of things gone wrong if proper procedures were not followed.

Take the example of medicine gone awry when doctors in 1886, sought to treat bullet wound suffered by U. S. President James A. Garfield at the hands of Charles Guiteau^.[ii] Today, medical experts are unanimous in the opinion that Garfield should have survived. Easily.

His death was caused by massive infections that finally battered his body into submission. From the outset, steps were taken that today would be unthinkable. Foremost perhaps, doctors probed for the assassin’s bullet without washing their hands. While the use of sterilized procedures had been instituted in Europe by then, such procedures had yet to take hold in the United States. Today, the steps taken to prevent infection are detailed in lengthy protocols; and medical personnel, whether in the doctor’s office or the hospital, violate those protocols at their own peril. It is unthinkable.

Another example where protocols save lives is aviation. Commercial airlines fly more than two billion passengers a year. The actions of the pilot and crew before take-off, during the flight and prior to landing are governed by checklists which are also protocols. Each individual airport will have procedures set forth in protocols to govern the take-off and landings of aircraft adjusted for the discrete circumstances of the particular airport and its environs.

As a result of the checklists and protocols, the number of commercial aviation deaths in any given year is but a minuscule fraction of the number of passengers carried. In 2011, 2.9 billion passengers traveled in commercial airlines and there were only 402 fatalities.[iii] That is .000000014 of a percent.[iv]

Protocols are also of utmost importance in scientific research. In the case of clinical trials for the testing of drugs and other medical procedures, including medical research, the World Health Organization has adopted a number of forms and recommended protocols.[v]

In the final analysis, the results of any scientific investigation can only be judged in light of its protocols. There are two fundamental questions: Were there adequate protocols and were the protocols followed in practice? If the answer to either of these questions is no, the results of the study are rendered unacceptable or futile.

There was, and may still be, a common belief that dating of the Carbon atom isotopes in an object is a fool proof scientific method of determining the age of an object. When it comes to the Shroud, nearly everybody wanted to carbon date the Shroud “in the worst way” and that is precisely what happened. The protocols were supposed to map the way to the truth. Instead, the truncated protocols adopted led the carbon scientists over a cliff.

You can read the whole story in Chapter 10 of  my book: The Coming of the Quantum Christ: The Shroud of Turin and the Apocalypse of Selfishness. It was published this month and is currently  available on available on KINDLE and  NOOK

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[i] de Wesselow, Thomas, The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection (p. 172). (Penguin Group New York, 2012) ( Cited hereafter as “de Wesselow”)

[ii] “A President Felled by an Assassin and 1880’s Medical Care,” New York Times, July 25, 2006.

[iii] “Airplane deaths at record low in 2011: report,” N. Y. Daily News, January 1, 2011

[iv] 401 divided by .2,900,000,000.

[v] http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/format_rp/en/index.html

[vi] de Wesselow, Thomas, The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection (p. 172). (Penguin Group New York, 2012) ( Cited hereafter as “de Wesselow”)

The Coming of the Quantum Christ

 If you wish to order The Coming of the Quantum Christ:
CreateSpace
A hard copy full color version can be order from CreateSpace:

https://www.createspace.com/5049060

Smashwords

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Epub can be read by Nook and Adobe Digital Editions.  Mobi can be read by Kindle.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/509210