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My first full length book, Einstein’s Mistake, has been carried around by my humble mind for over fifty years in various states of its evolution since first being captured by the thralls of theoretical physics in the late sixties. The cornerstone of that field of science was laid by Max Plank’s breakthrough finding and identification of Quantum Mechanics in the first part of the twentieth century. It was a difficult thing to discover given the weirdness of the results it produced many of which were accompanied by proclamations of various forms of “that can’t be.” But much of the most preposterous of those propositions actually define for us simple humans what the true nature of physical reality is.

That epochal awareness stems from the fundamental principle of that science that things, whether they be infinitesimally small subatomic particles or large molecular organisms, do not really exist unless or until observed or measured. But observing and measuring are things that humans do with their neural function. It then flows that what we do observe or measure are real things. Thus it is that the world of things that we know is something of our own creation. And so it may be said that our world as we know it is but an illusion.

But don’t be too disheartened. This illusion is just the way things are. Every thing fits in its place. It bothered Einstein. He seemed troubled by the notion that “you mean to tell me that the moon isn’t there unless I’m looking at it?” Well, yeah. You see everything fits. The world we created puts everything in its place. Everyone says so.

But that doesn’t mean that humans can never be wrong. Take for example the truth that rats are spontaneously generated by bales of wet hay. On this earth in the seventh century it was gospel. Everybody could see it so it was real. It is easier to make those mistakes when everybody is making them.

But what if they are not. That’s when the ice under that comfortable touchy-feely thing called reality gets a little thinner. The ice is thickest when the reality builders are all around. That’s not the case when, for example, there is only one observer around. Like each our individual selves. That is where the treading is most treacherous.

Let me give you an example. Throckmorton Smith was the sharpest deal guy in town. Every deal he undertakes gets closed and in each case for great reward. He comes to believe in his own personal Midas touch. Everyone reinforces his confidence. So o’l Throck goes out and buys vast acreage of the fanciest landownings on the swanky South Hampton shore of Long Island. Just a hop from New York City. His stature has come to warrant such grandeur, he believes. Unfortunately, Throckmorton’s next touch turns out not to be gold but lead. Thus is so often the case when a healthy illusion reveals itself to be in actuality a delusion.

Reality—Illusion---Delusion.

This is the lesson that the books of Jan Andrew Buck teaches. It carries a warning about the consequences stemming from the deadly sin of Pride. It is Pride that spawns delusion, and delusion is man’s special failing. The safest way to avoid its trap is to commit oneself to the pursuit of virtue, to recognize that the road to Truth is not an easy one and to avoid submitting. Truth to a democratic vote, especially of proud displayers of certificates of institutional expertise. An example of the latter constituency was the large body of medical experts who for close to century refused to believe that infection could be caused by minute bugs later referred to by their colloquial name---germs. With the arrival of that ascription came the good idea that maybe doctors should wash their hands before intruding on human innards.

And not only has delusion caused sins of omission. So too can delusion be generated by the mask of those institutional certificates of expertise. Consider for example that university physics professors are routinely denied tenure when they refuse to acknowledge that subatomic particles are composed of a virtually endless number of tiny strings. Why so? Well, everyone agrees. And why does everyone agree? Well, because everyone agrees. And just to clear the air, there are no such strings. Except, that is, for the figurative strings politically holding physics professors to their newly concocted theory stemming from their consensus.

Yes, it seems that delusion appears to have won the battle of the intellect, as one would expect that it might hard upon the demise of the educational institution of critical thinking and its teaching. As explained in my books the human mind which was created to be superior to that of most other earthly beings has demonstrated its feebleness when exposed to the easy path of delusion. That leaves plenty of room in a divine architecture for beings otherwise similar to us without that annoying flaw. It is no wonder that delusion has run amok.

Do you suppose that the dwindling appearance of rats in today’s civilized environments, like say, in the subways of New York, stems from our increasing dearth of bales of wet hay?