by Gary Lazich
Many of us are familiar with the caution, "I know you believe you understand what you thought I said but I don't believe you know what I thought I said was not what I meant." Semantics research by Edward Sapir2, Benjamin Lee Whorf3, and Alex Korzybski4 has suggested that language itself, by shaping the way we think, both encourages and disguises misconceptions5. Such misconceptions may arise in the mediator, the medium, and the audience.
As part of a 1994 IPS paper, I highlighted two misconceptions we planetarians may face as mediators. 6 Those who take the medium too lightly (like Hollywood's Wizard of Oz) can mislead their audiences with factual errors as well as false impressions (making the planetarium experience boring, confusing, or even frightening). Those who strive for total control (like J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings) can mislead their audiences with illusions of absolute truth and media spectacle (leaving no room for questions or involvement).
In a 1995 GLPA paper, I examined the planetarium medium for cues that guide audience perception. 7 In the spatial realm, unidirectional seating may encourage the adoption of a single point of view while circular seating might encourage several with dialogue among them. In the temporal realm, the brief time frame of our shows may encourage oversimplification of difficult concepts and an avoidance of ambiguity.
Of course, our audiences bring their own misconceptions, encouraged by personal experience, informal discussions, and the mass media. Mad or not, Dr. Zarkov and other Hollywood "scientists" have persuaded many people that science is for "eggheads," beyond their comprehension, and possibly dangerous.8 Star Wars and other space battle films have taught us to tolerate noisy weapon fire and spaceship explosions despite the vacuum of space.9 In Star Trek and similar television shows, starships cross tens of light-years in a matter of minutes, shamelessly violating the Laws of Relativity.10 The X-Files amplifies latent fears that aliens have been interfering with our culture, that government officials are covering this interference up, and that "the truth is out there."11
Ironically, some misconceptions may actually bring into being the reality they appear to express. In the Walt Disney film, Dumbo's belief in magic enables him to fly in a way the feather he believes in cannot.12 In the Dale Wasserman musical Man of La Mancha, belief in Don Quixote's dream transforms the kitchen wench Aldonza into the lady Dulcinea. In a social context, myths can act as self-fulfilling prophecies to help realize hidden potentials.13 During their 1968 Oak School Study, Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen found that telling teachers that randomly selected students were gifted led to significant increases in their IQ scores after several months, especially in lower grades.14
We do need to uproot gently misconceptions in our medium, our audiences, and ourselves. However, if we go no further, we risk creating "astronomically correct" programs that fail to entertain and inspire even if they manage to educate. I believe we also need to plant and nurture more formative and fruitful ideas what I could call "myth-conceptions. As part of a television series, Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell explored the power of myth to shape the thoughts and feelings of a culture and lead it to greatness or obscurity.15 Because of its nature as an immersive medium, the planetarium affords us a unique means for transforming awareness. Within such a medium, even mistaken conceptions may have their uses.
Planetary exploration, especially of Mars, has profited from one such "myth-conception." Carl Sagan wrote in Cosmos, "Even if all Lowell's conclusions about Marsturned out to be bankrupt, his depiction of the planet had at least this virtue: it aroused generations of eight-year-olds, myself among them, to consider the exploration of the planets as a real possibility"16 Today, through our robot space probes, we have soared over the canyons and volcanoes of Mars, seen its pink skies and blue sunsets, sampled its rusty rocks and sand. Will we turn our backs on Mars? Or will we catch up with our probes? Programs like Loch Ness Productions' The Mars Show invite us to consider such an enterprise as a real possibility.17
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) involves another "myth-conception." In Sagan's book Contact, radio astronomer Ellie Arroway tells a colleague, "if we succeed, we hit the cosmic jackpot." reassurance that we are not alone, access to an Encyclopedia Galactica, answers to our questions, healing for individual and social ills.18 Is this elusive Holy Grail worth pursuing? Or are we wasting our time and money? Programs like Verne Theatre's The Great Silence may help us decide.19
The grandest "myth-conception" of all involves the development of "cosmic consciousness." Whether travelling through space or searching space for life, we confront the questions of who we are, where we've come from, where we're going, and what we should do the same questions E. C. Krupp identifies as the source of all our "myth-conceptions."20 In the film Contact, Ellie testifies," I was given something wonderfula vision of the universe that tells us undeniably how tiny and insignificant and howrare and precious we all area vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater than ourselves."21 Programs like Jack Horkheimer's Child of the Universe help us embody and share this vision with our audiences.22
Ultimately, our "myth-conceptions" can empower us to explore our own potential as we explore space, even in the face of adversity. In the film October Sky, Homer Hickam, Jr. nearly abandons his dream of successfully launching a rocket when faced with the ridicule of his father, the need to support his family, and his life in a mining town. Miss Riley, Homer's teacher, affirms the value of his dream and sets him back on the path that leads not only to a successful rocket flight but a career with NASA.23 Can we encourage parents and teachers alike to affirm their children's desire to explore? Can we share our children's sense of wonder and set them on the path that leads to the stars? Planetarium programs like Loch Ness Production's new Sky Quest may help us pave the way.24
In ancient times, a Native American youth about to enter adulthood would travel alone into the desert on a quest, seeking a vision that would not only guide the individual but also help the people.25 The Biblical Psalm 29 cautions, "Without a vision, the people perish."26 In an address this year to The Mars Society, James Cameron bemoaned the lack of goals, direction, and heroism in our society and affirmed the need for children to dream.27 Using such topics as planetary exploration, SETI, cosmic consciousness, and a shared sense of wonder, we can project, on the blank white screens of our planetariums, something to dream about.
Do planetarium shows encourage misconceptions? We must agree they do. As planetarians we must not only become aware of and minimize them but also seek to replace them with legitimate "myth-conceptions," ideas that, though not completely factual or provably true, may nonetheless help our audiences and our culture mature. Like author Robert Fulghum,
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge
That myth is more potent than history
That dreams are more powerful than facts
That hope always triumphs over experience
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.28
Thank you.
References
1Proceedings of the 14th International Planetarium Society Conference London, 28 June to 1 July 1998 (Education Matters)2Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality, Edward Sapir and David G. Mandelbaum, editor (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).
3Language, Mind and Reality: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf, Benjamin L. Whorf and John B. Carroll, editors (New York: MIT Press, 1956).
4Science and Sanity : an Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics, Alfred Korzybski. (Chicago: Institute of General Semantics, 1995).
5Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner (New York: Delacorte Press, 1969).
6"Growing Up with Planetariums," Proceedings of the 1994 International Planetarium Society Conference (Cocoa, Florida, 1994).
7"Where Have All the Star Shows Gone?" Proceedings of the 31st Annual Great Lakes Planetarium Association Conference (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995).
8Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, Ford Beebe, director. 1938.
9Star Wars: A New Hope, created by George Lucas (Lucasfilm Ltd., 1977). After the film's media preview, Producer Gary Kurtz reportedly stood up and told the audience, "Before you say anything, I know spaceships and explosions don't make any sound in space!" The audience applauded.
10Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry (Desilu Productions in association with Paramount Television, 1966 1969).
11The X-Files, created by Chris Carter (Ten Thirteen Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television, 1993 ).
12Dumbo, directed by Ben Sharpsteen and produced by Walt Disney (Walt Disney Productions, 1941).
13Man of La Mancha, Dale Wasserman and Joe Darion (New York: Random House, 1966).
14Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectation and Pupils' Intellectual Development, Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1992 expansion of 1968 publication).
15The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, contributor, and Betty Sue Flowers, editor (New York: Anchor Books/Doubleday, issued 1988 in illustrated edition and 1991 as text edition; video series available from PBS).
16Cosmos, Carl Sagan (New York: Random House, 1980), p. 111.
17The Mars Show, Carolyn Collins Petersen with Mark C. Petersen and Jay R. Corn (Boulder, Colorado: Loch Ness Productions, 1988).
18Contact: A Novel, Carl Sagan (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985), p. 57. See also Cosmos, Carl Sagan (New York: Random House, 1980), pp. 311, 314 315.
19The Great Silence: Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Eruui Kurenniemi and Harri Hiètala (Helsinki, Finland: Verne Theater Planetarium, Heureka Finnish Science Center, 1993; adapted, produced, and presented by Russell C. Davis Planetarium, Jackson, Mississippi, 1994).
20Beyond the Blue Horizon, E. C. Krupp (New York: HarperCollins, 1991).
21Contact: A Journey to the Heart of the Universe, Robert Zemeckis, director/producer, with: Steve Starkey, producer; James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg, screenwriters; Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, co-producers and story contributors (Hollywood: Warner Bros., 1997).
22Child of the Universe, Jack F. Horkheimer (Miami: Miami Space Transit Planetarium, 1972).
23October Sky, Joe Johnston, director, with Charles Gordon and Larry Franco, producers, and Lewis Colick, screenwriters (Hollywood: Universal Studios, 1999). Based on Rocket Boys, Homer H. Hickam, Jr. (New York: Delacorte Press, 1998).
24Sky Quest, Carolyn Collins Petersen with Mark C. Petersen (Boulder, Colorado: Loch Ness Productions, 1996 for Albert Einstein Planetarium, National Air and Space Museum and 1999 for distribution by Sky Skan, Inc.).
25Quest: A Guide to Creating Your Own Vision Quest, Denise Linn and Meadow Linn (New York: Ballantine Books, 1998). See also The Book of the Vision Quest: Personal Transformation in the Wilderness, Steven Foster with Meredith Little (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992).
26The Bible (Revised Standard Version), Proverbs 29:18.
27James Cameron Speech to the Mars Society August 14th, 1999 (World Wide Web: The Mars Society, 1999).
28All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Robert Fulghum (New York: Villard Books, 1989).
