A cartoon about culturally determined world views
The idea that different cultures will use whatever methods are at their disposal to reinforce their established philosophy of how the world works.
An observation about theological determinism, cultural bias in science, cognitive dissonance, pseudoscience
The cartoon shows a nonspecific non-western culture planning to build their own large hadron collider (LHC) to obtain results that are consistent with their cultural heritage.
It is an illustration about the misrepresentation of science or the lack of use of the scientific method.
Update: The cartoon was drawn in 2010, however it is possibly more relevant now, in 2023, with the rise of anticolonialism and antiscience thinking (which is the concept that science is a white, western construct). For instance I’ve just read an article by Richard Dawkins about the fact that in New Zealand the government is currently instigating a scheme in which science in schools will have to be taught with the Maori ‘Ways of Knowing’ (Matauranga Maori) having equal standing with ‘western’ science (The Spectator, March 2023).
Cartoon first published: November 2010, BBC Knowledge magazine
Cartoon reference number: a534
