More on orgone: www.pinkraygun.com/2008/12/...t-orgone/

III. The Conclusion

Sadly, Wilhelm Reich wasn’t just left to his own devices and allowed to fade into obscurity. If he had been, we probably wouldn’t be talking about him today. After Albert Einstein failed to replicate one of Reich’s orgone experiments and sent him a letter criticizing his credulity and lack of scientific rigor, Reich probably would have simply labored alone in obscurity for the rest of his life. But when the American public learned through a couple of well-placed magazine articles that Reich was conducting experiments involving an energy force that made people horny, the orgone hit the fan. In 1947, the FDA opened an investigation into Reich and eventually won an injunction against the interstate sale of his orgone collectors. Supposedly, this investigation was meant to put a stop to a medical quack who was making false claims about the products he sold, including the claim that sitting in an orgone cage could sure cancer. But while Reich was definitely a quack and he most certainly made unsupportable claims about this research and his devices, his particular brand of self-deluded snake oil wasn’t much different than many other huksters’ of the time. No, it was the sex angle that predictably got Americans all hot and bothered. Rumors ran rampant that the orgone collectors were actually sex cages that promoted rampant orgies and whatnot. If only.

Reich purposefully violated the injunction and was dragged into court, where he represented himself by insisting that if the judge just read his books, he’d be let off in a cinch. Unfortunately, though, Reich was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail, which turned out to be the rest of his life. In the meantime, the FDA decided to take this opportunity to destroy Reich’s devices and literally burn tons of his books. When it comes to book burning, the burner never looks good, and Reich’s reputation has actually been bolstered a bit because of this flagrantly anti-American suppression of ideas.

Still, even though the government acted like a bunch of jerks in how they went after Reich, that doesn’t mean that his research or his ideas were in any way worthwhile. The only people who have been able to independently verify Reich’s findings are those who have already been schooled in the ways of “orgonomy” or are working through the various Reichian institutions still in existence today.

There’s no evidence at all that orgone energy really exists. But, this whole affair has introduced a welcome term into the English language. Sex cage. Not only is it an incredible name for an industrial metal band, but it’s also the best way to spice up another boring Saturday night with nothing but reruns of “Purple Rain” on TV.

About The Amateur Scientist: Brian Thompson is a professor of amateur science at a major imaginary university and a regular blogger at CHUD. He has been able to read and write for over seventeen years.