Cargo cult

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(History)
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==History==
 
==History==
  
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Allies set up many temporary military bases in the Pacific, which exposed isolated peoples for the first time to Western manufactured goods (cargo). After the end of the war, the Allies left, removing the source of cargo and leaving the peoples nearly as isolated as before.
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During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Allies set up many temporary military bases in the Pacific, which exposed isolated peoples for the first time to Western manufactured goods (cargo). While the military personnel were stationed there the natives noticed these people engaging in ritual behaviors like marching around with rifles on their shoulders in formations.  After the end of the war, the Allies left, removing the source of cargo and leaving the peoples nearly as isolated as before.
  
In one instance well studied by anthropologists, a group of Melanesians continued to maintain the airstrips and replace the facilities using native materials. This included remarkably detailed full-size replicas of airplanes made of wood, bark, and vines and a hut-like radio shack complete with headphones made of coconut halves.
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In one instance well studied by anthropologists, a group of Melanesians who apparently interpreted the US military drill as religious rituals which led the Melanesians to conclude that these behaviors brought the cargo to the islands. Hoping that the cargo would return by duplicating their behaviors they continued to maintain the airstrips and replace the facilities using native materials. These included remarkably detailed full-size replicas of airplanes made of wood, bark, and vines, a hut-like radio shack complete with headphones made of coconut halves, and attempts at recreating military uniforms and flags.
  
This was a form of [[sympathetic magic]], whereby the native peoples believed that imitating the behaviors of the former occupiers would cause more planes to land and deliver more cargo. It was supplemented by a religious belief that Western manufactured goods were created by ancestral spirits, but the occupiers had unfairly gained control of them.
+
This was a form of [[sympathetic magic]], whereby the native peoples believed that imitating the behaviors of the former occupiers would cause more planes to land and deliver more cargo. It was supplemented by a religious belief that Western manufactured goods were created by ancestral spirits, but the occupiers had unfairly gained control of them. After the war the US Navy attempted to talk the
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people out of it, but by that point it was too late and the religious movement had taken hold.  Since then they have been waiting 60 years for the cargo to return, but then again Christians have been waiting over 2000 for their guy to come back.
  
 
==Extension of the concept==
 
==Extension of the concept==

Revision as of 03:25, 11 February 2009

A cargo cult is a religious movement usually emerging in tribal or isolated societies after they have had an encounter with an external and technologically advanced society. Usually cargo cults focus on magical thinking and a variety of intricate rituals designed to obtain the material wealth of the advanced culture they encountered.

History

During the Second World War, the Allies set up many temporary military bases in the Pacific, which exposed isolated peoples for the first time to Western manufactured goods (cargo). While the military personnel were stationed there the natives noticed these people engaging in ritual behaviors like marching around with rifles on their shoulders in formations. After the end of the war, the Allies left, removing the source of cargo and leaving the peoples nearly as isolated as before.

In one instance well studied by anthropologists, a group of Melanesians who apparently interpreted the US military drill as religious rituals which led the Melanesians to conclude that these behaviors brought the cargo to the islands. Hoping that the cargo would return by duplicating their behaviors they continued to maintain the airstrips and replace the facilities using native materials. These included remarkably detailed full-size replicas of airplanes made of wood, bark, and vines, a hut-like radio shack complete with headphones made of coconut halves, and attempts at recreating military uniforms and flags.

This was a form of sympathetic magic, whereby the native peoples believed that imitating the behaviors of the former occupiers would cause more planes to land and deliver more cargo. It was supplemented by a religious belief that Western manufactured goods were created by ancestral spirits, but the occupiers had unfairly gained control of them. After the war the US Navy attempted to talk the people out of it, but by that point it was too late and the religious movement had taken hold. Since then they have been waiting 60 years for the cargo to return, but then again Christians have been waiting over 2000 for their guy to come back.

Extension of the concept

The term "cargo cult" has caught the imagination of the public and is now used to describe a wide variety of phenomena that involve imitating external properties without the substance. In commerce, for example, successful products often result in "copycat" products that imitate the form but are usually of inferior quality.

In the 1950s, the late Richard Feynman described what he called "cargo cult science" by analogy with this phenomenon. It contains many of the superficial trappings of science with little of the substance.[1] Cargo cult science would more commonly be called pseudoscience today.

Cargo cults also exemplify the third law of Arthur C. Clarke: that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Footnotes

  1. Cargo Cult Science
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