TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO

21-30 MINS

START: 20:02

JOHN G. WEST:

GEORGE ORWELL’S 1984 AND SO LEWIS THOUGHT THAT MODERN SCIENCE IN FACT WAS FAR MORE
DANGEROUS THAN MAGIC BECAUSE MAGIC FAILEM DOESN’T WORK AT THE END OF THE DAY, AND SO IT
WASN’T SO DANGEROUS BECAUSE PEOPLE ACTUALLT COULDN’T USE IT TO CONTROL THE WORLD.
MODERN SCIENCE HAS THE POTENTIAL THAT YOU REALLY CAN’T CONTROL PEOPLE. IF YOU FIND THE
RIGHT DRUGS OR FIND THE RIGHT TREATMENT, YOU CAN MANIPULATE THEM AND SO IF YOU DON’T
HAVE SOME OTHER WAY OF PROTECTING AND LIMITNG WHAT YOU DO IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE, SOME
ETHICAL BASIS THAT IS NOT DICTATED BY SCIENCE ITSELF THAT CAN COTROL IT, THEN YOU ARE FACING A
REALLY BLEAK FUTURE.

NARRATOR:

LEWIS CRITIQUE OF SCIENTIFIC UTOPIANISM WAS AT THE HEART OF HIS NOVEL, THE HIDEOUS STRENGTH,
WHICH TELLS THE STORY OF A CONSPIRACY TO TRANSFORM ENGLAND INTO A SCIENTIFIC DICTATORSHIP.
THE CONSPIRACY IS LEAD BY A GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY WITH THE DECEPTIVELY INNOCUOUS NAME
OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF COORDINATED EXPERIMENTS OR NICE.

MAN ON BROWN:

I THINK THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH AND HUXLEY’S BRAVE NEW WORLD ARE THE TWO GREATEST
DYSTOPIAS IN OUR LANGUAGE IN THE 20TH CENTURY.

NARRATOR:

THE AGENDA OF NICE IN THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH READS LIKE A WISHLIST DRAWN UP BY THE EVILS
LEADING SCIENTIFIC SOCIAL REFORMERS. IT INCLUDED STERILIZATION OF THE UNFIT, SELECTIVE
BREEDING, BIOCHEMICAL CONDITIONING, EXPERIMENTATION ON BOTH ANIMALS AND CRIMINALS, AND
ABOVE ALL, TRULY SCIENTIFIC PLANNINE.

MAN WITH ROYAL BLUE POLO:

A SCIENTIFIC PLANNING THAT IS PRETENDING TO PROVIDE A NEW HUMANITY THAT IS DOING AWAY WITH
TRADITIONAL ETHICS THAT IS DOING AWAY WITH ALL TRADITIONAL RESTRAINTS.

MAN ON BROWN:

LEWIS DEPICTS A WORLD IN THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH IN WHICH NOTHING IS SACRED. DANIEL BELLA’S
TOLD US THAT THE ESSENCE OF MODERNITY IS THAT NOTHING IS SACRED. IN THE ABOLITION OF MAN
AND ALSO IN THE HIDEOUS STRENGTH, WE SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE WORLD IN WHICH NOTHING
IS SACRED, WHICH INCLUDES THE HUMAN PERSON IS NOT SACRED, AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, THERE
ARE NO DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS OR HUMANS AND ANIMALS, OR HUMANS AND
VEGETABLES, OR HUMANS AND MINERALS. AND WE HAVE THE KIND OF THING WE’VE HAD IN THE 20TH
CENTURY.
NARRATOR: IN THE TWO DECACES BEFORE HIS DEATH, LEWIS BECAME INCREASINGLY ALARMED BY THE
RISE OF SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITARIANISM.

JOHN G. WEST

LEWIS WAS VERY CONCERNED BY THE DOGMATIC USE OF SCIENCE AND THAT IS WHY HE WROTE HIS
NOVEL, THE HIDEOUS STRENGTH; THAT IS WHY HE WROTE HIS BOOK, THE ABOLITION OF MAN; WHERE
HE ACTUALLY WORRIES AND SOMEWHAT SORT PREDICTS THE RISE OF A NEW CLASS OF SPEAK PEOPLE
OF EXPERTS SPEAKING IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE WHO WOULD DICTATE TO EVERYONE ELSE. IN FACT, BY
THE END OF HIS LIFE, LEWIS WAS WORRYING OF WHAT HE CALLED AS SCIENTOCRACY. GOVERNMENT
AND SOCIETY THAT CLAIMS TO BE BASED ON THE CLAIMS OF MODERN SCIENCE, BUT IN REALITY, REALLY,
IS BASED ON A SCIENTIFIC CLICK OF A FEW PEOPLE WHO ARE SPEAKING IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE AND
MAYBE THEY ARE ADOPTING THE MAJORITY VIEW OF SCIENCE BUT THEY ARE CLAIMING THE RIGHT TO
RULE BASED ON THEIR SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE.

NARRATOR:

LEWIS CONCERN ABOUT AUTHORITARIAN SCIENCE SEEMS EERILY PROPHETIC. IN A WORLD DRIVEN BY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY THOSE WHO QUESTION THE NEW ORDER LIKE C.S. LEWIS DID INCREASINGLY
FIND THEMSELVES LABELED ANTI-SCIENCE, C.S. LEWIS WOULD HAVE REJECTED THE CHARGE.

MAN ON BLUE POLE.

LEWIS DID NOT ACCEPT THE IDEA THAT SCIENCE WAS A SPECIAL FORM OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WAS
SOMEHOW IMMUNE TO INSPECTION THAT WAS SOMEHOW CORDONED OFF FROM THE NON-
SPECIALISTS ASSESSING THE DELIVERANCES OF THE SCIENCES. LEWIS WAS WELL AWARE THAT FIRST OF
ALL THAT THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS SCIENCE AS SUCH THERE ARE SCIENCE SAYS AND EACH SCIENCE
HAS ITS PARTICULAR METHODS AND IT’S A PARTICULAR AREAS OF STUDY, AND ALSO THAT THE SCIENCE
SAYS TO BE GOOD NEED TO INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER BUT THEY DO SO BY MEANS OF THE LARGER
TOOLS OF GOOD RATIONAL CRITICAL THINKING AND SO THAT THE THINGS THAT THE SCIENTIST SAY ARE
SUBJECT TO REVEW BY EVERYONE WHO IS ABLE TO THINK WELL, TO THINK CRITICALLY, TO THINK
RATIONALLY.

NARRATOR:

LEWIS DID NOT DENY THE SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE MIGHT BE NECESSARY FOR GOOD PUBLIC POLICY IN
MANY AREAS BUT HE INSISTED THAT SCIENCE ALONE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT.

WEST:

KNOWING SAY HOW THINGS WORK, HOW CELLS WORK, OR KNOWING HOW ECOSYSTEM WORK,
DOESN’T TELL YOU WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO FOR YOUR SOCIETY BECAUSE PUBLIC POLICY IS NOT JUST
ABOUT THE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE ON HOW THINGS WORK, IT’S ABOUT WHAT GOOD IS WORTH HAVING
AT WHAT PRICE. IN A C.S. LEWIS PLAY OUT ON THESE QUESTIONS A SCIENTIFIC TRAINING GIVES YOU NO
ADDED VALUE, SCIENTISTS ARE NOT MORAL PHILOSOPHERS YET POLTICAL AND SOCIAL JUDGMENTS
INVOLVE NOT JUST HOW DO THINGS WORK AND HOW CAN WE MAKE THEM WORK BETTER BUT HOW
SHOULD WE ACT AND WHAT’S WORTH SPENDING MONEY ON AND WHAT’S WORTH DOING AND WHAT
FREEDOMS ARE WORTH GIVING UP OR NOT, AND ON THESE SORTS OF MORAL AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS
SOMEONE SCIENCE TRAINING DOESN’T GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO DICTATE TO THE REST OF SOCIETY.
SINCE LEWIS THOUGHT THAT SCIENCE WAS A GOOD THING BUT HE ALSO THOUGHT THAT IT HELD SOME
REALLY STRONG DANGERS. THE BIGGEST DANGER REALLY WAS THE PENCHANT TO CONTROL IN A
SCIENTIFIC VIEW OF YOU THINK THAT IS THE ONLY WAY THAT WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD,
AND SO IF YOU THINK THAT IF I HAVE THE SCIENTIFIC TRUTH ABOUT SOMETHING THAT’S YOU KNOW THE
END OF THE STORY, I KNOW EVERYTHING THAT REALLY TENDS TO FEED A POWER TRIP WHETHER YOU’RE
A SCIENTIST OR YOU’RE A POLITICIAN WHO’S TRYING TO LATCH ONTO THE PRESS STAGE OF SCIENCE,
YOU REALLY HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO ABUSE THEIR POWER BECAUSE THEY THINK WHAT WE’RE
THE ONLY ONES WHO WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN BECAUSE WE KNOW HOW THE UNIVERSE REALLY WORKS.
THEREFORE, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DICTATE WHAT OUR CULTURAL BELIEFS ARE, WE SHOULD DICTATE
WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO, HOW WE SHOULD DESIGN GOVERNMENTAL PROGRAMS, WE
SHOULD DICTATE ALL MANNER OF PUBLIC POLICY AND ANYONE WHO DOESN’T HAVE A SCIENTIFIC
TRAINING OR ISN’T A PART OF THE CONSENSUS VIEW OF SCIENCE IS BASICALLY STUPID OR AGAINST
PROGRESS OR AGAINST SCIENCE AND SO SHOULD BE REALLY SWEPT BY THE WAYSIDE AND SHOULDN’T
BE LISTENED TO AND I THINK LEWIS THOUGHT THAT ALMOST TOTALITARIAN IMPULSE WAS REALLY A
DANGEROUS THING. LEWIS, I THINKS WAS PROPERLY SO FRIGHTENED BY THAT POTENTIAL WITHIN
SCIENCE AND THAT’S WHY HE STRESSED WHY WE REALLY NEED A WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE LIMITS OF
SCIENCE AND THAT THERE IS A SOMETHING BEHIND SCIENCE, A LRGER TRANSCENDENT ETHICAL SPEHERE
BEHIND SCIENCE AND THAT WE AREN’T JUST BLIND MATTER IN MOTION, THAT WE’RE PART OF A
DESIGNED UNIVERSE THAT ACTUALLY SETS LIMITS ON WHAT WE SHOULD AND SHOULDN’T DO.

NARRATOR:

IT’S AN AGE-OLD PROBLEM HOW DO WE PREVENT SOMETHING GOOD FROM BEING TWISTED FOR EVIL
ENDS. CS LEWIS HOPED THAT SCIENTISTS THEMSELVES WOULD FIND A WAY TO RESCUE SCIENCE FROM
SCIENTISM, CREATING A REGENERATE SCIENCE THAT RESPECTED HUMAN RIGHTS AND HONORED
HUMAN DIGNITY, A SCIENCE THAT WOULD NO LONGER BE THE MAGICIAN’S TWIN