Views on Unarius

All of us here enjoyed your article on the Unarius Academy of Science (“Spiritual Group Delves Into Past Lives for Answers,” Sept. 29) and decided that we are in the wrong business. We ought to create instead our own outlandish Academy of Science and collect $5 each from some 450 members three times a week, which adds up to $351,000 a year, to say nothing of bulk donations in the $1,000 to $25,000 range.

But I am sorry if I did not emphasize in stronger terms during my telephone interview with you in preparation for your article, that it is not possible to label anyone as a fraud, because none of us can read the mind of another human being and determine intent. There are many sincere people around who believe in what they are doing, no matter how mistaken they might be. At least one should give them credit for imagination and a sharp business sense, something you did recognize in your article.

It is also important to state that as scientists we cannot dispute matters of belief because that cannot be done using the intellectual objectivity that science requires. But the moment someone claims to be guided by scientific criteria, it becomes fair game: We then have every right and perhaps even the duty to challenge such claims in the open court of public inquiry, because that is how science’s credibility and continued performance can be preserved. The survival of our system of government is based on the fundamental precept, beautifully stated by Jefferson, that only a well-informed citizenry can act wisely as a nation.

And that is exactly what the San Diego Skeptics are trying to do.

ELIE A. SHNEOUR

La Jolla