Monthly Archives: April 2021

Politics of Populism | Economic and Political Weekly – Economic and Political Weekly

Posted: April 15, 2021 at 6:37 am

Populism in very general terms could be defined in terms of a demagogue choosing to play to the gallery. Such a demagogue selectively tells people what they want to hear. In populism, the communication assumes a skewed form where a political leader needs to speak to the people who, in turn, need to be spoken to. The popular speech, for obvious reasons, is full of promises that ensure instant solutions to perennial problems that are fragmented into discrete realities and then are reduced to their everydayness. Thus, populism finds its purpose in the fragmentation of the concrete problems and their reduction to their everyday manageability. In fact, populism helps condense the long-term questions into everyday concerns that are easy to tackle by offering promises of quick solutions, such as money transfer.

A demagogue necessarily resorts to a form of authoritative speaking, which is done periodically through a top-down flow. Speaking to people is accompanied by an indirect suggestion that people should develop auto-reflection that would allow the demagogue to become an integral part of their popular consciousness. Thus, a political leader succeeds in entering the popular consciousness by constructing narratives that need not be evidentially validated but are to be endorsed by popular belief. Thus, a unilateral claim of a humble social background made by a leader, can make people believe in such claims and not ask for empirical, textual, documentary or testimonial evidence for its authenticity. The cognitive capacity of people is supposed to catch this gap but people fail to do so because popular appeal by the demagogue prevents them from developing an interrogatory disposition towards the self-deception that is internal to the empty promise.

Common people get temporarily impressed by what they see as promising even in imagination rather than see its objective possibility. Thus, some people saw in the`15 lakh promise a kind of possibility of this amount physically reaching their hands or their bank accounts. But what they saw in promise did not result in the experience of receiving the currency. It is in this context of the contradiction that exists between seeing a solution in promise and experiencing it in actuality that populism as an ideology seems to succeed.

Populism acquires emptiness as it tends to thrive on the virtual rather than the real. This empty nature was evident in the promise to distribute`15 lakh. It was meant for everyone to identify with such a promise. This promise was also empty in another sense in that those who offered such a promise also did not have any social group in mind and the promise was meant for every person in the country. It was an unmediated promise that could therefore include in its evasive logic anybody and everybody. The promise of`15 lakh underscores the point that there is going to be an unmitigated gap between seeing the money in promise and physically touching it.

Political parties are in the business of deploying empty forms of populism, and tend to prioritise peoples everyday concerns over their long-term questions. For example, the money transfer is perceived in terms of its everyday existential pressure. Thanks to the election season that short-circuits the long-term questions by reducing them to everyday problems that could be solved through the election promises.

Populism is about the immediate existential concerns which are of everyday nature or day-to-day problems. This focus on the everyday, however, tends to vanish transcendental questions such as what kind of society one wishes to leave behind for the future generation. This is an intergenerational justice question. This is in terms of democracy and environment. Why is that people do not raise this question and, on the contrary, are prepared to suffer from hardships that are involved, for example, in perennial patterns of distress migration that gets further intensified by lockdowns caused by the pandemic?

The demagogue, however, is constantly anxious about the possibility that people might go off when there is a need for raising the bogey of fear; that the nation is in danger or the religion is in danger. So the political leaders with right-wing orientation decide to use different issues and emotional appeals ranging from patriotism to religion in danger, to women being insecure, but not the Adivasis and Dalits being constantly in danger. Such political leaders find in fear an advantage because fear persists among the people. The demagogues from the ruling party are comfortable in populism as the opposition also operates within the same framework of populism. The ideology of populism in effect makes the question such as why me/we and how long? Why rape against Dalits? Why Adivasis are constantly vulnerable to the displacement caused by development? These questions which connect the thinking to both the past and the future suggest how long and why me or we. Populism seeks to confuse this very concrete/existential question by ignoring its transcendental urge to secure a better future for the young generation.

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"Fratelli tutti" and the challenge of neo-populism – Vatican News

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We publish the speech given by Rodrigo Guerra Lopez at the meeting organized last month by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Rodrigo Guerra Lpez*Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences

4 March 2021

The appearance of Pope Francis' Encyclical Fratelli tutti on stage in 2020, turned out to be a strong wake-up call for all. Very difficultly will someone who travels through its pages not feel questioned, provoked and motivated to rethink life in society. The document provides the essential elements to warn of the urgency of building a method that will help us heal our countless personal and community wounds and fractures. Since the subtitle, it is noted that "fraternity" and "social friendship" are the central issue that the Successor of Peter will deal with in the 287 paragraphs that make up the text. The first chapter, in a sense, justifies the accents, focus, and breadth of the rest of the Encyclical. Through a description of some of the most relevant features of the contemporary global scenario, the Pope wishes to show the need to overcome the reductionism typical of ideologies and affirm the importance of fraternity as a lifestyle, as a method of social action and as a school for new politics.

Indeed, closed nationalisms, the globalization that circumvents fraternity, the loss of the meaning of history, cultural colonization, social polarization, the trivialization of environmental responsibility, the culture of discarding, the birth of new forms of poverty, insufficiently universal human rights, the lack of recognition of the dignity of women, new forms of slavery, promoting the logic of conflict and fear, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the migration crisis, the civilization of the show, the new radicalism that is vehiculated through social networks, the manipulation of democratic processes, religious fanaticism and the lack of founded hope, are some of the phenomena that Francis explains in a tight synthesis and that serve as the backdrop to rethink how we should imagine a radical refoundation of our forms of coexistence and of our social projects[1].

I deliberately use the word refoundation to imply that Pope Francis takes a particularly radical approach. Our societies do not require a secondary adjustment of a few issues that need to be fine-tuned for their proper functioning. Much less do they need a merely cosmetic, superficial improvement, in the face of the culture of appearances. On the contrary, for some years now, Pope Francis has reminded us with great force that When a society whether local, national or global is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is not the case simply because inequality provokes a violent reaction from those excluded from the system, but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root."[2].

An affirmation of this type does not pretend to be a disqualification of everything, nor does it seek to arouse an unfounded scaremongering: The complaint that everything is broken is answered by the claim that it cant be fixed, or what can I do? This feeds into disillusionment and despair, and hardly encourages a spirit of solidarity and generosity. Plunging people into despair closes a perfectly perverse circle: such is the agenda of the invisible dictatorship of hidden interests that have gained mastery over both resources and the possibility of thinking and expressing opinions.[3]

Pope Francis is well aware that there are different ways of reading the present reality and that some of them exaggerate or oversimplify this or that aspect. Furthermore, there are readings of the new complexity that characterizes our time that use evil as a hermeneutical criterion. Instead of helping to understand reality and its multiple dimensions, they seek first of all to identify the conspiracy, exacerbate tempers, introduce a logic of conflict and motivate a purely reactionary struggle. The conspiracy theories of yesterday and today are an eloquent example of this type of pathological interpretation of reality.

Pope Francis proposes something different: it is necessary to go to the roots, to the human, cultural and religious dimension that explains the lack of fraternity. This does not mean to settle in the moment of the complaint, the protest or the pessimistic lament. It means delving into that very place, in the depths of the human heart, to identify the reasons that can also provide hope today. The corrupt root of a global society based on discarding is accompanied by a structural tension within the human condition, which can show once again that each person and each community are made to transcend, to seek with determination the fullness of life in truth, good, beauty and justice. A fullness that is not purely formal, but has a moment of existential verification in the relationship with the other, in belonging to a people, in deep immersion within concrete reality. This is how, always starting from the bottom and from the periphery, with modesty and perseverance, we can show that reparation and reconciliation will give us new life and set us all free from fear.[4]

Among the various issues that Fratelli tutti addresses, there is one of particular political relevance: neo-populism. Chapter V of the Encyclical, dedicated to "a better kind of politics," just begins by tackling this question. The neo-populism of which we speak today is not a mere linear continuation of the classic populism of the thirties and sixties of the twentieth century[5]. The populism to which Fratelli tutti refers is caused by the weakness of the democratic culture of some nations since 1990. We cannot here make a comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between both stages of populism. Much less can we distinguish in this brief space between Latin American and European neo-populism. In fact, the soundest thing, both yesterday and today, is to speak of neo-populisms that specify to a greater or lesser extent a pack of elementary characteristics.

More than 10 years ago, at the Social Observatory of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM) we tried to approach this reality[6]. Over time, it is not possible to provide a definition of "neo-populism" that will please everyone, and yet we will try to give one, once more, below. At present, the concept of neo-populism is used to indicate a large number of realities of very diverse ideological lineage: Donald Trump, Evo Morales, Viktor Orbn, Jair Bolsonaro, Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, Matteo Salvini, Nicols Maduro, and a long etcetera. We wanted to put the names of various contemporary political leaders to underline that, in all cases, the role of the more or less messianic caudillo appears as a constant.

From our point of view, the new populism is not so much an ideology, but a way of exercising power. Following Enrique Krauze a bit, we can say that the new populism is the demagogic use that a charismatic leader makes of democratic legitimacy to promise access to a possible utopia and, upon triumph, to consolidate power outside the law or transforming it to convenience[7]. In our opinion, neo-populism tends to include, to varying degrees, some - or all - of the following ingredients:

An ideological reading of national history, which serves as an argument to explain the arrival of a providential caudillo.

The exaltation of the "providential leader" who will solve the problems of the people and who, in one way or another, seeks to affirm himself as the incarnation of the latter. The "caudillo" is constituted as such by his messianic character and by his authoritarian way of exercising power.

The use and abuse of the word: the populist considers himself the supreme interpreter of the general truth. With his speech, he occupies as much of the public space as he can and administers freedom of expression at his discretion.

The arbitrary use of public funds: the treasury is used for megaprojects that do not go through a rigorous economic analysis that evaluates their viability and relevance.

The money is distributed in a targeted and welfare manner, without seeking to strengthen intermediate organizations, and trying to generate political loyalty in the beneficiaries.

The definition of an internal enemy that generates social outrage: the businessmen, the rich, the oligarchies, who in many cases have really been corrupted and serve as a perfect example of what to fight against.

The definition of an external enemy that can be blamed in case of need. Enemy who, on the other hand, can give more than one reason to be considered this way.

Acceptance of some elements of the market economy, insofar as they strengthen the existence of a business community loyal to the ruler. It is what some call "crony capitalism".

Contempt for the legal and institutional framework, which is sought to be transformed at convenience.

Manipulation of the secular nature of the State, which on occasions will limit the scope of action of the churches to private life and, on others, will accept the discretionary use of cultural and religious elements for the public legitimation of power[8].

Pope Francis, in Fratelli tutti, clearly identifies that any positive meaning that the term "populism" might have had in the past has been nullified in the present scenario. Neo-populism has currently become another source of polarization in an already divided society[9]. It is a cause and effect of social fracture. Its nature emerges when a leader captivates the population, seeking to exploit politically a peoples culture, under whatever ideological banner, for their own personal advantage or continuing grip on power. Or when, at other times, they seek popularity by appealing to the basest and most selfish inclinations of certain sectors of the population. This becomes all the more serious when, whether in cruder or more subtle forms, it leads to the usurpation of institutions and laws[10].

Something that should be highlighted, from the quote we have just mentioned, is that Francis points out that current populism can occur "with any ideological sign." Indeed, the neo-populisms of the right and the left, apparently confronted, quickly tend to find sympathy and meeting points with each other. The recent case of the synergy, collaboration and closeness of Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador with Donald Trump is an extremely eloquent example.

Neo-populism, although it wishes to establish itself as an authentic expression of the people, by undermining their freedom, by manipulating their cultural and historical ethos, it disregards the legitimate meaning of the word "people"[11]. The word "people" has evidently suffered a significant erosion in the last hundred years. However, it is necessary to understand that, if the reality of the "people" is weakened, deformed or manipulated, it affects the existence of democracies, since these, in any of their definitions, appeal precisely to the people as a constitutive and unavoidable dimension.

The people is the community of persons (communio personarum) united by historical, cultural and solidarity ties. By understanding it this way, one does not pretend to incur a certain romanticism that does not recognize the importance of the institutional and organizational dimension required for social life[12]. However, the institutions acquire life, qualitative content and a particular ethos, thanks to the energies that come from the people, their spontaneous associative forms, their struggles and their causes. The technostructure often tends to become self-referential and suffocate - without realizing it - the life world (Lebenswelt) that characterizes the person and the people to which they belong. That is why Pope Francis greatly values the corrective and nurturing potential possessed by the popular movements that grow from below, from the subsoil, and, little by little, find and make synergies with each other. In order to understand the real role of popular movements, it must be said that doing politics for the people is not the same as doing politics from the people, that is, from a real, empirical affection and belonging to a community of people united by its culture and its history, and in motion:

[Popular movements] may be troublesome, and certain theorists may find it hard to classify them, yet we must find the courage to acknowledge that, without them, democracy atrophies, turns into a mere word, a formality; it loses its representative character and becomes disembodied, since it leaves out the people in their daily struggle for dignity, in the building of their future[13].

In other words, a purely formal democracy that is not reconnected with the real people and their various forms of self-organization, easily becomes an anonymous machine that can end up putting an undemocratic leader in power or keeping in power. This means that neo-populism is one of the most perverse forms of authoritarian regression by electoral means. Due to these types of risks to the life of the people, Pope Francis will say elsewhere: in this state of paralysis and disorientation, the political participation of Popular Movements can defeat the politics of false prophets, who exploit fear and despair and who preach a selfish well-being and an illusory security[14].

Democracy, like all political reality, is fragile, imperfect, and disappointing, especially when it works well. Democracy is a regime in which everything is watched, discovered, criticized, protested and challenged[15]. It is not an idyllic and smooth path, but all the opposite. Democracy is a peculiar asceticism for the people and their dreams. However, in its name lives the ideal of a more egalitarian participation that limits despotism and its violence. For this reason, today more than ever, democracy needs the people, the real people, as healthy medicine. Democracy requires being able to manage imperfect human, individual and community life, respecting the limits that invite it not to commit suicide. Fratelli tutti undoubtedly contributes in a fundamental way to this task.

* Ph.D. by the International Academy of Philosophy in the Principality of Liechtenstein; member of the Theological Commission of CELAM; Ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; Professor-researcher and founder of Center for Advanced Social Research (www.cisav.mx ). E-mail: rodrigo.guerra@cisav.org

[1] Francis, Encyclical Fratelli tutti, Ch. I: Dark clouds over a closed world. (FT).

[2] Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, n. 59.

[3] FT, n. 75.

[4] FT, n. 78.

[5] Cf. G. Eickhoff, Das Charisma der Caudillos. Crdenas, Franco, Pern, Vervuert Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999.

[6] Cf. C. Aguiar Retes R. Guerra Lpez F. Porras Snchez (Coords.), Neopulismo y democracia. Experiencias en Amrica Latina y el Caribe, CELAM, Bogot 2007; Its useful also to consult within the huge bibliography on this subject: C. de la Torre E. Peruzzotti, El retorno del pueblo. Populismo y nuevas democracias en Amrica Latina, FLACSO, Quito 2008; What is Populism?, in The Economist, 19 diciembre 2016; A. Vargas Llosa (coord.), El estallido del populismo, Planeta, Mxico 2017; E. Krauze, El pueblo soy yo, DEBATE Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, Mxico 2018.

[7] Cf. E. Krauze, op. cit. p. 115.

[8] Cf. R. Guerra Lpez, Descubrirnos pueblo: movimientos populares, populismo y la bsqueda de una renovacin democrtica en Amrica Latina, in G. Carriquiry G. La Bella, La irrupcin de los movimientos populares, Librera Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City, 2019, pp. 176-178; Cf. E. Krauze, op. cit., p.p. 119-123.

[9] FT, n. 156.

[10] FT, n. 159.

[11] FT, n. 157.

[12] FT, nn. 163-164.

[13] FT, n. 169.

[14] Francis, Presentacin, in G. Carriquiry G. La Bella, La irrupcin de los movimientos populares, p. 7.

[15] Cf. D. Innerarity, La poltica en tiempos de indignacin, Galaxia de Gutemberg, Barcelona 2015, p. 155.

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Max Richter: Innovative composer on the glories of rave, and the perils of populism – Irish Examiner

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Max Richter was never much of a raver. But the avant-garde composers early career coincided with the explosion in the late 1980s of the underground techno scene, at the time variously heralded as the future of music and harbinger of civilisations downfall. And he draws a connection between the soundsystem bangers that so terrified the establishment and his new record, Voices 2, the second of two albums inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Rave had the honour being legislated against. Remember the notorious repetitive beats? says Richter (55), whose music Crack magazine described as existing within a kind of Venn diagram space between alternative popular music and the avant-garde.

He is referring to Britains 1994 Criminal Justice Act, which sought to clamp down on unlicensed raves by giving the police the power to stop music wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.

His point is that protest music comes in many guises. One example is Voices 2, Richters new suite of compositions meditating on the legacy of the 1948 Universal Declaration and conceived of in collaboration with his partner, filmmaker Yulia Mahr. Its the latest of his projects to interrogate the modern world: the Kosovo War was a theme of his 2002 debut, Memoryhouse, while the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq received scrutiny in 2004s The Blue Notebooks.

The precursors for Voices exists within the protest music tradition, says Richter, also an A-list soundtrack composer whose credits include HBOs The Leftovers and the adaptation of Elena Ferrantes My Brilliant Friend. Its in Guthrie and Dylan. You get echoes of it in Beethoven. Or punk and rave.

Richter may have steered clear of glow-sticks and legally dubious raves in his youth. However, he did intersect directly with 1990s techno via the Future Sound Of London. He collaborated on the groups 1996 album Dead Cities. That record is about to be reissued on vinyl an opportunity to revisit the piece Max, built around a ghostly piano refrain by the composer.

I was very interested in the pure sonic experimentation that was going on, says Richter of that phase of his life and career. There was this explosion in technological tools. You could basically make any sound. That was very new and very liberating. People were coming at those tools from academic and classical musical backgrounds. But also from the clubbing world. It was an amazing time.

There arent any repetitive beats on Voices 2. And in contrast to Voices, which featured spoken word readings from the declaration, including an original recording of Eleanor Roosevelt, the new LP is entirely instrumental.

The first part was about where weve got to as a culture, he says. The second part is a space to dream into. A space to reflect on the first part. For me, its about the potential future.

Where weve got to he feels is a dark zone where populism and totalitarianism are on the march. Brexit is the example that springs to mind for Richter. Born in Germany and brought up in Britain, he sees the UKs departure from the EU is a psychic shock.

From my standpoint its a tragedy, he says. No matter what the short term gains and losses are, it is fundamentally an anti-civilisation project. Its just really misguided to increase isolation. This inwards looking mindset is not where we want to be going as a civilisation.

The rise of populism and the lurch towards extremism were among the factors that motivated Richter to compose Voices. He wanted to remind audiences there is a better away. And that, in world riven with division, the Universal Declaration stands as a monument to empathy.

A detail from the cover of Voices 2, by Max Richter.

I can see the politics in the UK moving towards totalitarian gestures, he says. There is this kind of weird sabre-ratting mentality. Of course, it is presented in a way that is completely deniable. The rhetoric is almost a 19th century one. It is incredibly disturbing.

Richter was born in Lower Saxony but raised in Bedford in the English Midlands to German parents. After a teenage obsession with Kraftwerk inspired him to build his own synthesisers in his bedroom, he went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London before going to Florence, where he was taught by modernist composer Luciano Berio.

With hindsight it may seem Richter was destined to become one of the contemporary musics most acclaimed figures, a navigator of new frontiers and heir to both Philip Glass and Brian Eno. Yet because he worked in that grey area between classic and electronica, initially nobody knew quite what to make of him.

Several prestigious record companies passed on Richter before he found a home with the esoteric label Fat Cat, at various points home to Sigur Rs, No Age and Animal Collective.

Id spent years trying to get somewhere within classical music, he says. There was just no interest at all. It wasnt classical enough. It didnt feel like classical music. It didnt have the cultural baggage around it that classical music has to have. Equally I sent all my demos around, as everyone does, to all the labels. And, really, no one was interested at all. It wasnt electronic enough. So Fat Cat were brilliant for me. They had this very experimental, wide-open aesthetic.

One of the great surprises of his career has been the impact of Sleep. The eight -hour concept record, played on piano, cello, two violas, two violins, organ, soprano vocals, synthesisers and electronics, is described by Richter as a lullaby.that is meant to be listened to at night ... structured as a large set of variations.

Sleep has been performed around the world, including at Carlow Arts Festival in 2019. The recital begins late in the evening. Audiences bring along their sleeping bags and settle down for the night as Richter and his ensemble conjure dreamy vibrations.

Sleep was made as a kind of protest music, he says. It coincided basically with 4G in 2015. 4G brought a lot of bandwidth into your pocket. Social media was in your pocket all the time. I wanted to make a piece which would reclaim space from us always being constantly on our screens. It was kind of a protest against always on culture.

Voices 2 was completed during lockdown. He feels the world will be different when the pandemic ends. And that one of the issues with which music will have to wrestle is the next looming crisis of accelerating climate change.

There are all sorts of systemic issues in the music business to do with resource use or energy use. Streaming uses a huge amount of energy. And touring has huge climate consequences. These are big operations, hundreds of flights. Its mad really.

We really need to find new ways to do everything. There are smarter ways to do most of the things we do. Its just that were all too busy running around to actually do them. Thats maybe one of the benefits of the pandemic, if there are any. This chance to reflect and reset and go, how about we do this differently?

Voices 2 is out now

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Quantum computers are revealing an unexpected new theory of reality – New Scientist

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A powerful new idea about how the laws of physics work could bring breakthroughs on everything from quantum gravity to consciousness, says researcher Chiara Marletto

By Chiara Marletto

Manshen Lo

QUANTUM supremacy is a phrase that has been in the news a lot lately. Several labs worldwide have already claimed to have reached this milestone, at which computers exploiting the wondrous features of the quantum world solve a problem faster than a conventional classical computer feasibly could. Although we arent quite there yet, a general-purpose universal quantum computer seems closer than ever a revolutionary development for how we communicate and encrypt data, for virtual reality, artificial intelligence and much more.

These prospects excite me as a theoretical physicist too, but my colleagues and I are captivated by an even bigger picture. The quantum theory of computation originated as a way to deepen our understanding of quantum theory, our fundamental theory of physical reality. By applying the principles we have learned more broadly, we think we are beginning to see the outline of a radical new way to construct laws of nature.

It means abandoning the idea of physics as the science of whats actually happening, and embracing it as the science of what might or might not happen. This science of can and cant could help us tackle some of the big questions that conventional physics has tried and failed to get to grips with, from delivering an exact, unifying theory of thermodynamics and information to getting round conceptual barriers that stop us merging quantum theory with general relativity, Einsteins theory of gravity. It might go even further and help us to understand how intelligent thought works, and kick-start a technological revolution that would make quantum supremacy look modest by comparison.

Since the dawn of modern physics in

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Student’s physics homework picked up by Amazon quantum researchers – News – The University of Sydney

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Pablo Bonilla Ataides (left) with co-author Dr Ben Brown from the School of Physics. Photo: Louise Cooper

What started out as a second-year physics project is making its way into Amazon Web Services (AWS) quantum computing program.

University of Sydney science undergraduate Pablo Bonilla Ataides has tweaked some computing code to effectively double its capacity to correct errors in the quantum machines being designed in the emerging technology sector.

The simple but ingenious change to quantum error correcting code has grabbed the attention of quantum researchers at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing in Pasadena, California, and the quantum technology programs at Yale University and Duke University in the United States.

Quantum technology is in its infancy, partly because we havent been able to overcome the inherent instability in the machines that produce so many errors, 21-year-old Mr Bonilla said.

In second-year physics I was asked to look at some commonly used error correcting code to see if we could improve it. By flipping half of the quantum switches, or qubits, in our design, we found we could effectively double our ability to suppress errors.

The research is published today in Nature Communications.

The results of the study, co-authored by Dr Steve Flammia who has recently moved from the University of Sydney to AWSs quantum computing effort, are to featurein the tech companys arsenal of error correction techniques as it develops its quantum hardware.

Dr Earl Campbell is a senior quantum research scientist at AWS. He said: We have considerable work ahead of us as an industry before anyone sees real, practical benefits from quantum computers.

This research surprised me.I was amazed that such a slight change to a quantum error correction code could lead to such a big impact in predicted performance.

The AWS Center for Quantum Computing team looks forward to collaborating further as we explore other promising alternatives to bring new, more powerful computing technologies one step closer to reality.

Errors are extremely rare in the digital transistors, or switches, that classical computers use to run our phones, laptops and even the fastest supercomputers.

However, the switches in quantum computers, known as qubits, are particularly sensitive to interference, or noise, from the external environment.

In order to make quantum machines work, scientists need to produce a large number of high-quality qubits. This can be done by improving the machines so they are less noisy and by using some capacity of the machines to suppress qubit errors below a certain threshold in order for them to be useful.

That is where quantum error correction comes in.

Assistant Professor Shruti Puri from the quantum research program at Yale University said her team is interested in using the new code for its work.

What amazes me about this new code is its sheer elegance. Its remarkable error-correcting properties are coming from a simple modification to a code that has been studied extensively for almost two decades, Assistant Professor Puri said.

It is extremely relevant for a new generation of quantum technology being developed at Yale and elsewhere. With this new code, I believe, we have considerably shortened the timeline to achieve scalable quantum computation.

Co-author Dr David Tuckett from the School of Physics said: Its a bit like playing battleships with a quantum opponent. Theoretically, they could place their pieces anywhere on the board. But after playing millions of games, we know that certain moves are more likely.

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The Big Theoretical Physics Problem At The Center Of The ‘Muon g-2’ Puzzle – Forbes

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The Muon g-2 electromagnet at Fermilab, ready to receive a beam of muon particles. This experiment ... [+] began in 2017 and will take data for a total of 3 years, reducing the uncertainties significantly. While a total of 5-sigma significance may be reached, the theoretical calculations must account for every effect and interaction of matter that's possible in order to ensure we're measuring a robust difference between theory and experiment.

In early April, 2021, the experimental physics community announced an enormous victory: they had measured the muons magnetic moment to unprecedented precision. With the extraordinary precision achieved by the experimental Muon g-2 collaboration, they were able to measure the spin magnetic moment of the muon not only wasn't 2, as originally predicted by Dirac, but was more precisely 2.00116592040. There's an uncertainty in the final two digits of 54, but not larger. Therefore, if the theoretical prediction differs by this measured amount by too much, there must be new physics at play: a tantalizing possibility that has justifiably excited a great many physicists.

The best theoretical prediction that we have, in fact, is more like 2.0011659182, which is significantly below the experimental measurement. Given that the experimental result strongly confirms a much earlier measurement of the same g-2 quantity for the muon by the Brookhaven E821 experiment, theres every reason to believe that the experimental result will hold up with better data and reduced errors. But the theoretical result is very much in doubt, for reasons everyone should appreciate. Lets help everyone physicists and non-physicists alike understand why.

The first Muon g-2 results from Fermilab are consistent with prior experimental results. When ... [+] combined with the earlier Brookhaven data, they reveal a significantly larger value than the Standard Model predicts. However, although the experimental data is exquisite, this interpretation of the result is not the only viable one.

The Universe, as we know it, is fundamentally quantum in nature. Quantum, as we understand it, means that things can be broken down into fundamental components that obey probabilistic, rather than deterministic, rules. Deterministic is what happens for classical objects: macroscopic particles such as rocks. If you had two closely-spaced slits and threw a small rock at it, you could take one of two approaches, both of which would be valid.

But for quantum objects, you cant do either of those. You could only compute a probability distribution for the various outcomes that could have occurred. You can either compute the probabilities of where things would land, or the probability of various trajectories having occurred. Any additional measurement you attempt to make, with the goal of gathering extra information, would alter the outcome of the experiment.

Electrons exhibit wave properties as well as particle properties, and can be used to construct ... [+] images or probe particle sizes just as well as light can. This compilation shows an electron wave pattern, which cumulatively emerges after many electrons are passed through a double slit.

Thats the quantum weirdness were used to: quantum mechanics. Generalizing the laws of quantum mechanics to obey Einsteins laws of special relativity led to Diracs original prediction for the muons spin magnetic moment: that there would be a quantum mechanical multiplicative factor applied to the classical prediction, g, and that g would exactly equal 2. But, as we all now know, g doesnt exactly equal 2, but a value slightly higher than 2. In other words, when we measure the physical quantity g-2, were measuring the cumulative effects of everything that Dirac missed.

So, what did he miss?

He missed the fact that its not just the individual particles that make up the Universe that are quantum in nature, but also the fields that permeate the space between those particles must also be quantum. This enormous leap from quantum mechanics to quantum field theory enabled us to calculate deeper truths that arent illuminated by quantum mechanics at all.

Magnetic field lines, as illustrated by a bar magnet: a magnetic dipole, with a north and south pole ... [+] bound together. These permanent magnets remain magnetized even after any external magnetic fields are taken away. If you 'snap' a bar magnet in two, it won't create an isolated north and south pole, but rather two new magnets, each with their own north and south poles. Mesons 'snap' in a similar manner.

The idea of quantum field theory is simple. Yes, you still have particles that are charged in some variety:

but they dont just create fields around them based on things like their position and momentum like they did under either Newtons/Einsteins gravity or Maxwells electromagnetism.

If things like the position and momentum of each particle have an inherent quantum uncertainty associated with them, then what does that mean for the fields associated with them? It means we need a new way to think about fields: a quantum formulation. Although it took decades to get it right, a number of physicists independently figured out a successful method of performing the necessary calculations.

A visualization of QCD illustrates how particle/antiparticle pairs pop out of the quantum vacuum for ... [+] very small amounts of time as a consequence of Heisenberg uncertainty. If you have a large uncertainty in energy (E), the lifetime (t) of the particle(s) created must be very short.

What many people expected to happen although it doesnt quite work this way is that wed be able to simply to fold all the necessary quantum uncertainties into the charged particles that generate these quantum fields, and that would allow us to compute the field behavior. But that misses a crucial contribution: the fact that these quantum fields exist, and in fact permeate all of space, even where there are no charged particles giving rise to the corresponding field.

Electromagnetic fields exist even in the absence of charged particles, for instance. You can imagine waves of all different wavelengths permeating all of space, even when no other particles are present. Thats fine from a theoretical perspective, but wed want experimental proof that this description was correct. We already have it in a couple of forms.

As electromagnetic waves propagate away from a source that's surrounded by a strong magnetic field, ... [+] the polarization direction will be affected due to the magnetic field's effect on the vacuum of empty space: vacuum birefringence. By measuring the wavelength-dependent effects of polarization around neutron stars with the right properties, we can confirm the predictions of virtual particles in the quantum vacuum.

In fact, the experimental effects of quantum fields have been felt since 1947, when the Lamb-Retherford experiment demonstrated their reality. The debate is no longer over whether:

But what we do have to recognize is as in the case with many mathematical equations that we know how to write down that we cannot compute everything with the same straightforward, brute-force approach.

The way we perform these calculations in quantum electrodynamics (QED), for example, is we do whats called a perturbative expansion. We imagine what it would be like for two particles to interact like an electron and and electron, a muon and a photon, a quark and another quark, etc. and then we imagine every possible quantum field interaction that could happen atop that basic interaction.

Today, Feynman diagrams are used in calculating every fundamental interaction spanning the strong, ... [+] weak, and electromagnetic forces, including in high-energy and low-temperature/condensed conditions. The electromagnetic interactions, shown here, are all governed by a single force-carrying particle: the photon.

This is the idea of quantum field theory thats normally encapsulated by their most commonly-seen tool to represent calculational steps that must be taken: Feynman diagrams, as above. In the theory of quantum electrodynamics where charged particles interact via the exchange of photons, and those photons can then couple through any other charged particles we perform these calculations by:

Quantum electrodynamics is one of the many field theories we can write down where this approach, as we go to progressively higher loop orders in our calculations, gets more and more accurate the more we calculate. The processes at play in the muons (or electrons, or taus) spin magnetic moment have been calculated beyond five-loop order recently, and theres very little uncertainty there.

Through a herculean effort of the part of theoretical physicists, the muon magnetic moment has been ... [+] calculated up to five-loop order. The theoretical uncertainties are now at the level of just one part in two billion. This is a tremendous achievement that can only be made in the context of quantum field theory, and is heavily reliant on the fine structure constant and its applications.

The reason this strategy works so well is because electromagnetism has two important properties to it.

The combination of these factors guarantees that we can calculate the strength of any electromagnetic interaction between any two particles in the Universe more and more accurately by adding more terms to our quantum field theory calculations: by going to higher and higher loop-orders.

Electromagnetism, of course, isnt the only force that matters when it comes to Standard Model particles. Theres also the weak nuclear force, which is mediated by three force-carrying particles: the W-and-Z bosons. This is a very short-range force, but fortunately, the strength of the weak coupling is still small and the weak interactions are suppressed by large masses possessed by the W-and-Z bosons. Even though its a little more complicated, the same method of expanding to higher-order loop diagrams works for computing the weak interactions, too. (The Higgs is also similar.)

At high energies (corresponding to small distances), the strong force's interaction strength drops ... [+] to zero. At large distances, it increases rapidly. This idea is known as 'asymptotic freedom,' which has been experimentally confirmed to great precision.

But the strong nuclear force is different. Unlike all of the other Standard Model interactions, the strong force gets weaker at short distances rather than stronger: it acts like a spring rather than like gravity. We call this property asymptotic freedom: where the attractive or repulsive force between charged particles approaches zero as they approach zero distance from one another. This, coupled with the large coupling strength of the strong interaction, makes this common loop-order method wildly inappropriate for the strong interaction. The more diagrams you calculate, the less accurate you get.

This doesnt mean we have no recourse at all in making predictions for the strong interactions, but it means we have to take a different approach to our normal one. Either we can try to calculate the contributions of the particles and fields under the strong interaction non-perturbatively such as via the methods of Lattice QCD (where QCD stands for quantum chromodynamics, or the quantum field theory governing the strong force) or you can try and use the results from other experiments to estimate the strength of the strong interactions under a different scenario.

As computational power and Lattice QCD techniques have improved over time, so has the accuracy to ... [+] which various quantities about the proton, such as its component spin contribtuions, can be computed.

If what we were able to measure, from other experiments, was exactly the thing we dont know in the Muon g-2 calculation, there would be no need for theoretical uncertainties; we could just measure the unknown directly. If we didnt know a cross-section, a scattering amplitude, or a particular decay property, those are things that particle physics experiments are exquisite at determining. But for the needed strong force contributions to the spin magnetic moment of the muon, these are properties that are indirectly inferred from our measurements, not directly measured. Theres always a big danger that a systematic error is causing the mismatch between theory and observation from our current theoretical methods.

On the other hand, the Lattice QCD method is brilliant: it imagines space as a grid-like lattice in three dimensions. You put the two particles down on your lattice so that they're separated by a certain distance, and then they use a set of computational techniques to add up the contribution from all the quantum fields and particles that we have. If we could make the lattice infinitely large, and the spacing between the points on the lattice infinitely small, we'd get the exact answer for the contributions of the strong force. Of course, we only have finite computational power, so the lattice spacing can't go below a certain distance, and the size of the lattice doesn't go beyond a certain range.

There comes a point where our lattice gets large enough and the spacing gets small enough, however, that well get the right answer. Certain calculations have already yielded to Lattice QCD that havent yielded to other methods, such as the calculations of the masses of the light mesons and baryons, including the proton and neutron. After many attempts at predicting what the strong forces contributions to the g-2 measurement of the muon ought to be over the past few years, the uncertainties are finally dropping to become competitive with the experimental ones. If the latest group to perform that calculation has finally gotten it right, there is no longer a tension with the experimental results.

The R-ratio method (red) for calculating the muon's magnetic moment has led many to note the ... [+] mismatch with experiment (the 'no new physics' range). But recent improvements in Lattice QCD (green points, and particularly the top, solid green point) not only have reduced the uncertainties substantially, but favor an agreement with experiment and a disagreement with the R-ratio method.

Assuming that the experimental results from the Muon g-2 collaboration hold up and theres every reason to believe they will, including the solid agreement with the earlier Brookhaven results all eyes will turn towards the theorists. We have two different ways of calculating the expected value of the muons spin magnetic moment, where one agrees with the experimental values (within the errors) and the other does not.

Will the Lattice QCD groups all converge on the same answer, and demonstrate that not only do they know what theyre doing, but that theres no anomaly after all? Or will Lattice QCD methods reveal a disagreement with the experimental values, the same way that they presently disagree with the other theoretical method we have that presently disagrees so significantly with the experimental values we have: of using experimental inputs instead of theoretical calculations?

Its far too early to say, but until we have a resolution to this important theoretical issue, we wont know what it is thats broken: the Standard Model, or the way were presently calculating the same quantities were measuring to unparalleled precisions.

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The God Equation Review: One String Theory to Rule Them All – The Wall Street Journal

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Whats God got to do with it? Given that the majority of physicists are agnostics at best, I have always found it puzzling that my community is so obsessed with Gods mind, whether or not God plays dice, the God particle and seeing Godand now with Michio Kakus The God Equation. Title notwithstanding, this is an excellent book written by a masterful science communicator elaborating on a subject that is his research home turfsuperstring theory. The prolific author of multiple popular science books, Mr. Kaku is a futurist, broadcaster and professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York. He is also the host of the wildly successful and popular weekly radio program Science Fantastic. If there is anyone who can demystify the esoteric mathematics and physics of string theory, it is he. And in this wonderful little book, that is precisely what he doesexplain in clear and simple terms the conceptual breakthroughs, the blind alleys and the unanswered questionsin the search for a grand unified theory of everything. Most of all, what I like best is that he remains open to the possibility that there may ultimately not be a single unifying theory after all, encoded into a single tidy equation.

The dream to synthesize all known physical forces has been a longstanding challenge; many physicists, including Einstein, have embarked on the pursuit and failed. The four fundamental forces of nature are gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force responsible for radioactive decay of some nuclei, and the strong force binding the atomic nucleus together.

When Newton discovered the laws of gravity, he accomplished the phenomenal task of connecting the celestial and terrestrial with a universal theory of gravitation that accounted both for a falling apple and the orbit of the Earth around the sun. Subsequently, as physicists uncovered additional fundamental forces in natureelectromagnetism, the weak force and the strong forcethey set about combining all of them into ever-grander theories. Mr. Kaku traces each of these pivotal moments of unification, describing the key insights that permitted those breakthroughs and bringing us to the precipice, where we currently stand, stymied. The ultimate challengeto unify gravity and quantum mechanicsis yet to be accomplished. To highlight how momentous unification would be, Mr. Kaku ends the book with a quote from Stephen Hawking: it would be the ultimate triumph of human reasonfor then we would know the mind of Godhence, I suppose, the God equation.

Mr. Kaku argues persuasively that every time physicists have decoded one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, it not only revealed the secrets of nature, but radically revolutionized society too. He connects Newtons laws to the invention of the steam engine and the launch of the Industrial Revolution, while Michael Faradays later discovery of electric and magnetic fields powered the electrical age. Mr. Kaku offers a superb description of how electrical transmission works, connecting the dots from Faradays equations to Edisons and Teslas experiments and then to our illuminated, electrified life today. Eventually we come to the revolution of quantum mechanicsthe description of matter on the smallest scalewhich shook the very core of physics. The subsequent applications that came out of the quantum revolution, the transistor and laser, ushered in a world dependent on electronics.

The God Equation dazzles in its account of the unfinished quest for a grand unified theory. As Mr. Kaku describes, controversies have dogged the unified theory project from the very start. Faraday was the first to propose a unification of gravity and electromagnetism. In 1832 he conducted a set of experiments from Londons Waterloo Bridge and dropped magnets, hoping to find some quantifiable effect of gravity. Alas, the experiment failed, though he remained convinced that the effect existed, perhaps at an undetectable level. In 1947, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, Erwin Schrdinger, famously held a press conference to announce victoryhe claimed to have a unified field theory. He did notembarrassingly, his version could not even explain the nature of electrons and the atom. The other illustrious co-founders of quantum mechanics, Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli, followed suit and failed as well. The first real major step came with the discovery of quantum electrodynamics (QED), which provided a quantum theory of electrons and light. Then came the connection to the best current description of the strong nuclear force with the development of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The standard model of particle physics that consolidates the zoo of subatomic particles emerged from these developments, bringing us to a theory of almost everything. The quest to unify all four fundamental forces in the universe has unfortunately stalled here. I write this on the heels of an announcement by Fermi National Laboratory of a potential discovery, a likely hint for the existence of a possible additional force of naturewhich, if it stands up, reveals the existence of physics beyond the currently accepted standard model.

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615 Million Euros Awarded to Quantum Delta NL for Quantum Research in the Netherlands – HPCwire

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April 9, 2021 Quantum Delta NL, a research programme in which Leiden University participates, has been awarded 615 million euros from the National Growth Fund to help develop the Netherlands into a top player in quantum technology. This has been announced at the presentation of the honoured proposals in The Hague.

Quantum Delta NL is a cooperation of companies and research institutes in which the research has been organised in five hubs at the universities of Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, Twente and Eindhoven.

The research groupApplied Quantum Algorithms (aQa)at the Leiden institutes for physics and computer science develops quantum algorithms for chemical and material science applications, in cooperation with Google, Shell, Volkswagen and Total.

Great enthusiasm

Research into quantum computing has been going on for twenty years, bringing real world application ever closer, says Carlo Beenakker, professor in Theoretical Physics and Deputy Chair of Quantum Delta NL. I seegreat enthusiasm in my students to apply abstract concepts from quantum physics to the solution of practical problems. This is the revolutionary technology of their generation.

The goal of aQa is to make quantum algorithms practically applicable, pertaining to questions ofsocietal and economical relevance. We cooperate narrowly with our industrial partners to render these large investments as useful as possible, says computer science researcher Vedran Dunjko. Recently, he published in the journal Natureabout artificial intelligence implemented through quantum computers.

Quantum technology

Quantum Delta NLs ambition is to position the Netherlands as a Silicon Valley for quantum technology in Europe during the coming seven years. The programme provides for the further development of the quantum computer and the quantum internet, which will be open for end users in business and societal sectors, including education.

It aims for a flourishing ecosystem where talent is fostered at all levels, and where cooperation happens over institutional borders to develop a new European high-tech industry.

Source: Leiden University

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The Disordered Cosmos review: An insider take on physics and injustice – New Scientist News

Posted: at 6:36 am

A bold new book by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein combines her love of physics with a strong analysis of the inequalities rife in science

By Anna Demming

The Disordered Cosmos argues that science needs close scrutiny

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Disordered Cosmos: A journey into dark matter, spacetime, & dreams deferred

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

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Bold Type Books

THIS isnt just a popular science book. There is plenty of physics in it from the big bang and relativity to particle physics, it is all there. But attention rapidly shifts to the authors other preoccupation: social injustice, such as inequalities, prejudices and the kind of social grooming and timidity that also hinder us from calling out these vices.

The author of The Disordered Cosmos is Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, a core faculty member in womens and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire and a New Scientist columnist. This gives her an excellent position from which she can both engage in rich detail with sciences most fascinating theories and grapple with human and inhuman social failings.

She works patiently to disabuse readers of the delusion that their favourite pop-sci ideas those lofty products of cerebral ingenuity and academic brilliance are immune from the prejudices pervading society.

Prescod-Weinsteins heritage is a mix of Black American, Black Caribbean, Eastern European Jewish and Jewish American histories. She identifies as agender, and has a history of debilitating health conditions. The inequalities she covers in her book are issues she has dealt with at first hand.

Some readers may question whether, say, there are indeed damaging racist undertones in the term dark matter, or in the way colour analogies are used in quantum chromodynamics, a theory sometimes referred to in textbooks as colored physics. But it is hard to dismiss the broader issues Prescod-Weinstein argues: inequalities around race, gender, class, nationality and disability.

Diversity and inclusivity are todays buzzwords, but she quotes Jin Haritaworn and C. Riley Snorton in their appraisal of trans politics theory, and questions whether it is enough for the scientific establishment to aim to be inclusive if what people are included in retains what she calls a strong relationship with totalitarian, racialized structures.

The author disabuses readers that favourite popsci ideas are immune from everyday prejudices

Despite the obvious conflict between her love of physics and her outrage at some of the social and personal injustices she sees in institutions propagating physics, the different focuses of the book arent necessarily competing for airtime. And Prescod-Weinstein often uses physics explanations as a springboard or analogy for the social issues she wants to discuss.

Take the description of non-binary wave-particle duality in the double-slit experiment, which precedes her dissection of attitudes to people identifying as non-binary or otherwise. It should be obvious that when you refuse to respect someones pronouns you are making a statement about whats important and what is not, she writes. To tell students that it is too difficult is an egregious, brazen lie.

Although there are times when discussions of minority politics get quite dense, perhaps more so than the physics, on the whole, the book feels very intimate I sometimes felt like I was reading her diary. This can be a treat, such as when she is musing over some charming quirk of particle physics: I tend to think of bosons as pep squad particles: they are happy to share the same quantum energy state Fermions? Not so much.

At other times, it gets more uncomfortable, as when she lays bare episodes of anguished introspection, self-doubt and emotional fatigue caused by traumatising experiences. It is all recounted to serve a point, but is incredibly personal and confiding.

So no, her book isnt a typical popular science read and she makes some comments that may prove unpopular. Beyond the already ardently persuaded, it will be interesting to see how much a broader readership may be convinced by the arguments she presents.

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Course explores ‘Magic, Witchcraft and Healing’ > News > USC Dornsife – USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Posted: at 6:36 am

USC Dornsifes Thomas Ward of anthropology covers Vodou, witchcraft and shamanism, while focusing on white magic used for holistic healing. [5minread]

Perched on a shelf in Thomas Wards home office is a set of Vodou dolls.

Curiously, theyre not in the shape of human beings but are little round balls topped with conical hats. Filled with dense soil and wrapped tightly with black and red ribbon, theyre as heavy as paperweights.

Ward, associate professor (teaching) ofanthropologyat USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, shows the Vodou artifacts to students in his spring semester course Magic, Witchcraft and Healing (ANTH 373).

Theyre beautiful objects, he says of the Vodou dolls, which he brought back from a trip to Haiti in 1983.

They can be used for healing and they can also be used for the dark arts.

But Ward is no Severus Snape from the Harry Potter franchise.

Our class explores the magical components of healing, and while witchcraft can be used for healing or harm, our class focuses only on white magic, rather than black magic, which is believed to cause harm.

That doesnt stop some of his students expressing curiosity about the dark side.

They ask me, Are curses real? Can a witch put a curse on you? Ward says. From the indigenous perspective, absolutely. Most non-Western cultures believe that curses can be used for harm.

But anthropologists and Western scientists would argue that its the power of belief that causes people who know theyve been cursed to have accidents.

It depends on who you are, where you are, what culture youre in, your own belief system, Ward says.

Magic and healing

Wards course explores the cross-cultural aspects of healing in non-Western traditions.

In the anthropological, cross-cultural context, the term magic is used for non-Western methods of healing or other ritual practices. Ward defines magic in the context of this course as unexplained causality.

Something happens and it causes something else to happen and we see the result, but we dont know exactly how it works, he says, noting that the term is used even in quantum physics to explain causal relationships that we dont completely understand.

I put a spell on you

Haitian Voudo dolls are often used for healing, according to anthropologist Thomas Ward. (Photo: Courtesy of Thomas Ward.)

Whats fascinating about witchcraft, Ward says, is just how complex and pervasive the idea is, cross-culturally, from Asia to the Americas and Africa. Why have humans for so many thousands of years and from so many different cultures and locations held these beliefs? Is it possible that theres something more to it that were not seeing?

The course explores a number of different historical and geographical aspects of witchcraft: the Salem Witch Trials in New England; the Azande, an ethnic group in Southern Sudan; Vodou tradition and practices in Haiti and Brooklyn, New York;curanderismo traditional healing of the body, mind or soul by shamans or spiritual healers in the Southwest United States; and the genesis of the Wiccan religion in the United Kingdom and its spread to the U.S.

Students read E.E. Evans-Pritchards ethnographyWitchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, which explores how witchcraft is used to explain causality. Evans-Pritchard was one of the first anthropologists to point out the logic of witchcraft beliefs and to argue that witchcraft explains unfortunate circumstance in situations that Western science would simply put down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For instance, if you are sitting on a verandah and one of the columns breaks and the roof falls and hits you on the head, Western scientists might tell you that termites were eating the wood, causing the column to fall. The questions that Western science doesnt answer is why at that particular moment in time did the roof fall and why me?

Western science would just chalk it up to unfortunate circumstance, Ward says. With its mystical aspect, witchcraft fills that gap, providing the causal link and explaining why it happened at that particular place and time and to that particular individual.

Ward says one of the most fascinating aspects of non-Western healing practices is its focus on the holistic aspect. These ideas are starting to gain traction in the U.S. with more emphasis on social relationships, community and spirituality.

In Vodou, for instance, practitioners look not only at physical and mental health, but also spiritual health and a persons relationship to the lwa, or spirits. The role of Vodou practitioners, known as servants of the spirits, is to communicate with the lwa, make them offerings and ask for intercession.

Wards course also explores the Wiccan religion, founded by Gerald Gardner in 1929. Gardner did a popular BBC interview that stirred up a great deal of controversy and interest in modern witchcraft.

The Wiccan movement spread from the U.K. to the U.S., where it experienced its greatest growth in the 1960s and 70s, with the civil rights and womens movements and a greater willingness to experiment and explore non-Western or ancient ways of being and healing.

Wiccas emphasis on nature and the sacred feminine made it, in some ways, the response to, and maybe rebellion against, the patriarchal elements of Christianity, Ward says.

The three big takeaways

The focus of the course, he says, is on expanding our horizons while remaining respectful and humble about other peoples traditions. Ward wants students to think about what healing means from a holistic perspective.

We tend to think of healing in the West as mainly physical, emotional and psychological, whereas in the non-Western context, healing means to restore a balance or a sense of wholeness in an individual and his or her environment, including family, friends, nature, spirits and ancestors. So, healing is much more comprehensive it restores a persons health, happiness and wholeness.

Ward hopes students will take away from the course a greater sense of open-mindedness and curiosity, but also humility. Magic is the word that we use to keep us humble, by saying that things are happening that we dont fully understand. We need to respect other peoples views of causality and the etiology of illness and broaden our perspective about what is possibly causing various illnesses.

Ward says the course also peels back the layers of contemporary celebrations like Halloween that depict witches in a stereotypical and sometimes humorous way.

Theres a huge, very complicated worldwide history of what witches are and what they do, Ward says. There should be respect for these traditions, but also understanding.

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Course explores 'Magic, Witchcraft and Healing' > News > USC Dornsife - USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

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