Part 5: Cargo Cult Science Summary and Analysis

The book ends with a CalTech commencement address Feynman delivered in 1974. Feynman laments that, with a large numbers of the general populace giving credence to ESP, astrology, and other supernatural phenomena, the world may be just as rational and unscientific as it was in the middle ages.

He warns these new CalTech graduates that they are going to have to confront these obstacles in their careers as scientists. He also warns them that "pseudoscience" can slip into other, less obvious places, unnoticed, and uses pop psychology on pedagogy and parenting techniques as examples. He compares these misleading belief systems to the "cargo cults" of the south pacific. These tribal people witnessed planes landing, filled with supplies. Wanting a plane full of food, clothing and weapons to land for them, they built runways, headphones, and bamboo...