Gene Ray
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Gene Ray (born Otis Eugene Ray, 2 July 1927) claims that his writings on "Nature's Harmonic Simultaneous 4-Day Time Cube" describe the ineffable truth of the universe. Often referring to himself as the "Greatest Thinker" and "Wisest Human", Ray has awarded himself a "Doctorate of Cubicism", since his idea has been largely ignored by the scientific community. On account of this, he titles himself "Dr. Gene Ray, Cubic".
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[edit] Pre-cube period
Ray worked as a master electrician in Florida for several decades and was also the inventor of several patented devices (see external links, below). He actively promoted the game of Marbles, publishing a book entitled "Mr Marbles: Marbles for Everyone", and planning a world marbles tournament.
In 1987, the St. Petersburg Times of Florida reported that "Mr. Marbles has become a philosopher." Ray developed a system of thought centered on the symbols of the pyramid and the circle. The pyramid, large at the base but narrow at the top, represents the unsustainably increasing growth rate of modern civilization. In contrast to the pyramid, Ray felt that the circle, or cycle, was natural, mobile, and self-sustaining.
Money is pyramiding. Religion is pyramiding. Education is pyramiding. The environment is pyramiding. The pyramid of progress has destroyed the marbles circle, it's destroyed the family circle.
—Gene Ray
Ray's proposed solution to the problem of "pyramiding" was a million-dollar marbles tournament. The million-dollar prize would attract people concerned about the long-term implications of society's "pyramiding", or disillusioned with its current state—these people would then be convinced of Ray's views, through the experience of playing marbles inside a giant sphere. The 1987 St. Petersburg Times article reports that Ray was planning to form an "Order of the Sphere" to promote his philosophy.
[edit] Cube theory
- Main article: Time Cube
Gene Ray created his well-known "Time Cube" website in August 1997, after being banned from several Internet message boards; since then, he has updated it with new writings every few weeks for several years, resulting in several massively extended pages.
Ray has stated that his main reason for publicising what he claims to be the "Greatest Social and Scientific Discovery of Humanity" is to induce a research group to evaluate the Time Cube and control its release upon the public. Ray also offers $10,000 to any academic institution or professor who disproves Time Cube, and $1,000 to anybody else who can disprove Time Cube.
[edit] Other controversies
Ray has made comments on his sites which some people view as anti-Semitic or racist; however, Ray denies any such sentiments. He does, however, oppose the cultural expression of homosexuality. Elaborating on this in an October 2005 Free Talk Live radio interview [1], he illustrated his point by citing an hypothesised law that would ban the use of the word "gay" in connection to homosexuality. When asked how he would feel about a similar law preventing use of the term "Time Cube", he replied: "I've been expecting one any time". Ray also says that "Bible's and Science's 1-day Earth rotation are evil scams."
Ray generated much controversial publicity in 2002 when he elaborated on a politically incorrect implication of Time Cube, writing on his Time Cube website that "Tis Time to kill any educator who does not teach Cubicism above cubelessness. To save humanity from extinction, like prior civilizations perished, youth must redirect self teachers, or destroy them. ... It is not immoral for students to kill all educators who ignore Nature's Harmonic Time Cube or suppress free speech rights to debate Time Cube Creation Principle." He has since replaced some of the more confrontational words in these statements with euphemistic terms.
However, in an interview with Internet Radio Station Radio KoL on April 9th, 2005 (shortly before his big Georgia Tech interview, mentioned below), Ray expressed the opinion that it was not immoral to kill Christians, because they believe that they will go to heaven, a better world. He, on the other hand, believes that heaven is to be found in this world, as reflected in the following quote: "Earth life is heaven and hell."
In that same interview, Ray also stated that he believes in reincarnation (Mr. Ray in fact stated that he will return as a black man and "hate all of you honkies"), that NASA is plotting his death, and in some form of magic, but that it is not to be confused with mere illusory magic tricks. He said: "I believe in magic, and there's a lot of good magic, and a lot of bad magic."
[edit] Developments
In January, 2002, Gene Ray lectured and debated Time Cube with students at MIT. The event was organized exclusively by students and was the first highly publicized presentation of the Time Cube within an academic institution, filling one of MIT's largest lecture halls. Advance advertising for the event included posters with quotations from the Time Cube website, declaring the Time Cube to be "the Holy Grail of Physics" and stating that "-1 times -1 = +1 is stupid and evil". Ray proclaimed himself a "Doctor of Cubicism" in December 2002, explaining that universities are too evil to bestow upon him such a prestigious honor of wisdom.
Also, for several years Ray has been planning to write a book explaining the Time Cube. He says that this book "will contradict and condemn every religious and scientific book written."
As of 2005, Ray continues to produce writings on the Time Cube web site. In March of 2005, Ray updated the web site to announce that he would speak at another academic lecture, this time at Georgia Tech. According to a later update of the site, the "Mother of all Lectures" took place at the university on April 14 at 7 PM. The lecture was organized by Georgia Tech student Eoin Grosch, who has created this official website for the lecture, where a copy of the lecture can be ordered on DVD.
Elaborating upon the Cubic geometry, Ray has emphasised the importance of opposing forces in the universe. He firmly believes that all things have an opposite number, and that this is responsible for the creation of the universe and its continued existence.
When discussing some of his relatively more mundane beliefs, specifically his views on the loss of individuality in the education system, the importance of community, and the dangers of corporations and genetic tampering with crops, Ray usually ties them back to the Time Cube principle.
Gene Ray was nominated for the "Craziest Man on Earth Award" in 2003 and 2005 but did not win. Many believe that he will win the 2007 edition, since Alex Chiu withdrew from the contest for unknown reasons.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- TimeCube.com, Ray's most notable site.
- Above God, The Greatest Thinker, The Wisest Human, Ray's auxiliary official sites
- Cubic Awareness Online, a site relating to Gene Ray's Time Cube theory
Mass media:
- Trailer for an unreleased documentary about Gene Ray
- Gene Ray's appearance on TechTV
- Time Cube web controversy from the website of Cameron Marlow in Cambridge, MA
- Phoenix interview of Gene Ray from Swarthmore College
- April 9th, 2005 recording of interview with Gene Ray from Radio KoL, from Coldfront in St. Bruno, Quebec (Sound file consists of approximately 1.5 hours of interview with Gene Ray, including half an hour of questions from listeners, followed by approximately 2.5 hours of fairly unrelated talk between DJs of the radio station.)
- Hour-long interview on Free Talk Live (link goes to mp3 file) from Freetalk in Sarasota, FL
- Interview with Gene Ray, from Lost in Front in Burnaby, CA
US patents held by Gene Ray:
- U.S. Patent 3,974,591 Chum dispensing attachment for fishing rigs, granted 1976.
- U.S. Patent 4,095,365 Bait bucket, granted 1978.
- U.S. Patent 4,095,793 Marble game resembling golf, granted 1978.
- U.S. Patent 4,707,869 Swim through safety division line for pools, granted 1987.
