Gene Ray
Gene Ray (born Otis Eugene Ray, 2 July, 1927) claims in his writings relating to "Nature's Harmonic Simultaneous 4-Day Time Cube", that they represent the ineffable truth of the universe. Often referring to himself as the "Greatest Thinker" and "Wisest Human," Ray, in recognition of his own contributions to mankind, has awarded himself a "Doctorate of Cubicism". On account of this, he titles himself "Dr. Gene Ray, Cubic".
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. Said Ray, "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." And, in contrast to the pyramid, the circle, or cycle, is natural, mobile, and self-sustaining.
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. It is not known if the Order of the Sphere ever became a reality.
Critics of Ray like to draw attention to his "marbles period" because they consider it inconsistent with his later Time Cube theory. Under the Time Cube theory, the circle is considered a "zero value", and "circle measure is slop bucket". Supporters of Ray, however, see his circle-based philosophy as a natural precursor to the Time Cube.
Cube theory
He 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 a single massively extended page.
Ray has stated that his main reason for publicising what he claims to be the "Greatest Social and Scientific Discovery of Humanity" on the Internet 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.
Ray explained the 4/16 Rotation Principle, an important element of Time Cube, as follows: "If Earth stood still, it would have mid-day, mid-night, sun-up and sun-down at 4 corners. Each rotation of earth has 4 mid-days, 4 mid-nights, 4 sun-ups and 4 sun-downs. The sixteen (16) space times demonstrates cube proof of 4 full days simultaneously on earth within one (1) rotation. The academia created 1 day greenwich time is bastardly queer and dooms future youth and nature to a hell."
A typical Ray quotation is "Time is CUBIC, not linear as stupid educators teach."
There is an aspect of Ray's theory often claimed by critics to constitute a flaw. Scripture near the beginning of the site states:
4 Day math transcends 1 Day God.
1-Midday to midday = a 24 hour day rotation. 2-Sundown to sundown = a 24 hour day rotation. 3-Midnight to midnight = a 24 hour day rotation. 4-Sunup to sunup = a 24 hour day rotation.
From this, one might think it extrapolable that there are an infinite number of days in one rotation of the earth: each different longitude has its own day. But Ray places emphasis on the relationship between "corners" and "quadrants": dividing a circle into 4 right-angle quadrants, and circumscribing it with a square with 4 right-angle corners, we note a correlation between the two sets of right-angles. Divide it with numbers other than four, and the angles no longer match up. (It should be noted that the same rule is observed with a hexagonal prism and dividing the circle into six pieces.)
Ray has also stated that once the earth has been divided into 4 quadrants, "that's all there is", and that further divisions would merely subdivide these quadrants. So, the 4-corner-quadrant division has a unique harmonicity (i.e. the geometric correlation described above); this harmonicity renders the harmonic minimum number of days four, whereafter different days are phase-shifted overlaps of the existing four days.
There are also issues with definitions. The standard definition of a day is one full rotation of the Earth on its axis. This definition implies that no more than one day could simultaneously occur.
Ray's mental health
On TimeCube.com Ray makes the following statement:
"...a psychiatrist examining my behavior...knows no course other than to judge me schizophrenic."
It is viewed that under established psychiatric schema, some of his beliefs are typical of paranoid schizophrenia, such as his delusions of grandeur and belief that he is being persecuted.
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 (and presumably members of other religions too), 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."
Developments
In January, 2002, he lectured and debated Time Cube with students at MIT. This event was the first highly publicized presentation 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.
It should be noted that Ray's appearance at MIT was organized exclusively by students; he was not invited by faculty members or Institute staff.
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, Dr 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. This explains his belief that he will be reincarnated as a black man (he feels that each of the "four races" that he has devised to correspond to the four sides of his cube are in opposition with their counterpart) and his vehement condemnation of homosexuality. Ray believes he has pictures proving this belief of a planet with its northern and southern hemispheres going in opposite directions and separated about the equator by a river of magma, claiming this as a primary reason why NASA has been issuing death threats against him.
While some of Ray's beliefs sound perfectly logical, namely 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, he always inevitably feels the need to tie them back to the Time Cube.
See also
- Time Cube
- Cube
- Scientific method
- Occam's Razor
- Theory of everything
- List of alternative, speculative and disputed theories
External links
Promoting "Time Cube":
- TimeCube.com, Ray's most notable site.
- Above God
- The Greatest Thinker
- The Wisest Human
- Cubic Awareness Online, an "Australian" Cube fansite (hosted by HostDime.com, Inc. and geolocated in Orlando, FL)
Debunking "Time Cube":
- Crank.net Time Cube from Crank dot net, the webkook directory of Erik Max Francis
Mass media:
- 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
- Georgia Tech student newspaper article about Dr Ray's April 14, 2005 lecture, from Technique, the student paper at Georgia Tech
- 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
- A Time Cube card game from Dvorak - A Nomic Card Game by Kevan Davis in the UK
- Interview with Gene Ray, from Lost in Front in Burnaby, CA
Spoofs:
- Timecube proves true, Gene Ray wins Nobel Prize for physics from "Arwon222"
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.