What You Don't Know Can Harm You!

Dear Mona,

Sorry for the delay in replying to this! While I have gotten used to people - (who haven't done any research whatsoever on this topic) - jumping to conclusions and claiming with their "expert" opinion that I am either (1) "Alarmist;" (2) "Psychosomatic" (i.e. I am imagining my symptoms); or (3) that I "have a phobia;" it still doesn't mean that I enjoy listening to their erroneous and premature conclusions.

First of all, to have a phobia means to be afraid of something that cannot hurt you. However, on the other hand, to NOT be afraid of something that can indeed hurt you we can certainly call "Ignorance" (in the case that people are unaware of the danger) or in fact "Stupidity" (when they are indeed aware of the danger but continue to engage in the dangerous behavior).

Secondly, I was terribly sick for six months with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and increasingly getting worse before I even imagined that it might be due to the microwave radiation being emitted from a number of cell phone masts 300 meters away from my apartment or from the microwave radiation being emitted from my adjacent neighbors' WiFi systems or from the cell phone I carried on my body but hardly ever used.

Thirdly, to be alarmist means to "cause unnecessary fear and anxiety." And that is not the case at all. Indeed we want people to be afraid of "what can indeed hurt them" (so they can take necessary action) and not the other way around.

I met a 15-year-old girl with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), who had lost most control of her body movements and was being treated at a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital in China, who replied, when I suggested that the cause of her illness might be cell phones, "Don't tell me that! How would I keep in contact with my friends without my cell phone?" So for her, it seemed that having her cell phone was more important than being cured of her disease.

I met another young American guy in his twenties traveling in Thailand, who had been suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since he was a child. When I suggested to him that the cause was microwave radiation from cell phones and WiFi, he replied that those were "the two things I cannot live without."

On the other hand, Annan, a 15-year-old German Aurovillian - who attended my lecture with his mother and who was also one of my students at New Era School - told me that he had known that cell phones were dangerous, but that he hadn't been aware of "how dangerous they actually were." He told me that his cell phone had recently broke and that when his mother had asked him if he wanted a new one he told her "No, that he didn't want a new one." Also, a viral infection that he had been suffering from for some time (he had a nasty gash on his neck) mysteriously cleared up when his cell phone broke. (Why am I not surprised?)

Valeria, an Italian Aurovillian, (who when I first met her was carrying her cell phone in her hand), had told me how she had developed this terrible pain in her groin and had gone to see a number of doctors and was even scheduled to have surgery. She went on to say that when she went back to visit her family in Italy and had left her cell phone in Auroville, that her pain had mysteriously disappeared. That is when she started to suspect that the cause of her pain might indeed be her cell phone because she always carried it in her bag and placed the bag on her groin where she developed the pain. In spite of this, she was afraid to discuss it with anyone for fear that they would think she was crazy. When I told her that I also developed groin pain on the right side where I used to keep my cell phone in my pants pocket and heart pain in the other place I used to keep my cell phone in my shirt pocket, it confirmed for her what she had suspected as true and she took the action of confiscating her daughter's cell phone and keeping her own cell phone off the majority of the time.

For me, the stories above show a stark contrast between the actions taken by what I perceive as a distinction between more-or-less "unconscious people" and "conscious people" - and while there are certainly some unconscious people in Auroville (I have had the opportunity to meet a few) and some conscious people on the outside world (who are certainly in the minority), I tend to believe that Auroville has more of the latter and less of the former.

Unfortunately, I have disappointingly and distressingly seen too many children walking around in Auroville with their cell phones constantly plastered to their ears. Creating some awareness of this problem (and some fear) might motivate their parents to prohibit the usage - or to at least limit it - and thus save their children of potential and unnecessary suffering (e.g. brain tumors) in their future lives. From what I have heard there are already certain Aurovillians - who are also heavy cell phone users - who are developing health problems (e.g. in one person tumor next to the ear) - most likely due to their cell phone usage.

So if the News and Notes team has not already gone ahead and edited and published my piece, I would like to suggest that they divide it into two parts so they don't break their own rule of having a 500 word limit.

With Love, Peace, and Understanding,
paul doyon

P.S. I will come back to Auroville - for good - when I earn enough money that will allow me and my family to stay there for the Newcomer period. However, having said that I would very much like to come back ASAP for a visit if and when the opportunity presents itself.