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A Series, By Anthony Marr

Gratitude #2: To 30 Scholars of 5 Universities

Bloody Superstition
By Shawn Blore
1997-04-24 The Georgia Straight magazine, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Born in February 1944, in southern China, Ma Seeu-Sung (later Anglicized Anthony Marr by the Irish Jesuit that ran the secondary school he attended) fled to Hong Kong along with the rest of his family shortly after the Communist revolution. Family legend has Marr’s father burning the deeds of the family’s extensive land-holdings for a moment’s warmth during the first refugee winter… 

(In 1965), Anthony Marr came to Canada to study science at the University of Manitoba… At the same time, his relationship with a Hong Kong girl fell to bits when she dropped him on orders from her parents. Marr has never forgiven Chinese culture for the snub. “As a result of that incident, I have never dated a Chinese girl again,” Marr said. It’s a decision that isolated him somewhat from the Chinese community, but, according to Marr, it also allowed him to integrate more fully into Canadian society than other Chinese immigrants of his generation.

In 1966, Marr switched over to the physics department of the University of British Columbia. His summers he spent in the bush in northern Manitoba and British Columbia, working as a geologist’s assistant. It was work that can only be idealized by someone who has never done it. Marr said, “The student is the geologist’s personal servant – more like slave, considering the pay, which was only $280 per month. I made and carried his lunch, and every few feet, the geologist would pick up a rock sample about twice the size of my fist and drop it into my knapsack. I had to carry that ever-heavier thing all day, wading into swamps that would sometimes come up to my chest or higher. Your shirt would be black with flies and mosquitoes. There could be a bear behind every tree. It was brutal, but also absolutely beautiful. And this was how I bonded with nature.”



After he graduated with a B.Sc. in 1970, Marr took a job as a live-in house-father for emotionally disturbed kids, then a career in real estate. He said he had a heavy student loan to pay off. One senses he also had a need to gain acceptance among the Vancouver business community. “I made rookie of the year, then Gold Club, Diamond Club, all that,” Marr said. “I bought a couple of horses – hunters-jumpers – and got involved with the high social elite you see down in Southlands.” Snap shots from the time show a short-haired Marr in boots and riding breeches, sitting atop a bay Thoroughbred gelding.

The real estate phased continued for several years. Marr bought a small acreage in the suburbs. He dated but never married. “The work first became routine, then boring, then irksome, then unbearable. I was still good at it, but the initial challenge was gone,” he said.

About this time, things took a strange turn. Whether from boredom, a need to be alone, or perhaps simple a desire to see the sights, he left his job and set off on a solo journey in East Africa, primarily in the Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge region of Tanzania. At some point during that three-month sojourn, something happened that changed the whole focus of Marr’s life. “If you want to be dramatic, you could say it came to me all at once in a blinding flash while I was camping on the savannah, but really, it developed very gradually.” What Marr was catching sight of was a completely new philosophical system, one that in Marr’s view is comprehensive enough to explain the organization and development of life, society and the Cosmos itself.

The full tenet of this system came to him in dribs and drabs over a period of many months during and after his return. Marr collected each of these thoughts on a file card – more than 1,000 of them by the end – and worked at ordering, arranging, and reordering them, trying to assemble his thoughts into a coherent whole. The process took years. Marr’s live-in girlfriend walked out. “I really shouldn’t be living with someone at that point,” Marr said. “I had to have my own room. I had to have a ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign on the door, and if anybody as much as knocked, my tenuous mental construct would fall down like a house of cards.” The net result of his shuffling and reshuffling, typing and retyping, was a manuscript more than 800 pages in length, describing a new and comprehensive philosophical and phenomenological system. Marr christened it OMNI-SCIENCE….

At first glance, OMNI-SCIENCE bears some resemblance to the ideas of the Jesuit philosopher-scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Both suggest that the development of humanity must logically proceed in a converging upward spiral, which Marr calls Integrative Transcendence, towards ever-superior levels of organization and unity. Marr, however, is quick to point out how his system differs from those of other western philosophers. “No philosophical or religious system I’ve encountered is cosmic enough,” said Marr. “They’re too anthropocentric, too narrowly focused.” Marr’s system purportedly incorporates everything – inorganic and organic – throughout the Universe, from the Big Bang to whatever end, all participating in the multi-levelled Integrative Transcendence spiral towards universal life and consciousness.

Hogwash? Possibly. Even Marr himself had doubts (about the acceptability of his system in the eyes of high academia). In the late 80s, Marr tossed both manuscript and portable type-writer into his little green Toyota Celica and set off down the West Coast to test his system with the best academic minds he could find. One of the stops was the University of California at Berkeley, and another was Stanford. “This was when my sales training paid off. When I got to town, the first thing I’d do was find a course catalog and look up the professors who were teaching the courses I liked. Back in my hotel room, I’d crank out a dozen or so letters. ‘Dear Prof. so and so, I have a matter of philosophical interest that I’d like to discuss with you. The time required would be about two hours…’ Then I’d go back to campus and put the letters into the professors’ cubbyholes. The next day, I’d call and ask for an appointment. We’d talk for two hours, and at the end, I’d ask for a letter of critique.”

The good professors’ reactions to this approach can be discerned from the letter written by William Kimbel, president of the Institute of Human Origins at Berkeley: “Owing to the large number of half-baked theories on cosmology currently in circulation, I admit that I faced the prospect of my meeting with Mr. Marr with some trepidation. From the outset, however, it was clear that Mr. Marr is no amateur populariser. On the contrary, he is a dedicated scholar whose theories, I believe, make a profound contribution to the fundamental definition of humankind in relation to the broader universe… implications of great depth and breadth for the future course of human actions… too important to ignore.”

Marr received similarly effusive letters from other professors at Berkeley, Stanford, and the Universities of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia…

Heady stuff. Yet, more than a decade later, the manuscript remains unpublished. Professor Braxton Alfred of Anthropology, UBC, said he even offered to help find a publisher, but Marr said his manuscript was not yet ready for publication. He did leave a copy of the then manuscript behind after his presentation, but due to professional pressures, Alfred didn’t get around to looking at it until recently. Reading it now, Alfred said, only increases his respect for Marr. It also sheds light on what it was that set him on his current crusade.

“The presentation he gave me was hard science, very thoroughly presented. He was right on the numbers with everything in the presentation. I presumed likewise in these documents,” Alfred said, referring to the OMNI-SCIENCE manuscript, “but these are quite a different thing. That man had a revelation in Africa. There’s no other way to characterize it. It’s clear that he was experiencing some sort of emotional trauma, and something touched him, and what these documents record are the revealed truth of that contact.”

According to the manuscript, Alfred said, Marr had reached a crisis and was sitting in the snows of Kilimanjaro, pointing a gun at his head.

Then, as stated in Marr’s text: “The sun went down, the moon came up, and more than my hand had begun trembling. It was then that this mysterious source of wisdom address me for the first time: ‘I am seeking a miracle worker, to work a miracle upon this Earth, on my behalf. Since you seem to have no further use of this body of yours, which seems to be in prime condition, will you surrender it to me?’”
“That’s when the entity, or whatever it is, first made contact with him,” Alfred said, “but, apparently, the contact continues. It seems that there is no end to it. I would not be surprised if he has conversations with this entity still.”

Having read the manuscript, Alfred said he is no longer puzzled by Marr’s decision to turn away from the task of perfecting his book to work on behalf of endangered species. “It was in Africa that this naturism force first came to the fore…” The manuscript also gives some indication of the source of Marr’s willingness to take on seemingly hopeless causes. “He clearly came to a crisis point in his life,” Alfred said, “and the heavens opened up and truth was revealed, and he’s been going strong eversince.”…

Heal Our Planet Earth Omni-Science and the Human Destiny

University of California, Berkeley | Biology, Professor Richard W. Holms:

“I have listened to a presentation by Anthony S. Marr. His synthesis of ideas from a remarkably broad perspective of sciences truly deserves the name OMNI-SCIENCE. His presentation was precise and clear, and I believe he would be an effective speaker for groups at varying levels of expertise…This is a person of great depth who speaks and writes both with confidence and ease. I am happy to recommend him as a speaker and a writer.”

Astronomy and Physics, Professor Marc Davis:

“As one who actually specializes in cosmology as a research endeavour, I was at first very skeptical that Mr. Marr would be yet another crackpot of the type that seems to congregate in this field. However, after only a few minutes of listening to his explanation of his viewpoint, my fears were allayed…His ultimate goal appears to be to provide a forward-looking moral framework for progress in human social evolution, one that is consistent with empirical science and which is not based on historical writings…and important contribution to society….”

Anthropology, Professor Tim White:

“I have not seen a draft of the book, but I can say that after spending a few hours with Mr. Marr, I am very much looking forward to reading it….Mr. Marr is an exceedingly unique individual. I have never crossed paths with such a person. He is very serious, very dedicated, and very polished in his presentation…The care with which he his proceeded is commendable…his synthesis is formidable….”

Paleontology, Professor Carole S. Hickman:

“(Mr. Marr’s work) deserves the attention of serious scholars…an extraordinary intellectual undertaking…a unique framework…both intellectually and aesthetically stimulating…a bold and eclectic piece of scholarship that is, above all, refreshingly honest….His clarity of expression is exceptional. His logical consistency is a delight. The aesthetic quality of the model, in particular his attention to symmetry, provides a dimension that is appealing but sadly lacking in much of Western thought and tradition. The optimism, concern and compassion for humanity that are expressed in the application of the model to human behavior likewise commands attention….”

Zoology, Professor Richard C. Strohman:

“His views and thinking are quite original…a thoroughly logical system…might indeed fill a large gap in the way we think about evolutionary connections between ourselves and our world. I sincerely encourage you to listen to Mr. Marr. And I have one suggestion. His presentation is quite detailed and covers very large areas. My thought is that he and his listeners would all do much better in a small seminar setting so that there would be a symmetry between his own very wide knowledge and the ability for him to obtain meaningful feedback.”

Botany, Professor Herbert G. Baker:

“…an extremely interesting experience…worthy of the attention of a wide variety of persons. If he writes as clearly and understandably as his oral communication, the book should be an important contribution towards understanding cosmology.”

Paleontology, Professor Donald E. Savage:

“Professors and scientists at the universities of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California, to date, have each spent two hours or more listening to the powerful presentation of Anthony Marr of his erudite synthesis of scientific, philosophic and sociologic theory: OMNI-SCIENCE, A New Theory of Cosmology. I can add nothing to the praise that has been heaped upon Mr. Marr and his ideas by these men, and I endorse their statements with reservation. Now is the time for Mr. Marr’s ideas to be published, for the scientific world and general public should become aware of his synthesis.”

Institute of Human Origins, Berkeley | Dr. William H. Kimbel, President:

“I have recently had the great pleasure of listening to Anthony Marr describe the results of his thinking on cosmology.

“Owing to the large number of half-baked ‘pop’ theories on cosmology currently in circulation, I admit that I faced the prospect of my meeting with Mr. Marr with some trepidation.

“From the outset, however, it was clear that Mr. Marr is no amateur popularizer. On the contrary, he is a dedicated scholar whose theories, I believe, make a profound contribution to the fundamental definition of humankind in relation to the broader universe.

“Although Mr. Marr has an uphill battle ahead of him, I firmly believe that his ideas deserve very serious consideration by a wide audience. Not only do they unify the fragmented Western scientific disciplines, but they have implications of great depth and breadth for the future course of human actions. In the current atmosphere of censorship and anti-intellectualism, Mr. Marr’s concept of OMNI-SCIENCE is too important to ignore.”

Stanford University | Sociology, Professor Alex Inkeles:

“Recently Mr. Anthony Marr persuaded me to give him an hour of my time, all I could spare in that cycle of my calendar, and at that it had to be at the end of a busy day. This obliged Mr. Marr, as he told me, to adopt a different style of presentation than the one he usually used, one much more compressed and involving a more top-down approach instead of his usual inductive procedure. Despite these handicaps, Mr. Marr managed to impress me not only with the quality of his presentation, but also the quality of his thinking. The range of his knowledge is broad, and for something so broad seems impressively authoritative. At the heart of his approach is a conception of all living and indeed nonliving matter as organized in systems, and this gave him a considerable edge with me since my own propensity is to think in system terms… exceptionally comprehensive….”

Philosophy, Professor John Dupre:

“A few days ago, I had a lengthy discussion with Mr. Anthony Marr about his philosophical ideas. I can certainly confirm the impressions gained by the various other scholars who have written on his behalf. Marr is a highly intelligent, thoughtful man who has evidently acquired a thorough knowledge of the impressively broad range of topics over which his ideas range. As we were talking, I asked him all the difficult questions that occurred to me as he was outlining his ideas. He was always very quick to get the point, and had intelligent and relevant responses. I was very impressed with his various intellectual accomplishments.

“Though his ideas are extremely intriguing and provocative, I must confess to having considerable skepticism about his project which he did not altogether dispel. However, I very much doubt whether anyone could dispel this skepticism, and certainly not in two hours. I am not convinced, that is to say, that a systematic view of the scope that Marr attempts is really an intelligible project. However, there is no doubt that such projects will be forthcoming, and such a system informed by Mr. Marr’s deep and thorough understanding of the current state of scientific theory will undoubtedly be incomparably more edifying than the vast majority of such attempts, whether religiously based, or grounded on superficial impressions of science. Indeed, I am open to being convinced that such a project will address a pressing social need: if people insist on adopting comprehensive cosmological systems, then I would certainly encourage them to try his. I certainly share his concern about the dangers of many contemporary religious, especially fundamentalist, cosmologies.

“One thing, then I would say without any qualification is that I would strongly encourage any publisher to accept his book. I have not read the manuscript, but assuming, as I have no reason to doubt, that Marr is as articulate, clear and cogent on paper as he is in person, his system would make fascinating reading, and would, I suspect, attract a large audience….”

Applied Physics and Astrophysics, Professor Vahe Petrosian:

“…elaborate…clearly well thought out and researched…I was fascinated by his novel ideas in this very ambitious task…a beautiful synthesis…what I heard was captivating and should be of interest not only to experts but to all thinking people of the world…will find a wide and interested audience….”

Anthropology, Professor John W. Rick:

“…very thought-provoking…an integrative scheme capable of making sense out of a wide variety of natural science knowledge, which at the same time reaches out to philosophy and epistemology…clearly deserves extensive discussion…a serious, well-founded vision, not the product of trivial or eccentric thought. My feeling is that he deserves attention and his ideas should be published. I would recommend that those who have the time listen and argue over his presentation. One should not underestimate the time this may take, however, since his model covers a broad expanse of knowledge. I would think that his presentation would be an ideal forum in an academic department where a group of faculty and graduate students could take time to thoroughly examine his proposition….”

Physics, Professor Leonard Susskind:

“…the cosmic significance of life and evolution. Although this is not exactly my ‘meat’, I thoroughly enjoyed the two hours…I found myself stimulated, educated…His ideas are worth listening to, even for those of us who are not of the same philosophical bent….”

Philosophy, Professor John Bogart:

“I spent 3.5 hours with Mr. Anthony Marr…held my attention for the entire period…has plainly synthesized a great deal of information in a number of distinct disciplines…organized it into an interesting and coherent whole…compelling…intended to have moral import…can be cast into a form of interest to moral philosophy…would be of interest to a wide audience….”

Geology, Professor W.R. Evitt:

“I agree wholeheartedly…about his sincerity, imagination, intellectualism and scholarship. This afternoon was for me a unique and stimulating experience. In a highly logical series of simple steps, he developed a comprehensive concept of the interrelations and interdependence of all things…an immensely logical construct…should be accessible and acceptable to persons with a wide range of cultural, social, scientific and philosophical sophistications…meticulously thought out, with great care, to making his thesis externally consistent with the facts of science as currently perceived, and internally consistent in the interrelationships among its arguments…majestic in scope but intrinsically simple, satisfying and optimistic…should have a very broad appeal…These are important ideas with great potential for lessening the conflicts in a troubled world….”

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