# Dr. Wilhelm Reich - Perfect Crackpot? Come on, no one is perfect. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 29, 2000, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119 "2000-08-29T01:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/1 "2000-08-29T01:01:53Z")
Dear Mr. Adams, Here is a recent blurb from News of the Weird. No doubt you have heard of Dr. Wilhelm Reich before: Quoted from P. 08, WeeklyPlanet August 24-30, 2000, Tampa, FL 2nd Item in the column: News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL 33679 [Weird@compuserve.com](mailto:Weird@compuserve.com) > **[News of the Weird - Oddities](https://www.uexpress.com/oddities/news-of-the-weird)** > > The editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication continue a tradition started by pioneering weird news purveyor Chuck Shepherd, presenting the best bizarre news gathered from around the world. “Devotees of the late, widely discredited psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) conved in upstate Maine in July (you were there in August) to exchange papers on his most famous work, his “discovery” of the cosmic life force produced by sexual orgasm. The highlights of the conference were the presentations of more than a dozen variations of Reiche’s “orgone accumulator,” which is a series of partially metal blankets or boxes in which a person wraps himself to attract the excess sexuality out of the body so as to prevent the neuroses caused by the energy that wells up from the lack of orgasm.” If you are familiar with this fellow, you will know that he had a wide spectrum of really WILD ideas. But when I was in highschool I thought that the easiest thing to do would be to take his instructions for constructing an “orgone accumulator box” and replicating his findings (that the temperature in a replicator box is higher than the temperature in a “control” box, both of which stored in the same location at room temperature). I was not able to replicate this findings, but I also made a pretty lame version of his “box”. Do you know anyone in the “massive” pre-Reich community that has proved, or would be WILLING to prove, the validity of this most fundamental of Dr. Reich’s claims? I would be MOST grateful if you could bring the massive resources at your disposal to the final resolution of this mystery that informs an entire sector of the psychoanalytic community. If he was right, he is an unhailed genius who went nuts and died in jail. If he was wrong, he went nuts long before going to prison. Mr. Dependable P.S. By the way, this Dr. Reich fellow is PERFECT for one of your columns. He had MORE wild ideas than you could shake a stick at: 1. an orgone cannon that scared UFO’s away; 2. an orgone chair that triggered virtual convulsions of a sexual nature without means of electricity or machinery; 3. orgone energy which permeated the entire universe; 4. “body armor” which inhibited the free flow of orgone energy and created stagnant pools of unhealty orgone. So don’t disappoint the world. I’m sure there is more than enough salacious truth to go around for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/2 "2000-08-29T01:10:51Z")
IIRC, in King Jeff’s _Bang_, an independent feature about gangstas who kidnap four New Orleans police officers and announce that one will be killed every hour, there’s a scene where a well-dressed man passes a briefcase to a gangsta. Gangsta: What’s in the breifcase? Well-dressed man: The collected works of Dr. Wilhelm Reich! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/3 "2000-08-29T04:44:55Z")
Cecil Adams has done a column on Reich. I don’t know if it’s available in the online archive but it’s been reprinted in one of Adams’ books. To summarize his column, Adams wrote that Reich was a nut whose theories were ridiculous but was also the victim of unnecessary persecution. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/4 "2000-08-29T05:07:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > \*\*Cecil Adams has done a column on Reich. I don’t know if it’s available in the online archive but it’s been reprinted in one of Adams’ books. To summarize his column, Adams wrote that Reich was a nut whose theories were ridiculous but was also the victim of unnecessary persecution. > \*\* [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_073.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_073.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/5 "2000-08-29T11:44:54Z")
The quickest way to PROVE that Wilhelm Reich was a nut is to attempt to replicate his most replicateable claim (the specific construction of his orgone accumulator box) and show - - one way or another - - whether it does or doesn’t accumulate “orgone”. There must be someone out there who says he has done it, or who would be WILLING to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Nurlman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Nurlman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nurlman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/6 "2000-08-29T13:07:54Z")
> [@](#): > > his “discovery” of the cosmic life force produced by sexual orgasm You know, I think I see what he’s onto here. I can envision that, under the right circumstances, a male’s sexual orgasm can produce a cosmic life form known as a “baby.” ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/7 "2000-08-29T14:00:37Z")
**Cecil** having done a column on this guy, I’ll send the thread to Comments on Cecil’s Columns for further discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/8 "2000-08-29T14:34:56Z")
The column ( **including** Slug Signorino’s illustration) can also be found on pages 73-75 of Cecil Adams’ book “[_Return of the Straight Dope_](http://www.straightdope.com/otheroutlets/books.html)”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/9 "2000-09-03T08:43:57Z")
> [@](#): > > The quickest way to PROVE that Wilhelm Reich was > a nut is to attempt to replicate his most > replicateable claim (the specific construction > of his orgone accumulator box) and show - - one > way or another - - whether it does or doesn’t > accumulate “orgone”. > > There must be someone out there who says he > has done it, or who would be WILLING to do it. You’re underestimating the tenacity of cranks. While I’m virtually certain that no one is able to build a orgone accumulator that will work as advertised, I’d be equally willing to bet that there will be people who will claim that this proves nothing because 1) it was not built according to plans; 2) it was not used under the proper conditions; 3) someone interfered with its operations; 4) it did work, assuming you accept any result as a success; 5) it may not work right here and now, but it certainly did some other time and place; 6) it’s not working because of an evil conspiracy that’s keeping it from working; 7) it would work if it wasn’t for bad “vibes”; 8) it will work just fine if all the witnesses will step out of the room so the builder has a chance to “examine” the results; 9) it works in the sense that it produces a result which cannot be proven to exist in any objective manner. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/10 "2000-09-03T15:27:10Z")
You have provided a BRILLIANTLY comprehensive list of why a test box would be problematic. However, for “reasonable” people like me, a replication by a 2 person team (one pro, one con) that was SUCCESSFUL would be very interesting. And one that failed would be equally so. Your position is that it would be a WASTE OF TIME to even try. This is NOT science. That is called apathy, and religious institutions had the monopoly on that for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/11 "2000-09-03T15:57:14Z")
Mr\_Dependable\_4U, I agree with Little Nemo. I’m not sure if you are a specialist in orgonomy. But what would constitute a “successful” experiment? The replicatable claim (the specific construction of his orgone accumulator box) and showing whether it does or doesn’t accumulate orgone sounds to me like it needs more details. How do you know when orgone has been accumulated? And assuming that you do accumulate orgone, which of its properties do you test first? From the Straight Dope column and your OP I read of the following properties of orgone: [ul][li]curing cancer[/li][li]curing the common cold[/li][li]making the sky blue[/li][li]causing heat to shimmer[/li][li]an orgone cannon to scare UFO’s away[/ul]Please describe a valid experiment for me.[/li] For more details, you can always contact [The American College of Orgonomy](http://www.acoreich.org/). I would imagine they already have the results of valid experiments to show you, which could save you a lot of time and trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/12 "2000-09-03T23:27:16Z")
I am the somewhat skeptical brother of a practioner of bioenergetic therapy. To me, the simplest experiement to “indicate” the accumulation of orgone energy, as it has been explained to me and as I describe at the top of this thread, is that a functioning Orgone Accumulator Box has a higher atmospheric temperature than a non-functioning control box. Indeed, I was on the verge of contacting the College last week when buying my first house somehow distracted me from this matter. I will be contacting that group, and looking for someone who can help me. I don’t think there is any need for people to WONDER about Orgone. It is either there or NOT there. Let’s give it a shot and see. If you have any helpful information on the matter, please free to share it with me! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/13 "2000-09-04T04:28:46Z")
Sorry, I missed your description of the experiment in your original post. «But when I was in highschool I thought that the easiest thing to do would be to take his instructions for constructing an “orgone accumulator box” and replicating his findings (that the temperature in a replicator box is higher than the temperature in a “control” box, both of which stored in the same location at room temperature).» What was the difference between the orgone accumulator box and the replicator box? I don’t have any helpful information for you since I’ve never investigated orgone energy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2000, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/14 "2000-09-04T05:25:33Z")
That’s not a very good test, because just about anything you do to a system will produce heat. Is it because it’s accumulating orgone when you plug it in, or is it just because you’ve plugged it in? My lightbulbs get hot when functioning, but that doesn’t mean they’re accumulating orgone. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/15 "2000-09-04T16:40:49Z")
Naturally all of this would be less ridiculous if you knew more about the construction of an orgone box. Back then I had very detailed instructions, but I did not have the correct materials, and so I had to use “proxies” and “close substitutes” based on what was called for. The orgone box was essentially several different layers of metal and organic material that was supposed to “capture” and “concentrate” the bions floating through the universe. There was nothing electrical or mechanical in it. It was a completely passive operation. And a CONTROL box (I think we should avoid the term “replicator box”) would only be equally air tight and made of the same material as the outer layer of the orgone box. Both boxes have thermometers reporting the ambient temperature inside. My “imitation” box was never warmer than the control box. But I was only 16 years old at the time. And I figure one more shot at 43 would be very generous on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/16 "2000-09-05T05:02:37Z")
Just making the outer layer the same isn’t enough, because the other layers (whatever they are) would have some insulative properties, affecting the temperature. You’d have to find materials that were equally efficiant insulators as the “real” thing, and build your box out of layers of those. Of course, Dr. Reich or his supporters would probably claim that such materials also have the same orgonic properties, and thus you’d expect to see identical results in both boxes. And here, all this time, I thought that Bions were cybernetic soldiers with big ol’ plasma guns capable of shooting at aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/17 "2000-09-05T11:46:19Z")
1. The insulative issue would only be an issue if the boxes are in a room where temperature suddenly drops. And thus the bion box would retain heat longer. The complexity of the insulation efficiency could be adjusted by keeping the room temperature constant, or by requiring an INCREASED temperature in the orgone box HIGHER than the downward shift in the room temperature. 2. I’m not sure if you are being humorous about bions and “soldiers” with guns. Reich’s actual position about “bionic guns” was… please hold onto your chair, I don’t want to be responsible for any head injuries…that visiting UFO’s did tremendous damage to the Earth’s orgone fields, and that by developing orgone accumulating tubes (“cannon” or “guns”) that could PROJECT orgone energy towards UFO’s, he found that they would immediately withdraw from the scene of their appearance. He felt that UFO’s were a little on the malicious side in terms of their disregard for the orgone fields. Naturally, I would much rather test the accumulator box than the accumulator guns. I think it would be just too difficult to control for UFO’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/18 "2000-09-05T18:54:27Z")
Yes, the Bion comment was a joke-- It’s a reference to a computer game called Dark Reign, where one of the creatures is a cybernetic soldier called a Bion, as I described. I don’t think that there’s any real link to Dr. Reich’s work. You wouldn’t necessarily need a temperature change for different materials to have different effects: If, for instance, you leave a box out at night, and manage to insulate it completely against conduction and convection of heat, but not against radiation, it’ll cool down considerably, below the ambient temperature. I saw plans once for doing this with ordinary kitchen utensils; it’s not too hard. Similarly, the interior of a greenhouse will be warmer than the outside, because it’s accepting more heat than it’s giving off. ---
**Author:** ![MJH2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@MJH2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJH2)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/19 "2000-09-05T20:48:01Z")
Would it be possible to several construct “control” boxes, each containing some, but not all, of the special materials required for an “orgone” box? This ought to serve as an approximation, if not an exact measure, of the thermal properties of an “orgone” box, as distinct from its orgone-accumulating properties. Also, by comparing temperatures from one box to another under a given set of ambient conditions, you ought to get some idea of the minimum temperature change in an “orgone” box which could be considered significant (i.e. due to orgone accumulation and not variations in construction). (Side note to Chronos: I see what you mean about the other threads!) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Mr\_Dependable\_4U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Dependable_4U)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2000, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119/20 "2000-09-05T21:06:43Z")
Well now I’m stumped. With that radiation issue, I really don’t know HOW we are supposed to TEST for ambient temperature. I’m stumped! Of course, this would only be a problem if we FOUND a difference. If we don’t find a difference, then it would be the problem for the Orgonomists! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-wilhelm-reich-perfect-crackpot-come-on-no-one-is-perfect/31119.md?page=2)