If I told you that I now believed that the human race was controlled by a species of three metre high reptiles, you would probably ask what evidence I had for it. If I then said only a few people could see these reptilian beings because they operated on a different frequency of light, you would probably dismiss me as mad. It thus both bemuses and intrigues me that David Icke can make the c;aims he does. Perhaps I should just leave him to it, as most academics seem to do – he’s harmless. But as one interested in ‘the big questions’, it puzzles me that so many people take him seriously. He offers no real evidence backing up his pronouncements. Yes, humans have a smidgen of reptile DNA, and yes, snakes and reptiles crop up quite frequently in both ancient and modern texts; but to go from there to claiming that we’re secretly ruled by reptiles is a huge jump. I try to be open to any and all ideas, but those ideas must hold up to academic scrutiny. What Icke says patently does not; but instead of quietening down, he insists it is the academic/scientific process that is wrong, and that we must go beyond what is physical and observable. He says we’re somehow ‘programmed’ from birth to dismiss the type of stuff he says as absurd. The question then is, how do we go beyond the physical? How do we know something is real if we can’t see or feel evidence for it? By taking such a position, though, Icke gives himself carte blanche to say whatever he wants and get others to believe him. As an academic I find that dangerous. He has set himself up as a guru, spouting all kind of nonsense from the stage, invoking stuff mainstream science rejected long ago, like psychics and ghosts; whenever anyone questions him, he just claims to be operating beyond normal physical barriers, bypassing any scrutiny and effectively saying that if you don’t believe him, you somehow aren’t awake to the ‘truth’. He’s obviously making good money doing what he does; what puzzles me is how many people fall for it. From an anthropological point of view, it’s interesting how he can captivate so many.