A cargo cult is any of a group of unorthodox religious movements appearing in tribal societies in the wake of Western impact, especially in New Guinea and other countries in the southwest Pacific, particularly Vanuatu. Cargo cults sometimes maintain that manufactured western goods ("cargo") have been created by divine spirits and are intended for the local indigenous people, but that Westerners have unfairly gained control of these objects. Cargo cults thus focus on overcoming what they perceive as undue 'white' influences by conducting rituals similar to the white behavior they have observed, presuming that the ancestors will at last recognize their own and send them cargo. Thus a characteristic feature of cargo cults is the belief that spiritual agents will at some future time give much valuable cargo and desirable manufactured products to the cult members. In other instances such as on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu, cult members worship Americans who brought the cargo.^[1] Cargo cult may refer to: Cargo cult, a group of religious movements occurring in Melanesia Cargo cult science, a term coined by Richard Feynman to describe something that appears to be science but that lacks scientific integrity Cargo cult programming, a style of computer programming that includes code or programs... Fishers of men; Oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Religion—sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, and institutions associated with such belief. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ... Tanna (sometimes spelled Tana) is an island of Vanuatu. ...

Based on the above definition, the term "cargo cult" is also used in business and science to refer to a particular type of fallacy whereby ill-considered effort and ceremony take place but go unrewarded due to a flawed model of causation. For example, Maoism has been referred to as "cargo cult Marxism" and New Zealand's optimistic adoption of liberal economic policies in the 1980s as "cargo cult capitalism". Look up fallacy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Overview

An isolated society's first contact with the outside world can be a shock — often the natives will first assume that the newcomers are spiritual beings of some kind who possess divine powers. With time, however, it will inevitably become apparent that the outsiders are mortal and that their power comes from their equipment (or cargo). Cargo cults tend to appear among people that covet this 'magical' equipment, but are unable to obtain it easily through trade. Given their relative isolation, the cult participants generally have little knowledge of modern manufacturing and are liable to be skeptical of Western explanations. Instead, symbols they associate with Christianity and modern Western society tend to be incorporated into their rituals as magical artifacts. Across cultural differences and large geographic areas, there have been instances of the movements independently organizing. First contact is a term used to describe a first meeting of two previously unknown cultures. ... Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, making by hand) is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...

Famous examples of cargo cult activity include the setting up of mock airstrips, airports, offices and the fetishization and attempted construction of western goods, such as radios made of coconuts and straw. Believers may stage "drills" and "marches" with sticks for rifles and military-style insignia and "USA" painted on their bodies to make them look like soldiers, treating the activities of western military personnel as rituals to be performed for the purpose of attracting cargo. The cult members built these items and 'facilities' in the belief that the structures would attract cargo. This perception has reportedly been reinforced by the occasional success of an 'airport' to attract military transport aircraft full of cargo^{[citation needed]}. An airstrip is a kind of airport that consists only of a runway with perhaps fueling equipment. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... This article concerns the concept of fetishism in anthropology. ... For other uses, see Rifle (disambiguation). ... ... Flying machine redirects here. ...

Today, many historians and anthropologists argue that the term "cargo cult" is a misnomer that describes a variety of phenomena^{[citation needed]}. However, the idea has captured the imagination of many people in developed nations, and the term continues to be used today. For this reason, and possibly many others, the cults have been labelled millenarian, in the sense that they hold that a utopian future is imminent or will come about if they perform certain rituals. This article is about the occupation of studying history. ... See Anthropology. ... A developed country is a country that is technologically advanced and that enjoys a relatively high standard of living. ... Millenarianism (sometimes spelled millenarism or millennarism) is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society after which all things will be changed in a positive (or sometimes negative or ambiguous) direction. ... For other uses, see Utopia (disambiguation). ...

History

Discussions of cargo cults usually begin with a series of movements that occurred in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The earliest recorded cargo cult was the Tuka Movement that began in Fiji in 1885. Cargo cults occurred periodically in many parts of the island of New Guinea, including the Taro Cult in Northern Papua New Guinea, and the Vailala Madness that arose in 1919 and was documented by F.E. Williams, one of the first anthropologists to conduct fieldwork in Papua New Guinea. Less dramatic cargo cults have appeared in western New Guinea as well, including the Asmat and Dani areas. The Vailala Madness was a social movement in the Papuan Gulf, in the Territory of Papua beginning in the later part of 1919 and petering out after 1922. ... Western New Guinea is the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and consists of two provinces, Papua and West Papua. ... The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in what is currently the Papua province of Indonesia. ... Dani may refer to: Dani, a Bosnian-Herzegovinian news weekly Dani, a French singer and actress Lani, a modern day tribe from the highlands of West Papua, erroneously called Dani by outsiders. ...

The classic period of cargo cult activity, however, was in the years during and after World War II. The vast amounts of war matériel that were airdropped into these islands during the Pacific campaign against the Empire of Japan necessarily meant drastic changes to the lifestyle of the islanders, many of whom had never seen Westerners or Japanese before. Manufactured clothing, medicine, canned food, tents, weapons and other useful goods arrived in vast quantities to equip soldiers — and also the islanders who were their guides and hosts. With the end of the war the airbases were abandoned, and "cargo" was no longer being dropped. Matériel (from the French for equipment or hardware, related to the word material) is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management. ... A C-130 Hercules airdropping a light tank. ... For other uses, see Pacific War (disambiguation). ... Anthem Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Capital Tokyo Government Constitutional monarchy Emperor  - 1868–1912 Emperor Meiji  - 1912–1926 Emperor Taishō  - 1926–1989 Emperor Shōwa Prime Minister  - 1885-1888, 1892-1896, 1898, 1900-1901 Itō Hirobumi  - 1888-1889 Kuroda Kiyotaka  - 1889-1891 Yamagata Aritomo  - 1906-1908, 1911-1912 Saionji Kinmochi... Clothing protects the vulnerable nude human body from the extremes of weather, other features of our environment, and for safety reasons. ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... Canning is a method of preserving food by first heating it to a temperature that destroys contaminating micro-organisms, and then sealing it in air-tight jars or cans. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Weapon (disambiguation). ...

In attempts to get cargo to fall by parachute or land in planes or ships again, islanders imitated the same practices they had seen the soldiers, sailors and airmen use. They carved headphones from wood, and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses. The cultists thought that the foreigners had some special connection to their own ancestors, who were the only beings powerful enough to produce such riches. This article is about a military rank. ... This article is about maritime crew. ... In-ear headphones Headphones (also known as earphones, stereophones, headsets, or the slang term cans) is a transducer that receives an electrical signal from a media player or receiver and uses speakers placed in close proximity to the ears (hence the name earphone) to convert the signal into audible sound... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In a form of sympathetic magic, many built life-size mockups of airplanes out of straw, and created new military style landing strips, hoping to attract more airplanes. Ultimately, though these practices did not bring about the return of the god-like airplanes that brought such marvelous cargo during the war, they did have the effect of eradicating the religious practices that had existed prior to the war. Magic (also called magick to distinguish it from stage magic) is a supposed way of influencing the world through supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. ...

Over the last seventy-five years most cargo cults have petered out. Yet, the John Frum cult is still active on the island of Tanna, Vanuatu. And from time to time, the term "cargo cult" is invoked as an English language idiom, to mean any group of people who imitate the superficial exterior of a process or system without having any understanding of the underlying substance. Jon Frum (or John Frum) is a figure associated with cargo cults in Vanuatu. ... Tanna (sometimes spelled Tana) is an island of Vanuatu. ... [[An idiom is an expression (i. ...

The term is perhaps best known because of a speech by physicist Richard Feynman at a Caltech commencement, wherein he referred to "cargo cult science", and which became a chapter in the book Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!. In the speech, Feynman pointed out that cargo cultists create all the appearance of an airport right down to headsets with bamboo "antennas", yet the airplanes don't come. Feynman argued that some researchers often produce studies with all the trappings of real science, but which are nonetheless pseudoscience and unworthy of either respect or support. This article is about the physicist. ... California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (commonly known as Caltech) is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... Cargo cult science is a term used by Richard Feynman in his 1974 Caltech commencement address to describe work that has the semblance of being scientific, but is missing a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty. The speech is... Surely Youre Joking, Mr. ... A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ...

Other instances of cargo cults

Some Amazonian Indians have carved wood mockups of cassette players (gabarora from Portuguese gravadora or Spanish grabadora) that they use to communicate with spirits.^{[citation needed]} Native Americans redirects here. ... The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. ...

Cargo cults have also been compared to the modern UFO religions. This is because cults like Heaven's Gate believe that by imitating extraterrestrials' looks and behavior, they will gain access to the landing spacecraft. A UFO religion or UFO cult is a faith community whose belief in the existence of extraterrestrials and/or UFOs is a central component of its religion and practice. ...

Analogies in Western culture

The cargo cult has been used as an analogy to describe certain phenomena in the developed world, particularly in the area of business. After any substantial commercial success — whether it is a new model of car, a vacuum cleaner, a toy or a motion picture — there typically arise imitators who produce superficial copies of the original, but with none of the substance of the original. In economics, a business is a legally-recognized organizational entity existing within an economically free country designed to sell goods and/or services to consumers, usually in an effort to generate profit. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Regular canister vacuum cleaner for home use. ... A teddy bear A toy is an object used in play. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as...

The term is also used in the world of computer programming as "cargo cult programming", which describes the ritual inclusion of code which may serve no purpose in the program, but is believed to be a workaround for some software bug, or to be otherwise required for reasons unknown to the programmer^[2]. Programming redirects here. ... Cargo cult programming is an incompetent style of computer programming characterized by the ritual inclusion of code or program structures that serve no real purpose. ... A software bug is an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program that prevents it from behaving as intended (e. ...

The term cargo cult software engineering has been coined in the field of software engineering to describe a characteristic of unsuccessful software development organisations that slavishly imitate the working methods of more successful development organisations^[3]. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Software engineering (SE) is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software. ...

Any new management fad is a possible subject for cargo cult like adoption by poor managers. A management fad is a derisive term use to characterize a change in philosophy or operations that sweeps through businesses and institutions, and then disappears when enthusiasm for it wanes. ...

Cargo cults in popular culture

The 1971 movie The Last Movie involves indigenous peasants in Peru fabricating Ersatz film equipment and ritually emulating the activities of film production after the departure of a film crew which had been making a western. The Last Movie is a 1971 drama film from Universal Pictures. ...

The 1980 movie The Gods Must Be Crazy tells the story of how a "gift from the gods" in the form of a Coca-Cola bottle carelessly discarded from a passing airplane comes to be rejected, thus presenting a southwest African counter-example to cargo cults. The Gods Must Be Crazy is a film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. ...

The 1983 comedy movie Luggage of the Gods! explores similar themes. Luggage of the Gods! is a 1983 American comedy film. ...

The 1984 movie, Where the Green Ants Dream, directed by Werner Herzog portrays Australian aborigines whose spirituality includes elements associated with cargo cults. Where the Green Ants Dream (Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen) is a 1984 film by German film director Werner Herzog. ... Werner Herzog (born Werner Stipetić on September 5, 1942) is a critically and internationally acclaimed German film director, screenwriter, actor, and opera director. ...

The 1985 sequel to Mad Max and The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, had an element of cargo cultism. The secondary plot revolves around Max (played by Mel Gibson) ending up at a desert oasis of feral children who are convinced that Max is 'Captain Walker' and is there to take them to 'Tomorrow-morrow Land'. Once they have the pilot for whom they have been dutifully waiting for years, they enact rituals they think will enable a crashed commercial airliner that is lying in a sand dune to fly again. For other uses, see Mad Max (disambiguation). ... Road Warrior redirects here. ... Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 film, the third installment to the action movie Mad Max. ...

The 1997 novel Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore prominently features a cargo cult. Island of the Sequined Love Nun (ISBN 0060735449) is the fourth novel by absurdist author Christopher Moore. ... Christopher Moore (born 1957 in Toledo, Ohio[1]) is an American writer of absurdist fiction. ...

French musician Serge Gainsbourg's 1971 concept album, Histoire de Melody Nelson, features a cargo cult as an element of the plotline, and ends with a song titled "Cargo Culte." (lyrics in French and English) Serge Gainsbourg (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) was a French poet, singer-songwriter, actor and director. ... Histoire de Melody Nelson is a 1971 concept album by controversial French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. ...

Sources and further reading

• Jebens, Holger (ed.). Cargo, Cult, and Culture Critique. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2004.
• Kaplan, Martha. Neither cargo nor cult: ritual politics and the colonial imagination in Fiji. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.
• Lawrence, Peter. Road belong cargo: a study of the Cargo Movement in the Southern Madang District, New Guinea. Manchester University Press, 1964
• Lindstrom, Lamont. Cargo cult: strange stories of desire from Melanesia and beyond. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
• Worsley, Peter. The trumpet shall sound: a study of "cargo" cults in Melanesia. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1957.
• Harris, Marvin. "Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: The Riddles of Culture". New York: Random House, 1974.
• Inglis, Judy. "Cargo Cults: The Problem of Explanation". Oceania vol. xxvii no. 4, 1957.
• K, E. Read. "A Cargo Situation in the Markham Valley, New Guinea". Southwestern Journal of Anthropology vol. 14 no. 3, 1958.
• Trenkenschuh, F. 1974. Cargo cult in Asmat: Examples and prospects'", in: F. Trenkenschuh (ed.), An Asmat Sketchbook, vol. 2, Hastings, NE: Crosier Missions.
• A chapter is devoted to cargo cults in Richard Dawkin's book, The God Delusion.
• Wagner, Roy. 1981. The invention of culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

See also

• Prince Philip Movement
• Dream Park — Cargo Cults were used as a backdrop to this science-fiction/murder mystery novel.
• Island of the Sequined Love Nun
• Johnson cult
• John Frum
• Mondo Cane
• The Gods Must Be Crazy
• Magical thinking
• Guns, Germs, and Steel — the author, Jared Diamond, poses as the initiating question "Why did you [Europeans] wind up with all the cargo?", as asked by a Papua New Guinean (Yali, who was actually the 'cargo cult'-associated political leader prominent in Road Belong Cargo)
• Culture wars
• Culture shock

The Prince Philip Movement is a cargo cult of the Yaohnanen tribe in Vanuatu, who believe that Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is a divine being. ... Dream Park was originally a novel set in a sort of futuristic amusement park of the same name. ... Island of the Sequined Love Nun (ISBN 0060735449) is the fourth novel by absurdist author Christopher Moore. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Jon Frum (or John Frum) is a figure associated with cargo cults in Vanuatu. ... Mondo Cane (A Dogs World, also a mild Italian curse) is a semi-documentary movie made in 1962 by Italian filmmakers Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi. ... The Gods Must Be Crazy is a film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. ... In psychology and cognitive science, magical thinking is non-scientific causal reasoning (e. ... Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is a 1997 book by Jared Diamond, professor of geography and physiology at UCLA. In 1998 it won a Pulitzer Prize and the Aventis Prize for Best Science Book. ... The culture war (or culture wars) in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting values. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Notes

1. ^ Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific Phil Mercer, BBC News, 17 February 2007.
2. ^ Cargo Cult Programming, the Jargon File.
3. ^ Steve MCCONNELL

External links

• Vanuatu cargo cult marks 50 years (BBC News)
• Information on the Jon Frum Cargo Cult (still active)
• Contemporary Cargo Cults by John FitzGerald
• Western Oceanian Religions
• 2006 Smithsonian Magazine article entitled: "In John They Trust."
• Cargo cults includes a bibliography
• Account of a Visit to a Jon Frum Village in 2005
• Air Force Magazine, January 1991, Vol. 74, No. 1. Summary from the guys who fly those Cargoes.
• Cabinet Magazine article

Michael Urbanowski This article does not discuss cult in its original meaning. ... A cult apologist is a term to describe a scholar of cults and/or new religious movements perceived as responding to the movements they study with advocacy instead of with neutral scholarship. ... In many countries there exists a separation of church and state and freedom of religion. ... A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a countrys leader uses mass media to create a larger-than-life public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. ... Cult suicide is that phenomenon by which some cults, have led to their membership committing suicide. ... The term destructive cult (sometimes called doomsday cult) is sometimes used to refer to that small number of religious groups that have intentionally killed people, either the group members themselves or others outside of the group. ... The term destructive cult sometimes called doomsday cult refers to a small number of religious groups that have intentionally killed people - either themselves or others. ... Political cult is a term used to describe some groups on what is generally considered to be the political fringe. ... Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Steven Hassan Flo Conway Janja Lalich Michael Langone Thomas Lardeur[1] Jim Siegelman Margaret Singer Madeleine Landau Tobias Cult Education... Cults and new religious movements have been used as a theme or subject in literature and popular culture, while notable representatives of such groups and their followers have produced on their own a large body of literary works. ... This list include groups that have been referred to as cults in government documents. ... This list indexes a diverse set of groups and organizations indicated in the popular press and elsewhere as a cult or a sect. Inclusion is based on a single reference: as a cult directly in North American English, a sect in British English or any equivalent foreign-language word; as... This list includes academic and government researchers and groups studying new religious movements and cults. ... The Cult Awareness and Information Centre is an organization that provides resources and information on groups they identify as cults and other controversial groups, based in Brisbane, Australia. ... Cult Awareness Network - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... CESNUR is a center for studies on new religions, based in Turin, Italy. ... The Cult Information Centre (CIC) is a Britain-based organization that provides information and advice to members of what the organization terms as cults, as well as affected family members[1], members of the press and scholarly researchers. ... The Council on Mind Abuse (COMA) was a Canadian non-profit organization promoting education about cults from 1979 to 1992. ... The Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, or FACTNet, is a Colorado-based organization committed to educating and facilitating communication about destructive mind control. ... European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on Sectarism was founded on 30 June 1994 in Paris following the Congress on Sectarianism in Barcelona in 1993. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is: ... an interdisciplinary network of academicians, professionals, former group members, and families who study and educate the public about social-psychological influence and control, authoritarianism, and zealotry in cultic groups, alternative movements, and other environments. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Reachout Trust is an evangelical Christian organisation. ... Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center is a residential counseling center specializing in the treatment of individuals who have suffered in abusive religious groups, organizations, and cults. ... It has been suggested that Opposition to cults and new religious movements be merged into this article or section. ... The Christian countercult movement, also known as discernment ministries is the collective designation for many mostly unrelated ministries and individual Christians who oppose non-mainstream Christian and non-Christian religious groups, which they often call cults. ... Opposition to cults and new religious movements (NRMs) comes from several sources with diverse concerns. ... Project Megiddo was a report researched and written by the FBI under Louis Freehs leadership. ... An atrocity story as defined by the sociologists David G. Bromley and Anson D. Shupe is the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imaginary) in such a context that they are made flagrantly to violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should... Brainwashing (also known as thought reform or as re-education) consists of any effort aimed at instilling certain attitudes and beliefs in a person — sometimes unwelcome beliefs in conflict with the persons prior beliefs and knowledge. ... A cult checklist is a group of factors proposed to identify objectively which groups, cults, or new religious movements are spurious, or likely to abuse or exploit or otherwise harm its members. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with deprogramming. ... Love bombing is the deliberate show of affection or friendship by an individual or a group of people toward another individual. ... Mind control (or thought control) has the premise that an outside source can control an individuals thinking, behavior or consciousness (either directly or more subtly). ... This article is in need of attention. ... Snapping is a term coined by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman in the 1978 anti-cult book of the same name to describe the mental process by which a recruit is converted by a mind control cult and other religious movements. ... Sociologists have proposed various classifications of cults and/or of new religious movements. ... The APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC) was formed at the request of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1983. ...