A few years ago I bought my brother a book for Christmas called The Men Who Stare At Goats.  I wanted to read it but was too stingy to spend the money on myself.  So I bough it, ‘carefully perused it make sure it was ok’ and passed it on.  Now it’s out as a film with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor.  It’s about the US Army – who has a history for this sort of thing – attempting to train psychic warriors skills in the arts of remote viewing and other psychic abilities.

For some suspicious reason the entry on Project Jedi has been removed from Wikipedia but there are plenty of other sources of information.  Here is the article that started it all off in the Journal of Non-lethal Combat – The First Earth Battalion: Dare to Think the Unthinkable, Ideas and Ideals for Soldiers Everywhere.  And here is the current Home of the 1st Earth Battalion website.  So it must be true.

It’s interesting to me that the army characters in the movie (and book) describe themselves as Jedi Masters – yet another measure of Star Wars’ reach.  And there is the usual link between Jedi powers and weird, new age type claims.  It’s a pity that wannabe Jedi don’t focus their attentions instead on those ‘powers’ that are within everyone’s potential: mindful awareness, intrinsic motivating, deep relaxation, empathic listening, open influencing and the rest.  Add to these some skills of memory, movement and language, and you’re left with a very powerful person.  No ESP required.

As far as super-hero powers go, it’s often been observed that although Superman possesses near godlike abilities, what he does  is mostly limited to rescuing the handbags of old ladies.  In terms of culture-shaping influence, I could name half a dozen mortal, modern men – Marx, Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud, Newton, Ford – who are more powerful than any being Marvel or DC envisaged.  Yoda could move an object with his mind, but be didn’t move the minds of millions about how they viewed an object.  That is power.

So what I’m saying is – enjoy the film as mindless fun, but if you want real power in life, don’t stare at goats.  Develop yourself instead.  And if you want serious power, don’t neglect the power of ideas, for they are the greatest Force in this universe of men.

Image credit: tibchris.