More Space Please!

Whilst having a wander around Waterstone's today I became disturbed when I realised that there were 3 wide shelving units devoted to 'spiritual/afterlife' and only one unit devoted to 'popular science/pyschology'.

Now I'm under the impression that space will be divided-up in relation to whichever subject is most profitable. So it stands to reason that, in this particular neck of the woods, spiritualism, witches, goblins and pseudo-science are more popular with the townsfolk than black holes, super-strings and all the goddamned books that more or less successfully debunk most of the titles in the spiritual section. I picked up a book concerning alien abuctions, in fact, there were quite a few. I flicked through the pages and they were cram-packed with abduction accounts (shadowy beings tip-toeing across shag pile carpets in the dead of night armed only with a stainless steel prod, whipping unsuspecting females out of their beds and subjecting them to a medical exam bordering on sexual bondage). Then I visited the popular science section - or shelf - and found a very convincing book written by Susan Clancy of Harvard explaining the abduction anomaly and putting it to rest. The 'abduction tales' book was £9.99 and the debunking alternative was £8.99. ??

Now I'm not suggesting that this particular shelving lay-out is the same in all stores as I'm sure that education levels differ from region to region and there may be some outlets whereby the popular science section matches the spiritual section regards size and profitability. Are people whipping up mumbo jumbo because they understand it clearer than they do the holographic universe.

Anyone who does venture boldly into popular science will come to the conclusion that reality is (and always was) most definately stranger than fiction (and books bordering on fiction but not quite) so why do people ignore the ground and constantly, blindly, irrationally reach for the sky and tirelessly defend anything they find 'out there' when there is strong evidence to the contrary sitting only feet away on a seldomly visited narrow space next to the service counter?