Dowsing

[Mary Fisher]

er?

[Mary Fisher]

That's what you believe.

Why is money so important to you?

>

[Mary Fisher]

You don't seem to know much about animal conditions.

[Chris Bacon]

Well push off, then, and don't keep posting crap.

[john2]

We know about things like magnetic fields, electric fields, and

No, we know hardly anything at all about any of these fundamental forces, especially gravity. We have mathematical formulas that predict how they work under different conditions, but that isn't an explanation.

Thats why they keep building huge particle machines in Switzerland - to test out theories.

john2

[Mary Fisher]

How do you know?

[Mary Fisher]

So how do YOU decide what is categorised as 'almost all' ... ?

[Mary Fisher]

No - you're the one who's questioning. You're the one who claims to be 100% certain of everything.

Some of us aren't as clever.

I wonder why you're not ruling the world ...

[T i m]

This is only one case I know but homepathy, acupuncture, 'faith healing', corsets, manipulation and drugs offered no improvement to my wifes back problem (much though she was told they would and she wanted them to) .

An operation did.

Could be down to how strong ones 'beliefs' are .. like tose who gain soloice 'believing' in a god / whatever ..?

All the best ..

T i m

[Mary Fisher]

Nothing is guaranteed for any process.

Even surgery isn't always 100% successful. Your wife was one of the many lucky people for which it is.

Spouse has had no improvement for his condition by surgery or acupuncture (which he didn't believe in) or drugs.

When I was diagnosed with cancer I was told by some well meaning friends that I'd be alright becauseI had a 'positive attitude'. Well let me tell you that a positive attitude doesn't cure cancer but it does make the rest of your life worth living.

Hmm. I don't know any believer who is comfortable, it's very demanding!

Mary

[John Cartmell]

Please give a reference to a double-blind experiment that confirms what you are saying. When you cannot please accept that you are wrong and please stop making false claims.

[T i m]

So, do we 'believe' that 'we' have some way of sensing (say) water running below ground and the sensing of that is indicated by subconcious movements of our hands to bring the rods together?

Or is it that the rods move on their own being 'powered' by this unknown force through us or otherwise?

ie, If we mounted the two rods in a single (arm spaced) piece of wood (so 'we' couldn't influence the rods independantly) would it still work?

If so then in theory if we knew how to sense the cause of the moving rods we wouldn't need them at all?

Walk across field, , point at ground sort of thing?

Don't some animals dig holes in the ground to find water? If so, how do they know where to dig ... experience or luck maybe .. where do the get coat hangers from? ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[John Cartmell]

But you are promoting a process which cannot be shown to work, has no reason to work, for which there is evidence that it has ever worked, and for which there is reason to suppose that it cannot work.

There are simple tests that will confirm its efficacy (if that exists) but, following previous failures, those promoting it are now reluctant to put it to further test - but that doesn't stop them (and you) continuing to make false and misleading claims. I've no worry about your living in a fantasy world but for two reasons:

1. You miseducate and mislead the vulnerable - children & those who are ill;
2. You contaminate other (good) ideas that you support.

[Mary Fisher]

They go in the wardrobe, take the fur coats off and there they are!

Mary

[The Natural Philosopher]

Same way I decide that 'almost all of those plants are dead' or 'almost all people have two eyes'

[The Natural Philosopher]

It is, in science.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I'd say yes.

Smell. You can smell water. You can smell an awful lot, but we ignore

99.99% of what we smell.

[owdman]

Yes I agree there is a serious side. It doesn't matter if a few twerps wander around a field with forked twigs (they'd do better with a metal detector) or if someone takes lots of homeopathic 'remedies' (100% water so quite safe up to say half a gallon per day). But it does matter if you are setting a stupid example to the young or feeble minded. It matters greatly if you are ill and in need of real medical help but taking advice from quacks, charlatans and that great army of alternative 'remedy' fraudsters, counsellors etc etc. Thats where it gets distasteful - they prey on the hypochondriacs, weak bodied, feeble minded, needy, and make loads of money.

cheers Jacob

[T i m]

An untapped 'sense' then?

How do 'we' know we are only conscious of .01% of what's available to us (assuming also there is much more that we can't smell that animals can).

All the best ..

T i m

[Weatherlawyer]

There are numerous reports of people being able to percieve with "the wrong" sensory organs, physical properties normally felt or measured(?) with those we take for granted.

Perhaps that is the basis for genius? One obvious clue to this is the way that water dowsers percieve their finds. What drives professional geologists up the wall is that water is found in layers of strata.

Dowsers claim to have found "the place to dig" in other words some sort of pipeline of water like streams. One would think that they would "find" the whole resevoir which might straddle several fields not just a plot of ground the size of a man-hole cover.

Bu it would seem that they never do. If they were charlattans they would widen their area wouldn't they? I'd make my target as big and/or vague as I could, if I was conning someone.