hmmmmm. So what is it supposed to do exactly? I had this once, what a load of old cobblers! ??
Part you from your moneywhat is it supposed to do exactlyI can't see any other purpose in it.
It often seems to be marketed alongside massage - which at least has the virtue of doing something which could physically effect you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiki#Criticism
Reiki works in mysterious ways, much like Theraputic Touch, which was debunked by a 9 year old girl.
I have to say I didn't have to pay, it was free. it still didn't do anything though! :D
It's a form of 'energy healing' - a.k.a. doing nothing!
If you're unwell it means that your energies are imbalanced and a reiki healer can come and wave their hands around you and re-balance them to make you better. :D
The great thing with reiki is that the healing energy is intelligent! - the healer doesn't need to diagnose the problem because the reiki energy knows what to do.
In fact, reiki energy is so clever that the reiki master can heal someone without even being there. They just send 'remote reiki' instead and it still works!!
It's people's (often very intelligent people's) willingness to believe in something that is quite clearly a load of nonsense that can drive us Skeptics to despair.
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Or as I like to put it: Reiki? Crikey!Originally Posted by John Jackson
I think the single biggest problem we have, not just in this country, but throughout the world, is that science is not good at expressing itself to non scientists.
If science could talk to the common man like the woos manage to, we'd be in a lot better shape.
Another issue I have is that people are intrinsically lazy and follow authority blindly. If a man in a lab coat says jump, people will. Once they've been told things, they won't bother actually going out and reading up on the subject for themselves, they'll just blindly accept what they're told at face value. This is why things like homeopathy and acupuncture are accepted and not questioned - people don't look into it themselves and rely on anecdote and the practitioners themselves to supply the information. meanwhile, all science can do is publish peer-reviewed articles in journals that 99.9% of the population do not read whilst the alt-med people go out and publish booklets and pamphlets and distribute them to all and sundry.
Having a gullible and lazy media doesn't help either.
I agree Mark.
We need an organisation that will take the findings and knowledge of academics and present it to the public in an interesting and understandable way.
Enter UK-Skeptics
That will be our primary aim from now on.
As for people checking things out for themselves...
I think a lot of people do this but the big problem is that they don't have the skills to do it properly. I cringe when ever I see someone stating that "I don't know if I believe in mediums and I will only be convinced if they can tell me things they couldn't have known".
The point is that unless a person knows how psychics, and the psychology of psychic readings, work then they are leaving themselves wide open to being fooled and drawing a false conclusion.
It's the same with alt. meds. Why is it that people know that reiki/homeopathy/etc. work?
It's because they've tried it for themselves and it worked!
Again though, they are probably not aware of how things can appear to work even when they are bogus.
As Randi always points out: it's not just about understanding how we can be fooled by others, it's about understanding how we can fool ourselves.
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You need heavenly choral music to accompany that smiley
Enter UK-Skeptics
You make some very interesting points there, and I think that I probably fall into the category of one who isn't aware of how things can appear to work when they are bogus, also i have no idea how psychics, and the psychology of psychic readings, work.I agree Mark.
We need an organisation that will take the findings and knowledge of academics and present it to the public in an interesting and understandable way.
Enter UK-Skeptics
That will be our primary aim from now on.
As for people checking things out for themselves...
I think a lot of people do this but the big problem is that they don't have the skills to do it properly. I cringe when ever I see someone stating that "I don't know if I believe in mediums and I will only be convinced if they can tell me things they couldn't have known".
The point is that unless a person knows how psychics, and the psychology of psychic readings, work then they are leaving themselves wide open to being fooled and drawing a false conclusion.
It's the same with alt. meds. Why is it that people know that reiki/homeopathy/etc. work?
It's because they've tried it for themselves and it worked!
Again though, they are probably not aware of how things can appear to work even when they are bogus.
As Randi always points out: it's not just about understanding how we can be fooled by others, it's about understanding how we can fool ourselves.
Obviously I don't just believe everything I'm told, or I wouldn't be here lol but I'm not very scientifically knowledgeable at all.
So how do psychics and the psychology of psychic readings work?
by the way, i've never fancied it myself, but I thought acupuncture did actually work??
My dad claimed at one point that he could feel heat coming out of his hands and that people felt "healed" when he held his hands over them.
How did he fool himself? He ain't dumb- so what made him think that he had "magic" powers?? Apart from a massively inflated ego?
Feeling heat is an effect that does occur. I can't think of its name off the top of my head but it can be reproduced by anyone.
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There's a few explanations for how medical interventions can appear to work here: http://www.ukskeptics.com/article.ph...ar_to_work.php
To discuss how psychic readings work we'll really need a new thread as it's a big topic.
There's some evidence to support acupuncture for mild pain relief but the claims made for it are usually grossly exaggerated.
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Depends how you define Acupuncture.There's a few explanations for how medical interventions can appear to work here: http://www.ukskeptics.com/article.ph...ar_to_work.php
To discuss how psychic readings work we'll really need a new thread as it's a big topic.
There's some evidence to support acupuncture for mild pain relief but the claims made for it are usually grossly exaggerated.
Traditional acupuncture relies on flow of Chi through meridians and sticking needles in to remove any blockages that occur.
More and more nowdays Acupuncture is used as a euphemism for "sticking needles in people to releive pain", this is the sort of goalpost shifting that the sCAMers love because, as John said there is some evidence that it can work for pain relief.
The needling evidence, IIRC (no time to look it up), said that it was about as effective as an over the counter painkiller and that placement in regards to meridians was unimportant, therefore not acupuncture.
A lot of what's 'known' about Acupuncture is actually false :o
Most 'traditional acupuncture' was invented in the 20th century.
Here's an article what I wrote: http://www.ukskeptics.com/article.ph...cupuncture.php
There's a link at the bottom to EBM which lists a lot of trial etc.
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