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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:34 pm Post subject: Fox News exposes a douser |
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When people who cut the sleeves of their shirts start talking as if they understand science, you know it's going to lead to something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8BxmXHRaBI
You need to watch all the way to the end to see the "ha, thought you could fool us!" moment. Classic and typical. I would suggest watching the first couple minutes to get a flavor for how much kool-aid some of these guys have swallowed regarding this age-old scam and then advance to the end to see the hilarious pwned moment.
(Dousing is a claim that people can detect water/gold/etc with a couple of rods. When the rods cross, dig. The rods really cross via slight twitching in the hands, either consciously or subconsciously. Dousers are good at locating ground water as pretty much any place we live in North America, if you dig, you'll find water. When tested under controlled conditions, dousers never score better than chance.) |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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"I still believe the paranormal is a scientific type of situation. That's why it was called the paranormal. It's not abnormal; it's unusual."
I also liked the reference to "photographic cameras."
Oooookay.
Last edited by kermo on Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:06 am Post subject: |
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Ah which reminds me... fire up uTorrent and go back to downloading his Messiah. |
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chriswylson
Joined: 20 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:38 am Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo: still no girlfriend? |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:05 am Post subject: |
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| chriswylson wrote: |
| mindmetoo: still no girlfriend? |
Weak.
Last edited by mindmetoo on Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:13 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:51 am Post subject: Re: Fox News exposes a douser |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
When people who cut the sleeves of their shirts start talking as if they understand science, you know it's going to lead to something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8BxmXHRaBI
You need to watch all the way to the end to see the "ha, thought you could fool us!" moment. Classic and typical. I would suggest watching the first couple minutes to get a flavor for how much kool-aid some of these guys have swallowed regarding this age-old scam and then advance to the end to see the hilarious pwned moment.
(Dousing is a claim that people can detect water/gold/etc with a couple of rods. When the rods cross, dig. The rods really cross via slight twitching in the hands, either consciously or subconsciously. Dousers are good at locating ground water as pretty much any place we live in North America, if you dig, you'll find water. When tested under controlled conditions, dousers never score better than chance.) |
I believe the spelling is "Dowsing" ...dousing relates to wetting... |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:13 am Post subject: Re: Fox News exposes a douser |
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| Pyongshin Sangja wrote: |
I believe the spelling is "Dowsing" ...dousing relates to wetting... |
It can be either (from the AHD):
dowse also douse : intr.v. dowsed also doused, dows�ing also dous�ing, dows�es also dous�es To use a divining rod to search for underground water or minerals.
But "dowsing" is indeed the most popular spelling of the pseudo scientific practice. |
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happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 6:14 am Post subject: |
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However you want to spell it, there's something to water dowsing. My Dad rigged up some shortened wire coat hangers into right angles and, holding them like someone robbing a bank, they would turn inwards towards each other whenever they were passed over water.
I was only a kid, but I still called bullsh*t until I tried it. I spent a whole afternoon doing this following the water pipes across my backyard trying to figure it out, finally settling on, "it works, because it does".
I thought they were magnetised or something, but they only moved in certain places and did so consistently. I'm convinced it works. |
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ChopChaeJoe
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 6:25 am Post subject: |
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I call bunk on dowsing. A science graduate, no science seems to support it.
I think the Bible is over 50% fiction as well, for what it's worth. |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:03 am Post subject: |
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| happeningthang wrote: |
However you want to spell it, there's something to water dowsing. My Dad rigged up some shortened wire coat hangers into right angles and, holding them like someone robbing a bank, they would turn inwards towards each other whenever they were passed over water.
I was only a kid, but I still called bullsh*t until I tried it. I spent a whole afternoon doing this following the water pipes across my backyard trying to figure it out, finally settling on, "it works, because it does".
I thought they were magnetised or something, but they only moved in certain places and did so consistently. I'm convinced it works. |
How did you know you were passing over water? If you knew were the pipes were, I think we might have an answer. You were moving the wires yourself. You just didn't know it. |
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happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:29 am Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
| How did you know you were passing over water? If you knew were the pipes were, I think we might have an answer. You were moving the wires yourself. You just didn't know it. |
You're right in one respect. I don't actually know what the dowsers were responding to, I only know that they were moving - unaided by me I might add. I was a practicing skeptic in this exercise, and was very aware of what I was doing. I was not moving the wires, and they were moving of their own accord. That's all that I am certain of in this.
They responded in a short range that extended across a single section of backyard that lead out from the side of our house to the fence. I had no idea where the water lines were, and I still don't. It's not like I was around when they laid the plumbing.
I shouldn't have assumed it was water, but those wires were doing something that means I wont be dismissing dowsing out of hand.
Last edited by happeningthang on Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:06 am; edited 1 time in total |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:37 am Post subject: |
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| happeningthang wrote: |
| JMO wrote: |
| How did you know you were passing over water? If you knew were the pipes were, I think we might have an answer. You were moving the wires yourself. You just didn't know it. |
You're right in one respect. I don't actually know what the dowsers were responding to, I only know that they were moving - unaided by me, I might add. I was a practicing skeptic in this exercise, and was very aware of what I was doing. I was not moving the wires, and they were moving of their own accord. That's all that I am certain of in this.
They responded in a short range that extended across a single section of bakyard that lead out from the side of our house to the fence. I had no idea where the water lines were, and I still don't. It's not like I was around when they laid the plumbing.
I shouldn't have assumed it was water, but those wires were doing something that means I wont be dismissing dowsing out of hand. |
Well ok, I can't really say you are wrong as I wasn't there. I would say however that you could have been moving the wires unconcsiously. I would also say that this explanation is more plausible than the wires moving in response to the water. So until i see good evidence that dowsing works, I'll stick with that. |
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Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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| That Fox News! What public servants! First they expose all the corruption of the Bush administration, then they go after the dowsers. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| JMO wrote: |
| happeningthang wrote: |
| JMO wrote: |
| How did you know you were passing over water? If you knew were the pipes were, I think we might have an answer. You were moving the wires yourself. You just didn't know it. |
You're right in one respect. I don't actually know what the dowsers were responding to, I only know that they were moving - unaided by me, I might add. I was a practicing skeptic in this exercise, and was very aware of what I was doing. I was not moving the wires, and they were moving of their own accord. That's all that I am certain of in this.
They responded in a short range that extended across a single section of bakyard that lead out from the side of our house to the fence. I had no idea where the water lines were, and I still don't. It's not like I was around when they laid the plumbing.
I shouldn't have assumed it was water, but those wires were doing something that means I wont be dismissing dowsing out of hand. |
Well ok, I can't really say you are wrong as I wasn't there. I would say however that you could have been moving the wires unconsciously. I would also say that this explanation is more plausible than the wires moving in response to the water. So until i see good evidence that dowsing works, I'll stick with that. |
That's exactly what is hypothesized regarding dousing. It's called the psychomotor effect. For example, there are stage mentalists that can hold your arm and actually read the subconscious muscle twitches as he leads you around trying to find something you hid. The mentalist can almost always find it. We don't know it, but when we get closer to the thing we hid, we subconsciously tighten our arm muscle. It's not a psychic ability. It's just little noticed effect.
If dousing were real, it would be very simple to demonstrate in controlled conditions. Many have been run and when protocols eliminate cheating, dousers simply do no better than chance.
Since all variables are controlled for, save for the psychomotor effect, one can conclude that's about all that's going on. |
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