Duped Academics Who Endorse Dowsing Are Challenged, and Christa & Devon
Stand up Against Quackery...and Lose!
Reader Martin Brazeau with the Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, sent me this note, which got me searching the net with interesting results.....
I'm a biology student at McGill University, focusing my studies on paleontology. As a result I came across an interesting issue of Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences (1998, Vol 89, Part I). The sad part is that the first article in this issue is "Dowsing Physics: Interferometry" by V. C. Reddish...
Have you ever seen this paper? I cannot comment on its methods and "results" as I'm not sure I understood it in its entirety. Nor could I stand to read the whole thing. The author makes certain, however, to start his article in a fashion exemplary of purveyors of pseudoscience. For instance, he gives a classic example of appealing to poor analogies. Regarding the subjectivity of dowsing instrumentation, he offers the following:
...it should not be forgotten that much valuable astronomy and astrophysics was carried out in the last two centuries and in the first half of this century using a very subjective detector system: the eye.
What was interesting was that this work of pseudoscience was published while Stephen Jay Gould was a consulting editor of that journal. Apparently, he did not get to review the article. Rightly so, because the editors would likely only distribute manuscripts related to paleontology to him. But it serves to show how a little piece of pseudoscience made it past some accomplished academics. Why? Because they did not see the tell tales signs of the work of the charlatan as you so frequently point out. Had Gould seen the article I suspect he would have seen through it. But this does not appear to be the case for his peers.
Once again this demonstrates your thesis that scientists are not necessarily the best equipped people when it comes to detecting frauds. There's one more on the books for pseudoscience.
There's more. In a 5,300-word paper on dowsing titled "Modern Achievements of Dowsing,"Alexander P. Dubrov of the Russian Center of Traditional Medicine and Homeopathy of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, quotes this same V. C. Reddish, who is Professor (Emeritus) of Astronomy at Edinburgh University. The paper can be seen at: www.radiestesiaargentina.8m.com/radmundo/dubrov3.html. I seriously urge you to go there and see pseudoscience at its most-developed state.
A short excerpt:
It should also be noted that the scientific world has changed its attitude towards dowsing. Qualified researchers working in various fields of science have been displaying growing interest in problems of dowsing. They have conducted fundamental and experimental studies in the mechanisms of the biophysical effect of the dowsing field on humans.
This is simply nonsense. The scientific world still looks at dowsing as a medieval notion, a crackpot idea, and the "biophysical" ideas that are so popular in pseudoscientific circles, are just imaginary constructs that quacks embrace in desperation to explain a phenomenon — dowsing — that has zero evidence to support it.
If I may be bold enough to observe here, the paper referred to above contains literally dozens of examples in which purported positive results of dowsing experiments are celebrated. Well, I will state right here and now, that if any of these experiments is repeated using double-blind methods, and proves positive, the one-million-dollar JREF prize will immediately be paid to the person or persons who perform the test. Now, it may seem rather redundant to make this statement, since the JREF prize has always been thus available, but here we have a scientific paper of more than 5,000 words that clearly states that dowsing is a genuine phenomenon, and that it has been proven by science. We challenge that assertion, and as usual, we're putting our money where our mouth is!
Will we hear from any of the academics who are quoted in the Dubrov paper? I am sending him — by e-mail and by regular post — this formal challenge, asking him to forward it to those academics. These are persons who have clearly stated that they've found a dowsing effect. They've so stated publicly and in their own academic circles. Any of them could win the JREF million-dollar-prize simply for proving their statements. I challenge them to do so. Here is the list of 31 academics we are personally challenging to produce a dowsing demonstration, and win the million dollars:
H. Berkhemer, Johann W. v. Goethe University, Frankfurt-am-Main;
Hans-Dieter Betz, Munich University;
E. G. Bondarenko, engineer, St. Petersburg, Russia;
A. A. Drozdovskaya, geophysicist, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev;
R. A. Dubovik, Marine hydrology specialist, engineer-hydrographer, Navigation and Oceanography Department, Moscow;
A. P. Dubrov; Center of Traditional Medicine and Homeopathy, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation;
E. Z. Gak, geophysicist, Agrophysical Institute, St. Petersburg;
Yu. V. Gotovsky, Moscow Center for Intellectual Medical Systems;
V. I. Gridin, geologist, Moscow Institute of Problems of Gas and Oil;
A. Hall, physicist, UK;
O. A. Isayeva, radiophysicist, Institute of Economics of Mineral Resources and Geological Prospecting, Moscow;
A. L. Kovalevsky, Geology and Mineralogy, Buryat Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Ude;
L. S. Kravchenko, Saratov University, Russia;
Yu. P. Kravchenko, engineer, Ufa Aviation Engineering University;
V. E. Landa, Transbaikal Research Centre, Chita;
Joe McMoneagle, American "psychic," US CIA, "remote viewer";
E. K. Melnikov, Ministry of Natural Resources, Russian Federation, St. Petersburg;
L. Mersmann, biophysicist;
M. Mettler, Swiss researcher;
H. Muller, Erfurt, Thuringia;
I. A. Nepomnyaschiy, Mineral Resources & Geological Prospecting, Moscow;
A. G. Parkhomov, physicist, extrasensorial activities, Moscow Institute of Physics & Technology;
Yu. F. Perov, Moscow Center for Intellectual Medical Systems;
A. I. Pluzhnikov, head researcher, "Geoleptonika," Moscow-based company;
S. Prumbach, UK;
V. C. Reddish, Edinburgh University;
V. A. Rudnik , Institute of Geology and Precambrian Geochronology, Russian Academy of Sciences;
H. Schroeter, engineer;
N. N. Sochevanov, Mineral Resources and Geological Prospecting, Moscow;
V. A. Tischenko, Saratov University, Russia;
Yu. V. Volkov, physicist, Computer Centre, Moscow University;
Reader Bob Pagani writes about an alarming — but unfortunately not uncommon — situation found in our school system:
I thought you would be interested in what passes for "education" in today's America. My daughter is a junior at a high school here in rural coastal Oregon. About a week ago, she came home and told my wife about what happened in her "Wellness" (dubious word there) class.
Christa said that her boyfriend was getting a "D" on the assignment the teacher had assigned the class. Naturally, my wife asked why. The teacher had had a friend of hers, a doctor [Dr. Virginia Oram], come into the class and lecture them on nutrition.
The "doctor" is a naturopath. Ah, the plot thickens. She proceeded to explain to the class that different blood types should avoid certain foods. She even handed out some "information" sheets about this BS. You can see more of the nonsense she taught the class at her website, www.droram.com. After her lecture, the class was instructed to write down five things they learned from what she had told them. Christa's boyfriend, bless him, wrote five variations on how it was a bunch of quack nonsense. The teacher did not take this well and failed him on the assignment. His Mom made a trip to the school to argue the point but was told that it was the teacher's class and she could have whomever she wanted in as a lecturer. This makes me wonder if they would defend her if she brought in a lecturer to explain how the Earth is flat. After all, it's her class, right?
My wife told me all this as we were driving to the school to pick Christa up. I was so proud of Devon that, when we arrived, I made a point of getting out of the car to shake his hand. I told him I realized that it was difficult to stand your ground, even when you know you're right, against an authority figure. One of Christa's female friends was standing there, too. She said that she also regarded the "doctor's" lecture as nonsense. She, however, had taken the route of just telling the teacher what she wanted to hear on the essay. I would have preferred that she, too, had said what she honestly thought, but I can't really blame her for not wanting to get a failing grade. As for Christa, on her paper, she said that, instead of five things she learned, she wanted to list one big thing she had learned. What was that? I asked. "That anyone can call themselves a doctor," Christa said. I've never been more proud of my kid than I was at that moment.
I was telling Devon about you and your website and informing him that he might well be considered something of a hero to the skeptical community. Just then, the principal found the need to walk over our way. I can't say for sure that he came over just for eavesdropping purposes, but I suspect I'm now on his mental list of "parents who are trouble." Oh, well.
The saddest thing about this is that right now, as you may be aware, many states are in serious financial crises. Oregon is one of them. The situation is so bad that, in Portland, all Spring sports may be cancelled, and locally, Christa's school has scheduled a half-day every other Wednesday for the rest of the school year to save money. The school budget is frozen, which means that teachers have to bring in their own supplies, paid for out of their own pockets. In the midst of this, we have a teacher who is wasting precious class time on quack nonsense that has been thoroughly discredited for about a century. Sad, very sad.
I looked up the site, and found that Dr. Virginia Oram advertises that she uses "classical style" homeopathy, whatever that means. It should mean that she believes, as Samuel Hahneman did, that all diseases are variations of "psora," commonly known as the "itch." That's all diseases, without exception. This is a medieval notion, unsupported by any evidence. And this is a "doctor" who addressed this classroom?
Yes, this is quackery, not excused by the advertised fact that Dr. Oram has a real M.D. standing by, in case actual treatment is called for. Christa and Devon deserve a serious kudos from us all! They're both smarter than their teacher...
This week's page is a bit short, since I'm away in Korea beating back the forces of irrationality. I'll be trying to answer e-mail as I get the chance, but please pardon the delays. Returning to Florida the 20th...
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