National "Be Kind to Water" Month

[6_bleen_7]

I thank chillyrodent for bringing to my attention a book called The True Power of Water by Dr. Masaru Emoto. This intriguing work is an excellent example of New-Age pseudoscience couched as legitimate science. I'd like to show you what stood out as scientifically bogus to me in what may look, at a very cursory glance, like a reasonable naturalistic

Comments

[samwibatt]

Wow, this is pretty loopy. Thanks to you and miz Rodent for a good scientific laugh.

But don't you go dissing Caractacus Potts. Don't even.

[6_bleen_7]

Okay-okay-okay-okay-okay. You're right; the noble Potts was an inventor and not a theoritician. And his creations actually worked, though not always as intended.

[6_bleen_7]

Eeps-"theoreitician." Guess I'm baked.

[samwibatt]

Sorry to be so touchy, but Potts is one of my childhood heroes.

Childhood heroism is a very powerful force, you realize, having in it a strong element of the faith which trumps reason.

Plus I was joking. Somehow my snark isn't getting through the text barrier very well today - when I looked at my own typing it looked much more pissed than I meant it to. Bedam.

[chillyrodent]

So, what would happen with the crystals, if, while being shown some Monet through the Petri dish, the technician commented that he had "pissed out prettier water than this"? Wouldn't the water pick up on his negativity, even though it was enjoying some impressionist art?

And wouldn't tap water know that he thought its crystals were loathesome and grotesque? I mean, if we're going on the premise that water can see and hear, shouldn't we presume that it can also hear our thoughts? So, I suppose a control situation should be set up where researchers wear foil hats to prevent the transmission of contaminant thoughts.

I suppose the editors of The Global Journal of Really Smart Water were too persnickety in their refereeing; he had to go public.

[6_bleen_7]

Heh-heh-yes, clearly the experimenters had preconceived notions on what the crystals ought to look like, and, as you mentioned, the water would pick up on their thoughts unless they were carefully shielded. Thus, even if the data were sound, the results could be explained by self-fulfilling prophecy.

I know I'm going to have to read the whole book now. Will look for it in the county library system. It's the perfect subject for a skeptical tour de force.

[6_bleen_7]

I would guess that if she had any criticism, it wouldn't be about the scientific merit of the research, but about the spiritual merit. Or, she might pan the author for not paying enough attention to the phase of the moon and the locations of the major planets.