h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I once found the mains water pipe into my house using this method.

Mind you, I already knew where it was, which might have affected the result!

well if you already knew where it was why use dowsing ?

romani

I just wanted to try it out. I was (and am) skeptical, but I thought I'd give it a go. I have to admit that it wasn't much of a test, though - it proved nothing whatsoever. I don't have any questions to ask that I would want to dowse for.

There doesn't seem any point asking a question I know the answer to - I would assume there is always a possibility that I could be influencing the movement unconsciously, even if I was trying not to consciously. I don't mean influencing it with energy or something btw - I'm not convinced by that at all - but just by slight movements of my hand.

I have come across all kinds of esoteric devices that seem to work, it's the explanations I tend to be most skeptical about. I know that acupressure is effective for me, but I'm not convinced by the TCM explanation for it. I'm not sure what scientific tests have shown for acupressure or acupuncture - I suspect they would show it has no measurable effect.

That said, the placebo effect is known and accepted by conventional medicine and could explain much of the effectiveness of acupressure, and it is also accepted by most that the mind has a huge role in the perception of pain, so it's perfectly possible to explain the effects without resort to energy. And there may be nerve pathways I'm impinging on or something else I don't understand - I'm no doctor. I don't mind either way - I can make a headache go away (most times) and that's good enough for me.

Oh well, never mind, it was an interesting article. I wan't really intending a huge rant about alternative medicine - but there you go - it's good to get stuff off your chest!

well I dont claim to know much about alternative medicine apart from what I,ve read, but I admit it interests me, I mean its got to be better than drugs dont you agree ?

but I do & have done for quite some years use on a regular basis a crystal pendulum & it has never failed me yet so I,m happy with it although I do realise its a controversial subject with some people, but then every one is entitled to their own opinion.

romani

It's certainly better not to take drugs if you can avoid it, I agree with that. Sometimes it's the only thing that will work, though. I think you should always check with your doctor first if you think you may have something serious.

I think alternative medicine in the form of physical therapy can be excellent for pain relief. I visit a chiropractor for my bad back, and he uses applied kiniesiology (sp?) - which when I researched it sounded like a load of old hokum, but my back feels better so I continue to see him. But I established years ago that the doctor couldn't help me with my back - in fact it was the doctor who suggested I seek an alternative treatment.

Once you start taking herbal remedies - well they're stlil a kind of drug aren't they - only natural rather than synthesised. That can be quite dangerous if you get the dosage wrong or take something you are allergic to. There's plenty of natural toxins out there.

If you find the crystal pendulum a useful thing that's great for you - I can't see how anybody could objecting to your using it or believing in it.

I was going to add to that sentence, 'unless you become President of the USA,' but having seen the decisions the current one makes I think I'd prefer the pendulum whether I believe in it or not!

I have bronchial asthma & always get 1 chest infection after another so I,m under the docs for that but not as regular as I should be I admit, cant help it I just dont like going to the docs & I have a phobia bout hospitals so I avoid them like the plague if I can help it, wrong I know but then thats just me & I do get regular chastising

but I agree the pendulum as got to be more reliable & trustworthy than the present president of the U.S

romani

I'm not interested in "scepticism" or "belief" to do with this issue. What I'm interested in is "does it work?" and economic benefits of dowsing.

As you probably know, Australia is a very dry continent. Water is a valuable commodity, too often wasted and misused.

Access to water can make or break a farming operation, and tapping groundwater is one way to insure yourself against drought, stock losses, and financial ruin.

Tapping into groundwater = sinking a bore.

A farmer (say, one of my relatives) decides to sink a bore. It will cost (on figures from about 20 years ago, which is the last time we sank bores where I come from), $7 000 to get the bore sinkers and their plant to the area. From then it is a daily fee, plus $1 000 per drill hole. If the drill breaks, more $$$.

We know there is groundwater there, but the bedrock is either basalt or granite. If the drill hits a big basalt boulder, it will probably break. If the water is too far down, the drills won't be able to get there. This is a frustrating and costly operation. Very iffy if you don't get extra information.

How, I hear you ask in your eternal search for knowledge, do they gain that vital information??

They dowse it.

Simple.

If you dowse a bore properly you will get your water in one hit. If you don't you may or may not get any water. You still have to pay the bore sinkers. You still have to pay for each trial drill. You don't want to pay more than you absolutely have to ... so you dowse out the site before the bore sinkers arrive.

As I said, I'm not interested in any "scientific" types faffing on about "it's not scientific". I'm interested in results. You get the results if you dowse. Period.



off to find my willow twig and build myself a nice little well in the front yard as a water feature.

Well, the Australian skeptics group is one of the most prolific when it comes to testing dowsers, and they've still to see evidence of it working.

My alternative explanation for the success you appear to believe in: People who successfull employ dowsers will happily shout from the rooftops. People who pay a man with a twig and hit dust wont. Neither will people who do hear about the failures care to repeat the story. Result: Almost all tales of dowsing will be promotion by the believers, like you. All tests will be failures, like they are.