Vaj wrote: 
> > What I was asking was there any hint  
> > that some of the research had been "fudged" for PR purposes?

--- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues" 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I can't think of any examples of that because I believed the
> research was valid. Since then I have read perspectives of the 
> research that exposes the weaknesses, but while in the group I was 
> not interested in this perspective at all.  There was never a 
> sincere commitment to the scientific method, so we used the charts 
> superficially and we waved the whole collected studies in the air 
> to give the impression that it was all scientifically verified.  If 
> a person nailed me on any details of a chart, which sometimes 
> happened, I would manage them with crowd techniques like getting 
> the audience to shush them down.

For the record, here's what you wrote on alt.m.t
in 1997:

"As far as TM using science as marketing instead of as true science, 
what I mean by this is that the claims of TM are not presented in a 
form that can be falsifified if the evidence goes the other way.  
During my 4 years at MIU I was very close to the TM studies in 
progress and never saw a desire to see if TM works.  It was always 
assumed that it did and the interpretations from the data were 
adjusted to fit the results.  Most claims are not stated in a form 
that can be falsified by evidence.  For example if a new meditator 
feels good from TM, this is TM working, and if they feel bad, it is 
un stressing, again TM working.  This is not acceptable scientific 
practice.  I experienced that the people around maharishi were so 
eager to please that data that did not support claims was never 
brought up.  More importantly the spirit of scientific integrity 
was never respected by a man who by his own admission has a contempt 
for the scientific method.  That is what Andrew was conveying in my 
perhaps glib but still I believe accurate 3 out of 4 dentists 
surveyed quote.  If the spirit of science was really alive in the 
movement it would not blacklist people like Benson who published 
unpopular results."

(The "3 out of 4 dentists surveyed" refers to
a quote from you in the Washington Post--not from
Andrew Skolnick in his JAMA article--that Maharishi
uses science "as a marketing tool, in the same way
that 'three out of four dentists surveyed' sells
toothpaste but is not science.")

There are actually quite a few factual inaccuracies
in that earlier alt.m.t quote.  Are there any of them
you'd like to correct now?






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