--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "jim_flanegin" <jflanegi@> wrote: > > > > > > I had unmistakable, repeatable and sustained experiences > > > of siddhis doing the program, and after stopping the practice > > > of it. For you to imply that Maharishi could equal the > > > achievement of Patanjali ... > > > > I know you're trying to be cute, but that's not what > > I was implying. I don't think that the TM siddhis > > do anything at all; any effect is the result of the > > "Dumbo's feather" syndrome, also known as the placebo > > effect, also known as moodmaking. > > Sorry, strike moodmaking above. Not the same thing > at all. I was writing faster than I was thinking. > > The analogy of "Dumbo's feather" is better, as is > placebo, because the effects in both cases are > *real*. Dumbo could really fly. The person given > a sugar pill really does get better. Moodmaking, > as it is commonly known in TM circles, implies > that the effects might not be real, just imagined. > > I believe that people have genuine experiences > as a result of practicing the TM siddhis. I'm > just not convinced that the TM siddhis cause > those experiences.
Do you think Patanjali's techniques are also a placebo? If not--or even if so--isn't it of interest that someone you consider to be unenlightened could have dreamed up something that created a placebo effect equivalent to what Patanjali's techniques do? That was, I think, Jim's point. In any case, with phenomena of this kind, it almost doesn't matter whether it's a placebo effect or not. The important aspect is the effect itself. When the whole thing is purely subjective anyway, the term "placebo" becomes meaningless.
