Jed sez:
... > It seems clear to me that the dowsing rod is simply a handy tool, like > a pencil, to record and amplify fine motions of hand which the person > trains himself to correlate with clues for water or whatever else he > is looking for. People and animals searching for water, or tracks in > the dirt, or prey, or on the lookout for predators do not make > conscious, considered decisions. They do not logically work out the > fact that a slightly darker shade of green grass may indicate water > nearby. They act on instinct to process sensations and subtle clues. > The dowser is making use of our instinctive reaction to point at > things with the hands, which comes to us as naturally and easily as a > pointer dog's use of the tail to indicate to other pack members that > the dog has sensed something of interest. I tend to agree. Such techniques (tools) also suggest a practical methodology that would allow us to tap into unused (unconscious) portions of our psyche effectively. We could be in for some interesting surprises. ;-) > Park and Randi (I believe it was) once conducted an experiment to test > dowsing by running water through underground PVC pipes, recently > buried. This is a preposterous experiment. It was done with no > consideration for a plausible biological mechanism that might explain > the phenomenon. Obviously, if there is an ability to find water, it > must be grounded in our instinctive ability to find clues of > underground water such as slight differences in color or the scent of > wet earth. What else? So the only water you can expect to find using > the human senses is that which has been flowing underground from a > broken pipe or natural spring, which has been flowing long enough, and > with enough volume, to affect the environment. There is no conceivable > mechanism which would allow you to detect water which just started > flowing through a PVC pipe a few minutes ago. I remember this experiment. This is the best observation that I've read that helps explain why their grand expose failed to prove anything, other than to convince (Randi and Park?) that their preconceived conclusions were right all along. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
