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Dousing?

snarkiness aside (it's just too tempting sometimes) I agree with wardenclyffe, that this would be an interesting subject to arrange for a scientific test, especially if you're willing to be objective. I've known a few people who were convinced they could dowse for water pipes and wires with metal rods like those you describe, but as others have noted, it's pretty hard for someone who is convinced of the phenomenon to accept negative results. I suspect there are many subtle factors involved in the process, including experience in where to expect such hidden objects leading to good choice in primary search areas, cues from terrain, as well as a willingness to accept near misses as hits, that would have to be overcome in a scientific test. Figuring out how to do this would be an interesting exercise, and enlightening by itself no matter what the results are.

One thing I do know, having tried it myself, is that if you do know where the buried wires or pipes are, the rods will almost certainly work. You'll really have to test blind to make the test objective.
edited to add, of course you'd have to test blind, but what I guess I meant was that you'll also have to make sure that the test takes the environmental clues, etc. into account, so that you can make sure of what is being tested.
 
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wardenclyffe said:
flabe,



So far, you have been taking the right approach and do not deserve snark. Here you will find a lot of people who say "it doesn't work." They were not there and did not witness or experience what you did.
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Even without being there, I am perfectly confident in saying that dowsing, like prayer, doesn't work.
Prior knowledge and confirmation bias are good explanations for anything that has been observed to happen.
Whatever it was, it wasn't dowsing that did it.
 
JJM said:
Your copper wires are non-magnetic and, therefore, unaffected by any magnetic field.
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Well, to be fair, copper wires moving through a magnetic field will cause an induced current. Of course, we're talking about a couple of foot-long pieces moving through a barely detectable field, so the effect will be, shall we say, minimal.
 
I would like to say thank you to those who treated my post seriously and pointed me in the right direction. So here is what I did after doing some reading. I took two pieces of copper wire and gave them to my wife and a can of spray paint and gave that to my daughter. I then asked them to walk around in the neighborhood and every time the wires crossed I told my daughter to put a mark on the ground with the paint. I went inside had them walk around for fifteen minutes or so. I already know where the utilities are in the area since I installed them, so I would be able to check their hits and misses. When they were done we had 12 marks on the ground and only 3 were within the 18 inches of a line that is demanded by law for an accurate locate. This shows me that this method does not work.
I believe that what I saw when I did this myself can be attributed to the ideomotor effect, prior knowledge of the way that utility lines are run, and some conformation bias.
A lot of the people who commented on my post dismissed me out of hand and were fairly nasty. This was not productive. But I really do appreciate those that provided me with tools I needed to work this out.
Now I can go back to using my computer for what it was intended... downloading internet porn
 
flabe said:
I would like to say thank you to those who treated my post seriously and pointed me in the right direction. So here is what I did after doing some reading. I took two pieces of copper wire and gave them to my wife and a can of spray paint and gave that to my daughter. I then asked them to walk around in the neighborhood and every time the wires crossed I told my daughter to put a mark on the ground with the paint. I went inside had them walk around for fifteen minutes or so. I already know where the utilities are in the area since I installed them, so I would be able to check their hits and misses. When they were done we had 12 marks on the ground and only 3 were within the 18 inches of a line that is demanded by law for an accurate locate. This shows me that this method does not work.
I believe that what I saw when I did this myself can be attributed to the ideomotor effect, prior knowledge of the way that utility lines are run, and some conformation bias.
A lot of the people who commented on my post dismissed me out of hand and were fairly nasty. This was not productive. But I really do appreciate those that provided me with tools I needed to work this out.
Now I can go back to using my computer for what it was intended... downloading internet porn
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Nicely done amateur science.
 
Flabe- good job. Sorry if some comments were a bit harsh. You are right that sometimes we read a few keywords in a post- especially from a new poster- and jump to conclusions. That's a poor response. In mitigation, we do get a lot of seriously screwy first posts. But you make your point well and congratulations on involving the youngsters in your test. Please check back with them to ensure they remember the right message and don't think dowsing for power lines is the way to go. (You can't be 100% certain that kids conclude what you concluded unless you ask them to explain it to you).

I must say- each time I see the thread title I think " Delousing". Dunno what that says about my subconscious.
Welcome to the forum.
 
flabe said:
I would like to say thank you to those who treated my post seriously and pointed me in the right direction. So here is what I did after doing some reading. I took two pieces of copper wire and gave them to my wife and a can of spray paint and gave that to my daughter. I then asked them to walk around in the neighborhood and every time the wires crossed I told my daughter to put a mark on the ground with the paint. I went inside had them walk around for fifteen minutes or so. I already know where the utilities are in the area since I installed them, so I would be able to check their hits and misses. When they were done we had 12 marks on the ground and only 3 were within the 18 inches of a line that is demanded by law for an accurate locate. This shows me that this method does not work.
I believe that what I saw when I did this myself can be attributed to the ideomotor effect, prior knowledge of the way that utility lines are run, and some conformation bias.
A lot of the people who commented on my post dismissed me out of hand and were fairly nasty. This was not productive. But I really do appreciate those that provided me with tools I needed to work this out.
Now I can go back to using my computer for what it was intended... downloading internet porn
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Man this is the most stand up, awesome post ever.

Well done on not only giving a great example to learn by, but by actually being willing to be proven wrong.

I salute you, sir.

Ps. so...if you got any favorite porn sites, I'm always open to be shown new avenues of depravity on the internet. Just sayin' you can PM me. ;)
 
Since everyone else is saying what a great post it was I thought I would nominate it. Can someone please bribe the right people so that it gets in the final please?
 
Yeah a good post, but I really don't think that flabe was treated harshly here at all.

Anyway, hats off to someone who learnt something here.
 
A guy who came to clean out our septic tank some years ago, claimed to be able to locate them by dowsing. He didn't have a theory of how this was supposed to work, and I didn't ask what his apparatus was made of. Would the "law of similars" apply?

I hope he doesn't pursue the Challenge. The thought of serious investigators of the paranormal, burying little boxes of poo at random locations...

DC
 
flabe,

Let me add my voice to the chorus of compliments. Here's the one wrinkle I find in your method, though. Obviously, if dowsing works because of magnetic fields or something, your wife and kids or your neighbor or I should be able to do it with ease. Your experiment has proved that that's not the case. However, I believe that many dowsers claim that they have a "gift" for dowsing. They can do it, but not everyone can. Perhaps you or your old lineman friend are particularly gifted. Ideally, you'd be able to devise a test in which you or the old lineman would not be able to use your knowledge of how utility lines are run.

Anyway, congratulations on finding an answer for yourself. I (and most everyone else here) thinks you have found the right answer.

Thanks,
Ward
 
rjh01 said:
Since everyone else is saying what a great post it was I thought I would nominate it. Can someone please bribe the right people so that it gets in the final please?
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Bribe Hokulele!??

There are volcanoes waiting for such as you.:D
 
patchbunny said:
Heck, just have a dowser track down the cat poo buried in my yard.
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Good idea. Of course, an appropriate experimental control is needed. Perhaps one could distribute little cat doots fashioned from Shinola, to see if a dowser can tell the difference.

DC
 
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