If you want to know the reasoning, read DowserDon's thread.
I do think Randi left a legacy that is often overlooked, which is he was one of quite a small group that changed the approach the scientific community took in regards to what needed a scientific explanation in claims of the paranormal, which is why people believe in or make up things that aren't real.
Ahem!
www.dictionary.com
I have a memory that someone found that a razor blade in a pyramid did become (slightly; not sure how it was measured) sharper after a period of time. Someone else then thought to do the control experiment and found that a razor blade left not in a pyramid also became sharper, so some process at the molecular level was happening, but entirely unrelated to pyramids.You must be too young to remember the 70s, pyramids good do everything in the 70s. One of my favorite words, pyramidiot.
Pyramid power - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
ETA: I'm 90% sure there was at least one "documentary" that claimed putting a razor blade in a pyramid would keep it sharp forever or maybe even sharpen it.
Having looked for a reference to see how accurate my memory about is, I find mentioned in the Wikipedia link that ahhell gave that Mythbusters did a programme on pyramidology where they tested (and showed to be false) many of the claims associated with the subject. Not sure how that doesn't qualify as debunking.
Well, duh... That video is in the opening post.
They all claim something different. DowserDon claimed as above. Others claimed mystical forces. One notable dowser claimed that she was being visited by otherworldly spirits.
It's the spirit of the thing. Debunking implies bunk, implies a charlatan who needs to be exposed. That was never the spirit of Mythbusters.
I would go further than this and say, that if the cause of dowsing is perceived to be real and "works" for a dowser to any given extent, why even attempt to promote any scientific or pseudo-scientific explanation for it in the first place, in defence of it? If it is perceived to work by people who pay a fee for their service who are happy. My anecdote was describing an elderly gentleman, who probably wouldn't be interested in the slightest or want to take part in, any scientifically controlled test for any specific claim.
Indeed, they usually claim not to be interested. At best, it displays a stunning lack of curiosity and at worst a cynical knowledge that if they ever put their "ability" to the test, it will be found to be nonexistent.
...or they must like taking the money. The other possibility is that they could perceive it as a natural "gift", like a talented artist, and are content with that because like many in this world today, their curiosity has never reached the level of others, at least on here.
I believe it is so. Randi also said that dowsers were the only people he felt sorry for, because most really thought their abilities were real.
You should read the old MDC challenge threads, especially the ones with the dowsers.
Indeed. You can find them all here, if you're interested.
internationalskeptics.com
www1.internationalskeptics.com
I read them first time around, but that was quite a while ago now. My point is a different one though, and its not really about the challenge, its more about the psychology and mindset of both the "professional" dowsers and their clients. Obviously there is an element of them who are happy to have their claims tested, but despite the background of that history of testing and the failures, the practice continues, dowsers are hired, and at least, if they are being paid for outcome only, they get paid for instant results, or they don't, presumably. This is rather different from say psychics, where their predictions and forecasts, the outcome is totally random, and if they get a hit, it is by chance only and at some indeterminate time in the future, and no better than my or your made up predictions, or cold readings.
