Dowsing by a Skeptic

[Totovader]

We ought to be able to settle the bigfoot question. Dowse for him.

After that, let's find Jimmy Hoffa's body.

And then Amelia Earhart's plane.

Or D.B. Cooper.

And then please find me the biggest lost ring on a beach somewhere- something I could claim.

And some oil. Need that.

Plus, I think there's some missing children out there.

 

[Loss Leader]

I know it's not rational, dowsing is not rational, that's why I'm trying so desperately to understand what's going on.

No, you are not. You are desperately trying to avoid understanding what's going on. If you cared at all, you'd do a proper test. Instead, you quibble about the height of grass.

 

[Totovader]

So your claim is your dowsing abilities allow you to find... anything?

Anything.

I have not claimed to be able to find lost children etc . All I claim is that I have been able to find everything that I have looked for so far. Please bear in mind that I am still new to dowsing.

Of course, when the going gets tough you have to retract the claim. You can't reproduce your abilities in a controlled environment under controlled tests, so it's pretty dangerous to actually use your abilities for anything other than your own amusement.

There's a million dollars waiting for you if you are as confident as you claim.

 

[Olowkow]

The forked stick does not work for me at all, the pendulum, well I would not trust it. Coat hanger wire does it for me every time. Try it.

I have done experiments to see if it really works OR NOT. It could have gone either way.

I will say again that I feel confident that 50% of the people here can dowse. If only they would try.

I would disagree. I feel sure that 99.32% of the population can dowse.

Forked sticks will not work for dowsing when trying to find polar liquids such as water, and it is an act of purest hubris, not to mention dangerous, to have tried to do so.

A polar molecule has a net dipole as a result of the opposing charges (i.e. having partial positive and partial negative charges) from polar bonds arranged asymmetrically. Water (H2O) is an example of a polar molecule since it has a slight positive charge on one side and a slight negative charge on the other. The dipoles do not cancel out resulting in a net dipole.

Since a forked stick is bipolar, it is suitable only for finding non polar substances. A molecule may be non polar either when there is an equal sharing of electrons between the two atoms of a diatomic molecule or because of the symmetrical arrangement of polar bonds in a more complex molecule.

Forked sticks could cause the dipole to cancel and explode. When talking to forked sticks, always inquire about safety.

The boron trifluoride molecule (BF3) has a trigonal planar arrangement of three polar bonds at 120°, and is non polar. This results in no overall dipole in the molecule, and it is safe for use with forked sticks. I have found many gallons of boron trifluoride on my farm using willow sticks. Use oak for finding radioactive elements or stray gerbils.

Coat hanger wire is tuned to the frequencies of humans' cognitive awareness syndromes, and the quantum efficiency is increased by rubbing with empathetic dowsing grease. Plastic coat hangers will not work, of course, because they do not retain the memory of having had human clothing on them and as a result will not recognize the voices.

The dowsing range of #12 black coat hanger wire is about 3.2 miles (5.15 km), and the smaller the gauge, the greater the distance of detection, much like homeopathic theory predicts. I once found a German submarine using .002" platinum wires. My wife wouldn't let me keep it.

Finding lost dogs is best done with forked beef bones.

 

[kerikiwi]

.. I'm trying so desperately to understand what's going on.

No, you are not. You are doing everything you can to avoid actually testing whether you can dowse.

 

[SaskMick]

Of course, when the going gets tough you have to retract the claim. You can't reproduce your abilities in a controlled environment under controlled tests, so it's pretty dangerous to actually use your abilities for anything other than your own amusement.

There's a million dollars waiting for you if you are as confident as you claim.

I have retracted nothing, anything I have tried to locate I have been able to locate.

I have not tried to reproduce my abilities in a controlled environment under controlled tests.

I become more confident with each passing day, but realize i still have much to learn.

 

[kerikiwi]

"I know very well that many scientists consider dowsing as they do astrology, as a type of ancient superstition. According to my conviction this is, however, unjustified. The dowsing rod is a simple instrument which shows the reaction of the human nervous system to certain factors which are unknown to us at this time." Albert Einstein

Where did you find this quote?

 

[SaskMick]

No, you are not. You are doing everything you can to avoid actually testing whether you can dowse.

How on earth did you come to that conclusion ?

 

[SaskMick]

Where did you find this quote?

I can't remember exactly, but I have come across it numerous time when searching the WWW for articles on dowsing.

 

[kerikiwi]

I become more confident with each passing day, but realize i still have much to learn.

Your confidence is misplaced: you have not demonstrated any ability to dowse.
You should start by learning how to conduct a double blinded test which demonstrates anything other than wishful thinking.

 

[SaskMick]

We ought to be able to settle the bigfoot question. Dowse for him.

Bigfoot does not exist. I just dowsed for him

 

[SaskMick]

Your confidence is misplaced: you have not demonstrated any ability to dowse.
You should start by learning how to conduct a double blinded test which demonstrates anything other than wishful thinking.

I really could not care less about what you think, it's what I know that's important to me.

 

[AdMan]

I really could not care less about what you think, it's what I know that's important to me.

If you're not willing to question your beliefs, what are you doing in a skeptics' forum?

You are simply fooling yourself. Being deliberately blind to that is not helping you reach the truth of what's actually going on.

 

[marplots]

Bigfoot does not exist. I just dowsed for him

Thank you. You can't know how helpful that is to me. I may finally be able to get on with my life.

 

[kerikiwi]

I really could not care less about what you think, it's what I know that's important to me.

Why are you here?
This is a genuine question. You are convinced you can dowse. You have no wish to do a proper test which might show you are wrong in your conviction.
Why are you here?

 

[Pixel42]

SaskMask: neither the phone-in-the-grass nor the coin-in-the-hand things were the kind of double blind test necessary to eliminate the known confounding factors that can convince people that dowsing works when it doesn't. Every single time someone who was completely convinced that dowsing worked based on the kind of experiences that have convinced you has taken such a test they have failed to get results better than chance.

Lots of people here have tried dowsing, so we know how convincing it can seem. I myself tried it when I attended the double blind test that resulted from the discussion with the last dowser to come here, whose thread you have been pointed to (have you read it yet?). We are not dismissing your claims out of hand, we are urging you to look for the standard of evidence long experience has told us is required to avoid being fooled about this particular ability.

 

[LTC8K6]

Bigfoot does not exist. I just dowsed for him

Surely there are important things in your area that are lost and need to be found? Why don't you help your community? You found a cell phone in a field with no trouble.

Lots of cell phones are missing near you, I'm sure. People would love to get their phones back.

Find a missing person, or a stolen car.

Lost wedding rings? Lost pets?

Start a business finding things people have lost. You could really provide a needed service.

The local police force probably has lots of work for a dowser of everything with a range of many miles.

The military could really use a man who could detect IEDs, too.

The number of lives you could save...

Hopefully you are not selfish with your skills.

 

[AdMan]

I question everything, always have and likely always will.

No, you clearly don't do this. You've chosen to believe you can dowse, and refuse to actually test it scientifically.

 

[SaskMick]

No, you clearly don't do this. You've chosen to believe you can dowse, and refuse to actually test it scientifically.

I don't refuse at all, I've only just learned how to slip the clutch, I'm not ready for my test till I have learned to drive properly. Takes time.

 

[AdMan]

I don't refuse at all, I've only just learned how to slip the clutch, I'm not ready for my test till I have learned to drive properly. Takes time.

So how are you not refusing to test it?