I don't think magnetism works on brass anyway...so it isn't that...
I do not think that this is the "occult" or anything like that.
While it appears to work, I have only seen it when people have a good idea where to look and they use this to pin it down.
One day there was a forced sewer main, and the party chief hands me a couple of these things and says, "Think about S*&%" So, being a good second, I did, and it came out to a foot of where they found the line...but I had a pretty good idea it was at that location to begin with, so I may have influenced it.
I had a guy who works for a location company tell me about how to tell how deep something is, but I cannot remember what it was. He was banned from using it by the boss, it freaked out the clients...
It works for some, but not for others. I have found septic tanks, leach beds, pipelines of various uses and materials including buried cables. I even found various underground chemical lines at a manufacturing plant.
I helps to know what you’re looking for, as well as an approximate starting point.
I ran a experiment shortly after being taught how to locate with wires. Knowing the approximate location of where my water service line crossed the driveway, I had each of my daughters (about 5 & 8 YO at the time) walk with the wires, perpendicular to the service line. The older daughter got no reaction from the wires, while they crisply reacted for the younger girl. My wife was unsuccessful as well.
Any disturbance to the density of the earth seems to be locatable.
Another thing I noticed is that my ability seems to wane after about 15 minutes, but comes back after a hiatus of a couple of hours.
BTW, I do not rely on this method in high liability situations. It’s reserved mostly for personal use. And yes, I’ve been wrong on rare occasion, but only when there was something else there that I was not made aware of, that pulled me off on the wrong track.
In controlled, double-blind tests, dowsing doesn't perform any better than random guessing.
There are some relatively simple tests that can be done to demonstrate this. There were discussions about these tests on another surveying board, years ago, but no one was sufficiently interested in winning Randi's million dollars to try them out.
- Doug
Cannot explain it. But, it works for me.
> In controlled, double-blind tests, dowsing doesn't perform any better than random guessing.
Must be cuz they excluded me from the test;-)
> In controlled, double-blind tests, dowsing doesn't perform any better than random guessing.
>
Maybe that's the secret. It wasn't controlled and no one was blind. I'm glad I wasn't aware of that information before we found the well.
> But I would take the $1,000,000 just in case they needed to give it to someone...
I concur with Jeff. I'd take it too!! No complaints here. :angel:
It's not dowsing. It's not ESP. It's not spoon bending. It doesn't qualify fro Randi's prize.
It's merely the same "technology" as the old dip needles.
There is a magnetic flux around everything, some fields are stronger than others.
I've done it with great success, and would be willing to show anyone interested.
:coffee:
Thanks RFB
You probably just cost me a million dollars. To all those folks out there whom I had called and said I was going to be paying back those old debts, was going to buy a new vehicle for or was going to take on an exotic vacation - sorry. It's not my fault, blame RFB...
Yes, it is
Just go to www.randi.org and read the FAQ.
I really wish you dowsers would just go win the freaking money and shut this guy up already!!! Or show me how to dowse, and I'll go win it. I'll give you 100 grand when I win the million.
2.3 Does my claim count as paranormal?
Possibly. Read through the JREF forum for a list of previous applicants if you’d like to see whether or not your claim has been tested before. The list can be found at: http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=43
Past claims have included: psychic or mediumistic powers, ESP, dowsing, magnetic humans, astrology, faith healing, etc.
If you are submitting a claim that works off a previous assumption, you have to present evidence proving the assumption correct first. For example, a claim of exorcism must have prior proof of the existence of demons, unless the existence of demons would be self-evident during the exorcism. If someone’s head spins ‘round the wrong direction during an exorcism, it is safe to say that demons (or some other entities) are responsible. Projectile vomiting, however, is nasty and probably explainable.
Some claims are, unfortunately, untestable. For example, claiming that you are able to make someone feel happy by talking to them is untestable, because it is impossible to objectively gauge someone’s level of happiness, especially if they have been told that after talking to you they should feel happy.
If your claim is untestable, there is nothing that can be done to alter that status unless you find a new claim or negotiate a protocol in which the results are self-evident and objectively testable.
Dowsing, with success better than random guessing, definitely qualifies for Randi's prize. It doesn't matter whether the dowser himself regards it as supernatural or scientific; the fact remains that no one has yet been able to successfully demonstrate this ability under double-blind conditions.
I would be happy to help anyone who wants to set up a statistically valid test. If you don't want the million dollars for yourself, I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to choose a deserving charity.
- Doug
> Dowsing, with success better than random guessing, definitely qualifies for Randi's prize. It doesn't matter whether the dowser himself regards it as supernatural or scientific; the fact remains that no one has yet been able to successfully demonstrate this ability under double-blind conditions.
The techniques described in this thread would, indeed, qualify for Randi's prize.
> I would be happy to help anyone who wants to set up a statistically valid test. If you don't want the million dollars for yourself, I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to choose a deserving charity.
If you do set up a statistically valid test for someone, they won't need to worry about what to do with the million dollars. They won't win it.
What the heck does supernatural mean anyway. If it can be done, it's natural. If there are ghosts, they're natural. If I can read your mind, that's natural. Etc., etc.
To me that's like organic food. What are those carrots I ate last week, synthetic?
It's sad how language gets tortured out of shape all the time. Steve points out some good examples.
Note that chemistry is divided into inorganic and organic chemistry, where organic chemistry deals with all sorts of substances that disqualify a food product from an organic label.
No one should use drugs because that's illegal and bad for you, but we have (legal) drug stores and drug companies. When a doctor asks you if you are taking drugs, you list anything not considered a food. If an employer asks you if you are taking drugs, you say NO.
