Well, I’ve finally arrived in Melbourne. I left Syracuse on a 2:25pm flight on Monday, landed in Dulles an hour later, waited there for a couple of hours, took a 4.5 hour flight to LA, connected to a 14 hour flight to Sydney, and then, finally, caught another 1.5 hour flight to Melbourne.
Despite a number of possible pitfalls developing along the way (which I won’t bore you with here), the flight actually turned out to be hassle-free, and I did get to weigh in on the side of all that is good and right (you know – science) towards the end of it.
On the long haul flight from LAX to Melbourne, I ended up in a row of three people. One of these was a true Aussie caricature. A pretty nice guy, for sure, but particularly if you’re a Brit, you’ll know exactly what I mean by this. It was the equivalent of meeting an Englishman wearing Union Jack boxer shorts, with a can of beer in one hand and a bag of chips in the other. But it was the other seatmate who turned out to be the one I ended up discussing science with.
For almost the entire flight we didn’t really exchange words, since either one or the other of us was sleeping, or I had my isolating earphones on and wasn’t up for chatting. However, as the flight came to a close I had to crack open my laptop to look up some immigration information, and when he saw the sciencey stuff splashed all over the screen he asked what I did. When I told him, he then asked me if I knew anything about zero-point energies. I told him that I did indeed, but, before I could brighten up at the thought of having a science enthusiast next to me, he then said
“I use those in my treatment methods”
At times like this a healthily populated decision tree pops up in one’s head. Do you smile politely and say something bland and pop the earphones back in? If not, and you engage the person in a discussion, how do you ensure that it doesn’t go off the rails? Do you have an exit strategy? What is to be gained by each of these possibilities?
In this case, my decision was simplified considerably by the fact that the plane was due to land in an hour, and that would provide a natural end to the discussion, whichever way it went.
So I asked him what he meant by that and he proceeded to tell me that he’d had a career in computing, but had been able to develop this amazing new treatment for asthma, cancer, and pretty much anything else that ails you, which involves controlling your emotions (there was something in there about tapping into the zero-point energy of all matter, but that’s as close as I got to seeing where all that would come in).
He told me that his treatment, or method, works. Rather than respond with the traditional British Rationalist reply – “What a load of old bollocks!”, I instead I asked him what he meant by “work”, and he said that he meant that he has personally seen it cure people of cancer. I asked him whether there had been any double blind trials involving statistically significant numbers of patients, and, to my surprise, he said that there hadn’t been (OK, that bit wasn’t surprising) and that he realized that was what it would take for his method to be accepted and that he was hoping someone would eventually come forward with the funds to support that.
He was really very sincere and pleasant, but obviously deeply misguided at best (please don’t arrive in the comments section championing this kind of nonsense). But what kept getting at me was that he would good-naturedly listen to what I said, agree with it mostly, and then keep saying that the method clearly worked. When I continued to challenge him on this definition, he then said that he didn’t have the technical knowledge to go up against someone like me (a scientist), but he had practiced the technique and seen it work. He also came out with many of the old favorites, like “people used to think that the world was flat, until they dared to go and find out if it was true”, to which I gave him back the old “it’s great to keep an open mind, of course, but not one so open as your brains fall out” (Snap!).
Anyway, now that I have a computer again, I’ve been able to look this guy up and it turns out his process has a web site called: The ZPoint process for instant Emotional Healing. Take a look – it is all that you may have imagined it to be from the above description of the conversation. Try to resist the temptation to bang your head against a wall after visiting the site – trust me, it hurts.
Melbourne is great. I’ll be posting more soon about the department, the city, the people, and my time here. In the meantime, keep your eyes open wide for those cranks and charlatans.
October 6th, 2006 at 3:53 am
‘… keep your eyes open wide for those cranks and charlatans.’
I sure will! Baez has a good essay on zero point energy: http://www.math.ucr.edu/home/baez/vacuum.html
Baez concludes with five possibilities for the value of the zero point energy: ~0, infinity, big, 0, and not determined. So maybe it is a bit early to be using it to cure cancer…
However, if the placebo effect could help people with cancer remain positive, that alone can extend their average lifespan to a maximum because it reduces the psychological stresses which put a nervous strain on the immune system:
‘While it might be tempting to think that the placebo effect is relatively minor, or that it only affects weak-minded or suggestible people, this is far from the truth. The published research studies on antidepressants show that placebos generally give an improvement of about 30%, whereas the figure for active treatments is usually only about 40%, not much better than placebo.
‘So the question arises – what is wrong with prescribing a “quack” treatment that relies completely on the placebo effect if it works in some cases? The most obvious problem is the fact that it may or may not work – it is mostly down to the psychology of the patient. If the treatment does not work, then the patient has spent time and money on something that is essentially a waste of time. Relying on a treatment that’s only benefit comes from the placebo effect can also be potentially dangerous, as it prevents the patient from using more effective treatments. In the case of something minor like hay fever this is not an issue, but for more serious illnesses such as cancer, it could mean the difference between life and death. …
‘… many medical drugs … have little or no benefit over and above the placebo effect. On average, 75% of the effectiveness of anti-depressants is due to the placebo effect, and a number of independent studies have shown that some anti-depressants are essentially worthless as they have no benefit above placebo whatsoever. …
‘… [Regarding "mysterious energy field" crackpots] It is likely that any effect is due to the needle puncturing the skin and masking other pains in the body, rather than due to some mysterious “energy field”.’
- http://www.mind-body-health.net/index.html?placebo.html&1
Without either objective statistically significant evidence or a full causal mechanism, medicine would degenerate into witchcraft again very quickly. Presumably witch-doctors employ mainly the placebo effect, with just a little help from herbal remedies…
October 6th, 2006 at 3:58 am
Hahaha, “I use those in my treatment methods”.
When I did my PhD on quantum teleprtation, I was once at a party where someone asked what I did. I told her, and then she asked whether I was familiar with the work of Dr Deepak Chopra on quantum healing. Needless to say, I wasn’t.
October 6th, 2006 at 4:14 am
everybody thought the world was flat… ooooh, reeeeally?
October 6th, 2006 at 4:59 am
What I always find interesting about ‘lay scientists’ (for want of a better, less elevating, term) is the contrast between their apparent unwavering belief in their theories and their lack of commitment to do everything necessary to validate and bring them to the wider world (beyond spamming everyone with a university or publishers email address).
If I had a cure for cancer (or more often, in my experience, a new framework for understanding the cosmos and/or proving Einstein/thermodynamics/Copenhagen wrong), there is nothing on this planet that would stop me from demonstrating its efficacy.
If this meant going back to school and doing a raft of further degrees while washing dishes and living off baked potatoes for years on end, this seems a paltry price to pay. If it meant quiting my day job in order to hitch-hike my way around the world to find a backer to fund the necessary research, again, no contest.
Yet without exception, when I suggest this to people who come to me claiming to have a world changing scientific idea, despite having little or no scientific training, they respond that it is unfair that the burden of proof should rest on them. I wonder if this lack of commitment belies a deeper, perhaps subconscious, appreciation that what they’re talking is baloney?
b.t.w. closer to home (or rather closer to physics, and the University of Melbourne) if you’re looking for amusement you should ask your hosts if they know anything of the story behind the Chakra Shirt (bioresonant.com — which purports to enhance your aura using the principles of physics and a grotesquely coloured shirt, and ‘discovered’ by a chap who apparently used to lecture in the Engineering Department). If nothing else the site always gives me a giggle, and proves the principle that a PhD is no inoculation against foolishness (as Bob Park is fond of saying).
October 6th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Hey! The ZPoint Process cured me of my addiction to objective reality. It can cure you to.
October 6th, 2006 at 7:30 am
Mark
Welcome downunder! May it bring you a fresh perspective on reality, as you look out into the night sky towards the galactic centre!
October 6th, 2006 at 7:32 am
I had a professor of ethnography in grad school who was struggling with an acquired chemical sensitivity illness. We students had to go through a scrub-up regimen before meeting her face to face. Some of the other professors considered her condition mostly psychosomatic, but I remained neutral most of the time. Then on one occasion she announced to her class that she was doing much better because her “natural healer” had “balanced her energy fields”. Several of us exchanged quizzical glances and then settled down while the professor started her lecture on validating your data.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:24 am
On a long flight from Hawaii to Denver, my seat-mate was an art teacher in the Honolulu schools. A very nice and interesting guy. After talking about his work, we turned to mine (in MRI), and when he heard ‘magnetic’, then he started asking about walking through walls — he’d read about some Indian gurus who could use magnetic energy to walk through walls and wondered if I knew about it. It was a little surreal.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:34 am
Maybe you give that zero-point healer a visit.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Whoa. “The ZPoint Process for Instant Emotional Healing”? Someone’s taken a few dozen pages from the L. Ron playbook.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:46 am
Hey Mark, you are a patient, patient man. My first experience with that sort of thing was a friend in grad school, pretty talented pianist, who was very much into performing miracles. I had the same sort of conversations with him, where he would listen very carefully, nod at all the right places, and not take anything in…I think this sometimes passes as superb communication skills.
October 6th, 2006 at 9:42 am
The saddest thing about these clowns is that they prey on people with cancer, a disease with a variety of unpredictable courses, which is often fatal but not immediately so, and very unpleasant — so the people who suffer from it have time to connect with these quacks, and ample motivation for doing so.
You will never see the same nonsense being offered as a treatment for a gunshot wound or acute heart failure, since these need treatment right away, and are typically fatal without it. (And yet if you can cure cancer, you would think fixing a spot of tissue damage or a dicky pump would be a walk in the park). Likewise, while serious acne sufferers may fervently wish for a cure, they are nowhere near as easy to fleece as someone with secondaries…
I must be a bit dyspeptic this morning, so on a brighter note: Mark — enjoy Melbourne, it is a fun city and I am looking forward to being there in a couple of months for the “Texas meeting”
October 6th, 2006 at 11:00 am
I like my zeropoint better. Click on name
Chaos and complexity had to find reason?:)
October 6th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
It could have been worse.
A couple of years ago I settled into my seat for a flight from LA to Hawaii. The nice middle-aged lady next to me asked what I did, so I told her I was an astronomer, flying to Hawaii to observe with the Keck Telescopes. That’s when my flight became a nightmare. Turns out she was an inner-city schoolteacher who was flying to Hawaii on her own dime to visit the, wait for it, Keck telescopes, so that she could tell her students all about this.
I have no problem being rude to crackpots, but here was this woman who
was clearly deeply committed to a tough job and hyper-interested. Chatting
with her for a half hour would have been rewarding, but its about a five hour
flight and she would not shut up. Even little hints like taking out papers, opening
my computer etc, did little to stop the stream of questions.
I got off that plane feeling like I’d been run over by a truck.
October 6th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
One of my favorite airplane stories was in the days of the Superconducting SuperCollider. I was flying out of Dallas after visiting the SSC lab and was sitting next to a farmer from outside of Dallas. He was convinced that his tractor was going to run in circles when the SSC accelerator was turned on. I decided there was nothing I could say that would convince him otherwise, so I said nothing.
Even worse are the (always) elderly men that try to hit on me. In addition to an endless stream of chatting me up, I’ve had them comment on how the airplane movie and dinner was better than a date or how it was great to “sleep” with me on an overnight flight, had them put their hand on my knee, had them try to kiss me, and had them try to put their head on my shoulder to sleep. So I guess it can be worse than a simple endless stream of mindless chatter from a seatmate…
October 6th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
…he said that he didn’t have the technical knowledge…
Maybe all he needs is a degree from the Institute of Quantum Biofeedback Naturopathic Medicine.
October 6th, 2006 at 5:37 pm
You are a kind and patient soul to be so nice to such a loon.
Not to equate Chinese medicine with quackery such as this, but it’s interesting to me that it (chinese medicine) is only recently joining the world of true scientific research. For example, this school and this group are trying to establish a scientific basis for their field. For example the “paper of the month” on that second link is a study of the placebo effect…
Which is interesting to me, since I consider myself very skeptical, but I have encountered overwhelming anecdotal evidence through the course of my life that at least some of these techniques are very effective in some cases. Something I consider important is that they are trying to find where allopathic (western) medicine and can complement each other, and where only one is appropriate. For example, no serious person claims Chinese medicine is an appropriate primary treatment for cancer; but it does seem to be effective in many cases for alleviating the side effects of chemo and radiation, so there is a complementary relationship in that case.
This seems to me like a good instance of keeping one’s mind open the right amount.
October 7th, 2006 at 10:47 am
As an academic flying to meetings of like kind, when not doing that last minute editing/reviewing/reading I’ve had more interesting than not seatmate conversations, ranging from a college student struggling with his choice of major to an astrophysicist/astronaut to the leader of a small cult to a man bringing his young kids back from his wife who had taken them to live in another state with a man she met in an internet chatroom. The conversation with the astrophysicist began with the book he was carrying, “How People Learn”. The conversation with the suddenly abandoned dad began with asking him if he wanted me to switch seats so he could sit between his kids, who understandably were more than a little rambunctious; much like Steven Covey’s story in the 7 Habits. Getting off the plane last night was a young man wearing a T-shirt reading something to the effect “What don’t you understand about quantum mechanics?”. My short answer as I walked by was “everything” so that might have been an interesting seatmate conversation but I should of asked if he reads Cosmic Variance.
October 7th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
I did a Google search on “teaching pigs to sing” & found this article (published in Skeptical Enquirer, May/June 2006) entitled
Teaching pigs to sing: an experiment in bringing critical thinking to the masses: a skeptic encounters psychics, astrologers, and other strange creatures and discovers firsthand how they react to science and reason.
excerpt:
A massage therapist specialized in energy medicine. She could feel the energy fields around a patient’s body and twiddle them to help patients heal. She knew this was real, because a scientist had actually measured the human aura with some scientific instrument. What kind of instrument? Where were the data published? She didn’t have the specifics, but she assured me I could learn about it in a book called The Isaiah Effect. I got that book and read every word of it, but couldn’t even find the word aura, much less anything remotely scientific. It is arguably the worst book I have ever read, with an average of one and a half errors of fact or logic per page–I counted. I told her that I found nothing in the book about measuring auras, and her only answer was, “Oh.”
…
The Pig Instructor Reconsiders
At this point, I had to recognize that these people did not inhabit my universe. They rejected the scientific method, they didn’t care about objective truth, and they were happy in their superstitions. I tried hard to understand them, but I flailed. I find science and reality far more exciting than superstition. I agree with Lily Tomlin that “the best mind-altering drug is the truth.” Why were the people at “Mingling of the Minds” so reluctant to give up their unfounded beliefs?”
October 7th, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Even worse are the (always) elderly men that try to hit on me.
************************************************
Not to turn CV into a site for girl-talk but that describes my life. The conversation starts with “oh, how interesting, so you teach Physics”. Stupid me, I always take the bait and excitedly start talking about how much I love to teach Physics and after a few minutes I see their eyes openly appraising my anatomy. Mark, I’d rather talk to your loon.
October 8th, 2006 at 7:35 am
Hi Citrine, I can’t appraise your body since I cannot see it
But I understand A light year is the distance travelled
by light in a ‘year’ (is a light year a solar year?)
Could you just remind me in simple layman’s terms
how physics measures a billion light years or two.
-
As in a day is an earth’s revolution
and a solar year is an orbit around the Sun
a billion solar years would be a billion orbits
but light travels faster than the earth around the sun
we know that because the laws of physics state nothing
with the size (and mass) of a planet can travel at the speed of light
so how many billion solar orbits in a billion light years
October 8th, 2006 at 8:08 am
A Light Year is approximately
the distance travelled by earth around the Sun
in approximately fifteen hundred years.
-
So how old is the Universe?
and how far has light travelled since the “big bang”?
-
Hope you are all having fun in the sunlight!
PS – moonlight is sunlight reflected by moon
-
October 8th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Since the commencement of this dark age, a confession of having flown on commercial airlines is to me good and sufficient evidence of a severe lack of human integrity, dignity, responsibility, conscience, and higher intelligence in the person.
I mean, even chimps don’t tolerate abuse without complaint, but, I suppose they can be conditioned to do so.
It’s actually laughable to watch so-called intellegent scientists submitting to Skinner methods administered by DHS. As if they possessed some special immunity by reason of having advanced degrees or the reception of their peers at their destination will operate as a kind of antidote.
Shall we have double blind study threshholds for admitting any of our personal experience ?
When studies superceded the test by repeated experiment as a method, something critical was lost, in my opinion.
The unaware are unaware of being unaware. – Merrill Jenkins
http://www.ninehundred.net/control/mc-ch6.html
October 8th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
On one flight I found myself sitting next to a young man (aged 12 I guess) who clearly had a scientific bent. When I pulled out a notebook and started making calculations in Clifford algebra he asked me what I was working on. I told him I was trying to understand electrons. He said “oh, so you’re an electrician”. I said, “that’s right”. Not a peep out of him for the rest of the long flight.
For adults, I find that the best way of getting them to leave me to my thoughts is to steer the conversation onto the fascinating and beautiful intersection of time, money, death and love — (life insurance, interest rates and morbidity tables).
October 8th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Since the commencement of this blog, I have felt that reading and then writing lengthy comments on the blogs of people one considers to have a severe lack of human integrity, dignity, responsibility, conscience, and higher intelligence, is good and sufficient evidence of a severe lack of a sense of irony.
October 8th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
…people used to think that the world was flat, until they dared to go and find out if it was true.
I know this is a thread hijack, but the flat earth stuff is a complete myth. Not only Eratosthenes, but Plato, Aristotle and pretty much every literate person in the middle ages thought the Earth was spherical.
From the wikipedia article “Flat Earth”:
The modern misconception that people of the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat first entered the popular imagination in the nineteenth century.
October 8th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
I can’t believe people are suggesting that a guy this scientifically literate might have also gotten something wrong about the flat earth idea
October 9th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Joanne is favourably mentioned at the climax of Daily Lama’s post on The Female Brain.
October 9th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
What a marvelous ride the last few weeks have been!! It truly is a wonder to behold, as I reflect on all that I’ve experienced. It’s been a rollercoaster ride, this is true!! I’ve had some ups, and I’ve had my downs, but as I reflect on it, I understand that without the lows, how would I know how high I can go, attaining levels of grandeur so that I can indeed look at the eyes of the Creator of the Universe and greet him with a smile, a smile that rocks the very foundations of the Cosmos, and one that holds all the darkness at bay, the smile of a small child!! Wonderful!!