Lies That Are Truer Than Truth

Truth is a funny thing. It is hotly debated through politics, religion, and even the halls of academia. But when push comes to shove, how do most people decide which truth to accept as their own?

Can it be proven?

Proven. As in…a body of work…verified and stamped with the approval of science, the god of all knowledge seeking minds, local and global.

But can science be trusted? And who verifies the verifiers?

Let’s look at a well-known body of scientific work. After reading an analysis of our first researcher, would you trust the outcome?

Scientists stated that his experiments fell short of proof.

They criticized him for designing his experiments in ways that left them prone to manipulation or human error.

He was offered $1,000,000 if he could reproduce the experiment under scientific test conditions. He did not participate.

Literary critics described his written research as “spectacularly eccentric”.

I am speaking here of Masaru Emoto’s 1999 discovery of Messages from Water, and his controversial claim that water is not only capable of reacting to positive thoughts and words, but of restructuring itself into more or less beautiful forms, based upon mental or vocal input.

I’m not here to convince you that he was right….or that he was wrong.

I’m just wondering if you’ve ever considered that “true science” is a slippery slope. Fraught with all the drama of a reality show who’s contestants display alternating realities…depending on who’s looking.

After all, “real scientists” debunked Emoto’s findings. And yet, these self-same sanctified ones have hailed the research of others whose work actually supports the very concept that Emoto was ridiculed for.

It’s all about the power of words.

Socially and scientifically, an onslaught of brainy words poo-poo-ed Emoto’s work. Branded him a fraud, not one quarter of an inch above fictional Professor Harold Hill of The Music Man who claimed that children could play instruments without the benefit of a teacher. Just by thinking.

As it turns out, both Masaru Emoto and Harold Hill were right. Depending on how you find your truth, and whose words you choose to believe.

Would you trust Scientific American magazine, the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States? After all, even Albert Einstein, has contributed articles to this 170 year old institution.

Let’s look at the basic premise of Emoto’s findings.

Thoughts influence biology.

Now let’s look at related research findings from Scientific American magazine.

1. People who are put in the mindset of an airline pilot, and then actually operate a working flight simulator, showed improved vision.
2. Hotel room attendants who self reported that they do not get enough exercise recorded multiple improvements in health after being counseled that that their work, in fact, provided the recommended exercise for a healthy lifestyle. After being monitored for 4 weeks, they lost weight, body fat percentages and waist-to-hip ratios dropped, and systolic blood pressure decreased.
3. Expectancies and learned associations have been shown to change the chemistry and circuitry of the brain. These changes may result in such physiological and cognitive outcomes as less fatigue, less immune system reaction, elevated hormone levels, and less anxiety.

Each Scientific American example is cited with approved scientific research. Whereas…Emoto wasn’t really terrific at recording his work in confirmable ways. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

In honor of all the unproven researchers of the world, I ask of humanity, five things.

1. Stay open to weirdos.
2. Read widely.
3. Look at research from multiple angles.
4. Be more concerned with how a body of research asks you to reflect…than whether it is true or not.
5. Try it out for yourself.

I started exploring with the power of words many years ago. As it turns out, I was able to ditch some pretty fancy genetic “mutations” and the accompanying physical symptoms, by choosing my thoughts more carefully.

Just because my DNA showed malfunctions, didn’t mean that I was doomed. Just because my entire family claimed the same hereditary physical challenges, didn’t mean I had to. Research in every area of medical and alternative medicine failed me. Only when I finally turned in a completely new and scandalous direction, did I find the key.

Without the words of weirdos in many fields, I would not have been able to convince this logical, skeptical brain of mine to give mind/body science a spin.

Without a shadow of a doubt, I am here to celebrate unscientific results, and the lies that are truer than truth.

And from one of my favorite weirdos, Jacod Nordby, Blessed Are the Weird…