Ridecamp: Re: [RC] [RC] Critical Thinking/The six rules of evidential reasoning /was pet communicators

Hi Cindy,

I'd need the actual study data, not the book.  Anyone can and and often do
publish books claiming all sorts of bizarre things. Common tactics to add
credibility are: quoting non-existent studies, anecdotal evidence (which is
only useful if it is duplicable and contains enough information to be
tested), not referencing actual claims (i.e. the phrase "In a study done,
such and such was discovered to be true"....well...what study? Done by whom
and where and at what time? All these things are important - claims must be
referenced) and misquoting actual studies.  Most, if not all, truly
significant findings are published in the appropriate peer- reviewed
scientific journals and can be referenced from there. One of the most
important things in a study is duplicity - can it be done again and achieve
similar results? A study that produces results that cannot be duplicated is
not very worthwhile for evidentiary purposes.

As the co-chair of the office of Alternative Medicine, it can also be said
that he is not exactly in a position of an independent researcher.

Even researchers that have gone down in history are guilty of these actions.
Carl Jung was big on anecdotal evidence and a lot of his work boiled down to
"It is this way because I think it is.", and he'd quote anecdotes to support
it, without doing actual controlled studies.

Finally, I have no doubt that if a religious person is aware that people are
praying for him/her, it is comforting. And a comfortable patient is more
likely to see progress than a worried, stressed one. But does the prayer
itself have a mystical effect? Absolutely not. Its value is in the emotional
reassurance provided by the patient's loved ones - which *is* highly
important to an individual's well-being and recovery.

And yes, we're getting way off topic. *stopping now*.

~Shere
----- Original Message -----
From: C. Eyler <eyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: S.N. <nikstai@xxxxxxx>; <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 1:45 AM
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] Critical Thinking/The six rules of evidential
reasoning /was pet communicators


> Not original source material, but check out the book "Healing Words"
> (published by HarperSanFrancisco) by Larry Dossey, M.D.  At the time my
copy
> was published, the author was co-chairman of the Panel on Mind/Body
> Interventions, Office of Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of
> Health.  He was formerly the Chief of Staff of Humana Medical City Dallas.
>
> Cindy
>
>
> > > I would not say I am a believer in the paranormal, just not willing to
> > rule
> > > it out. They have found and proven that folks who are prayed for heal
> > sooner
> > > even if the person praying or being prayed for is not religious. Why
is
> > > that, no one knows.
>
>
>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=