Enemies of Reason - Slaves to Superstition(4 of 5)

[mocrg]

Ask people if they think they are a better than average driver and most people will say yes. But of course everyone can't be better than average! People fool themselves.

[a10fjet]

I think they should have buried the boxes so they would be doing what they usually do. walking over the water.

Not that it would have made the slightest difference.

[billy1212ist]

He is wrong,wood is" knocked ",this comes from the middle ages,when one wanted to get god,or a gods attention,he would knock on a tree, which sent the knock up it into the heavens.A doorbell of sorts.

[billy1212ist]

Google "Coral Castle",it's fact,and on film.A 105 pound little man,moved 20 ton blocks of coral,all alone with NO big machinery,today's machinery can't get in there to even try it.It's in Florida,10 feet wide,five feet high, 20 or 30 feet long.He said he used magnetic fields.

[MUHAMMADFUCKEDAKID1]

DOWSERS ARE FAILURES!

[7j8i9m]

James Randi has put tens of thousands of dowsers through double-blind testing. He's prepared to offer any dowser one million dollars. He isn't even involved in the experiments, he asks outside sources to agree on a testing method and to only inform him when the rest is complete. The percentage of dowsers who have proven their abilities? 0%. The number of times the scientific theory that dowsing is BS has worked? 100%. Pick a side.

[NonnyMus1]

I'm shocked that none of the dowsers claimed they failed because the water was in plastic bottles inside plastic boxes! ie. 'Plastic is *waterproof*!! That's why I couldn't sense it!!1!!one!!'

[maugustyniak]

Dowsers are retards.

[daniloorbolato]

I never saw so many loser together in Hight definition!

[Deathlist123]

its final we will never be able to help out the worlds dumbasses i guess the ones who arent on the same page are the normal ones

[tobynsaunders]

Dawkins mentioned a lack of ability to change one's mind in accordance with new evidence: the endocannabinoid system has a lot to do with this. Some have produce fewer endocannabinoids and/or have fewer cannabinoid receptors, & so their brains simple lack the plasticity/creativity needed to shape thinking to match reality. The endocannabinoid system is however easily supplemented with phytocannabinoids, from the unjustly-notorious cannabis plant, & this supplementation is extremely important.

[yasiru89]

Intention is important because it is so rare, because only truly sentient beings can exert it on the world. Those with weak egos, unwilling in their innermost depths to confront the reality of this (because it paints a solitary and desolate sort of picture of ourselves and the state of seemingly purposelessness we find ourselves thrust into in life) and that we are not moved by some cosmic puppeteer's hand really are holding mankind back.

[Spazmonaut]

I'm totally on science side, but doesn't it make you think that when the dowser says that "because it was a test the outcome changed" make you think of other scientific theory, ie. the quantum, somewhat unexplainable, world... just sayin'...

[urantivirus]

@Spazmonaut Perhaps you don't understand quantum science if you are comparing it to doswing. lol

I'm just bugging you, but it's probably true. :P

[Spazmonaut]

@urantivirus - I totally don't understand quantum physics! Does anyone? hehe... I got lost at "the mere act of observing changes the outcome" - and "photons can only be observed from one angle", etc... that stuff blows my mind and I get lost in my head with too many questions. But if you can tell me why within the electromagnetic spectrum the speed of particles increases all the way up to visible light and not increase past that, then I'm all ears! :)

[Jpign137]

@Spazmonaut To clear things up here, EM fields are just radiation, so to say "within the electromagnetic spectrum the speed of particles..." doesn't really follow pur se. But the reason we can't get objects with mass to the speed of light is because of the Lorentz Transformation that Einstein figured out. That is 1/(sqrt(1-((v^2)/(c^2)))). As v^2 approaches c^2, the denominator gets tiny, making the numerator (which contains the mass energy) infinite and you can't accelerate infinite mass.

[TheRichardHinckley]

@urantivirus Nobody currently understands quantum physics. According to Richard Feinman, if you think you understand quantum physics, it proves that you don't.

[urantivirus]

@TheRichardHinckley Yes, I know. :)

I'm familiar with that quote, it's quite true. But quantum physics isn't as unexplainable as Spazmonaut was making it sound, it's still scientific theory. I know Spaz wan't being 100% serious though.

[scarro]

@urantivirus as the outcome changes when observed differently; that's in quantum physics and it's the thing it makes it differ from larger scale (older) physics. Was this experiment on a quantum level?..

[omarsabih]

@TheRichardHinckley It's not like that...Quantum Mechanics is 'mysterious' not because we cannot understand it, it's mysterious because you never know where it will show up and what it will do next...

[NonnyMus1]

@TheRichardHinckley According to Richard *Feynman in his 1965 book, The Character of Physical Law", you mean. There's been tons of work done on Quantum Mechanics in the past 46 years!

Feynman was a great guy, a great physicist and a wonderful teacher. Please don't quote one of his old books - it kind of insults his memory. Also, if you quote him, realize he died in 23 years ago. Physics has progressed a lot since then, also. Thanks!

[Jpign137]

@Spazmonaut Quantum mechanics is not applicable to macroscopic phenomena. A Dowser using it as a defense is talking nonsense and merely demonstrating their ignorance. The 'observer effect' results due to the effect of a single photon disturbing an atom. Obviously this has nothing whatever to do with jugs of water and sand in buckets. And quantum mechanics is very explainable and, in a sense, predictable. It's the understanding of it that is the difficult part.

[SkeksisRule]

@Spazmonaut Because testing the dowser proves that dowsing isn't real and doesn't work. You find a conclusion fairly easily. Testing something in the quantum world results in new information and will eventually lead to a new understanding of how things work on that fundamental level. If that information contradicts previous conclusions then it doesn't prove the whole of quantum theory false.

[yillow1]

@Spazmonaut

Um testing something doesn't make it suddenly stop working. We test gravity all the time and never had an instance of an item just floating up into space. Never. 100% track record.

[DevilMayFry]

@Spazmonaut I know what you're referencing, and it's not what you might think. It's not that the mere act of observing the particle causes it to collapse the wave-function, it's that the means by which we observe it, interfere with the particle and cause it to behave accordingly. A really crude example would be that the particle in question is in total darkness, and to view it we shine a light on it. The photons in the light interact with it and cause it to act as it does.

[aikighost]

@Spazmonaut The differences between dowsing and quantum mechanics are many. The mechanism by which quantum outcomes are modified by observation is understood and predictable on a mathematical level to an incredible precision. In fact without that knowledge modern electronics wouldn't be possible, also quantum mechanics made several odd and remarkable predictions which at the time in the 20s and 30s seemed bizarre but which under extensive scientific testing have all shown themselves to be true.

[Gajoobles]

@Spazmonaut We don't understand Quantum Theory but one big difference is that the equations work and we can make predictable observations with them.

[SanRafaelSwell]

No, it makes me think the dowser is ashamed and is trying to come up with excuses.

[rolynstone48]

It's just easier and less scary to believe a lie -

than to accept the truth !

[JohNirvana]

There's more thruth in every word he said than there is in those funny ass religious books.

[Llavez]

"But what does spirituality actually mean?"... and the superstitious book falls flat on its face. haha

[cygnusx555]

is this about the flying spagetti monster

[Ecislav]

Wow!!! Some really spiritual pigeons there;)

[Ecislav]

Wow!!! Some really spiritual pidgeons there;)

[iEmpyrea]

These enemies of reason should be executed in the name of natural selection and the order of the unholy inquisition! who's with me?! :>

[OlafGy]

It is sad to see, that Richard Dawkins is picking and choosing just as well the Experiments that support his theory while ignoring othes as the ones he criticises do.

The Supersticion condicion of B. F. Skinner has been disproven at this date. Although the explanation seems clever other scientist that have repeated the experiment found out that all pigins show the same behaviour which is to prepare for food (woun't go into detail here).

Atheism can be a belive as well...

[PAULOcbi]

@OlafGy if atheism is a belief then OFF is a t.v. channel

[OlafGy]

@PAULOcbi Well my Point is, that atheism is not the OFF switch but a different Channel.

[PAULOcbi]

@OlafGy well for atheists 'verifiable truth' has the highest value,and for religionists 'faith'  or 'belief with no evidence' is the highest value. I really dont see how you can consider the tested truth to be a 'belief system' when the only requirement is to accept the simple proven facts.

[WilderWein77]

@OlafGy Atheism has been the ultimate ON switch for me. I've never been so appreciative of the world that I live in. It has completely opened my mind.

[trequor]

@OlafGy Your spelling is horrible. Superstition is written above and pigeon is spelled that way. Richard Dawkins did include both skeptics and believers

[CRISNCHIPS12398]

So God can't heal amputees, but he allows people to find water? Good job.

[SirGoP2]

First time I heard about dowsing I was sceptical. But as with anything, I would try to explain it to myself, in case it actually works. I would like to see a test done on whether electrical currents are generated along natural underground streams of mineral rich water, much like a solar flare can generate currents along power lines strong enough to disable power stations. Could these currents be strong enough to change the alignment of a pair of metal sticks?

[ItzTheDean]

@SirGoP2 it might be theoretically possible

[VayMasters]

@ItzTheDean

Everything is theoretically possible unless proven impossible. Like the God question, smart Atheists say "I don't know" and then maybe say they feel, while the fool just says "there is no God".

It's sorta like a little green humanoid alien existing. There's no way to prove that little green humanoid aliens do not exist, unless you were everywhere at once. Proving something exists is much easier, since all you need is one little green humanoid alien.

[JazzyKat2009]

There are many things which Dawkins cannot explain away. Of course, I do believe there is no God as invented from the mind of man, but I don't believe in the evolutionary crap either. There is some higher intelligence which the mind of man cannot yet discover. Perhaps in time

[urantivirus]

@JazzyKat2009 You seem like a deist, which is usually a good and rational belief. But your "disbelief" in the theory of evolution tells me you're not being that rational. I would say it's a safe bet that you know very little about the theory and most of your knowledge consists of strawmen. Would you suggest it's better to believe in an inconceivable supernatural creator over a scientific theory with tons of evidence to back it up? It's best to leave god out of the equation.

[334286]

@urantivirus You don't believe in supernatural revelation, so you think deism is a good belief. If it hasn't happened to you, it must be false, is your view. Well if you don't seek, you'll never find.

[urantivirus]

@334286 I'm not going to believe in a god just because other people have personal testimonies and ancient superstitions. If someone can give me any reason to believe in a god, or better yet god himself gives me a reason, then I'll consider it. Then again I should only worry about such a thing if I assume god is as jealous and childish as the bible makes him out to be. Does god really care that much if I don't believe in him? It would be pretty silly if he did.

[334286]

@urantivirus You won't consider it, no matter how many good reasons are given , or how much evidence is presented. You'll always make excuses for rejecting Him, until the time comes when you ask for salvation, if ever you reach that point. The real enemies of reason are intellectuals (who have rejected common sense for knowledge).

[carneyfex]

@334286 As long as the current number of good reasons (zero) persists, I don't see why he should consider this. It is impressively simple to prove that God exists - you need only one piece of verifiable evidence that cannot be explained by anything else but God. Alas, no such evidence exists, and your God of Gaps in Knowledge is quickly receding even further with every passing day by increasing number of things explained without ever invoking any superior intelligence.

[334286]

@carneyfex Verifiable piece of evidence! You refuse to accept any piece of evidence which you don't like. Evidence for God is increasing with each passing day.

[carneyfex]

@334286 I refuse accept any piece of evidence which does not work and it has nothing to do with my personal preferences. I don't particularly like onions, however, I don't deny the evidence they exist. Personal beliefs, differently from religion, are not inherent in scientific thinking, rather the opposite, they are strongly suppressed so one can see how the Universe works, not how we WISH it to work.

As a side note, going from 0 to 0 is hardly an increment.

[urantivirus]

@334286 "The real enemies of reason are intellectuals (who have rejected common sense for knowledge)."

Then there are people like you who reject both. I was raised a Christian and no one answered any of my prayers, ever. There is absolutely no reason for me to believe in a god. Do you have a good reason for me to believe in YOUR god? If your reason is the threat of hell, then no thank you. I don't respond to threats from your childish and jealous god.

[Ronni3no2]

@334286 1) There's no proof that it's happened to anyone.

2) And if you seek but don't find, then you just didn't look hard enough, amirite?

[334286]

@Ronni3no2 1)There's plenty of proof from plenty of people. 2)When people sincerely search for God, they don't do it to prove a point or to discover a fact, they do it because they want to be better, come what may. To do so requires a lot of stillness..

[334286]

@Ronni3no2 You'd like to think so..

[trequor]

@334286 Complete and utter nonsense. Many things have happened that were never sought out: Playdough was invented as a wallpaper cleaner, to name an example. If it never happened because there is no evidence backing and evidence against it; it is false. If you think it happened because you want to or are afraid of it, that is not evidence.

[334286]

@trequor You've confused me. I can't follow your logic.

[trequor]

@334286 YOU confuse ME. If all we had to do to find something was search for it, God would have been truly found long ago. Desperate people who rely on faith will always bend reality to fit their needs. Searching is not the only thing required to discover, the object of ones search must exist to be truly found.

[mawel1955]

@urantivirus When you find the missing link, then talk to me. I have left God out of the equation... since he does not exist except in the mind of man.  The "tons' of scientific evidence is still plenty lacking. You know that, I know that. When you go beyond the mind, only then can you discover that which is immeasurable.

[urantivirus]

@mawel1955 Missing link? Are you referring to evolution? If you are, I suggest you do your home work. Just because you're are ignorant of the evidence, it doesn't make it missing. And let me be the first to tell you this. If there was a missing link, I wouldn't be the one to find it. Judging from your extremely ignorant comment, I don't think you actually know what science is or how to use it. I'm almost certain you don't know what biological evolution is or how it works.

[mawel1955]

@urantivirus You are the ignorant one. No one has been able to prove evolution. It is still a theory. It is flawed. Just like the God concept is flawed.

[Llavez]

@mawel1955 Theory is a word used to respect our growing knowledge in science. A theory is an explanation to connect several undeniable facts, not some random, unproven guesswork. It is a fact that chromosome 2 in humans originates from 2 primate chromosomes. It is a fact that evolution is "descent with modification," as you can see by looking at your parents. It is a fact that skin tone is a result of environmental factors and sun exposure. You are delusion or ignorant if you believe otherwise.

[trequor]

@mawel1955 it is quite impossible to 'go beyond the human mind'. We exist in our minds as in our bodies, how could we conceive something that is beyond the human mind? Evolution may still be in the works of completely understanding, but at least it has LOGIC on it's side. (and not the flawed, broken, drive-a-bus-through-the-holes-­in-it kind)

[mawel1955]

@trequor That is where you are wrong. You can never know what Truth is if you feel it is quite "impossible to go beyond the mind". When you mind is without thought, only then can you know what lies beneath. What is so logical about evolution? Why aren't the present monkeys and apes, gorillas, chimps, etc., evolving into higher consciousness? There is no logic if it is incomplete and has so many missing parts.

[trequor]

@trequor The mind being without thought is referred to death. Logic is the thought process of building conclusions on mutually supporting evidence. You seem to be a little mixed up. Tell me also, what is this Great Truth you speak of? The great truth that only you seem to be able to find and have zero evidence supporting it. I do not pretend to know all the answers, however, apes and monkeys are perhaps evolving diffirently than humans. Or maybe they haven't yet reached the complexer ideas.

[billy1212ist]

@urantivirus You saying that the person is not being rational because of disbelief in evolution is way off base.WHY ? Well like my X-WIFE, they are rational,but rationally illogical.Stay away from them they are never wrong.

[334286]

@JazzyKat2009 Such as God, for example. So you'll put God on trial using convenient evidence, until you judge mankind to be above the Almighty so to judge Him to be real. By facts and then by social consensus, of course!

[HeavyDickSince93]

@JazzyKat2009 Are you suggesting Ancient Aliens??

[trequor]

@JazzyKat2009 How is evolution crap? It is proven every hour of every day: the will to progress. Progression is evolution, certain traits are kept and improved, others are deserted. Reason and intellegience.

[mawel1955]

@trequor Progress and evolution are not the same thing.

[trequor]

@mawel1955 Why not? Evolution is progress. Perhaps progress is not exclusively evolution?

[knockknockIKillYou]

I think dowsing is a poor mans metal detector lol

[BoozyBeggar]

Answer to D's last question: spirituality has no specific meaning. Everyone who uses it to describe themselves has there own definition. I would think it should have something to do with ghosts.

[Sturmmann]

yep we're all like pigeons and we shit on everyone's cars

that makes sense

[Disthron]

I wonder if Zerzys actually had some guy wip the sea.

[Sturmmann]

@Disthron

nah he just had some guy named see wipped

[libertarianjury]

Dowdy dowsers don't discover damn dick!

"I think once we've explained it to them, they understand..."

"This state of denial is extraordinary" LOL!

I think that scapegoat is smarter than a lot of those "dowsers"

[wybo2]

My Great grandfather claimed that he could tell if the veal in a dairy cow was a male or a female by using sticks.

Weirdly enough, his preductions were 51% right.

That prooves that his way worked.

[pacificguitarist]

@wybo2

uh.......

[Chantzehao]

@wybo2 I'm assuming that was a clever bit of sarcasm, nicely done. XD

[xavtron]

@wybo2 hey that's above pure chance, he must be right, I'm convinced

[HellesBringer]

Religion is as meaningless as any fairy tale. Man-made, rusty and useless in the modern world.

[TrueRedBaron]

AHAHAHA those stupid birds! People don't do that... wait.

[TrueRedBaron]

AHAHAHA those stupid birds! People don't do that... wait.

[pjh206]

I can't see sections 2-3

[HimmiJoe]

The pigeon thing is so cute. It's like dogs sitting down when they think they're getting something good.

Funny how humans doing the same thing gets on my nerves... :P

[Snakkpack]

Professor Dawkins is always "crossing his fingers" for people to give up their claims that are based purely on delusion and mind tricks.

=P

[TreuloseTomate]

I feel, the whole test ... is wrong!

[frankystein12]

Dawsers, you are all FAILURES!!! HAHAHA

[eddie2042]

1:02 British Dentistry at its finest!

[devourerofbabies]

Let's see if your teeth are in as good condition when you're Dawkins' age.

[LIVEETERNALLOVE]

@eddie2042 lol

[LIVEETERNALLOVE]

@eddie2042 There's a perfectly reasonable, scientific explanation for that result

[starguts]

9:40

Gravity ftw.

[masked0crusader]

dawkins says: "this state of denial is extraordinary" LOL!

[qanazir]

I am discouraged that people don't seem to be rational enoough to see through this un or disproven nonsense.

[Spanky00Cheeks]

Stupid pigeons. Oh wait, we are no better.

[Cold1Forged]

I hate how they are like that at 1:00. Where they obviously proven wrong but they always have an answer for everything.

[christe68]

wow these people are crazy, even when I was a Christian , I was more rational than THAT !

[arachnipope]

The purpose of Occam's Razor is to slice through nonsense. Keep it sharp and practice with it often, it's a self-defese weapon for the mind.

[arachnipope]

The dowser at 3:58 says he "feels the whole test is wrong" ....because he failed; if he had passed , he would have loved the test and totally support it....typical sign if dilusional thinking. If the test was so bad, why take it?

[barkatthemoon16]

Dowsing is very weird, and it is oddly accurate when it comes to finding the spot to dig a well. The double-blind test needs to be redone with MOVING water below ground level. I have always thought it had something to do with either magnetic pull or the electricity in one's body.

[riseofatheism]

And guess what. it has nothing to do with any of those things.

[mebkick01]

You're showing your denial. With water moving or still, dowsing is fake. Instead of having something to do with "magnetic pull or electricity" why not try something more logical - like reason? Try this...dowsing doesn't use magnetic pull or the electricity , it uses superstition and is completely fake, just like NUMEROUS tests have shown, including the one your thick skull just watched.

[Thulgore]

Hmmm........okay I did dousing with a forked willow stick as a child, and I still swear that it tugged like their was no tommorrow........I was always under the impression that the willow performed the task.......I do know that it didn't work over open water though.........then again I haven't tested it since I was 6 years old lol

[aaronbeardsley]

I think I did it as well when I was a kid on a camping trip, it never worked for me though.

[FuzzyDuck]

5:18 and onward

Dawkins is SPOT ON.

[StubfingeredDave]

I'm curious about the person who put down their bag at 8.57 in order to chase the pigeons, personally.

[GiDaOne]

I think that person fed the pigeons. Would have been funny if somebody took the bag. :D

[ZDWmiamicane]

does anybody know when Dr. Dawkins made this video?

[revjimbob]

Last year, I think, it was shown on British TV.

[liarlielielie]

good

[somasight]

GOD BLESS DAWKINS!!!!!!!!!

[somasight]

This is great! God Bless Dawkins. Seriously!

[aaronbeardsley]

Which god?

[dragoonthief]

thanks urantivirus for posting