Richard Saunders: Water Divining Test

During the "The Amazing Meeting 6" Australian Skeptic Richard Saunders did a great demo of a water divining test which he conducts for high school students. He explains why the simple test is flawed and goes on to show how to do a correct double blind study.

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• james
• randi
• amazing
• meeting
• tam
• australian
• skeptic
• richard
• saunders
• water
• divining
• rod
• dowsing
• dowser

[TomMSTie]

HE didn't state a scientific principle, but showed us by walking past his desk (which had a sink in it) and stopped suddenly which (obviously by force alone) made the wires move, and said, "This is where the pipes are."

This is a 6th grade science teacher, I'd like to state again!

[flavioateo]

@Clarkusindarkus1985

You're missing the point. It "worked" when you knew there was water, or somebody around you knew. Double blind is needed to avoid that involuntary cheating.

Every proper test shows divining is just a myth.

[charlie123abc360]

@compactdisk2 Don't speak to me like that you rude, horrible person. I was just pointing out the this is not a scientific test, because many will assume that after watching this video.

[compactdisk2]

@charlie123abc360 Duh... did you watch the whole video? This is explaining a simple test you can teach to school kids, first they do a few demonstrations to explain the concept, and they finish off with a blind test.

[robvlob]

That double blind study was flawed since he inadvertently pointed toward the box that the bottle was under @ 9:40.

[johnsujith12]

@dposton70 i wish to share my story , but this is public . I wouldn't disagree with you too.But i would like you to investigate more.. i mean just you alone. Leave the stage performances, the shows , etc. You try to meet a dowser and try stuffs.

[dposton70]

@johnsujith12

As far as 'hard data' vs. 'seeing it for yourself': I'm not going to tell you what to beleive. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. And the facts are, nobody has shown that dowsing works (yet billions of dollars, and some lives, are put at risk by fools with bent wire).

[dposton70]

@johnsujith12 I guess it depends on who you consider to be a "real dowser". Plenty of dowser do shows for the public and some of them are 'respected professionals' (e.g. they make a living dowsing).

[johnsujith12]

@dposton70 I know for few a 'hard data' is required.. Let me tell you a real dowser will never use their skill as a public entertainment. They will never do that.. i bet . I was just like you all..until i saw that these work with my own house.. not only me.. my parents n my sis.. they all were amazed..

[dposton70]

@johnsujith12 : Bring me a single dowser who can find *anything* more times than per chance, and I'll make them a million dollars richer. Seriously.

Hell, if any dowser could prove that they can actually do what they claim with *hard data* (not just selection bias and lies), they'd make billions.

[dposton70]

@TheCaptainSlappy: It's the same science that's placed men on the moon, tracks planes and deadly storms with invisible rays (RADAR), save lives, feeds billions of people, and give you 24/7 access to the best (and worse) porn ever conceived!

Science doesn't have all the answers, but it works!

Dowsers have been proven, time and time again, to be fakes.

[charlie123abc360]

At 9:40 he points at it...