Homeopathy, the French, Psychic Dreams, Testing Astrology, and Numerology

A would-be applicant for the million-dollar challenge has written me, puzzled about the fact that I place homeopathic claims into the “paranormal” class, for purposes of the JREF challenge. I explained to him that homeopathic claims are paranormal claims, for these six reasons of similarity and the close parallels they illustrate: (1) Supporters claim that the phenomena are real, but no real evidence exists to verify that claim. (2) The phenomena are said to “work” by means that are not possible, based on what we already know with great certainty, about the real world. (3) The evidence for the phenomena presented is anecdotal, not scientific, and none of the “scientific” findings made by supporters have been independently replicated. (4) When attempted independent replications of the phenomena fail, supporters invoke special conditions and exceptions for their claims, and often state that these cannot be tested by “ordinary” science. (5) Supporters of the claims invoke such words as “vibrations,” “memory,” “quantum,” “spiritual,” and “infinite,” without knowledge of, or respect for, the actual meanings of such terms. (6) The claimed discovery is of such a nature and scope, that if true, it would radically change the face of science, our way of life, and our perception of the real world: that has not happened.

Homeopathy in the UK 

The London Daily Mail announced in April, 2003 that Prince Charles and a committee from the House of Lords had brought sufficient pressure on his ministers to get them to budget $1.3 million (US$2.1 million) to look into acupuncture, some other “complementary therapies” for cancer patients, and homeopathy. Knowing the British fascination with quackery—matched quite well here in the USA—I’m not at all surprised. The Mail mentioned that two major studies are to be done on homeopathy, which is currently used by one in five Britons, including members of the House of Windsor. But it’s condemned by many scientists as a con, especially after the recent BBC attempt to replicate the classic experiments that resulted in the total failure of homeopathy. One might think that Samuel Hahnemann’s delusion would be losing support. The intent of the studies is to make alternative therapies available on the National Health Service (NHS), if research shows they are effective. Prince Charles Foundation for Integrated Medicine has argued that investing in “alternatives” could save the NHS money, over the long term. Perhaps, so long as Charles isn’t concerned whether patients receive any actual medical benefits. Some critics are saying that any state-funded research into homeopathy would be a waste of money, insisting that it “cannot be effective because of the tiny levels of active substance used in most remedies.” That’s where they’ve got it quite wrong: in homeopathy, there is no level of activity at all! Zero is not merely “low.” Peter Atkins, professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford describes the use of public money on such studies as “appalling”: 

Homeopathy is a delusion and I can’t believe the Government is funding research into it. It is simply a waste of money. There is no evidence whatsoever that it works. This money should be spent on more serious approaches to disease, like cancer research, or looking for new vaccines. Instead, it’s being spent on Fantasy. It makes it seem like a serious project when in fact, people should stay away from it. 

About 2,000 homeopathic remedies are presently available in Britain, half of them derived from leaves, flowers, berries, fruits, and roots. Two of the most popular and better known are arnica and belladonna. The first is a European plant, Arnica montana, the homeopathic preparation of which was shown by Exeter University to be useless, despite endorsements by several attractive actresses. The other, Atropa belladonna, is a highly poisonous plant: all parts—the leaves, bark, berries, roots—are toxic to all forms of life. But not to worry: in homeopathy, there’s nothing left by the time those zany bottle-shakers get it diluted down to zilch. 

In homeopathy, there is no level of activity at all! Zero is not merely “low.”

Understandably, the quacks are up in arms over the facts, which are pressing in on them more and more every day, a fact that Windsor seems able to disregard. Dr. Peter Fisher, homeopathic doctor to the Queen and clinical director of Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, has dismissed Professor Atkins’ comments: “Pompous professors have been saying homeopathy doesn’t work for a very long time, and it’s still around and growing,” he says. “People are using it in large and ever-increasing numbers.” Ah, there’s the proof! Lots of people have fallen for the swindle, therefore it must be the real thing …? 

The French Become More Skeptical 

A poll taken in France and published in April, 2003 suggests the French are becoming increasingly skeptical. Under the heading, “Do you believe in …” these were the results, in 1994 and in 2003: 

This is encouraging, but suggests that the French have a lot of rational thinking left to do. 

Psychic Dreams 

Alan Vaughan was a psychic who claimed, among other wonders, to have prophetic dreams. He was a celebrated performer at the Dream Laboratory at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, which was in operation from 1962 to 1974. Subjects were asked, while asleep, to experience dreams that might have been suggested by a “target” such as a photograph or a drawing. Usually, these targets were of highly emotional events or scenes, full of detail and objects. That, in my opinion, made it more likely that a connection might be made between a dream and a target. 

For the now-defunct Omni magazine I conducted a test at their 6th Avenue office of what Alan said he could do with ease: discover in which of ten film-canisters an object or substance was located. Alan claimed that he could do this by “channeling the higher self, the God-part of us that exists in another dimension beyond space and time and has wisdom gained from past lives.” The stunt, though accomplished differently, was originated by Uri Geller at the Stanford Research Institute in the 1970s. Ah, but there’s more to be told. Apparently Alan’s “higher self” had determined that my own powers were so strong, I could use them to defeat his psychic abilities just by being present at the tests! After seeing clear evidence of these forces at work—he failed repeatedly when I was in the same room—he insisted that I had to be at least a mile away, so that the Law of Inverse Squares would protect him from my vibrations. Oddly, he failed to recognize that this basic law of physics, as is the case with so many others, does not apply to paranormal powers—or so it is claimed. I promptly left Manhattan and drove to Red Bank, NJ. I phoned from there to tell them to proceed, and they did. I was some 26 miles from the Omni office, that is to say, 26 times his suggested minimum separation, and about 23,000 times further than I’d been when I witnessed the first tests. According to the Law of Inverse Squares, my powers at that position would have been reduced to one 530-millionth of the former situation. You see here a photo of Alan doing the final test. Need I mention that his results were quite what pure chance dictated? That was the last I ever saw of Alan … 

That’s another well-known and most awkward quality of astrology: it can’t do anything really useful, especially when people are looking.

A Test of Astrology 

We’re now told that the TV series in Denmark conducted by Øjvind Kyro, Fornemmelse for snyd (A Sense of Deceit), has resulted in much wailing and excitement among astrologers there who are faced with a monumental collapse of their claims. Several astrologers, none of them actually members of the Danish Association of Astrologers, have demanded the resignation of the chairman of that Association, Pierre François Bitsch, after his appearance in the TV show resulted in his failure to prove that astrology works. On that show, François interpreted the horoscopes of four people based, as he required, on their time, date, and place of birth, and he made 38 guesses about their past history. Only two were correct. A certain Leif von der Wehl, who says both that astrology can, and cannot, be tested, and that crop circles are real, bleated, “What has happened is a catastrophe. A person who represents the Association of Astrologers as chairman, should not deal with frivolous blind-horoscopy.” Here we have the ultimate retreat-position adopted by the astrologers: actual testing of their claims should not be done, and their claims should be accepted blindly. Another debater, an astrologer calling himself Eskild, ridiculed chairman Bitsch because he wasn’t able to see the calamity coming. That’s another well-known and most awkward quality of astrology: it can’t do anything really useful, especially when people are looking. Eskild claims he wants to be tested by skeptics, but does not see the need for a really well-designed test. That seems appropriate. But chairman Bitsch has refused to resign. Instead, he is now hunting down the four test subjects to go over the results again, in an attempt to data-search until he can find some significance in his decisions. Typical. He now criticizes the conditions under which the test was conducted, even though the program clearly showed that he himself was instrumental in deciding those conditions. Said he: “I feel that I have been treated in an unfair manner, that the show was edited very poorly, and I have realized that knowledge about astrology cannot be explained in such a short time.” Just how long is needed, Mr. Bitsch? It’s been a couple thousand years now, and we’re getting impatient! Even the unsinkable astrologer Karen Boesen, who fearlessly defends what she calls “business astrology,” said that Mr. Bitsch had hurt astrology. “He just bombed,” she said. 

Karen! You yourself, as part of that same show, were asked to select an appropriate manager for a hypothetical travel agency by casting horoscopes for certain selected persons, not knowing that the birth data you were given really belonged to Danish convicts serving long prison sentences. You chose, as the most qualified manager, a retired garbage collector who had killed his wife while drunk! And then, as an alibi, you explained on the show that murderers and those qualified as top managers often have the same planetary constellations in their horoscopes. What do you suppose that proves, Ms. Boesen? Other astrologers, very well known in Denmark, also—wisely—refused to be tested. Ole Giber is the current darling of the Danish jetset and is still in the process of living down the fact that he was once given the horoscope of notorious Nazi mass-murderer Josef Mengele, and based on his horoscope described him as a nice man, good at working with other people. Christian Borup is well known from the TV game show The 6th Sense where he guesses the identity of celebrities. This feat dims somewhat when we know that he gets the birth data days in advance and has ample access to birth records and biographical sources. Gee, I think that I could do that, too, Mr. Borup! 

I thank Claus Larsen of www.skepticreport.com and our regular correspondent Mogens Winther for this information. And, of course, TV host and investigator Øjvind Kyro, who continues to weather the storm he has created with the A Sense of Deceit series in Denmark. 

Numerological Nonsense 

I threw out a challenge to readers of the Commentary page on www.randi.org to find some significance in the number 393, which will soon replace the designation of U.S. Highway 666, for very obvious reasons. Reader Charlie Ravioli, using the regular methods of the numerologists, finds the number fraught with significance, as I feared. Says he: “Well obviously, there are some pretty ominous meanings behind the name U.S. 393. Let’s take a look: 393: Add 3+9+3 to get 15. Add 1+5 to get 6. U.S. 666 was christened in 1923. Add 1+9+2+3 to get 15. Add 1+5 to get 6. The change officially goes into effect in 2004. 2+0+0+4 equals 6. That’s right. The new highway name, combined with the old highway name’s birth and death years, bring you to 666.” Similarly, reader Leighton Cowart has also applied his intellect to the problem: 393 is a pretty innocuous number unless you start thinking like a good numerologist would: don’t take the number at face value, but keep looking until you find something dirty. In this case, let’s take the number in base 13 rather than base 10. Why base 13? Because it’s unlucky, of course! 393 (base 13) (3×169) +(9×13)+(1×3)=627 (base 10). And 627=666-39 Oh no! 39 is a multiple of 13! Not only does the road still belong to the Devil, but the demons of bad luck have moved in as well!