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Bob Lloyd
Skeptic Friend
Spain
59 Posts |
 Posted - 01/21/2010 : 09:50:04
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Given that there is more than a million supposed Reiki Masters in the world and more than four million supposed practitioners, it's no surprise that they are all telling each other to "send Reiki to Haiti".
Of course, they mean that they should all squeeze their eyes tight and pretend to send some healing energy across the world to help those buried under the rubble.
On the one hand, such ludicrously innocent faith in their own superpowers is on a par with childhood fantasy games, but on the other it's a squalid piggy-backing on the misery and misfortune of hundreds of thousands of people. These Reiki frauds are patting themselves on the back as if they all have something to contribute.
Of course, if all those Reiki believers achieve anything at all, they'll have shedloads of evidence to demonstrate the existence of healing energy. But if that's the case, how come the death toll is already nearing 200,000?
[Moved to the Health folder - Dave W.]
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 12:14:53 [Permalink]
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All peoples of the world love disaster, as long as it's not happening in their particular patch of it; the various cults even more so. These Reiki dreamers would accomplish much more if they would each get up off a few $$ to send along with their fantasies.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 12:26:42 [Permalink]
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Well, if the Reiki Masters decide to go to Haiti, and they get robbed there by an angry mob of hurt people, they would have contributed at least a little cash to the economy.
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 13:23:42 [Permalink]
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Bob Lloyd.....
In your view, is Reiki a broad delusional belief system like Christianity, a woo-for-profit scam like Scientology, a quasi-medical profession like Chiropractic; or does it belong in a category of it's own in the panoply of imaginary physics that various politicians, con men, scam artists and common crazies have invented?
The little that I know about the subject suggests that it most resembles Zhong Yi Xue or TCM, and that would be consistent with it's oriental origins; yet there appear to be significant differences between the two.
I am doing some writing referencing some of these peculiar anomalies of the healing arts and I would appreciate your opinion. The subject may be of interest to others here whose work or interests are related to health care and associated subjects. |
| Edited by - bngbuck on 01/21/2010 13:31:13 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9687 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 22:15:39 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by bngbuck
Bob Lloyd.....
In your view, is Reiki a broad delusional belief system like Christianity, a woo-for-profit scam like Scientology, a quasi-medical profession like Chiropractic; or does it belong in a category of it's own in the panoply of imaginary physics that various politicians, con men, scam artists and common crazies have invented?
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Does it really matter, if the subject chooses reiki instead of seaking real medical assistance?
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 01/22/2010 : 00:00:19 [Permalink]
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Dr. Mabuse.....
| Does it really matter, if the subject chooses reiki instead of seaking real medical assistance? |
That's rather like asking if it matters if a suicide bomber uses RDX, PETN, pentolite, or Semtex. It makes no difference to the martyr what chemicals are employed to send him to Paradise, but it can be very important to the investigators that attempt to locate the source of the explosives that are being used for terrorist activities.
Currently, I happen to have some interest in various delusional healing constructs - not so much as to the fact that they are all equally worthless in treating injury or illness, more as to the possible reasons that naïve people are attracted to one or another of them.
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Bob Lloyd
Skeptic Friend
Spain
59 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2010 : 12:23:18 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by bngbuck
Bob Lloyd.....
In your view, is Reiki a broad delusional belief system like Christianity, a woo-for-profit scam like Scientology, a quasi-medical profession like Chiropractic; or does it belong in a category of it's own in the panoply of imaginary physics that various politicians, con men, scam artists and common crazies have invented?
The little that I know about the subject suggests that it most resembles Zhong Yi Xue or TCM, and that would be consistent with it's oriental origins; yet there appear to be significant differences between the two.
I am doing some writing referencing some of these peculiar anomalies of the healing arts and I would appreciate your opinion. The subject may be of interest to others here whose work or interests are related to health care and associated subjects.
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Reiki is a pyramid selling business scheme based on selling various ritual activities in turn based on a belief in some ubiquitous healing energy called Qi. It's vague enough to allow branches of therapy involving massage ranging from simple relaxation techniques (with associated mumbo jumbo) right up to full blown delusional claims about having the ability to heal people over long distances.
So it's quite a mature business model based on delusional beliefs. Some people who get into the mystical relaxation business get drawn into it thinking they're doing something more profound and there are lots of naive people thinking they're running an honest business. The placebo effect shown in their customers convinces them that they are doing good - it's a self-referential placebo.
The real con artists are the ones selling training to become a "Master" because that in turn allows you to take in others onto training courses - that's the pyramid selling bit. You can recover your costs rapidly and make real money by setting up a training centre.
There are lots of varieties of the eastern mystical health industry and Qi appears in quite a few, ranging from acupuncture to feng shui, to Ayurvedic medicine, and of course Reiki. It's a conveniently vague notion of energy which the practitioners claims to be able to manipulate. Since it's based on belief, there is absolutely no evidence and the customers have to be primed to accept eastern mysticism. Some of them do though make some ludicrous claims about quantum physics explaining the effect of Qi. I've seen a number of such accounts but they all demonstrate a complete lack of even a basic understanding of physics.
I strongly suspect that most of the more sophisticated business heads in the Reiki trade understand full well that the theory is nonsense but steer clear of prosecution for fraud by careful marketing. For example, most of the sites I've seen include a disclaimer to say they'll never contradict a trained medical practitioner.
So to answer the question, it's a Woo-for-profit scam, based on delusional beliefs, drawing on imaginary physics. But it doesn't have the quasi-medical trappings of chiropractic. |
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Bob Lloyd
Skeptic Friend
Spain
59 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2010 : 12:36:49 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
Well, if the Reiki Masters decide to go to Haiti, and they get robbed there by an angry mob of hurt people, they would have contributed at least a little cash to the economy.
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That would be one way they could contribute. I can't imagine any Reiki practitioner having the gall to turn up in Haiti and offer anyone some healing energy though I'm sure the local response would make interesting TV and would perhaps serve as a warming to other practitioners.
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Reiki in Haiti
