Posted by Alex Forbes on February 24, 2006 at 07:10:27 from 68.190.191.105 user Pitsligo.
In Reply to: Re: AR Locations - dowsing posted by John Nichols on February 24, 2006 at 03:31:25:
John,
No doubt about it, by any scientific description, my grandfather's an odd duck, and in my own dowsing experience, I could never come close to what he does. However, if you ever want to see a collection of ducks every bit as odd as him, go to the American Dowsers Association convention, held every year in Danville, Vermont. You'll get more than your fill of scientifically unacceptable observations.
I don't know how dowsing works. I don't even bother guessing. I can only imagine it has been giving scientists fits for generations now. And if it were 100% reliable, metal detectors would never have been invented.
I hope I didn't come down too hard on you in my last post; I didn't mean to be impolite, just to offer a personal observation that yes, crazy as it seems, map-dowsing does work for some few, very talented individuals. I think that scientific skepticism is, on the whole, a good thing (I married a scientist, so I've gotten used to it), and when coupled with your assertion that when a theory doesn't fit observations, the theory must go, it is very fine indeed.
Alex