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Reiki

Quintessence

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
It's sort of ridiculous that practitioners of traditional medicine have to put in a thousand caveats and dance on eggshells about their work like this because of the overblown skepticism that has resulted from a few charlatans. Granted, the same thing happens with modern medicine, but not nearly to the same extent in my experience. And in modern medicine, at least nobody questions that practitioners maybe actually ought to have some form of compensation for services. Paying for modern medical care routinely bankrupts people in my country and folks complain about traditional medicine practitioners being charlatans? It... kind of boggles my mind. American health care is probably the biggest scam of all in this country it is so poorly managed. :sweat:
 
crossfire

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
exchemist said:
Just read this, then, and tell me how you think it is being presented: Reiki: How This Energy Healing Works and Its Health Benefits | Everyday Health

This article acknowledges it is "spiritual" but says it is not religious in nature, that science does not "yet" understand how it works - and proceeds to describe how it works in terms of exactly the sort of physical analogies that are commonly used to explain science to people.

There are articles like this all across the internet.
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Can science completely describe all the mechanism behind how intuition or unconscious cognition works? If one was completely conscious regarding the working of this unconscious cognition and how it interacts with the conscious mind, it wouldn't be unconscious cognition, it would be conscious cognition, and could be scientifically described. Different people have different means by which unconscious content communicates with the conscious mind. Check out the different explanations for qualia, for example. Qualia really can't be verified due their highly subjective nature, but it does not mean qualia do not exist. Try mixing intuition and qualia, and try to describe it.
 
exchemist

exchemist

Veteran Member
crossfire said:
Can science completely describe all the mechanism behind how intuition or unconscious cognition works? If one was completely conscious regarding the working of this unconscious cognition and how it interacts with the conscious mind, it wouldn't be unconscious cognition, it would be conscious cognition, and could be scientifically described. Different people have different means by which unconscious content communicates with the conscious mind. Check out the different explanations for qualia, for example. Qualia really can't be verified due their highly subjective nature, but it does not mean qualia do not exist. Try mixing intuition and qualia, and try to describe it.
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Apparently you would rather change the subject than answer. That speaks volumes. I rest my case: Reiki is pseudoscience.

All this about conscious or unconscious cognition seems to have not much to do with either Reiki or science, so far as I can see.
 
Vinayaka

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Salty Booger said:
"Reiki is a Japanese form of alternative medicine called energy healing. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing." Wikipedia

I want to try this. What do you suppose is the "universal energy"? :)
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Personally, I think it's prana. It extends out from the physical body about 5 inches or so. After you try it, please let us know. I'm of the opinion folks should have an open mind to such things, and try them. If it makes you feel better, why not? That goes for any 'alternative' medicine.
 
crossfire

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
exchemist said:
Apparently you would rather change the subject than answer. That speaks volumes. I rest my case: Reiki is pseudoscience.
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I did answer the question. You don't seem to like answer I gave.

All this about conscious or unconscious cognition seems to have not much to do with either Reiki or science, so far as I can see.
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You either don't understand what I've been trying to convey or haven't been paying attention then.
 
exchemist

exchemist

Veteran Member
SalixIncendium said:
I'll just leave this here.

Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy

Do with it what you will.
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Interesting, as far as it goes, though this is just a meta-analysis of other studies and (wisely) concerns itself only with the effects of the procedures on the subject. As I said at the start, in post 26, I see no reason why there cannot be some benefits to some people. For believers, it can no doubt calm them and perhaps, as they suggest, influence the autonomous nervous system in ways that can have physiological effects.

It is the description of what Reiki is and how it is alleged to work that is pseudoscience: all that crap about qi and "energy" flow - which was the question asked in the OP. That is just ballocks.
 
exchemist

exchemist

Veteran Member
crossfire said:
I did answer the question. You don't seem to like answer I gave.


You either don't understand what I've been trying to convey or haven't been paying attention then.
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Correct. I see no connection between your response and what I asked you.
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
exchemist said:
Interesting, as far as it goes, though this is just a meta-analysis of other studies and (wisely) concerns itself only with the effects of the procedures on the subject. As I said at the start, in post 26, I see no reason why there cannot be some benefits to some people. For believers, it can no doubt calm them and perhaps, as they suggest, influence the autonomous nervous system in ways that can have physiological effects.

It is the description of what Reiki is and how it is alleged to work that is pseudoscience: all that crap about qi and "energy" flow - which was the question asked in the OP. That is just ballocks.
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Rather than dwelling on Reiki being bogus (which it is), we should
instead of it being another option in useful health rituals, the placebo
effect being just one of those.
 
exchemist

exchemist

Veteran Member
Revoltingest said:
Rather than dwelling on Reiki being bogus (which it is), we should
instead of it being another option in useful health rituals, the placebo
effect being just one of those.
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I wouldn't suggest outlawing it, if it seems to benefit some people. But I would not support it being provided by the National Health Service (i.e. the service I pay for through my taxes). Homeopathy, on the other hand, I would make illegal, if I had the power. :D
 
The Hammer

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
Altfish said:
Medicine only is medicine when approved by whatever regulatory body you have in your country.

Dock leaves help with nettle stings but they are not medicine or alternative medicine.
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Alternative medicine to me, and millions of others. Just like Aloe Vera for a burn or minor skin irritation.

Your results and mileage may vary. Not asking others to agree with my POV.

Just my 2¢
 
Revoltingest

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
exchemist said:
I wouldn't suggest outlawing it, if it seems to benefit some people. But I would not support it being provided by the National Health Service (i.e. the service I pay for through my taxes). Homeopathy, on the other hand, I would make illegal, if I had the power. :D
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Even homeopathy can have value...like Reiki & prayer.
 
Altfish

Altfish

Veteran Member
Verdant Nebulosity said:
Alternative medicine to me, and millions of others. Just like Aloe Vera for a burn or minor skin irritation.

Your results and mileage may vary. Not asking others to agree with my POV.

Just my 2¢
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BUT it is NOT known as alternative medicine. It is accepted as a useful treatment.

What I'm criticising is the phrase "alternative medicine"
 
Brickjectivity

Brickjectivity

wind and rain touch not this brain
Staff member
Premium Member
Salty Booger said:
You don't believe that Life is a form of energy? It sustains everything around us, does it not?
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Salty Booger said:
Don't you radiate energy?
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My second reply is that I don't have an opinion about whether Reiki can work but don't classify it as energy. I think that if it worked using energy then there would be more danger to it. There would be accidents where people accidentally used too much energy. I think its got to be something analogous to energy control but not exactly the same.

Energy is a science thing, and its important to keep science very disciplined and only used to consider topics which are plainly suggested by the evidence. For example particle physicists need to be satisfied with their LHC accelerator, unless they have scientific reasons which require a bigger one. This doesn't stop them for begging for a bigger accelerator, but does science really indicate a need for one? At this point a bigger accelerator is an engineering fantasy not a scientifically driven need. What reasons are given for a bigger accelerator? "We think the standard model is too ugly." Um... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and accelerators are expensive.
 
Quintessence

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Salty Booger said:
This has been an interesting thread. I find the subject fascinating and will explore it further. I do know there is a deep connection between the mind and physical wellbeing.:)
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There is. And for those whose worldviews accommodate the idea, there is also a deep connection between mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. For some, the spiritual component is subtle energies like auras or the soul (it goes by different terms in different cultures). I don't know a lot about Reiki specifically, but I do understand "energy work" more broadly and have some experience with it.

If you do study it more, be aware that the cultural narratives will strongly impact the angle on the subject. Different practitioners start with different foundational assumptions, which is part of why you will notice different narratives about what "energy" is as well as what its source is or how it works. It's definitely interesting, but challenging, to explore as an idea and a practice.
 
crossfire

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
exchemist said:
I wouldn't suggest outlawing it, if it seems to benefit some people. But I would not support it being provided by the National Health Service (i.e. the service I pay for through my taxes). Homeopathy, on the other hand, I would make illegal, if I had the power. :D
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I agree with you here. (Maybe not on making homeopathy illegal--just not covered by national health service.) Reiki is a type of therapy, but not one that should be covered by National Health service.
 
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