diff --git a/_index.db b/_index.db index 6c859bad4..d3f965e43 100644 Binary files a/_index.db and b/_index.db differ diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKTIP_(therapeutic_institute)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKTIP_(therapeutic_institute)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..16e7ff81f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKTIP_(therapeutic_institute)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "AKTIP (therapeutic institute)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AKTIP_(therapeutic_institute)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:44.036677+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +AKTIP – Konzultační a terapeutický institut Praha (lit. 'Consultation and Therapeutic Institute Prague') was a private institute in Prague run by the public business company Progressive consulting, offering services in the field of psychosomatic care. The head of the institute was Czech psychiatrist Jarmila Klímová. +Controversy about the methods of the institute emerged when the documentary Infiltrace: Obchod se zdravím (Infiltration: Health Business) was broadcast by Czech television on May 21, 2018. +The documentary revealed that the company uses unethical techniques to the detriment of its patients for its financial gain, including pseudoscience, manipulation, and incitement of fear of cancer and anxiety. AKTIP offers examinations and healing by instrumentation and homeopathic preparations of doubtful effectiveness for various somatic diseases, including thyroid disease. +Although it has physicians on staff, this institution is not a legitimate provider of health services. It is not a medical facility. + + +== Erratic Boulder award in the category of teams 2016 == +AKTIP is the holder of the Silver Erratic Boulder award in the category of teams for 2016. +"An eventual client meets here imaginary care in a wide range of disciplines. His complex problems will be treated by a graphologist, an expert in oriental diagnostics and bioresonance therapy will also supply its part of information. If it fails, a miraculous ANESA device, known as the non-invasive AMP blood analyzer (Golden Erratic Boulder award for 2011), will come to the scene", said Sisyfos. +In the awards report its representatives also cite the statement of the head of AKTIP Jarmila Klímová that the human body is set for 400 years of life. "If we really lived only by biological hours, we could be at rest between 380 and 460 years, because this age is set up for our body ... And why do we live only 60 or 80 years? No, because the most important influence outside of ourselves, which fundamentally affects the length and quality of life, we do not accept." + + +== Professional public response == +The practices of AKTIP was already criticized by the Czech Oncological Society in 2014. +Procedures used by AKTIP employees have been critically evaluated by doctors (f.ex. by cardiologist Věra Adámková) The psychologist Petr Weiss described AKTIP's practices as charlatan fabrications, fraud, and money-pulling activities. +According to the President of the Czech Medical Chamber Milan Kubka, AKTIP's position in the future could be solved by a law on healers that would force "all such charlatan institutions" to mandatory registration. "This institution only looks like a medical facility, and that's a scam from my point of view." +Sisyfos, in response to the AKTIP case, has published an article analyzing the principles of some devices used by individual "consultants" of AKTIP. This article also expresses concern that AKTIP is not an exceptional case, but that it is a fairly common phenomenon among institutions that provide services of alternative medicine. + + +== End of activities == +On May 8, 2019, AKTIP announced end of their activities. + + +== Links == + + +=== References === + + +=== External links === +Infiltration: Business with health documentary (in Czech), Czech Television, 21. 5. 2018 +AKTIP - The Consultation and Therapeutic Institute Prague (in Czech) Official webpage \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_charcoal_cleanse-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_charcoal_cleanse-0.md index 6b9bf3fa1..1d10c50f8 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_charcoal_cleanse-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_charcoal_cleanse-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_charcoal_cleanse" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:47.738922+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:39.124240+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..00d09d993 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 1/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery. +There is a range of acupuncture technological variants that originated in different philosophies, and techniques vary depending on the country in which it is performed. However, it can be divided into two main foundational philosophical applications and approaches; the first being the modern standardized form called eight principles TCM and the second being an older system that is based on the ancient Daoist wuxing, better known as the five elements or phases in the West. Acupuncture is most often used to attempt pain relief, though acupuncturists say that it can also be used for a wide range of other conditions. Acupuncture is typically used in combination with other forms of treatment. +The global acupuncture market was worth US$24.55 billion in 2017. The market was led by Europe with a 32.7% share, followed by Asia-Pacific with a 29.4% share and the Americas with a 25.3% share. It was estimated in 2021 that the industry would reach a market size of US$55 billion by 2023. +The conclusions of trials and systematic reviews of acupuncture generally provide no good evidence of benefits, which suggests that it is not an effective method of healthcare. Acupuncture is generally safe when done by appropriately trained practitioners using clean needle techniques and single-use needles. When properly delivered, it has a low rate of mostly minor adverse effects. When accidents and infections do occur, they are associated with neglect on the part of the practitioner, particularly in the application of sterile techniques. A review conducted in 2013 stated that reports of infection transmission increased significantly in the preceding decade. The most frequently reported adverse events were pneumothorax and infections. Since serious adverse events continue to be reported, it is recommended that acupuncturists be trained sufficiently to reduce the risk. +Scientific investigation has not found any histological or physiological evidence for traditional Chinese concepts such as qi, meridians, and acupuncture points, and many modern practitioners no longer support the existence of qi or meridians, which was a major part of early belief systems. Acupuncture is believed to have originated around 100 BC in China, around the time The Inner Classic of Huang Di (Huangdi Neijing) was published, though some experts suggest it could have been practiced earlier. Over time, conflicting claims and belief systems emerged about the effect of lunar, celestial and earthly cycles, yin and yang energies, and a body's "rhythm" on the effectiveness of treatment. Acupuncture fluctuated in popularity in China due to changes in the country's political leadership and the preferential use of rationalism or scientific evidence-based medicine. Acupuncture spread first to Korea in the 6th century AD, then to Japan through medical missionaries, and then to Europe, beginning with France. In the 20th century, as it spread to the United States and Western countries, spiritual elements of acupuncture that conflicted with scientific knowledge were sometimes abandoned in favor of simply tapping needles into acupuncture points. + +== Clinical practice == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5a5f5f5e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 2/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine. It is used most commonly for pain relief, though it is also used to treat a wide range of conditions. Acupuncture is generally only used in combination with other forms of treatment. For example, the American Society of Anesthesiologists states it may be considered in the treatment of nonspecific, noninflammatory low back pain only in conjunction with conventional therapy. +Acupuncture is the insertion of thin needles into the skin. According to the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (Mayo Clinic), a typical session entails lying still while approximately five to twenty needles are inserted; for the majority of cases, the needles will be left in place for ten to twenty minutes. It can be associated with the application of heat, pressure, or laser light. Classically, acupuncture is individualized and based on philosophy and intuition, and not on scientific research. There is also a non-invasive therapy developed in early 20th-century Japan using an elaborate set of instruments other than needles for the treatment of children (shōnishin or shōnihari). +Clinical practice varies depending on the country. A comparison of the average number of patients treated per hour found significant differences between China (10) and the United States (1.2). Chinese herbs are often used. There is a diverse range of acupuncture approaches, involving different philosophies. Although various different techniques of acupuncture practice have emerged, the method used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) seems to be the most widely adopted in the US. Traditional acupuncture involves needle insertion, moxibustion, and cupping therapy, and may be accompanied by other procedures such as feeling the pulse and other parts of the body and examining the tongue. Traditional acupuncture involves the belief that a "life force" (qi) circulates within the body in lines called meridians. The main methods practiced in the UK are TCM and Western medical acupuncture. The term Western medical acupuncture is used to indicate an adaptation of TCM-based acupuncture which focuses less on TCM. The Western medical acupuncture approach involves using acupuncture after a medical diagnosis. Limited research has compared the contrasting acupuncture systems used in various countries for determining different acupuncture points, and thus there is no defined standard for acupuncture points. +In traditional acupuncture, the acupuncturist decides which points to treat by observing and questioning the patient to make a diagnosis according to the tradition used. In TCM, the four diagnostic methods are: inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiring, and palpation. Inspection focuses on the face and particularly on the tongue, including analysis of the tongue placement, size, shape, tension, color and coating, and the absence or presence of teeth marks around the edge. Auscultation and olfaction involve listening for particular sounds, such as wheezing, and observing body odor. Inquiring involves focusing on the "seven inquiries": chills and fever; perspiration; appetite, thirst and taste; defecation and urination; pain; sleep; and menses and leukorrhea. Palpation is focusing on feeling the body for tender A-shi points and feeling the pulse. + +=== Needles === + +The most common mechanism of stimulation of acupuncture points employs penetration of the skin by thin metal needles, which are manipulated manually or the needle may be further stimulated by electrical stimulation (electroacupuncture). Acupuncture needles are typically made of stainless steel, making them flexible and preventing them from rusting or breaking. Needles are usually disposed of after each use to prevent contamination. Reusable needles when used should be sterilized between applications. In many areas, only sterile, single-use acupuncture needles are allowed, including the State of California. Needles vary in length between 13 and 130 millimetres (0.51 and 5.12 in), with shorter needles used near the face and eyes, and longer needles in areas with thicker tissues; needle diameters vary from 0.16 mm (0.006 in) to 0.46 mm (0.018 in), with thicker needles used on more robust patients. Thinner needles may be flexible and require tubes for insertion. The tip of the needle should not be made too sharp to prevent breakage, although blunt needles cause more pain. +Apart from the usual filiform needle, other needle types include three-edged needles and the Nine Ancient Needles. Japanese acupuncturists use extremely thin needles that are used superficially, sometimes without penetrating the skin, and surrounded by a guide tube (a 17th-century invention adopted in China and the West). Korean acupuncture uses copper needles and has a greater focus on the hand. + +=== Needling technique === + +==== Insertion ==== +The skin is sterilized and needles are inserted, frequently with a plastic guide tube. Needles may be manipulated in various ways, including spinning, flicking, or moving up and down relative to the skin. Since most pain is felt in the superficial layers of the skin, a quick insertion of the needle is recommended. Often the needles are stimulated by hand in order to cause a dull, localized, aching sensation that is called de qi, as well as "needle grasp," a tugging feeling felt by the acupuncturist and generated by a mechanical interaction between the needle and skin. Acupuncture can be painful. The acupuncturist's skill level may influence the painfulness of the needle insertion; a sufficiently skilled practitioner may be able to insert the needles without causing any pain. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-10.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-10.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f113d75e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-10.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 11/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Adoption == +Acupuncture is most heavily practiced in China and is popular in the US, Australia, and Europe. In Switzerland, acupuncture has become the most frequently used alternative medicine since 2004. In the United Kingdom, a total of 4 million acupuncture treatments were administered in 2009. Acupuncture is used in most pain clinics and hospices in the UK. An estimated 1 in 10 adults in Australia used acupuncture in 2004. In Japan, it is estimated that 25 percent of the population will try acupuncture at some point, though in most cases it is not covered by public health insurance. Users of acupuncture in Japan are more likely to be elderly and to have a limited education. Approximately half of users surveyed indicated a likelihood to seek such remedies in the future, while 37% did not. Less than one percent of the US population reported having used acupuncture in the early 1990s. By the early 2010s, more than 14 million Americans reported having used acupuncture as part of their health care. +In the US, acupuncture is increasingly (as of 2014) used at academic medical centers, and is usually offered through CAM centers or anesthesia and pain management services. Examples include those at Harvard University, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, and UCLA. CDC clinical practice guidelines from 2022 list acupuncture among the types of complementary and alternative medicines physicians should consider in preference to opioid prescription for certain kinds of pain. +The use of acupuncture in Germany increased by 20% in 2007, after the German acupuncture trials supported its efficacy for certain uses. In 2011, there were more than one million users, and insurance companies have estimated that two-thirds of German users are women. As a result of the trials, German public health insurers began to cover acupuncture for chronic low back pain and osteoarthritis of the knee, but not tension headache or migraine. This decision was based in part on socio-political reasons. Some insurers in Germany chose to stop reimbursement of acupuncture because of the trials. For other conditions, insurers in Germany were not convinced that acupuncture had adequate benefits over usual care or sham treatments. Highlighting the results of the placebo group, researchers refused to accept a placebo therapy as efficient. + +== Regulation == + +There are various government and trade association regulatory bodies for acupuncture in the United Kingdom, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and in European countries and elsewhere. The World Health Organization recommends that an acupuncturist receive 200 hours of specialized training if they are a physician and 2,500 hours for non-physicians before being licensed or certified; many governments have adopted similar standards. +In Hong Kong, the practice of acupuncture is regulated by the Chinese Medicine Council, which was formed in 1999 by the Legislative Council. It includes a licensing exam, registration, and degree courses approved by the board. Canada has acupuncture licensing programs in the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec; standards set by the Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Association of Canada are used in provinces without government regulation. Regulation in the US began in the 1970s in California, which was eventually followed by every state but Wyoming and Idaho. Licensing requirements vary greatly from state to state. The needles used in acupuncture are regulated in the US by the Food and Drug Administration. In some states acupuncture is regulated by a board of medical examiners, while in others by the board of licensing, health or education. +In Japan, acupuncturists are licensed by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare after passing an examination and graduating from a technical school or university. In Australia, the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia regulates acupuncture, among other Chinese medical traditions, and restricts the use of titles like 'acupuncturist' to registered practitioners only. The practice of Acupuncture in New Zealand in 1990 acupuncture was included into the Governmental Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) Act. This inclusion granted qualified and professionally registered acupuncturists the ability to provide subsidised care and treatment to citizens, residents, and temporary visitors for work- or sports-related injuries that occurred within the country of New Zealand. The two bodies for the regulation of acupuncture and attainment of ACC treatment provider status in New Zealand are Acupuncture NZ, and The New Zealand Acupuncture Standards Authority. At least 28 countries in Europe have professional associations for acupuncturists. In France, the Académie Nationale de Médecine (National Academy of Medicine) has regulated acupuncture since 1955. + +== See also == + +== Notes == + +== References == + +=== Bibliography === + +== Further reading == +Brown, Brandon P (2011). "Acupuncture." Magill's Medical Guide, 6th ed., vol. 1. Salem Press. ISBN 978-1-63700-107-3. +Ulett GA (2002). "Acupuncture". In Shermer M (ed.). The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. ABC-CLIO. pp. 283 ff. ISBN 978-1-57607-653-8. +William FW, ed. (2013). "Acupuncture". Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy. Routledge. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-1-135-95522-9. +Bivins, Roberta E. (2000). Acupuncture, Expertise, and Cross-Cultural Medicine. New York: Palgrave. ISBN 0-333-91893-2. +FRONTLINE: The Alternative Fix - "What is acupuncture?" (4 November 2003). PBS Video. + +== External links == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..46abc244d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 3/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== De-qi sensation ==== +De-qi (Chinese: 得气; pinyin: dé qì; "arrival of qi") refers to a claimed sensation of numbness, distension, or electrical tingling at the needling site. If these sensations are not observed then inaccurate location of the acupoint, improper depth of needle insertion, inadequate manual manipulation, are blamed. If de-qi is not immediately observed upon needle insertion, various manual manipulation techniques are often applied to promote it (such as "plucking", "shaking" or "trembling"). +Once de-qi is observed, techniques might be used which attempt to "influence" the de-qi; for example, by certain manipulation the de-qi can allegedly be conducted from the needling site towards more distant sites of the body. Other techniques aim at "tonifying" (Chinese: 补; pinyin: bǔ) or "sedating" (Chinese: 泄; pinyin: xiè) qi. The former techniques are used in deficiency patterns, the latter in excess patterns. De qi is more important in Chinese acupuncture, while Western and Japanese patients may not consider it a necessary part of the treatment. + +=== Related practices === +Acupressure, a non-invasive form of bodywork, uses physical pressure applied to acupressure points by the hand or elbow, or with various devices. +Acupuncture is often accompanied by moxibustion, the burning of cone-shaped preparations of moxa (made from dried mugwort) on or near the skin, often but not always near or on an acupuncture point. Traditionally, acupuncture was used to treat acute conditions while moxibustion was used for chronic diseases. Moxibustion could be direct (the cone was placed directly on the skin and allowed to burn the skin, producing a blister and eventually a scar), or indirect (either a cone of moxa was placed on a slice of garlic, ginger or other vegetable, or a cylinder of moxa was held above the skin, close enough to either warm or burn it). +Cupping therapy is an ancient Chinese form of alternative medicine in which a local suction is created on the skin; practitioners believe this mobilizes blood flow in order to promote healing. +Tui na is a TCM method of attempting to stimulate the flow of qi by various bare-handed techniques that do not involve needles. +Electroacupuncture is a form of acupuncture in which acupuncture needles are attached to a device that generates continuous electric pulses (this has been described as "essentially transdermal electrical nerve stimulation [TENS] masquerading as acupuncture"). +Fire needle acupuncture also known as fire needling is a technique which involves quickly inserting a flame-heated needle into areas on the body. +Sonopuncture is a stimulation of the body similar to acupuncture using sound instead of needles. This may be done using purpose-built transducers to direct a narrow ultrasound beam to a depth of 6–8 centimetres at acupuncture meridian points on the body. Alternatively, tuning forks or other sound emitting devices are used. +Acupuncture point injection is the injection of various substances (such as drugs, vitamins or herbal extracts) into acupoints. This technique combines traditional acupuncture with injection of what is often an effective dose of an approved pharmaceutical drug, and proponents claim that it may be more effective than either treatment alone, especially for the treatment of some kinds of chronic pain. However, a 2016 review found that most published trials of the technique were of poor value due to methodology issues and larger trials would be needed to draw useful conclusions. +Auriculotherapy, commonly known as ear acupuncture, auricular acupuncture, or auriculoacupuncture, is considered to date back to ancient China. It involves inserting needles to stimulate points on the outer ear. The modern approach was developed in France during the early 1950s. There is no scientific evidence that it can cure disease; the evidence of effectiveness is negligible. +Scalp acupuncture, developed in Japan, is based on reflexological considerations regarding the scalp. +Koryo hand acupuncture, developed in Korea, centers around assumed reflex zones of the hand. Medical acupuncture attempts to integrate reflexological concepts, the trigger point model, and anatomical insights (such as dermatome distribution) into acupuncture practice, and emphasizes a more formulaic approach to acupuncture point location. +Cosmetic acupuncture is the use of acupuncture in an attempt to reduce wrinkles on the face. +Bee venom acupuncture is a treatment approach of injecting purified, diluted bee venom into acupoints. +Veterinary acupuncture is the use of acupuncture on domesticated animals. + +== Efficacy == +As of 2021, many thousands of papers had been published on the efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of various adult health conditions, but there was no robust evidence it was beneficial for anything, except shoulder pain and fibromyalgia. The evidence for its efficacy in shoulder pain is low quality and includes only two studies. Its efficacy for fibromyalgia does not appear to be clinically significant. For Science-Based Medicine, Steven Novella wrote that the overall pattern of evidence was reminiscent of that for homeopathy, compatible with the hypothesis that most, if not all, benefits were due to the placebo effect, and strongly suggestive that acupuncture had no beneficial therapeutic effects at all. +Harriet Hall noticed that according to Edzard Ernst in 2011, systematic reviews agreed that acupuncture works for neck pain, but not for every other pain—and that makes its whole enterprise suspicious. A 2024 review concluded that it is no more effective than sham acupuncture for neck pain reduction. + +== Research methodology and challenges == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..48852c97f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 4/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Sham acupuncture and research === +It is difficult but not impossible to design rigorous research trials for acupuncture. Due to acupuncture's invasive nature, one of the major challenges in efficacy research is in the design of an appropriate placebo control group. For efficacy studies to determine whether acupuncture has specific effects, "sham" forms of acupuncture where the patient, practitioner, and analyst are blinded seem the most acceptable approach. Sham acupuncture uses non-penetrating needles or needling at non-acupuncture points, e.g. inserting needles on meridians not related to the specific condition being studied, or in places not associated with meridians. The under-performance of acupuncture in such trials may indicate that therapeutic effects are due entirely to non-specific effects, or that the sham treatments are not inert, or that systematic protocols yield less than optimal treatment. +A 2014 review in Nature Reviews Cancer found that "contrary to the claimed mechanism of redirecting the flow of qi through meridians, researchers usually find that it generally does not matter where the needles are inserted, how often (that is, no dose-response effect is observed), or even if needles are actually inserted. In other words, "sham" or "placebo" acupuncture generally produces the same effects as "real" acupuncture and, in some cases, does better." A 2013 meta-analysis found little evidence that the effectiveness of acupuncture on pain (compared to sham) was modified by the location of the needles, the number of needles used, the experience or technique of the practitioner, or by the circumstances of the sessions. The same analysis also suggested that the number of needles and sessions is important, as greater numbers improved the outcomes of acupuncture compared to non-acupuncture controls. There has been little systematic investigation of which components of an acupuncture session may be important for any therapeutic effect, including needle placement and depth, type and intensity of stimulation, and number of needles used. The research seems to suggest that needles do not need to stimulate the traditionally specified acupuncture points or penetrate the skin to attain an anticipated effect (e.g. psychosocial factors). +A response to "sham" acupuncture in osteoarthritis may be used in the elderly, but placebos have usually been regarded as deception and thus unethical. However, some physicians and ethicists have suggested circumstances for applicable uses for placebos such as it might present a theoretical advantage of an inexpensive treatment without adverse reactions or interactions with drugs or other medications. As the evidence for most types of alternative medicine such as acupuncture is far from strong, the use of alternative medicine in regular healthcare can present an ethical question. +Using the principles of evidence-based medicine to research acupuncture is controversial, and has produced different results. Some research suggests acupuncture can alleviate pain but the majority of research suggests that acupuncture's effects are mainly due to placebo. Evidence suggests that any benefits of acupuncture are short-lasting. There is insufficient evidence to support use of acupuncture compared to mainstream medical treatments. Acupuncture is not better than mainstream treatment in the long term. +The use of acupuncture has been criticized owing to there being little scientific evidence for explicit effects, or the mechanisms for its supposed effectiveness, for any condition that is discernible from placebo. Acupuncture has been called "theatrical placebo", and David Gorski argues that when acupuncture proponents advocate "harnessing of placebo effects" or work on developing "meaningful placebos", they essentially concede it is little more than that. + +=== Publication bias === +Publication bias is cited as a concern in the reviews of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture. A 1998 review of studies on acupuncture found that trials originating in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were uniformly favourable to acupuncture, as were ten out of eleven studies conducted in Russia. A 2011 assessment of the quality of randomized controlled trials on traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, concluded that the methodological quality of most such trials (including randomization, experimental control, and blinding) was generally poor, particularly for trials published in Chinese journals (though the quality of acupuncture trials was better than the trials testing traditional Chinese medicine remedies). The study also found that trials published in non-Chinese journals tended to be of higher quality. Chinese authors use more Chinese studies, which have been demonstrated to be uniformly positive. A 2012 review of 88 systematic reviews of acupuncture published in Chinese journals found that less than half of these reviews reported testing for publication bias, and that the majority of these reviews were published in journals with impact factors of zero. A 2015 study comparing pre-registered records of acupuncture trials with their published results found that it was uncommon for such trials to be registered before the trial began. This study also found that selective reporting of results and changing outcome measures to obtain statistically significant results was common in this literature. +Scientist Steven Salzberg identifies acupuncture and Chinese medicine generally as a focus for "fake medical journals" such as the Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies and Acupuncture in Medicine. + +== Safety == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bdbe1aedd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 5/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Adverse events === +Acupuncture is generally safe when administered by an experienced, appropriately trained practitioner using clean-needle technique and sterile single-use needles. When improperly delivered it can cause adverse effects. Accidents and infections are associated with infractions of sterile technique or neglect on the part of the practitioner. To reduce the risk of serious adverse events after acupuncture, acupuncturists should be trained sufficiently. A 2009 overview of Cochrane reviews found acupuncture is not effective for a wide range of conditions. People with serious spinal disease, such as cancer or infection, are not good candidates for acupuncture. Contraindications to acupuncture (conditions that should not be treated with acupuncture) include coagulopathy disorders (e.g. hemophilia and advanced liver disease), warfarin use, severe psychiatric disorders (e.g. psychosis), and skin infections or skin trauma (e.g. burns). Further, electroacupuncture should be avoided at the spot of implanted electrical devices (such as pacemakers). +A 2011 systematic review of systematic reviews (internationally and without language restrictions) found that serious complications following acupuncture continue to be reported. Between 2000 and 2009, ninety-five cases of serious adverse events, including five deaths, were reported. Many such events are not inherent to acupuncture but are due to malpractice of acupuncturists. This might be why such complications have not been reported in surveys of adequately trained acupuncturists. Most such reports originate from Asia, which may reflect the large number of treatments performed there or a relatively higher number of poorly trained Asian acupuncturists. Many serious adverse events were reported from developed countries. These included Australia, Austria, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. The number of adverse effects reported from the UK appears particularly unusual, which may indicate less under-reporting in the UK than other countries. Reports included 38 cases of infections and 42 cases of organ trauma. The most frequent adverse events included pneumothorax, and bacterial and viral infections. +A 2013 review found (without restrictions regarding publication date, study type or language) 295 cases of infections; mycobacterium was the pathogen in at least 96%. Likely sources of infection include towels, hot packs or boiling tank water, and reusing reprocessed needles. Possible sources of infection include contaminated needles, reusing personal needles, a person's skin containing mycobacterium, and reusing needles at various sites in the same person. Although acupuncture is generally considered a safe procedure, a 2013 review stated that the reports of infection transmission increased significantly in the prior decade, including those of mycobacterium. Although it is recommended that practitioners of acupuncture use disposable needles, the reuse of sterilized needles is still permitted. It is also recommended that thorough control practices for preventing infection be implemented and adapted. + +==== English-language ==== +A 2013 systematic review of the English-language case reports found that serious adverse events associated with acupuncture are rare, but that acupuncture is not without risk. Between 2000 and 2011 the English-language literature from 25 countries and regions reported 294 adverse events. The majority of the reported adverse events were relatively minor, and the incidences were low. For example, a prospective survey of 34,000 acupuncture treatments found no serious adverse events and 43 minor ones, a rate of 1.3 per 1000 interventions. Another survey found there were 7.1% minor adverse events, of which 5 were serious, amid 97,733 acupuncture patients. The most common adverse effect observed was infection (e.g. mycobacterium), and the majority of infections were bacterial in nature, caused by skin contact at the needling site. Infection has also resulted from skin contact with unsterilized equipment or with dirty towels in an unhygienic clinical setting. Other adverse complications included five reported cases of spinal cord injuries (e.g. migrating broken needles or needling too deeply), four brain injuries, four peripheral nerve injuries, five heart injuries, seven other organ and tissue injuries, bilateral hand edema, epithelioid granuloma, pseudolymphoma, argyria, pustules, pancytopenia, and scarring due to hot-needle technique. Adverse reactions from acupuncture, which are unusual and uncommon in typical acupuncture practice, included syncope, galactorrhoea, bilateral nystagmus, pyoderma gangrenosum, hepatotoxicity, eruptive lichen planus, and spontaneous needle migration. +A 2013 systematic review found 31 cases of vascular injuries caused by acupuncture, three causing death. Two died from pericardial tamponade and one was from an aortoduodenal fistula. The same review found vascular injuries were rare, bleeding and pseudoaneurysm were most prevalent. A 2011 systematic review (without restriction in time or language), aiming to summarize all reported case of cardiac tamponade after acupuncture, found 26 cases resulting in 14 deaths, with little doubt about cause in most fatal instances. The same review concluded that cardiac tamponade was a serious, usually fatal, though theoretically avoidable complication following acupuncture, and urged training to minimize risk. +A 2012 review found that a number of adverse events were reported after acupuncture in the UK's National Health Service (NHS), 95% of which were not severe, though miscategorization and under-reporting may alter the total figures. From January 2009 to December 2011, 468 safety incidents were recognized within the NHS organizations. The adverse events recorded included retained needles (31%), dizziness (30%), loss of consciousness/unresponsive (19%), falls (4%), bruising or soreness at needle site (2%), pneumothorax (1%) and other adverse side effects (12%). Acupuncture practitioners should know, and be prepared to be responsible for, any substantial harm from treatments. Some acupuncture proponents argue that the long history of acupuncture suggests it is safe. However, there is an increasing literature on adverse events (e.g. spinal-cord injury). +Acupuncture seems to be safe in people getting anticoagulants, assuming needles are used at the correct location and depth, but studies are required to verify these findings. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bac950a5d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 6/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Chinese, Korean, and Japanese-language ==== +A 2010 systematic review of the Chinese-language literature found numerous acupuncture-related adverse events, including pneumothorax, fainting, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and infection as the most frequent, and cardiovascular injuries, subarachnoid hemorrhage, pneumothorax, and recurrent cerebral hemorrhage as the most serious, most of which were due to improper technique. Between 1980 and 2009, the Chinese-language literature reported 479 adverse events. Prospective surveys show that mild, transient acupuncture-associated adverse events ranged from 6.71% to 15%. In a study with 190,924 patients, the prevalence of serious adverse events was roughly 0.024%. Another study showed a rate of adverse events requiring specific treatment of 2.2%, 4,963 incidences among 229,230 patients. Infections, mainly hepatitis, after acupuncture are reported often in English-language research, though are rarely reported in Chinese-language research, making it plausible that acupuncture-associated infections have been underreported in China. Infections were mostly caused by poor sterilization of acupuncture needles. Other adverse events included spinal epidural hematoma (in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine), chylothorax, injuries of abdominal organs and tissues, injuries in the neck region, injuries to the eyes, including orbital hemorrhage, traumatic cataract, injury of the oculomotor nerve and retinal puncture, hemorrhage to the cheeks and the hypoglottis, peripheral motor-nerve injuries and subsequent motor dysfunction, local allergic reactions to metal needles, stroke, and cerebral hemorrhage after acupuncture. +A causal link between acupuncture and the adverse events cardiac arrest, pyknolepsy, shock, fever, cough, thirst, aphonia, leg numbness, and sexual dysfunction remains uncertain. The same review concluded that acupuncture can be considered inherently safe when practiced by properly trained practitioners, but the review also stated there is a need to find effective strategies to minimize the health risks. Between 1999 and 2010, the Korean-language literature contained reports of 1104 adverse events. Between the 1980s and 2002, the Japanese-language literature contained reports of 150 adverse events. + +==== Children and pregnancy ==== +Although acupuncture has been practiced for thousands of years in China, its use in pediatrics in the United States did not become common until the early 2000s. In 2007, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted by the National Center For Health Statistics (NCHS) estimated that approximately 150,000 children had received acupuncture treatment for a variety of conditions. +In 2008, a study determined that the use of acupuncture-needle treatment on children was "questionable" due to the possibility of adverse side-effects and the pain manifestation differences in children versus adults. The study also includes warnings against practicing acupuncture on infants, as well as on children who are over-fatigued, very weak, or have over-eaten. +When used on children, acupuncture is considered safe when administered by well-trained, licensed practitioners using sterile needles; however, a 2011 review found there was limited research to draw definite conclusions about the overall safety of pediatric acupuncture. The same review found 279 adverse events, 25 of them serious. The adverse events were mostly mild in nature (e.g., bruising or bleeding). The prevalence of mild adverse events ranged from 10.1% to 13.5%, an estimated 168 incidences among 1,422 patients. On rare occasions adverse events were serious (e.g. cardiac rupture or hemoptysis); many might have been a result of substandard practice. The incidence of serious adverse events was 5 per one million, which included children and adults. +When used during pregnancy, the majority of adverse events caused by acupuncture were mild and transient, with few serious adverse events. The most frequent mild adverse event was needling or unspecified pain, followed by bleeding. Although two deaths (one stillbirth and one neonatal death) were reported, there was a lack of acupuncture-associated maternal mortality. Limiting the evidence as certain, probable or possible in the causality evaluation, the estimated incidence of adverse events following acupuncture in pregnant women was 131 per 10,000. +Although acupuncture is not contraindicated in pregnant women, some specific acupuncture points are particularly sensitive to needle insertion; these spots, as well as the abdominal region, should be avoided during pregnancy. + +==== Moxibustion and cupping ==== +Four adverse events associated with moxibustion were bruising, burns and cellulitis, spinal epidural abscess, and large superficial basal cell carcinoma. Ten adverse events were associated with cupping. The minor ones were keloid scarring, burns, and bullae; the serious ones were acquired hemophilia A, stroke following cupping on the back and neck, factitious panniculitis, reversible cardiac hypertrophy, and iron deficiency anemia. + +=== Risk of forgoing conventional medical care === +As with other alternative medicines, unethical or naïve practitioners may induce patients to exhaust financial resources by pursuing ineffective treatment. Professional ethics codes set by accrediting organizations such as the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine require practitioners to make "timely referrals to other health care professionals as may be appropriate." Stephen Barrett states that there is a "risk that an acupuncturist whose approach to diagnosis is not based on scientific concepts will fail to diagnose a dangerous condition". + +== Conceptual basis == + +=== Traditional === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..083c29232 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 7/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Acupuncture is a substantial part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Early acupuncture beliefs relied on concepts that are common in TCM, such as a life force energy called qi. Qi was believed to flow from the body's primary organs (zang-fu organs) to the "superficial" body tissues of the skin, muscles, tendons, bones, and joints, through channels called meridians. Acupuncture points where needles are inserted are mainly (but not always) found at locations along the meridians. Acupuncture points not found along a meridian are called extraordinary points and those with no designated site are called A-shi points. +In TCM, disease is generally perceived as a disharmony or imbalance in energies such as yin, yang, qi, xuĕ, zàng-fǔ, meridians, and of the interaction between the body and the environment. Therapy is based on which "pattern of disharmony" can be identified. For example, some diseases are believed to be caused by meridians being invaded with an excess of wind, cold, and damp. In order to determine which pattern is at hand, practitioners examine things like the color and shape of the tongue, the relative strength of pulse-points, the smell of the breath, the quality of breathing, or the sound of the voice. TCM and its concept of disease does not strongly differentiate between the cause and effect of symptoms. + +=== Purported scientific basis === + +Many within the scientific community consider acupuncture to be quackery and pseudoscience, having no effect other than as "theatrical placebo". David Gorski has argued that of all forms of quackery, acupuncture has perhaps gained most acceptance among physicians and institutions. Academics Massimo Pigliucci and Maarten Boudry describe acupuncture as a "borderlands science" lying between science and pseudoscience. +A 2015 paper states that acupuncture is "often considered as 'pseudoscience' or 'quackery' with no credible or respectable place in medicine". + +==== Rationalizations of traditional medicine ==== +It is a generally held belief within the acupuncture community that acupuncture points and meridians structures are special conduits for electrical signals, but no research has established any consistent anatomical structure or function for either acupuncture points or meridians. Human tests to determine whether electrical continuity was significantly different near meridians than other places in the body have been inconclusive. Scientific research has not supported the existence of qi, meridians, or yin and yang. A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action. Quackwatch states that "TCM theory and practice are not based upon the body of knowledge related to health, disease, and health care that has been widely accepted by the scientific community. TCM practitioners disagree among themselves about how to diagnose patients and which treatments should go with which diagnoses. Even if they could agree, the TCM theories are so nebulous that no amount of scientific study will enable TCM to offer rational care." Academic discussions of acupuncture still make reference to pseudoscientific concepts such as qi and meridians despite the lack of scientific evidence. + +==== Release of endorphins or adenosine ==== +Some modern practitioners support the use of acupuncture to treat pain, but have abandoned the use of qi, meridians, yin, yang and other mystical energies as an explanatory frameworks. The use of qi as an explanatory framework has been decreasing in China, even as it becomes more prominent during discussions of acupuncture in the US. +Many acupuncturists attribute pain relief to the release of endorphins when needles penetrate, but no longer support the idea that acupuncture can affect a disease. Some studies suggest acupuncture causes a series of events within the central nervous system, and that it is possible to inhibit acupuncture's analgesic effects with the opioid antagonist compound naloxone, suggesting that the use of acupuncture may trigger the release of endogenous opioids. +Mechanical deformation of the skin by acupuncture needles appears to result in the release of adenosine. The anti-nociceptive effect of acupuncture may be mediated by the adenosine A1 receptor. A 2014 review in Nature Reviews Cancer analyzed mouse studies that suggested acupuncture relieves pain via the local release of adenosine, which then triggered nearby A1 receptors. The review found that in those studies, because acupuncture "caused more tissue damage and inflammation relative to the size of the animal in mice than in humans, such studies unnecessarily muddled a finding that local inflammation can result in the local release of adenosine with analgesic effect." + +== History == + +=== Origins === + +Acupuncture, along with moxibustion, is one of the oldest practices of traditional Chinese medicine. Most historians believe the practice began in China, though there are some conflicting narratives on when it originated. Academics David Ramey and Paul Buell said the exact date acupuncture was founded depends on the extent to which dating of ancient texts can be trusted and the interpretation of what constitutes acupuncture. +Acupressure therapy was prevalent in India. Once Buddhism spread to China, the acupressure therapy was also integrated into common medical practice in China and it came to be known as acupuncture. The major points of Indian acupressure and Chinese acupuncture are similar to each other. +According to an article in Rheumatology, the first documentation of an "organized system of diagnosis and treatment" for acupuncture was in Inner Classic of Huang Di (Huangdi Neijing) from about 100 BC. Gold and silver needles found in the tomb of Liu Sheng from around 100 BC are believed to be the earliest archaeological evidence of acupuncture, though it is unclear if that was their purpose. According to Plinio Prioreschi, the earliest known historical record of acupuncture is the Shiji ("Records of the Grand Historian"), written by a historian around 100 BC. It is believed that this text was documenting what was established practice at that time. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3fd820de2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 8/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Alternative theories ==== +The 5,000-year-old mummified body of Ötzi the Iceman was found with 15 groups of tattoos, many of which were located at points on the body where acupuncture needles are used for abdominal or lower back problems. Evidence from the body suggests Ötzi had these conditions. This has been cited as evidence that practices similar to acupuncture may have been practised elsewhere in Eurasia during the early Bronze Age; however, The Oxford Handbook of the History of Medicine calls this theory "speculative". It is considered unlikely that acupuncture was practised before 2000 BC. +Acupuncture may have been practised during the Neolithic era, near the end of the Stone Age, using sharpened stones called Bian shi. Many Chinese texts from later eras refer to sharp stones called "plen", which means "stone probe", that may have been used for acupuncture purposes. The ancient Chinese medical text, Huangdi Neijing, indicates that sharp stones were believed at-the-time to cure illnesses at or near the body's surface, perhaps because of the short depth a stone could penetrate. However, it is more likely that stones were used for other medical purposes, such as puncturing a growth to drain its pus. The Mawangdui texts, which are believed to be from the 2nd century BC, mention the use of pointed stones to open abscesses, and moxibustion, but not for acupuncture. It is also speculated that these stones may have been used for bloodletting, due to the ancient Chinese belief that illnesses were caused by demons within the body that could be killed or released. It is likely bloodletting was an antecedent to acupuncture. +According to historians Lu Gwei-djen and Joseph Needham, there is substantial evidence that acupuncture may have begun around 600 BC. Some hieroglyphs and pictographs from that era suggests acupuncture and moxibustion were practised. However, historians Lu and Needham said it was unlikely a needle could be made out of the materials available in China during this time period. It is possible that bronze was used for early acupuncture needles. Tin, copper, gold and silver are also possibilities, though they are considered less likely, or to have been used in fewer cases. If acupuncture was practised during the Shang dynasty (1766 to 1122 BC), organic materials like thorns, sharpened bones, or bamboo may have been used. Once methods for producing steel were discovered, it would replace all other materials, since it could be used to create a very fine, but sturdy needle. Lu and Needham noted that all the ancient materials that could have been used for acupuncture and which often produce archaeological evidence, such as sharpened bones, bamboo or stones, were also used for other purposes. An article in Rheumatology said that the absence of any mention of acupuncture in documents found in the tomb of Mawangdui from 198 BC suggest that acupuncture was not practised by that time. + +==== Belief systems ==== +Several different and sometimes conflicting belief systems emerged regarding acupuncture. This may have been the result of competing schools of thought. Some ancient texts referred to using acupuncture to cause bleeding, while others mixed the ideas of blood-letting and spiritual qi energy. Over time, the focus shifted from blood to the concept of puncturing specific points on the body, and eventually to balancing Yin and Yang energies as well. According to David Ramey, no single "method or theory" was ever predominantly adopted as the standard. At the time, scientific knowledge of medicine was not yet developed, especially because in China dissection of the deceased was forbidden, preventing the development of basic anatomical knowledge. +It is not certain when specific acupuncture points were introduced, but the autobiography of Bian Que from around 400–500 BC references inserting needles at designated areas. Bian Que believed there was a single acupuncture point at the top of one's skull that he called the point "of the hundred meetings." Texts dated to be from 156 to 186 BC document early beliefs in channels of life force energy called meridians that would later be an element in early acupuncture beliefs. +Ramey and Buell said the "practice and theoretical underpinnings" of modern acupuncture were introduced in The Yellow Emperor's Classic (Huangdi Neijing) around 100 BC. It introduced the concept of using acupuncture to manipulate the flow of life energy (qi) in a network of meridian (channels) in the body. The network concept was made up of acu-tracts, such as a line down the arms, where it said acupoints were located. Some of the sites acupuncturists use needles at today still have the same names as those given to them by the Yellow Emperor's Classic. Numerous additional documents were published over the centuries introducing new acupoints. By the 4th century AD, most of the acupuncture sites in use today had been named and identified. + +=== Early development in China === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5c4552a69 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 9/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Establishment and growth ==== +In the first half of the 1st century AD, acupuncturists began promoting the belief that acupuncture's effectiveness was influenced by the time of day or night, the lunar cycle, and the season. The 'science of the yin-yang cycles' (運氣學 yùn qì xué) was a set of beliefs that curing diseases relied on the alignment of both heavenly (tian) and earthly (di) forces that were attuned to cycles like that of the sun and moon. There were several different belief systems that relied on a number of celestial and earthly bodies or elements that rotated and only became aligned at certain times. According to Needham and Lu, these "arbitrary predictions" were depicted by acupuncturists in complex charts and through a set of special terminology. +Acupuncture needles during this period were much thicker than most modern ones and often resulted in infection. Infection is caused by a lack of sterilization, but at that time it was believed to be caused by use of the wrong needle, or needling in the wrong place, or at the wrong time. Later, many needles were heated in boiling water, or in a flame. Sometimes needles were used while they were still hot, creating a cauterizing effect at the injection site. Nine needles were recommended in the Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion from 1601, which may have been because of an ancient Chinese belief that nine was a magic number. +Other belief systems were based on the idea that the human body operated on a rhythm and acupuncture had to be applied at the right point in the rhythm to be effective. In some cases a lack of balance between Yin and Yang were believed to be the cause of disease. +In the 1st century AD, many of the first books about acupuncture were published and recognized acupuncturist experts began to emerge. The Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing, which was published in the mid-3rd century, became the oldest acupuncture book that is still in existence in the modern era. Other books like the Yu Gui Zhen Jing, written by the Director of Medical Services for China, were also influential during this period, but were not preserved. In the mid 7th century, Sun Simiao published acupuncture-related diagrams and charts that established standardized methods for finding acupuncture sites on people of different sizes and categorized acupuncture sites in a set of modules. +Acupuncture became more established in China as improvements in paper led to the publication of more acupuncture books. The Imperial Medical Service and the Imperial Medical College, which both supported acupuncture, became more established and created medical colleges in every province. The public was also exposed to stories about royal figures being cured of their diseases by prominent acupuncturists. By time the Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion was published during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), most of the acupuncture practices used in the modern era had been established. + +==== Decline ==== +By the end of the Song dynasty (1279 AD), acupuncture had lost much of its status in China. It became rarer in the following centuries, and was associated with less prestigious professions like alchemy, shamanism, midwifery and moxibustion. Additionally, by the 18th century, scientific rationality was becoming more popular than traditional superstitious beliefs. By 1757 a book documenting the history of Chinese medicine called acupuncture a "lost art". Its decline was attributed in part to the popularity of prescriptions and medications, as well as its association with the lower classes. +In 1822, the Chinese Emperor signed a decree excluding the practice of acupuncture from the Imperial Medical Institute. He said it was unfit for practice by gentlemen-scholars. In China acupuncture was increasingly associated with lower-class, illiterate practitioners. It was restored for a time, but banned again in 1929 in favor of science-based medicine. Although acupuncture declined in China during this time period, it was also growing in popularity in other countries. + +=== International expansion === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-9.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b50fa32dc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture-9.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Acupuncture" +chunk: 10/11 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:40.362060+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Korea is believed to be the first country in Asia that acupuncture spread to outside of China. Within Korea there is a legend that acupuncture was developed by emperor Dangun, though it is more likely to have been brought into Korea from a Chinese colonial prefecture in 514 AD. Acupuncture use was commonplace in Korea by the 6th century. It spread to Vietnam in the 8th and 9th centuries. As Vietnam began trading with Japan and China around the 9th century, it was influenced by their acupuncture practices as well. China and Korea sent "medical missionaries" that spread traditional Chinese medicine to Japan, starting around 219 AD. In 553, several Korean and Chinese citizens were appointed to re-organize medical education in Japan and they incorporated acupuncture as part of that system. Japan later sent students back to China and established acupuncture as one of five divisions of the Chinese State Medical Administration System. +Acupuncture began to spread to Europe in the second half of the 17th century. Around this time, Willem ten Rhijne, a physician working for the Dutch East India Company, met Japanese acupuncture practitioners and later encouraged Europeans to further investigate it. He published the first in-depth description of acupuncture for the European audience and created the term "acupuncture" in his 1683 work De Acupunctura. France was an early adopter among the West due to the influence of Jesuit missionaries, who brought the practice to French clinics in the 16th century. The French doctor Louis Berlioz (the father of the composer Hector Berlioz) is usually credited with being the first to experiment with the procedure in Europe in 1810, before publishing his findings in 1816. +By the 19th century, acupuncture had become commonplace in many areas of the world. Americans and Britons began showing interest in acupuncture in the early 19th century, although interest waned by mid-century. Western practitioners abandoned acupuncture's traditional beliefs in spiritual energy, pulse diagnosis, and the cycles of the moon, sun or the body's rhythm. Diagrams of the flow of spiritual energy, for example, conflicted with the West's own anatomical diagrams. It adopted a new set of ideas for acupuncture based on tapping needles into nerves. In Europe it was speculated that acupuncture may allow or prevent the flow of electricity in the body, as electrical pulses were found to make a frog's leg twitch after death. +The West eventually created a belief system based on Travell trigger points that were believed to inhibit pain. They were in the same locations as China's spiritually identified acupuncture points, but under a different nomenclature. The first elaborate Western treatise on acupuncture was published in 1683 by Willem ten Rhijne. + +==== Modern era ==== + +In China, the popularity of acupuncture rebounded in 1949 when Mao Zedong took power and sought to unite China behind traditional cultural values. It was also during this time that many Eastern medical practices were consolidated under the name traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). +New practices were adopted in the 20th century, such as using a cluster of needles, electrified needles, or leaving needles inserted for up to a week. A lot of emphasis developed on using acupuncture on the ear. Acupuncture research organizations such as the International Society of Acupuncture were founded in the 1940s and 1950s and acupuncture services became available in modern hospitals. China, where acupuncture was believed to have originated, was increasingly influenced by Western medicine. Meanwhile, acupuncture grew in popularity in the US. The US Congress created the Office of Alternative Medicine in 1992 and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) declared support for acupuncture for some conditions in November 1997. In 1999, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine was created within the NIH. Acupuncture became the most popular alternative medicine in the US. +Politicians from the Chinese Communist Party said acupuncture was superstitious and conflicted with the party's commitment to science. Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong later reversed this position, arguing that the practice was based on scientific principles. During the Cultural Revolution, disbelief in acupuncture anesthesia was subjected to ruthless political repression. +In 1971, New York Times reporter James Reston published an article on his acupuncture experiences in China, which led to more investigation of and support for acupuncture. The US President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972. During one part of the visit, the delegation was shown a patient undergoing major surgery while fully awake, ostensibly receiving acupuncture rather than anesthesia. Later it was found that the patients selected for the surgery had both a high pain tolerance and received heavy indoctrination before the operation; these demonstration cases were also frequently receiving morphine surreptitiously through an intravenous drip that observers were told contained only fluids and nutrients. One patient receiving open heart surgery while awake was ultimately found to have received a combination of three powerful sedatives as well as large injections of a local anesthetic into the wound. After the National Institute of Health expressed support for acupuncture for a limited number of conditions, adoption in the US grew further. In 1972 the first legal acupuncture center in the US was established in Washington DC and in 1973 the American Internal Revenue Service allowed acupuncture to be deducted as a medical expense. +In 2006, a BBC documentary Alternative Medicine filmed a patient undergoing open heart surgery allegedly under acupuncture-induced anesthesia. It was later revealed that the patient had been given a cocktail of anesthetics. +In 2010, UNESCO inscribed "acupuncture and moxibustion of traditional Chinese medicine" on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List following China's nomination. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_fatigue-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_fatigue-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..00be64b7a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_fatigue-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: "Adrenal fatigue" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_fatigue" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:41.642836+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Adrenal fatigue is a pseudoscientific term used by alternative medicine providers to suggest that the adrenal glands are exhausted and unable to produce adequate quantities of hormones, primarily cortisol, due to chronic stress or infections. There is no scientific basis for the existence of adrenal fatigue, and the term should not be confused with a number of actual forms of adrenal dysfunction such as adrenal insufficiency or Addison's disease. + + +== Definition == +Neither the condition nor the symptoms have any stable or recognized definition. + + +== History == +The term "adrenal fatigue" was invented in 1998 by chiropractor James Wilson and applied to a collection of mostly non-specific symptoms. + + +== Lack of evidence == +A systematic review found no evidence for the condition, supporting the consensus among mainstream endocrinologists that it is a myth. There is no evidence supporting the concept of adrenal fatigue, and it is not a valid diagnosis recognized by the scientific or medical communities. + + +== Tests == +Blood or salivary testing is sometimes offered, but there is no evidence that adrenal fatigue exists, or that it can be tested for. + + +== Diagnosis == +Adrenal fatigue is not an accepted medical diagnosis. + + +== Dietary supplements == +The concept of adrenal fatigue has given rise to an industry of dietary supplements marketed to treat the supposed condition. These supplements are largely unregulated in the U.S.; they are ineffective and costly; and they in some cases may be dangerous. The cortisol cocktail, a drink containing fruit juice, coconut water and salt, was popularised on social media in 2023 as a treatment for adrenal fatigue. + + +== See also == +Adrenal insufficiency +Hypocortisolism +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + + +== References == + + +== External links == + +Adrenal Fatigue from the Endocrine Society \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e23304f6e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "African traditional medicine" +chunk: 1/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:42.803926+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +African traditional medicine is a range of traditional medicine disciplines involving indigenous herbalism and African spirituality, typically including diviners, midwives, and herbalists. Practitioners of traditional African medicine claim, largely without evidence, to be able to cure a variety of diverse conditions including cancer, psychiatric disorders, high blood pressure, cholera, most venereal diseases, epilepsy, asthma, eczema, fever, anxiety, depression, benign prostatic hyperplasia, urinary tract infections, gout, and healing of wounds and burns and Ebola. +Diagnosis is reached through spiritual means and a treatment is prescribed, usually consisting of a herbal remedy that is considered to have not only healing abilities but also symbolic and spiritual significance. Traditional African medicine, with its belief that illness is not derived from chance occurrences, but through spiritual or social imbalance, differs greatly from modern scientific medicine, which is technically and analytically based. In the 21st century, modern pharmaceuticals and medical procedures remain inaccessible to large numbers of African people due to their relatively high cost and concentration of health facilities in urban centres. +Traditional medicine was the dominant medical system for millions of people in Africa prior the arrival of the Europeans, who introduced evidence-based medicine, which was a noticeable turning point in the history of this tradition and culture. Herbal medicines in Africa are generally not adequately researched, and are weakly regulated. There is a lack of the detailed documentation of the traditional knowledge, which is generally transferred orally. Serious adverse effects can result from misidentification or misuse of healing plants. +The geographical reach of this article is Sub-Saharan Africa. Though, neighbouring medical traditions have influenced traditional African medicine. + +== History == + +=== Colonial era === +Modern science has considered methods of traditional knowledge as primitive and under colonial rule some traditional medical practices were outlawed. During this time, attempts were also made to control the sale of herbal medicines. For example, after Mozambique gained independence in 1975, attempts to control traditional medicine went as far as sending diviner-healers to re-education camps. As colonialism and Christianity spread through Africa, colonialists built general hospitals and Christian missionaries built private ones, with the hopes of making headway against widespread diseases. However, little was done to investigate the legitimacy of the traditional medical practices, despite the obvious role that the traditional healers played in the basic health needs of their communities; the colonial authorities along with doctors and health practitioners continued to shun their contributions. It was also believed that during times of conflict people were more likely to resort to supernatural explanations and would seek treatment involving the supernatural. + +=== Modern period === + +For various reasons, in the late 20th century the traditional systems of medical care in developing countries underwent a major revival. These countries also realized that modern health care systems and the technologies that they are dependent on are not locally manufactured and maintained thus making them expensive and rendering the population dependent on supply-chains that might be erratic or politicised. Due to this, interest in integrating traditional African medicine into the continent's national health care systems has increased and the use of traditional medicinal plants is being encouraged in some countries. + +== Diagnostics == +The medical diagnoses and chosen methods of treatment in traditional African medicine rely heavily on spiritual aspects, often based on the belief that psycho-spiritual aspects should be addressed before the medical aspects. There is the belief among the practitioners of traditional healing that the ability to diagnose and treat illnesses are a gift from God. Rather than looking for the medical or physical reasons behind an illness (or a spell of bad luck), traditional healers attempt to determine the root cause underlying it, which is believed to stem from a lack of balance between the patient and their social environment or the spiritual world. In other words, supernatural causes, not natural causes, are attributed to illnesses. According to the type of imbalance the individual is experiencing, an appropriate healing plant will be used, which is valued for its symbolic and spiritual significance as well as for its medicinal effect. +When a person falls ill, a traditional practitioner uses incantations to make a diagnosis. The incantations are thought to give the air of mystical and cosmic connections. Divination is typically used if the illness is not easily identified, otherwise, the sickness may be quickly diagnosed and a remedy prescribed. Sometimes the practitioner will advise the patient to consult a diviner who can give a diagnosis and recommend a treatment. It is believed that contact with the spirit world through divination often requires not only medication, but sacrifices. + +== Treatments == +Traditional practitioners use a wide variety of treatments ranging from standard medical treatments to the pseudoscientific and "magical". Treatments may include fasting, dieting, herbal therapies, bathing, massage, and surgical procedures. Examples of the pseudoscientific treatments include: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a8c4b8ccb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "African traditional medicine" +chunk: 2/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:42.803926+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The use of "bleed-cupping" (also called "wet cupping"), followed by herbal ointment and herbal drugs to treat Migraines, coughs, abscesses, and pleurisy. +Some cultures rub hot herbal ointment across the patient's eyelids to treat headaches. +A steaming mixture of herbs is both consumed and inhaled in the treatment of Malaria. Fevers are often treated using a steam bath. +Vomiting induced by emetics is used to treat alcoholism. +The fat of a boa constrictor is used to treat gout and rheumatism, and is thought to relieve chest pain when applied topically. +Animals are also sometimes used to transfer the illness to afterward or for the manufacture of medicines for zootherapy. For example, the bones of baboons are used to treat arthritis. +The terpenoids of the blister beetle (Mylabris sp.) are rubbed into the skin as a treatment for skin diseases. +Consensus between traders of the components of the medication used by practitioners of traditional African medicine regarding what should be used to treat different illnesses varies considerably, even within a small area such as the Faraday Street market in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, approximately 60%-80% of the people in Africa rely on traditional remedies to treat themselves for various diseases. A 2018 systematic review estimated that close to 60% of the general population in sub-Saharan Africa regularly use traditional and complementary medicine products for themselves and to treat their animals for various diseases. Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone have recently been reported to use traditional medicine alone or together with conventional medicine. + +=== Medicinal plants === + +There are many plants in Africa that can be used for medicinal purposes and more than 4000 are used for this purpose in the tropical regions of Africa. Medicinal plants are used in the treatments of many diseases and illnesses, the uses and effects of which are of growing interest to Western societies. Not only are plants used and chosen for their healing abilities, but they also often have symbolic and spiritual significance. For example, leaves, seeds, and twigs that are white, black and red are seen as especially symbolic or magical and are believed to possess special properties. + +One example of a medicinal plant is Pygeum (Prunus africana), which has been used as a treatment for mild benign prostatic hyperplasia in Europe since the 1970s. Although used extensively in Africa, there is insufficient evidence for its effectiveness in treating fever, inflammation, kidney disease, malaria, stomach aches and other conditions. In traditional African practice, the bark is made into tea, whereas elsewhere in the world it is found in powders, tinctures, and pills. +A 2007 study investigated the effectiveness of 16 plants, growing in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal region, in lowering blood pressure "by acting as an ACE inhibitor." Of the 16 plants, only one (Tulbaghia violacea) showed promise. It then was tested on rats and "demonstrated hypotensive activity", i.e. reduction of blood pressure. The plants included in the study were: + +Amaranthus dubius, a flowering plant, also known as spleen amaranth +Amaranthus hybridus, commonly known as smooth pig-weed or slim amaranth +Amaranthus spinosus, also known as spiny amaranth +Asystasia gangetica, an ornamental ground cover known as Chinese violet. +Centella asiatica, a small herbaceous annual plant commonly referred to as Asiatic pennywort +Ceratotheca triloba, a tall annual plant that flowers in summer sometimes referred to as poppy sue +Chenopodium album, also called lamb's quarters, this is a weedy annual plant +Emex australis, commonly known as southern three corner jack +Galinsoga parviflora, commonly referred to as gallant soldier +Justicia flava, also known as yellow justicia +Momordica balsamina, also known as the balsam apple +Oxygonum sinuatum, an invasive weed with no common name +Physalis viscosa, known as starhair ground cherry +Senna occidentalis, a very leafy tropical shrub, also called septic weed +Solanum nodiflorum, also known as white nightshade +Tulbaghia violacea, a bulbous plant with hairless leaves often referred to as society or wild garlic. +A 2008 literature survey was made to assess the botanical knowledge and uses within traditional medicine in Southern Africa for the genus Aloe within the family Asphodeloideae. Most common medical uses were for the treatment of "infections, internal parasites, digestive ailments and injuries." Socially the plants are used as ingredients in tobacco snuff. A 2014 literature survey found that at least 12 palm species in sub-Saharan Africa are used in various ritual practices, including the use of palm oil in healing mixtures. +In 2016 an in vitro study of the essential oil from Erigeron floribundus, used as a medicinal plant in Cameroon, demonstrated good activity against Staphylococcus aureus, "cytotoxicity on colon carcinoma cells" and "ferric reducing antioxidant power." Among the constituents of the essential oil are spathulenol and limonene. +As a result of a study conducted from 2011 to 2016, a traditional medicine from the tropical Olon tree, and another species of genus Zanthoxylum, was found to have synergistic compounds that kill both mosquitoes and their plasmodium parasites. +A 2000 study of thirty-three species of plants, found in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, that are considered weeds, alien invaders or problem plants were investigated for their uses in traditional medicine. The plants included: + +Anredera cordifolia (iDlula). Swollen feet from poor circulation and/or liver and kidney problems are treated with a leaf poultice, while the sap is used to treat a rash caused by contact with dirty water. + +Araucaria bidwillii (iNdiyandyiya). Grated bark mixed with water is consumed to treat amenorrhea caused by congenital problems, tuberculosis and malnutrition. +Bidens pilosa (uMhlabangubo). The water from the boiled roots is consumed to treat infertility in women. Bathing in water in which the leaves have been soaked is believed to protect one from evil spirits (imoya emdaka), ill feeling, jealousy or animosity. Also used to treat diarrhoea, colic, rheumatism, syphilis, earache, constipation, intestinal worms, Malaria, ring worm, jaundice and coughs. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9754ccd69 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "African traditional medicine" +chunk: 3/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:42.803926+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Cannabis sativa (iNtsango). Various parts of the plant are used to treat asthma, bronchitis, headache, epilepsy, pains, colds, influenza, labour pains, hypertension, diabetes, malaria, blackwater fever, blood-poisoning, anthrax, dysentery, tetanus, menstrual cramps and rabies. +Carduus tenuiflorus (uMhlakavuthwa). The patient is given an emetic and instructed to vomit onto the plant. The belief is that the plant will "suck out the cause of the illness." + +Datura stramonium (uQhwangu-qhwangu). The leaves are used to treat pain and swelling (including after a circumcision), boils and abscesses, measles, asthma and headaches, tetanus, foot ailments and respiratory conditions. + +Emex australis (iNkunzane). A decoction of the root is used to treat constipation, biliousness and other stomach complaints and to stimulate appetite. +Galenia secunda (uMvenyathi). The roots are mixed with Emex australis, boiled and used to treat kidney pains in adults and colic in babies. + +Lantana camara (iQunube). The roots are boiled and the liquid consumed for lower back or abdominal pain, or used as an enema to treat gonococcal infections and urinary tract infections. It is also used to treat coughs, colds, jaundice, rheumatism and as a contraceptive. +Opuntia ficus-indica (iTolofiya). A poultice of the cooked leaves is used to treat sores between toes and the fingers caused by fungal infections. The belief is that these sores are caused by "dirty blood" (igazi elimdaka). + +Rumex sagittatus (iBhathatha). A cold water infusion of the roots are used as a body wash as it is believed to cleanse the body of misfortunes and evil. + +Schinus molle (iPepile or Peperboom). Fever and influenza are treated by consuming a leaf decoction or steaming. A combination of leaves and bark is used to treat wounds. +Araujia sericifera (iQuwa). It is used to treat amafufunyana, which is described by Ngubane as an extreme form of depression coupled with psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hysteria, violent outburst and suicide ideations. The roots are mixed with other medications to treat it. +Argemone mexicana (iKhakhakhakha). This root decoction is mixed with the roots of the rubus pinnatus (iqunube) and is administered through the use of an enema to cure kidney pain. + +=== Spirituality === + +Some healers may employ the use of charms, incantations, and the casting of spells in their treatments. For example, there is the belief among the Ibos of Nigeria that medicine men can implant something into a person from a distance to inflict sickness on them, in a process referred to asegba ogwu. To remove the malignant object, the intervention of a second medicine man is typically required, who then removes it by making an incision in the patient. A form of sympathetic magic is also used, in which a model is made of the victim and it is believed that actions performed on the model are transferred to the victim, in a manner similar to the familiar voodoo doll. Superstitious beliefs regarding spirits are also exploited and people are convinced that "spirits of deceased relatives trouble the living and cause illness." In these instances "medicine men prescribe remedies, often in the form of propitiatory sacrifice, in order to put them to rest so that they will no longer trouble the living, especially children." +According to Onwuanibe, Africans hold a religious world view which includes divine or spiritual intervention in medical practice. For example, the !Kung people of the Kalahari Desert believe that the great God Hishe created all things and, therefore, controls all sickness and death. Hishe presents himself to these medicine men in dreams and hallucinations, giving them curative power and this god is generous enough to give this power to the medicine men, they are expected to practice healing freely. The !Kung medicine men effect a treatment by performing a tribal dance. + +== Traditional medicinal practitioners == + +Many traditional medicinal practitioners are people without formal education, who have rather received knowledge of medicinal plants and their effects on the human body from their forebears and by observation. Traditional practitioners and their practices vary but common features among them are a personal involvement in the healing process; protection of the therapeutic knowledge by keeping it a secret; and being rewarded for their services. +In a manner similar to orthodox medicinal practice, the practitioners of traditional medicine specialize in particular areas of their profession. Some, such as the inyangas of Eswatini are experts in herbalism, whilst others, such as the South African sangomas, are experts in spiritual healing as diviners, and others specialize in a combination of both forms of practice. There are also traditional bone setters and birth attendants. Herbalists are becoming more and more popular in Africa with an emerging herb trading market in Durban that is said to attract between 700,000 and 900,000 traders per year from South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Smaller trade markets exist in virtually every community. Their knowledge of herbs has been invaluable in African communities and they among the few who could gather them in most societies. Midwives also make extensive use of indigenous plants to aid childbirth. African healers commonly "describe and explain illness in terms of social interaction and act on the belief that religion permeates every aspect of human existence." + +=== Payments === +Traditional healers, like any other profession, are rewarded for their services. In African societies, the payment for a treatment depends on its efficacy. They do not request payment until after the treatment is given. This is another reason many prefer traditional healers to western doctors who require payment before the patient has assessed the effectiveness of the treatment. The payment methods have changed over time, with many practitioners now asking for monetary payment, especially in urban settings, rather than their receiving good in exchange, as happened formerly. There are also a growing number of fraudulent practitioners who are only interested in making money, especially in urban areas. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c757e758a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "African traditional medicine" +chunk: 4/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:42.803926+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Learning the trade === +Some healers learn the trade through personal experience while being treated as a patient who decide to become healers upon recovery. Others become traditional practitioners through a "spiritual calling" and, therefore, their diagnoses and treatments are decided through belief in supernatural intervention. Another route is to receive the knowledge and skills passed down informally from a close family member such as a father or uncle, or even a mother or aunt in the case of midwives. Apprenticeship to an established practitioner, who formally teaches the trade over a long period of time and is paid for their tutoring, is another route to becoming a healer. + +=== Importance === +In Africa, traditional healers and remedies made from indigenous plants play a crucial role in the health of millions since as many as 85% of African routinely use these services for primary health care in Sub-Saharan Africa. The relative ratios of traditional practitioners and university trained doctors in relation to the whole population in African countries underscores this importance. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, from Ghana to Eswatini there are, on average almost, 100 traditional practitioner for every university trained doctor. This equates to one traditional healer for every 200 people in the Southern African region, which is a much greater doctor-to-patient ratio than is found in North America. In many parts of Africa there are few practitioners trained in modern medicine and traditional healers are a large and influential group in primary health care and an integral part of the African culture. Without them, many people would go untreated. +Medications and treatments that Western pharmaceutical companies manufacture are far too costly and not available widely enough for most Africans. Many rural African communities are not able to afford the high price of pharmaceuticals and can not readily obtain them even if they were affordable; therefore, healers are their only means of medical help. Because this form of medicine is "the most affordable and accessible system of health care for the majority of the African rural population," the African Union declared 2001 to 2010 to be the Decade for African Traditional Medicine with the goal of making "safe, efficacious, quality, and affordable traditional medicines available to the vast majority of the people." +Excessive use of plants is an ecological risk, as this may lead to their extinction. + +== In relation to women == +Women in Sub-Saharan rural African communities are almost entirely responsible for domestic work in their households. These women are often at higher risk for disease and poverty than their male counter-parts and have less control over their daily lives than them. A literature survey from 2001 found that these women defined 'good health' as the ability to perform domestic duties and the state of being disease free. Furthermore, the study found that they attributed poor health to supernatural, evil forces, that illness is seen as a form of punishment from spirits. In another study, which explored the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ghana, women identified HIV/AIDS with reprobate behaviour, such as "prostitution, promiscuity, and extramarital relationships", or traveling to areas outside the community. +These women endure arduous conditions and a traditional healer plays an instrumental role in their daily lives. The traditional healer provides health care to the rural communities and represents him/herself as an honorable cultural leader and educator. An advantage of the traditional healer in rural areas is that they are conveniently located within the community. Modern medicine is normally not as accessible in rural areas because it is much more costly. Older rural women particularly tend to utilize traditional healers in their communities. Younger women and the urbanized have been found to be renouncing the use of traditional healers. +A 2001 study of rural Ethiopian women where HIV was present found that they rejected the presence of HIV in rural villages and claimed it was an urban illness, despite the presence of HIV in the rural communities. However, these women also claimed that their communities did not advocate for prevention, but rather treated an illness once it was present. + +== Traditional African healers and HIV/AIDS == + +=== Role === +For patients with HIV/AIDS, traditional healers provided a local, familiar, and accessible option compared to biomedical personnel who were usually overbooked and located farther away. Traditional healers were seen as having an authoritative role in physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of health. In the early 1980s in southwestern Uganda, it was reported that many locals infected with the disease ("Slim") after showing symptoms of diarrhoea and weight-loss would consult traditional healers due to their belief in the connection between the disease and witchcraft. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..efd085b23 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "African traditional medicine" +chunk: 5/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:42.803926+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Criticism === +During the HIV/AIDS epidemic traditional healers' methods were criticised by practitioners of modern medicine, and in particular the use of certain herbal treatments for HIV/AIDS. According to Edward Mills, herbal remedies are used as a therapy for HIV-symptoms such as "dermatological disorders, nausea, depression, insomnia, and weakness." While some of these remedies have been beneficial, the herbal treatments hypoxis and sutherlandia "may put the patients at risk for antiretroviral treatment failure, viral resistance, or drug toxicity" since they interact with antiretroviral treatments and prevent the expression of CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein. This results in the inhibition of drug metabolism and transport. Peltzer et al. also found that an important issue with herbal medicines used in traditional medicine is that when a patient decides to see a doctor in addition to a traditional healer, they do not always mention that he or she is taking an herbal medicine. Herbal medicines can interact with the modern medicine prescribed by the doctor to treat HIV and negatively impact the patient. Peltzer et al. mentions that a "IGM-1 seem to be effective in symptom improvement, but generally no significant effect on antiviral or immunity enhancement among reviewed herbs was seen" for the treatment of HIV. Since HIV is such a volatile disease, it is imperative to try to boost the patient's immunity, not just relieve symptoms. +The ethical issue, as presented by modern medicine, is the complete lack of clinical trials to test any traditional African medicine before practicing with it on the public. Modern medicine in the United States is subject to The Nuremberg Code and the related Declaration of Helsinki which are the basis for the Code of Federal Regulations issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, to oblige humane behavior in experimenting on the public for the good of society. Since traditional African healers do not have to adhere to the Nuremberg code, there is a potential danger to society when healers do not practice medicine humanely. +Traditional healers have also been under scrutiny during the HIV/AIDS epidemic for unsanitary medical practices. The "re-use of medical instruments and lack of hygienic habits such as hand washing" have contributed to the spread of infectious diseases by traditional healers. A study of traditional healers in Nigeria found that 60% of the population was at risk because of the contamination spread by tradition healers. +Women experience the most fatal impact from the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When industrial development required the labor of men from rural communities, the men often left those communities and while away at the migratory camps many of these men would have sex with prostitutes, become infected with HIV and return home with it. Furthermore, since traditional medicine does not have an early detection method, infectious diseases are often spread unknowingly, allowing the 3.1 million people infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa to grow exponentially to 25.4 million in 2004. The patriarchal culture that defines traditional marriages in rural areas, places female sexuality under male control and decrees that women are not permitted to discuss and practice safe sex with their partners, which results in a higher risk for HIV exposure for women in rural areas. + +=== Modern medicine === +Sub-Saharan countries have found ways to unite modern medicine with traditional medicine due to the urgency of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In South Africa, the Kundalia Foundation has provided funding to train traditional healers on HIV/AIDS. The training included prevention, safe sex, and knowledge about the virus. + +== Relationship with modern medicine == +There has been more interest expressed recently in the effects of some of the medicinal plants of Africa. "The pharmaceutical industry has come to consider traditional medicine as a source for identification of bio-active agents that can be used in the preparation of medicine." Pharmaceutical industries are looking into the medicinal effects of the most commonly and widely used plants to use in drugs. In comparing the techniques of African healers and Western techniques, T. Adeoze Lambo, a Nigerian psychiatrist, stated in 1979, "At about three years ago, we made an evaluation, a programme of their work, and compared this with our own, and we discovered that actually they were scoring almost sixty percent success in their treatment of neurosis. And we were scoring forty percent-in fact, less than forty percent." + +=== Effectiveness === +Herbal medicines in Africa are generally not adequately researched and are weakly regulated. There is a lack of the detailed documentation of the traditional knowledge, which is generally transferred orally. A literature survey in 2014, indicated that several African medicinal plants contain bioactive anti-trypanosomal compounds that could be used for the treatment of African trypanosomiasis ("Sleeping sickness") but no clinical studies had been conducted on them. A 2008 literature survey found that only a small proportion of ethnoveterinary medicine plants in South Africa had been researched for biological activity. A literature survey conducted in 2013 identified several compounds (mostly glucosides, sterols and sterolins) contained in the Hypoxis species, (known locally as inkomfe or African potato) that had been isolated and tested with "promising prospects reported in some studies". South African sangomas have been long and vocal advocates of a local traditional plant called unwele or kankerbos (Sutherlandia frutescens) claiming it assists in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, cancer and tuberculosis. A review of preclinical data on Sutherlandia frutescens show no toxity and justify controlled clinical studies. However, when used in conjunction with antiretroviral treatments, the herbal treatments hypoxis and sutherlandia "may put the patients at risk for antiretroviral treatment failure, viral resistance, or drug toxicity" since they interact with antiretroviral treatments and prevent the expression of CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein. +There have been attempts to assess some traditional medicines through clinical trials, although none have so far reached phase III. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..36ce9f6f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "African traditional medicine" +chunk: 6/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:42.803926+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Safety === +A small proportion of ethnoveterinary medicine plants in South Africa have been researched for toxic effects. The possible adverse effects of South African traditional medicines are not well documented; there has been limited research into mutagenic properties and heavy metal contamination. Serious adverse effects, even death, can result from misidentification or misuse of healing plants. For example, various aloe plants are widely used in traditional African medicine, but some varieties, such as Aloe globuligemma, are toxic and can cause death. The potential for traditional African medicine and pharmacokinetic interactions is unknown, especially interactions between traditional treatments and antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS. Herbal treatments are frequently used in Africa as a primary treatment for HIV/AIDS and for HIV-related issues. Collaboration with traditional healers has been recommended to determine what herbal treatments are used for HIV and to educate people supplying alternative treatments against unsafe practices. Given the demands of the local population on the use of traditional African medicine, it has been proposed that South African medical schools should inform medical students about traditional, supplementary and alternative medicine and the possible conflicts and interactions with modern medicine. Use of traditional African medicines as antivirals instead of using specific antiretroviral drugs, is especially a risk with HIV. +Cultural expectations play an important role in treatment as a 1985 study amongst the Mende people of Sierra Leone showed that treatment decisions were made "largely on traditional notions of the efficacy of a medicine of a particular color, consistency, taste, size and reputed success in treating analogous illnesses". This led to the inappropriate use of many modern medicines by the Mende. + +== See also == + +Infant oral mutilation +Pharmacognosy +San healing practices +Traditional and Modern Health Practitioners Together against AIDS +Traditional Hausa medicine +Yorùbá medicine +Plant Resources of Tropical Africa +Ancient Egyptian medicine + +== References == + +== External links == +PROMETRA Official Website +THETA Uganda Official Website +Medicinal plants with Prof Ben-Erik van Wyk – YouTube + +== Bibliography == +Bruchhausen, Walter (2018). Medicalized Healing in East Africa: The Separation of Medicine and Religion by Politics and Science. In: Lüddeckens, D., & Schrimpf, M. (2018). Medicine – religion – spirituality: Global perspectives on traditional, complementary, and alternative healing. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8376-4582-8, pp. 23–56. +Sobiecki, Jean-Francois (2023). African Psychoactive Plants: Journeys in Phytoalchemy. ISBN 978-0-6397-6385-9 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d6479d4f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative cancer treatments" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:45.218242+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Alternative cancer treatment describes any cancer treatment or practice that is not part of the conventional standard of cancer care. These include special diets and exercises, chemicals, herbs, devices, and manual procedures. Most alternative cancer treatments do not have high-quality evidence supporting their use and many have been described as fundamentally pseudoscientific. Concerns have been raised about the safety of some purported treatments, and some have been found unsafe in clinical trials. Despite this, many untested and disproven treatments are used around the world. +Alternative cancer treatments are typically contrasted with experimental cancer treatments – science-based treatment methods – and complementary treatments, which are non-invasive practices used in combination with conventional treatment. All approved chemotherapy medications were considered experimental treatments before completing safety and efficacy testing. +Since the late 19th century, medical researchers have established modern cancer care through the development of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapies, and refined surgical techniques. As of 2019, only 32.9% of cancer patients in the United States died within five years of their diagnosis. Despite their effectiveness, many conventional treatments are accompanied by a wide range of side effects, including pain, fatigue, and nausea. Some side effects can even be life-threatening. Many supporters of alternative treatments claim increased effectiveness and decreased side effects when compared to conventional treatments. However, one retrospective cohort study showed that patients using alternative treatments instead of conventional treatments were 2.5 times more likely to die within five years. +Most alternative cancer treatments have not been tested in proper clinical trials. Among studies that have been published, the quality is often poor. A 2006 review of 196 clinical trials that studied unconventional cancer treatments found a lack of early-phase testing, little rationale for dosing regimens, and poor statistical analyses. These treatments have appeared and vanished throughout history. + +== Terminology == +Complementary and alternative cancer treatments are often grouped, in part because of the adoption of the phrase complementary and alternative medicine by the United States Congress. The World Health Organization uses the phrase traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM) to describe a similar set of treatments. +Complementary treatments are used in conjunction with proven mainstream treatments. They tend to be pleasant for the patient, not involve substances with any pharmacological effects, inexpensive, and intended to treat side effects rather than to kill cancer cells. Medical massage and self-hypnosis to treat pain are examples of complementary treatments. +About half the practitioners who dispense complementary treatments are physicians, although they tend to be generalists rather than oncologists. As many as 60% of American physicians have referred their patients to a complementary practitioner for some purpose. While conventional physicians should always be kept aware of any complementary treatments used by a patient, many physicians in the United Kingdom are at least tolerant of their use, and some might recommend them. +Alternative treatments, by contrast, are used in place of mainstream treatments. The most popular alternative cancer therapies include restrictive diets, mind-body interventions, bioelectromagnetics, nutritional supplements, and herbs. The popularity and prevalence of different treatments varies widely by region. Cancer Research UK warns that alternative treatments may interact with conventional treatment, may increase the side effects of medication, and can give people false hope. + +== Prevalence == +Survey data about how many cancer patients use alternative or complementary therapies vary from nation to nation as well as from region to region. Reliance on alternative therapies is common in developing countries because people cannot afford effective medical treatment. For example, in Latin America, most cancer patients have used natural products, nutritional supplements, and spiritual practices (such as praying) in addition to, or instead of, medical care. In Africa, where millions of people do not have financial or geographical access to an oncologist, many Africans with cancer rely on traditional African medicine, which uses divination, spiritualism, and herbal medicine. About 40% of African cancer patients take herbal preparations. Three-quarters of Chinese people with cancer use some form of Traditional Chinese medicine, especially Chinese herbal preparations. About a third of people with cancer in India use Ayurveda or other elements of AYUSH. +A 2000 study published by the European Journal of Cancer evaluated a sample of 1023 women from a British cancer registry who had breast cancer and found that 22.4% had consulted with a practitioner of complementary therapies in the previous twelve months. The study concluded that the patients had spent many thousands of pounds on such measures and that use "of practitioners of complementary therapies following diagnosis is a significant and possibly growing phenomenon". +In Australia, one study reported that 46% of children with cancer have been treated with at least one non-traditional therapy. Further, 40% of those of any age receiving palliative care had tried at least one such therapy. Some of the most popular alternative cancer treatments were found to be dietary therapies, antioxidants, high dose vitamins, and herbal therapies. +In the United States, nearly all adults who use non-conventional medical therapies do so in addition to conventional medical treatment, rather than as an alternative to it. Use of unconventional cancer treatments in the United States has been influenced by the U.S. federal government's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), initially known as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM), which was established in 1992 as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) adjunct by the U.S. Congress. More specifically, the NIC's Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine sponsors over $105 million a year in grants for pseudoscientific cancer research. Over thirty American medical schools have offered general courses in alternative medicine, including the Georgetown, Columbia, and Harvard university systems, among others. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..face0fb00 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative cancer treatments" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:45.218242+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== People who choose alternative treatments == +People drawn to alternative treatments tend to believe that evidence-based medicine is invasive or ineffective, while still hoping that their health could be improved. They are loyal to their alternative healthcare providers and believe that "treatment should concentrate on the whole person". Among people who (correctly or incorrectly) believe their condition is untreatable, "desperation drives them into the hands of anyone with a promise and a smile." Con artists have long exploited patients' perceived lack of options to extract payments for ineffectual and even harmful treatments. +No evidence suggests that the use of alternative treatments improves survival. In 2017, one retrospective, observational study suggested that people who chose alternative medicine instead of conventional treatments were more than twice as likely to die within five years of diagnosis. Breast cancer patients choosing alternative medicine were 5.68 times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis. +Although they are more likely to die than non-users, some users of alternative treatments feel a greater sense of control over their destinies and report less anxiety and depression. They are more likely to engage in benefit finding, which is the psychological process of adapting to a traumatic situation and deciding that the trauma was valuable, usually because of perceived personal and spiritual growth during the crisis. +In a survey of American cancer patients, baby boomers were more likely to support complementary and alternative treatments than people from an older generation. White, female, college-educated patients who had been diagnosed more than a year ago were more likely than others to report a favorable impression of at least some complementary and alternative benefits. + +== Unproven and disproven treatments == + +Many therapies without evidence have been promoted to treat or prevent cancer in humans. In many cases, evidence suggests that the treatments do not work. Unlike accepted cancer treatments, unproven and disproven treatments are generally ignored or avoided by the medical community. +Despite this, many of these therapies have continued to be promoted as effective, particularly by promoters of alternative medicine. Scientists consider this practice quackery, and some of those engaged in it have been investigated and prosecuted by public health regulators such as the US Federal Trade Commission, the Mexican Secretariat of Health and the Canadian Competition Bureau. In the United Kingdom, the Cancer Act makes the unauthorized promotion of cancer treatments a criminal offense. +In 2008, the United States Federal Trade Commission acted against some companies that made unsupported claims that their products, some of which included highly toxic chemicals, could cure cancer. Targets included Omega Supply, Native Essence Herb Company, Daniel Chapter One, Gemtronics, Inc., Herbs for Cancer, Nu-Gen Nutrition, Inc., Westberry Enterprises, Inc., Jim Clark's All Natural Cancer Therapy, Bioque Technologies, Cleansing Time Pro, and Premium-essiac-tea-4less. + +== Areas of research == + +=== Specific methods === +Curcumin is a component of turmeric. It is under preliminary research for therapeutic potential, but according to Cancer Research UK no reputable organization supports claims that it can "cure" cancer. +Psilocybin is a psychedelic compound found in more than 100 mushroom species. Three small trials have demonstrated decreased cancer-related psychiatric distress, including anxiety and depression with its use. +HuaChanSu, traditional Chinese medicine derived from the parotoid gland secretion of toads of the genus Bufo. +Medical cannabis (for "appetite stimulation" and "pain") +Selenium + +=== Pain relief === +Most studies of complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of cancer pain are of low quality in terms of scientific evidence. Studies of massage therapy have produced mixed results, but overall show some temporary benefit for reducing pain, anxiety, and depression and a very low risk of harm, unless the patient is at risk for bleeding disorders. There is weak evidence for a modest benefit from hypnosis, supportive psychotherapy and cognitive therapy. Results about Reiki and touch therapy were inconclusive. The most studied such treatment, acupuncture, has demonstrated no benefit as an adjunct analgesic in cancer pain. The evidence for music therapy is equivocal, and some herbal interventions such as PC-SPES, mistletoe, and saw palmetto are known to be toxic to some cancer patients. The most promising evidence, though still weak, is for mind–body interventions such as biofeedback and relaxation techniques. + +== Examples of complementary therapy == +As stated in the scientific literature, the measures listed below are defined as 'complementary' because they are applied in conjunction with mainstream anti-cancer measures such as chemotherapy, in contrast to the ineffective therapies viewed as 'alternative' since they are offered as substitutes for mainstream measures. + +Acupuncture may help with nausea but does not treat the disease. A 2015 Cochrane review found unclear usefulness for cancer pain, though other reviews have found tentative evidence of benefit. It is of unclear effect in hot flashes in people with breast cancer. +The effects of aromatherapy are unclear, with no peer-reviewed research in regards to cancer treatment. +Psychotherapy may reduce anxiety and improve quality of life as well as allow for improving patient moods. +Massage therapy may temporarily reduce pain. +There is no evidence that cannabis has a beneficial effect in preventing or treating cancer in humans. +Hypnosis and meditation may improve the quality of life of cancer patients. +Music therapy eases cancer-related symptoms by helping with mood disturbances. + +== Alternative theories of cancer == +Some alternative cancer treatments are based on unproven or disproven theories of how cancer begins or is sustained in the body. Some common concepts are: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..57b733bae --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative cancer treatments" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_cancer_treatments" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:45.218242+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Mind-body connection === +This idea says that cancer progression is related to a person's mental and emotional state. Treatments based on this idea are mind–body interventions. Proponents say that cancer forms because the person is unhappy or stressed, or that a positive attitude can cure cancer after it has formed. A typical claim is that stress, anger, fear, or sadness depresses the immune system, whereas love, forgiveness, confidence, and happiness cause the immune system to improve, and that this improved immune system will destroy the cancer. This belief that generally boosting the immune system's activity will kill the cancer cells is not supported by any scientific research. In fact, many cancers require the support of an active immune system (especially through inflammation) to establish the tumor microenvironment necessary for a tumor to grow. + +=== Toxin theory of cancer === +In this idea, the body's metabolic processes are overwhelmed by normal byproducts. These byproducts, called "toxins", are said to build up in the cells and cause cancer and other diseases through a process sometimes called autointoxication or autotoxemia. Treatments following this approach are usually aimed at detoxification or body cleansing, such as enemas. + +=== Low activity by the immune system === +This claim asserts that if only the body's immune system were strong enough, it would kill the "invading" or "foreign" cancer. Unfortunately, most cancer cells retain normal cell characteristics, making them appear to the immune system to be a normal part of the body. Cancerous tumors also actively induce immune tolerance, which prevents the immune system from attacking them. + +=== Epigenetic disregulation === +This claim uses research into the mechanism of epigenetics to understand how mutations in the epigenetic machinery of cells will alter histone acetylation patterns to create cancer epigenetics. DNA damage appears to be the primary underlying cause of cancer. If DNA repair is deficient, DNA damage tends to accumulate. Such excess DNA damage can increase mutational errors during DNA replication due to error-prone translesion synthesis. Excess DNA damage can also increase epigenetic alterations due to errors during DNA repair. Such mutations and epigenetic alterations can give rise to cancer. + +== See also == + +Diet and cancer +Clinical trial +Placebo effect +Pseudoscience +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +The Truth About Cancer + +== References == + +== External links == +Cure-ious? Ask. If you or someone you care about has cancer, the last thing you need is a scam from the US Federal Trade Commission +187 Cancer Cure Frauds from the US Food and Drug Administration +Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b865cb517 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 1/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of medicine, but that by definition lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are not part of evidence-based medicine. Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "energies", pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery. +Some alternative practices are based on theories that contradict the established science of how the human body works; others appeal to the supernatural or superstitions to explain their effect or lack thereof. In others, the practice has plausibility but lacks a positive risk–benefit outcome probability. Research into alternative therapies often fails to follow proper research protocols (such as placebo-controlled trials, blind experiments and calculation of prior probability), providing invalid results. History has shown that if a method is proven to work, it eventually ceases to be alternative and becomes mainstream medicine. +Much of the perceived effect of an alternative practice arises from a belief that it will be effective, the placebo effect, or from the treated condition resolving on its own (the natural course of disease). This is further exacerbated by the tendency to turn to alternative therapies upon the failure of medicine, at which point the condition will be at its worst and most likely to spontaneously improve. In the absence of this bias, especially for diseases that are not expected to get better by themselves such as cancer or HIV infection, multiple studies have shown significantly worse outcomes if patients turn to alternative therapies. While this may be because these patients avoid effective treatment, some alternative therapies are actively harmful (such as cyanide poisoning from amygdalin, or the intentional ingestion of hydrogen peroxide) or actively interfere with effective treatments. +The alternative medicine sector is a highly profitable industry with a strong lobby, and faces far less regulation over the use and marketing of unproven treatments. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), functional medicine (FM), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM), and holistic medicine attempt to combine alternative practices with those of mainstream medicine. Traditional medicine practices become "alternative" when used outside their original settings and without proper scientific explanation and evidence. Alternative methods are often marketed as more "natural" or "holistic" than methods offered by medical science, that is sometimes derogatorily called "Big Pharma" by supporters of alternative medicine. Billions of dollars have been spent studying alternative medicine, with few or no positive results and many methods thoroughly disproven. + +== Definitions and terminology == +The terms alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, holistic medicine, natural medicine, unorthodox medicine, fringe medicine, unconventional medicine, and new age medicine are used interchangeably as having the same meaning and are almost synonymous in most contexts. Terminology has shifted over time, reflecting the preferred branding of practitioners. For example, the department of the United States National Institutes of Health studying alternative medicine is currently named the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), but it was established as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) and then renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) before now. Therapies are often framed as "natural" or "holistic", implicitly and intentionally suggesting that conventional medicine is "artificial" and "narrow in scope". +The meaning of the term "alternative" in the expression "alternative medicine", is not that it is an effective alternative to medical science (though some alternative medicine promoters may use the loose terminology to give the appearance of effectiveness). Loose terminology may also be used to suggest meaning that a dichotomy exists when it does not (such as the use of the expressions Western medicineand Eastern medicine to suggest a cultural difference between the Asian east and the European west, rather than that the difference is between evidence-based medicine and treatments that do not work). + +=== Alternative medicine === +Alternative medicine is defined loosely as a set of products, practices, and theories that are believed or perceived by their users to have the healing effects of medicine, but whose effectiveness has not been established using scientific methods, or whose theory and practice is not part of biomedicine, or whose theories or practices are directly contradicted by scientific evidence or scientific principles used in biomedicine. "Biomedicine" or "medicine" is that part of medical science that applies principles of biology, physiology, molecular biology, biophysics, and other natural sciences to clinical practice, using scientific methods to establish the effectiveness of that practice. Unlike medicine, an alternative product or practice does not originate from using scientific methods, but may instead be based on hearsay, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. +Some other definitions seek to specify alternative medicine in terms of its social and political marginality to mainstream healthcare. This can refer to the lack of support that alternative therapies receive from medical scientists regarding access to research funding, sympathetic coverage in the medical press, or inclusion in the standard medical curriculum. For example, a widely used definition devised by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCIH) calls it "a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine". However, these descriptive definitions are inadequate in the present-day when some conventional doctors offer alternative medical treatments and introductory courses or modules can be offered as part of standard undergraduate medical training; alternative medicine is taught in more than half of US medical schools and US health insurers are increasingly willing to provide reimbursement for alternative therapies. + +=== Complementary or integrative medicine === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..318975f63 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 2/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Complementary medicine (CM) or integrative medicine (IM) is when alternative medicine is used together with mainstream medical treatment in a belief that it improves the effect of treatments. Several medical organizations differentiate between complementary and alternative medicine including the UK National Health Service (NHS), Cancer Research UK, and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the latter of which states that "Complementary medicine is used in addition to standard treatments" whereas "Alternative medicine is used instead of standard treatments." For example, acupuncture (piercing the body with needles to influence the flow of energy) might be believed to increase the effectiveness or "complement" science-based medicine when used at the same time. Significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may make treatments less effective, notably in cancer therapy. +Some mainstream academic medical centers have integrative or functional medicine departments, including the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, UCLA, UC San Francisco and Northwestern University. In contrast, other medical practitioners are unconvinced by these practices. For example, surgical oncologist, David Gorski has described integrative medicine as an attempt to bring pseudoscience into academic science-based medicine with skeptics such as Gorski and David Colquhoun referring to this with the pejorative term "quackademia". Robert Todd Carroll described integrative medicine as "a synonym for 'alternative' medicine that, at its worst, integrates sense with nonsense. At its best, integrative medicine supports both consensus treatments of science-based medicine and treatments that the science, while promising perhaps, does not justify." Rose Shapiro has criticized the field of alternative medicine for rebranding the same practices as integrative medicine. +CAM is an acronym for complementary and alternative medicine. The 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine states that the terms complementary and alternative medicine "refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own traditional or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system. They are used interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries." +The Integrative Medicine Exam by the American Board of Physician Specialties includes the following subjects: Manual Therapies, Biofield Therapies, Acupuncture, Movement Therapies, Expressive Arts, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Indigenous Medical Systems, Homeopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Chiropractic, and Functional Medicine. + +=== Functional medicine === +Functional medicine (FM) is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses many unproven and disproven methods and treatments. It is a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and as such is pseudoscientific, and has been described as a form of quackery. In the US, FM practices have been ruled ineligible for course credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians because of concerns they may be harmful. Functional medicine was created by Jeffrey Bland, who founded The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), which is based in the US state of Washington, in the early 1990s as part of one of his companies, HealthComm. IFM, which promotes functional medicine, became a registered non-profit in 2001. Mark Hyman became an IFM board member and prominent promoter. +David Gorski, a surgical oncologist at Wayne State University, has written that FM is not well-defined and performs "expensive and generally unnecessary tests". Gorski says FM's vagueness is a deliberate tactic that makes functional medicine difficult to challenge. In an analysis for the Office for Science and Society at McGill University, Jonathan Jarry writes "Test enough people and you get a lot of false positives, which generate anxiety, more invasive tests, and sometimes unnecessary treatments." Proponents of functional medicine oppose established medical knowledge and reject its models, instead adopting a model of disease based on the notion of "antecedents", "triggers", and "mediators". These are meant to correspond to the underlying causes of health issues, the immediate causes, and the particular characteristics of a person's illness. A functional medicine practitioner devises a "matrix" from these factors to serve as the basis for treatment. Treatments, practices, and concepts are generally not supported by medical evidence. Patients of functional medicine practitioners may also be told to undertake unnecessary diets that can limit food choices. Jonathan Stea writes that functional medicine, integrative medicine, and CAM "are marketing terms designed to confuse patients, promote pseudoscience, and sow distrust in mainstream medicine." +In the 1990s, integrative medicine started to be marketed by a new term, "functional medicine". FM practitioners claim to diagnose and treat conditions that have been found by research studies not to exist, such as adrenal fatigue and numerous imbalances in body chemistry. For instance, contrary to scientific evidence, Joe Pizzorno, a major figure in FM, claimed that 25% of people in the United States have heavy metal poisoning and need to undergo detoxification. Many scientists state that such detox supplements are a waste of time and money. Detox has been also called "mass delusion". In 2014, the American Academy of Family Physicians withdrew course credits for functional medicine courses, having identified some of its treatments as "harmful and dangerous". In 2018, it partly lifted the ban, but only to allow overview classes, not to teach its practice. The opening of centers for functional medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and George Washington University was described by David Gorski as an "unfortunate" example of "quackademia" — that is, a quackery infiltrating academic medical centers. + +=== Other terms === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-10.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-10.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..71ab5888a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-10.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 11/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Alternative therapies typically lack any scientific validation, and their effectiveness either is unproven or has been disproved. +It is usually based on religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, or fraud. +Methods may incorporate or base themselves on traditional medicine, folk knowledge, spiritual beliefs, ignorance or misunderstanding of scientific principles, errors in reasoning, or newly conceived approaches claiming to heal. +Research on alternative medicine is frequently of low quality and methodologically flawed. +Treatments are not part of the conventional, science-based healthcare system. +Where alternative therapies have replaced conventional science-based medicine, even with the safest alternative medicines, failure to use or delay in using conventional science-based medicine has caused deaths. +Many alternative medical treatments are not patentable, which may lead to less research funding from the private sector. In addition, in most countries, alternative therapies (in contrast to pharmaceuticals) can be marketed without any proof of efficacy – also a disincentive for manufacturers to fund scientific research. +English evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, in his 2003 book A Devil's Chaplain, defined alternative medicine as a "set of practices that cannot be tested, refuse to be tested, or consistently fail tests." Dawkins argued that if a technique is demonstrated effective in properly performed trials then it ceases to be alternative and simply becomes medicine. +CAM is also often less regulated than conventional medicine. There are ethical concerns about whether people who perform CAM have the proper knowledge to treat patients. CAM is often done by non-physicians who do not operate with the same medical licensing laws which govern conventional medicine, and it is often described as an issue of non-maleficence. +According to two writers, Wallace Sampson and K. Butler, marketing is part of the training required in alternative medicine, and propaganda methods in alternative medicine have been traced back to those used by Hitler and Goebbels in their promotion of pseudoscience in medicine. +In November 2011 Edzard Ernst stated that the "level of misinformation about alternative medicine has now reached the point where it has become dangerous and unethical. So far, alternative medicine has remained an ethics-free zone. It is time to change this." +Harriet Hall criticized the low standard of evidence accepted by the alternative medicine community: + +Science-based medicine has one rigorous standard of evidence, the kind [used for pharmaceuticals] .... CAM has a double standard. They gladly accept a lower standard of evidence for treatments they believe in. However, I suspect they would reject a pharmaceutical if it were approved for marketing on the kind of evidence they accept for CAM. + +=== Conflicts of interest === +Some commentators have said that special consideration must be given to the issue of conflicts of interest in alternative medicine. Edzard Ernst has said that most researchers into alternative medicine are at risk of "unidirectional bias" because of a generally uncritical belief in their chosen subject. Ernst cites as evidence the phenomenon whereby 100% of a sample of acupuncture trials originating in China had positive conclusions. David Gorski contrasts evidence-based medicine, in which researchers try to disprove hyphotheses, with what he says is the frequent practice in pseudoscience-based research, of striving to confirm pre-existing notions. Harriet Hall writes that there is a contrast between the circumstances of alternative medicine practitioners and disinterested scientists: in the case of acupuncture, for example, an acupuncturist would have "a great deal to lose" if acupuncture were rejected by research; but the disinterested skeptic would not lose anything if its effects were confirmed; rather their change of mind would enhance their skeptical credentials. + +=== Use of health and research resources === +Research into alternative therapies has been criticized for "diverting research time, money, and other resources from more fruitful lines of investigation in order to pursue a theory that has no basis in biology." Research methods expert and author of Snake Oil Science, R. Barker Bausell, has stated that "it's become politically correct to investigate nonsense." A commonly cited statistic is that the US National Institute of Health had spent $2.5 billion on investigating alternative therapies prior to 2009, with none being found to be effective. + +== See also == +Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities +Conservation medicine +Ethnomedicine +Psychic surgery +Siddha medicine +Thomsonianism, in United States early 19th century +Chelation of heavy metals in autism +Ancient Greek medicine + +== Notes == + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-11.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-11.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..df8fe396f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-11.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 12/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Bibliography == +Bivins, R. (2007). Alternative Medicine? A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921887-5. +Board of Science and Education, British Medical Association (1993). Complementary Medicine: New Approaches to Good Practice. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-286166-5. +Callahan, D., ed. (2004). The Role of Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Accommodating Pluralism. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1-58901-464-0. +Cohen, Michael H. (1998). Complementary & Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-5689-1. +Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public for the Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine (2005). Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. ISBN 978-0-309-09270-8. +Gevitz, N. (1997) [1993]. "Chapter 28: Unorthodox Medical Theories". In Bynum, W.F.; Porter, R.S. (eds.). Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine. Vol. 1. New York & London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16419-1. +Hahnemann, S. (1833). The Homœopathic Medical Doctrine, or "Organon of the Healing Art". Translated by Devrient, C.H. Annotated by Stratten, S. Dublin: W.F. Wakeman. +Kasper, Dennis L; Fauci, Anthony S.; Hauser, Stephen L.; Longo, Dan L.; Jameson, J. Larry; Loscalzo, Joseph (2015). Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (19th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 978-0-07-180215-4. +Kopelman, L. "The Role of Science in Assessing Conventional, Complementary, and Alternative Medicines". In Callahan (2004), pp. 36–53. +Mishra, Lakshmi Chandra (2004). Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-1366-0. +O'Connor, Bonnie Blair (1995). Healing Traditions: Alternative Medicine and the Health Professions. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1398-0. +Ruggie, M. (2004). Marginal to Mainstream: Alternative Medicine in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83429-2. +Sagan, C. (1996). The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-53512-8. +Saks, M. (2003). Orthodox and Alternative Medicine: Politics, Professionalization and Health Care. Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1-4462-6536-9. +Sointu, E. (2012). Theorizing Complementary and Alternative Medicines: Wellbeing, Self, Gender, Class. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-30931-9. +Taylor, Kim (2005). Chinese Medicine in Early Communist China, 1945–63: a Medicine of Revolution. Needham Research Institute Studies. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 978-0-415-34512-5. +Walton J. (2000) [Session 1999–2000, HL 123]. Sixth Report: Complementary and Alternative Medicine. London: The Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-10-483100-7. +Wieland, L.S.; et al. (2011). "Development and classification of an operational definition of complementary and alternative medicine for the Cochrane Collaboration". Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 17 (2): 50–59. PMC 3196853. PMID 21717826. +Wujastyk, D., ed. (2003). The Roots of Ayurveda: Selections from Sanskrit Medical Writings. Translated by D. Wujastyk. London and New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-044824-5. +General Guidelines for Methodologies on Research and Evaluation of Traditional Medicine (PDF). Vol. WHO/EDM/TRM/2001.1. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO). 2000. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. This document is not a formal publication of the WHO. The views expressed in documents by named authors are solely the responsibility of those authors. +WHO Guidelines on Basic Training and Safety in Chiropractic (PDF). Geneva: WHO. 2005. ISBN 978-92-4-159371-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. + +== Further reading == +Bausell, R.B (2007). Snake oil science: the truth about complementary and alternative medicine. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-531368-0. +Benedetti, F.; et al. (2003). "Open versus hidden medical treatments: The patient's knowledge about a therapy affects the therapy outcome". Prevention & Treatment. 6 (1). doi:10.1037/1522-3736.6.1.61a. +Dawkins, R. (2001). "Foreword". In Diamond, J. (ed.). Snake Oil and Other Preoccupations. London: Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-942833-6. Reprinted in Dawkins 2003. +Downing AM, Hunter DG (2003). "Validating clinical reasoning: A question of perspective, but whose perspective?". Manual Therapy. 8 (2): 117–119. doi:10.1016/S1356-689X(02)00077-2. PMID 12890440. +Eisenberg DM (July 1997). "Advising patients who seek alternative medical therapies". Annals of Internal Medicine. 127 (1): 61–69. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-127-1-199707010-00010. PMID 9214254. S2CID 23351104. +Gunn IP (December 1998). "A critique of Michael L. Millenson's book, Demanding Medical Excellence: Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age, and its Relevance to CRNAs and Nursing". AANA Journal. 66 (6): 575–582. ISSN 0094-6354. PMID 10488264. +Hand, W.D. (1980). "Folk Magical Medicine and Symbolism in the West". Magical Medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 305–319. ISBN 978-0-520-04129-5. OCLC 6420468. +Illich, I. (1976). Limits to Medicine: Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-022009-4. OCLC 4134656. +Mayo Clinic (2007). Mayo Clinic Book of Alternative Medicine: The New Approach to Using the Best of Natural Therapies and Conventional Medicine. Parsippany, New Jersey: Time Home Entertainment. ISBN 978-1-933405-92-6. +Planer, F.E. (1988). Superstition (Rev. ed.). Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0-87975-494-5. OCLC 18616238. +Rosenfeld, A. (c. 2000). "Where Do Americans Go for Healthcare?". Cleveland, Ohio: Case Western Reserve University. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2010-09-23. +Snyder, Mariah; Lindquist, Ruth (May 2001). "Issues in Complementary Therapies: How We Got to Where We Are". Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. 6 (2): 1. PMID 11469921. Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2017-01-18. +Stevens, P. Jr. (November–December 2001). "Magical thinking in complementary and alternative medicine". Skeptical Inquirer. +Tonelli MR (2001). "The limits of evidence-based medicine". Respiratory Care. 46 (12): 1435–1440, discussion 1440–1441. PMID 11728302. +Trivieri, L. Jr. (2002). Anderson, J.W. (ed.). Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-1-58761-141-4. +Wisneski, L.A.; et al. (2005). The scientific basis of integrative medicine. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-2081-1. +Zalewski, Z. (1999). "Importance of philosophy of science to the history of medical thinking". CMJ. 40 (1): 8–13. PMID 9933889. Archived from the original on 2004-02-06. + +=== World Health Organization === +Benchmarks for training in traditional / complementary and alternative medicine +WHO Kobe Centre; Bodeker, G.; et al. (2005). WHO Global Atlas of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine. WHO. ISBN 978-92-4-156286-7. Summary. + +=== Journals === +Alternative Medicine Review: A Journal of Clinical Therapeutics. Sandpoint, Idaho : Thorne Research, c. 1996 NLM ID: 9705340 Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine +Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Aliso Viejo, California : InnoVision Communications, c1995- NLM ID: 9502013 Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine +BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. London: BioMed Central, 2001 NLM ID: 101088661 Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine +Complementary Therapies in Medicine. Edinburgh; New York : Churchill Livingstone, c. 1993 NLM ID: 9308777 Archived 2018-06-12 at the Wayback Machine +Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine: eCAM. New York: Hindawi, c. 2004 NLM ID: 101215021 Archived 2018-09-14 at the Wayback Machine +Forschende Komplementärmedizin / Research in Complementary Medicine +Journal for Alternative and Complementary Medicine New York : Mary Ann Liebert, c. 1995 +Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine (SRAM) Archived 2010-08-22 at the Wayback Machine + +== External links == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b305bb69e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 3/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Traditional medicine (TM) refers to certain practices within a culture which have existed since before the advent of medical science, Many TM practices are based on "holistic" approaches to disease and health, versus the scientific evidence-based methods in conventional medicine. The 2019 WHO report defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skill and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness." When used outside the original setting and in the absence of scientific evidence, TM practices are typically referred to as "alternative medicine". +Holistic medicine is another rebranding of alternative medicine. In this case, the words balance and holism are often used alongside complementary or integrative, claiming to take into fuller account the "whole" person, in contrast to the supposed reductionism of medicine. + +=== Challenges in defining alternative medicine === +Prominent members of the science and biomedical science community say that it is not meaningful to define an alternative medicine that is separate from a conventional medicine because the expressions "conventional medicine", "alternative medicine", "complementary medicine", "integrative medicine", and "holistic medicine" do not refer to any medicine at all. Others say that alternative medicine cannot be precisely defined because of the diversity of theories and practices it includes, and because the boundaries between alternative and conventional medicine overlap, are porous, and change. Healthcare practices categorized as alternative may differ in their historical origin, theoretical basis, diagnostic technique, therapeutic practice and in their relationship to the medical mainstream. Under a definition of alternative medicine as "non-mainstream", treatments considered alternative in one location may be considered conventional in another. + +Critics say the expression is deceptive because it implies there is an effective alternative to science-based medicine, and that complementary is deceptive because it implies that the treatment increases the effectiveness of (complements) science-based medicine, while alternative medicines that have been tested nearly always have no measurable positive effect compared to a placebo. Journalist John Diamond wrote that "there is really no such thing as alternative medicine, just medicine that works and medicine that doesn't", a notion later echoed by Paul Offit: "The truth is there's no such thing as conventional or alternative or complementary or integrative or holistic medicine. There's only medicine that works and medicine that doesn't. And the best way to sort it out is by carefully evaluating scientific studies—not by visiting Internet chat rooms, reading magazine articles, or talking to friends." + +== Types == + +Alternative medicine consists of a wide range of health care practices, products, and therapies. The shared feature is a claim to heal that is not based on the scientific method. Alternative medicine practices are diverse in their foundations and methodologies. Alternative medicine practices may be classified by their cultural origins or by the types of beliefs upon which they are based. Methods may incorporate or be based on traditional medicinal practices of a particular culture, folk knowledge, superstition, spiritual beliefs, belief in supernatural energies (antiscience), pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, new or different concepts of health and disease, and any bases other than being proven by scientific methods. Different cultures may have their own unique traditional or belief based practices developed recently or over thousands of years, and specific practices or entire systems of practices. + +=== Unscientific belief systems === +Alternative medicine, such as using naturopathy or homeopathy in place of conventional medicine, is based on belief systems not grounded in science. + +=== Traditional ethnic systems === +Alternative medical systems may be based on traditional medicine practices, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ayurveda in India, or practices of other cultures around the world. Some useful applications of traditional medicines have been researched and accepted within ordinary medicine, however the underlying belief systems are seldom scientific and are not accepted. +Traditional medicine is considered alternative when it is used outside its home region; or when it is used together with or instead of known functional treatment; or when it can be reasonably expected that the patient or practitioner knows or should know that it will not work – such as knowing that the practice is based on superstition. + +=== Supernatural energies === +Bases of belief may include belief in existence of supernatural energies undetected by the science of physics, as in biofields, or in belief in properties of the energies of physics that are inconsistent with the laws of physics, as in energy medicine. + +=== Herbal remedies and other substances === + +Substance based practices use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, non-vitamin supplements and megavitamins, animal and fungal products, and minerals, including use of these products in traditional medical practices that may also incorporate other methods. Examples include healing claims for non-vitamin supplements, fish oil, Omega-3 fatty acid, glucosamine, echinacea, flaxseed oil, and ginseng. Herbal medicine, or phytotherapy, includes not just the use of plant products, but may also include the use of animal and mineral products. It is among the most commercially successful branches of alternative medicine, and includes the tablets, powders and elixirs that are sold as "nutritional supplements". Only a very small percentage of these have been shown to have any efficacy, and there is little regulation as to standards and safety of their contents. + +=== Religion, faith healing, and prayer === + +=== NCCIH classification === + +The United States agency National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) has created a classification system for branches of complementary and alternative medicine that divides them into five major groups. These groups have some overlap, and distinguish two types of energy medicine: veritable which involves scientifically observable energy (including magnet therapy, colorpuncture and light therapy) and putative, which invokes physically undetectable or unverifiable energy. None of these energies have any evidence to support that they affect the body in any positive or health promoting way. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a15a4bcdf --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 4/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Whole medical systems: Cut across more than one of the other groups; examples include traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy, homeopathy, and ayurveda. +Mind-body interventions: Explore the interconnection between the mind, body, and spirit, under the premise that they affect "bodily functions and symptoms". A connection between mind and body is conventional medical fact, and this classification does not include therapies with proven function such as cognitive behavioral therapy. +"Biology"-based practices: Use substances found in nature such as herbs, foods, vitamins, and other natural substances. (As used here, "biology" does not refer to the science of biology, but is a usage newly coined by NCCIH in the primary source used for this article. "Biology-based" as coined by NCCIH may refer to chemicals from a nonbiological source, such as use of the poison lead in traditional Chinese medicine, and to other nonbiological substances.) +Manipulative and body-based practices: feature manipulation or movement of body parts, such as is done in bodywork, chiropractic, and osteopathic manipulation. +Energy medicine: is a domain that deals with putative and verifiable energy fields: +Biofield therapies are intended to influence energy fields that are purported to surround and penetrate the body. The existence of such energy fields have been disproven. +Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies use verifiable electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, alternating-current, or direct-current fields in a non-scientific manner. + +== History == + +The history of alternative medicine may refer to the history of a group of diverse medical practices that were collectively promoted as "alternative medicine" beginning in the 1970s, to the collection of individual histories of members of that group, or to the history of western medical practices that were labeled "irregular practices" by the western medical establishment. It includes the histories of complementary medicine and of integrative medicine. Before the 1970s, western practitioners that were not part of the increasingly science-based medical establishment were referred to "irregular practitioners", and were dismissed by the medical establishment as unscientific and as practicing quackery. Until the 1970s, irregular practice became increasingly marginalized as quackery and fraud, as western medicine increasingly incorporated scientific methods and discoveries, and had a corresponding increase in success of its treatments. In the 1970s, irregular practices were grouped with traditional practices of nonwestern cultures and with other unproven or disproven practices that were not part of biomedicine, with the entire group collectively marketed and promoted under the single expression "alternative medicine". +Use of alternative medicine in the west began to rise following the counterculture movement of the 1960s, as part of the rising new age movement of the 1970s. This was due to misleading mass marketing of "alternative medicine" being an effective "alternative" to biomedicine, changing social attitudes about not using chemicals and challenging the establishment and authority of any kind, sensitivity to giving equal measure to beliefs and practices of other cultures (cultural relativism), and growing frustration and desperation by patients about limitations and side effects of science-based medicine. At the same time, in 1975, the American Medical Association, which played the central role in fighting quackery in the United States, abolished its quackery committee and closed down its Department of Investigation. By the early to mid 1970s the expression "alternative medicine" came into widespread use, and the expression became mass marketed as a collection of "natural" and effective treatment "alternatives" to science-based biomedicine. By 1983, mass marketing of "alternative medicine" was so pervasive that the British Medical Journal (BMJ) pointed to "an apparently endless stream of books, articles, and radio and television programmes urge on the public the virtues of (alternative medicine) treatments ranging from meditation to drilling a hole in the skull to let in more oxygen". +An analysis of trends in the criticism of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in five prestigious American medical journals during the period of reorganization within medicine (1965–1999) was reported as showing that the medical profession had responded to the growth of CAM in three phases, and that in each phase, changes in the medical marketplace had influenced the type of response in the journals. Changes included relaxed medical licensing, the development of managed care, rising consumerism, and the establishment of the USA Office of Alternative Medicine (later National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, currently National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health). + +=== Medical education === +Mainly as a result of reforms following the Flexner Report of 1910 medical education in established medical schools in the US has generally not included alternative medicine as a teaching topic. Typically, their teaching is based on current practice and scientific knowledge about: anatomy, physiology, histology, embryology, neuroanatomy, pathology, pharmacology, microbiology and immunology. Medical schools' teaching includes such topics as doctor-patient communication, ethics, the art of medicine, and engaging in complex clinical reasoning (medical decision-making). Writing in 2002, Snyderman and Weil remarked that by the early twentieth century the Flexner model had helped to create the 20th-century academic health center, in which education, research, and practice were inseparable. While this had much improved medical practice by defining with increasing certainty the pathophysiological basis of disease, a single-minded focus on the pathophysiological had diverted much of mainstream American medicine from clinical conditions that were not well understood in mechanistic terms, and were not effectively treated by conventional therapies. +By 2001 some form of CAM training was being offered by at least 75 out of 125 medical schools in the US. Exceptionally, the School of Medicine of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, includes a research institute for integrative medicine (a member entity of the Cochrane Collaboration). Medical schools are responsible for conferring medical degrees, but a physician typically may not legally practice medicine until licensed by the local government authority. Licensed physicians in the US who have attended one of the established medical schools there have usually graduated Doctor of Medicine (MD). All states require that applicants for MD licensure be graduates of an approved medical school and complete the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). + +== Efficacy == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c4671c84f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 5/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +There is a general scientific consensus that alternative therapies lack the requisite scientific validation, and their effectiveness is either unproved or disproved. Many of the claims regarding the efficacy of alternative medicines are controversial, since research on them is frequently of low quality and methodologically flawed. Selective publication bias, marked differences in product quality and standardisation, and some companies making unsubstantiated claims call into question the claims of efficacy of isolated examples where there is evidence for alternative therapies. +The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine points to confusions in the general population – a person may attribute symptomatic relief to an otherwise-ineffective therapy just because they are taking something (the placebo effect); the natural recovery from or the cyclical nature of an illness (the regression fallacy) gets misattributed to an alternative medicine being taken; a person not diagnosed with science-based medicine may never originally have had a true illness diagnosed as an alternative disease category. +Edzard Ernst, the first university professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, characterized the evidence for many alternative techniques as weak, nonexistent, or negative and in 2011 published his estimate that about 7.4% were based on "sound evidence", although he believes that may be an overestimate. Ernst has concluded that 95% of the alternative therapies he and his team studied, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, and reflexology, are "statistically indistinguishable from placebo treatments", but he also believes there is something that conventional doctors can usefully learn from the chiropractors and homeopath: this is the therapeutic value of the placebo effect, one of the strangest phenomena in medicine. +In 2003, a project funded by the CDC identified 208 condition-treatment pairs, of which 58% had been studied by at least one randomized controlled trial (RCT), and 23% had been assessed with a meta-analysis. According to a 2005 book by a US Institute of Medicine panel, the number of RCTs focused on CAM has risen dramatically. +As of 2005, the Cochrane Library had 145 CAM-related Cochrane systematic reviews and 340 non-Cochrane systematic reviews. An analysis of the conclusions of only the 145 Cochrane reviews was done by two readers. In 83% of the cases, the readers agreed. In the 17% in which they disagreed, a third reader agreed with one of the initial readers to set a rating. These studies found that, for CAM, 38.4% concluded positive effect or possibly positive (12.4%), 4.8% concluded no effect, 0.7% concluded harmful effect, and 56.6% concluded insufficient evidence. An assessment of conventional treatments found that 41.3% concluded positive or possibly positive effect, 20% concluded no effect, 8.1% concluded net harmful effects, and 21.3% concluded insufficient evidence. However, the CAM review used the more developed 2004 Cochrane database, while the conventional review used the initial 1998 Cochrane database. +Alternative therapies do not "complement" (improve the effect of, or mitigate the side effects of) functional medical treatment. Significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may instead negatively impact functional treatment by making prescription drugs less effective, such as interference by herbal preparations with warfarin. +In the same way as for conventional therapies, drugs, and interventions, it can be difficult to test the efficacy of alternative medicine in clinical trials. In instances where an established, effective, treatment for a condition is already available, the Helsinki Declaration states that withholding such treatment is unethical in most circumstances. Use of standard-of-care treatment in addition to an alternative technique being tested may produce confounded or difficult-to-interpret results. +Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers has stated: + +Contrary to much popular and scientific writing, many alternative cancer treatments have been investigated in good-quality clinical trials, and they have been shown to be ineffective. The label "unproven" is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been "disproven". + +== Perceived mechanism of effect == +Anything classified as alternative medicine by definition does not have a proven healing or medical effect. However, there are different mechanisms through which it can be perceived to "work". The common denominator of these mechanisms is that effects are mis-attributed to the alternative treatment. + +=== Placebo effect === +A placebo is a treatment with no intended therapeutic value. An example of a placebo is an inert pill, but it can include more dramatic interventions like sham surgery. The placebo effect is the concept that patients will perceive an improvement after being treated with an inert treatment. The opposite of the placebo effect is the nocebo effect, when patients who expect a treatment to be harmful will perceive harmful effects after taking it. +Placebos do not have a physical effect on diseases or improve overall outcomes, but patients may report improvements in subjective outcomes such as pain and nausea. A 1955 study suggested that a substantial part of a medicine's impact was due to the placebo effect. However, reassessments found the study to have flawed methodology. This and other modern reviews suggest that other factors like natural recovery and reporting bias should also be considered. +All of these are reasons why alternative therapies may be credited for improving a patient's condition even though the objective effect is non-existent, or even harmful. David Gorski argues that alternative treatments should be treated as a placebo, rather than as medicine. Almost none have performed significantly better than a placebo in clinical trials. Furthermore, distrust of conventional medicine may lead to patients experiencing the nocebo effect when taking effective medication. + +=== Regression to the mean === +A patient who receives an inert treatment may report improvements afterwards that it did not cause. Assuming it was the cause without evidence is an example of the regression fallacy. This may be due to a natural recovery from the illness, or a fluctuation in the symptoms of a long-term condition. The concept of regression toward the mean implies that an extreme result is more likely to be followed by a less extreme result. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..71437d652 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 6/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Other factors === +There are also reasons why a placebo treatment group may outperform a "no-treatment" group in a test which are not related to a patient's experience. These include patients reporting more favourable results than they really felt due to politeness or "experimental subordination", observer bias, and misleading wording of questions. In their 2010 systematic review of studies into placebos, Asbjørn Hróbjartsson and Peter C. Gøtzsche write that "even if there were no true effect of placebo, one would expect to record differences between placebo and no-treatment groups due to bias associated with lack of blinding." Alternative therapies may also be credited for perceived improvement through decreased use or effect of medical treatment, and therefore either decreased side effects or nocebo effects towards standard treatment. + +== Use and regulation == + +=== Appeal === +Practitioners of complementary medicine usually discuss and advise patients as to available alternative therapies. Patients often express interest in mind-body complementary therapies because they offer a non-drug approach to treating some health conditions. +In addition to the social-cultural underpinnings of the popularity of alternative medicine, there are several psychological issues that are critical to its growth, notably psychological effects, such as the will to believe, cognitive biases that help maintain self-esteem and promote harmonious social functioning, and the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy. +In a 2018 interview with The BMJ, Edzard Ernst stated: "The present popularity of complementary and alternative medicine is also inviting criticism of what we are doing in mainstream medicine. It shows that we aren't fulfilling a certain need-we are not giving patients enough time, compassion, or empathy. These are things that complementary practitioners are very good at. Mainstream medicine could learn something from complementary medicine." + +==== Marketing ==== +Alternative medicine is a profitable industry with large media advertising expenditures. Accordingly, alternative practices are often portrayed positively and compared favorably to "big pharma". +The popularity of complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) may be related to other factors that Ernst mentioned in a 2008 interview in The Independent: + +Why is it so popular, then? Ernst blames the providers, customers and the doctors whose neglect, he says, has created the opening into which alternative therapists have stepped. "People are told lies. There are 40 million websites and 39.9 million tell lies, sometimes outrageous lies. They mislead cancer patients, who are encouraged not only to pay their last penny but to be treated with something that shortens their lives." At the same time, people are gullible. It needs gullibility for the industry to succeed. It doesn't make me popular with the public, but it's the truth. +Paul Offit proposed that "alternative medicine becomes quackery" in four ways: by recommending against conventional therapies that are helpful, promoting potentially harmful therapies without adequate warning, draining patients' bank accounts, or by promoting "magical thinking". Promoting alternative medicine has been called dangerous and unethical. + +==== Social factors ==== +Authors have speculated on the socio-cultural and psychological reasons for the appeal of alternative medicines among the minority using them in lieu of conventional medicine. There are several socio-cultural reasons for the interest in these treatments centered on the low level of scientific literacy among the public at large and a concomitant increase in antiscientific attitudes and new age mysticism. Related to this are vigorous marketing of extravagant claims by the alternative medical community combined with inadequate media scrutiny and attacks on critics. Alternative medicine is criticized for taking advantage of the least fortunate members of society. +There is also an increase in conspiracy theories toward conventional medicine and pharmaceutical companies, mistrust of traditional authority figures, such as the physician, and a dislike of the current delivery methods of scientific biomedicine, all of which have led patients to seek out alternative medicine to treat a variety of ailments. Many patients lack access to contemporary medicine, due to a lack of private or public health insurance, which leads them to seek out lower-cost alternative medicine. Medical doctors are also aggressively marketing alternative medicine to profit from this market. +Patients can be averse to the painful, unpleasant, and sometimes-dangerous side effects of biomedical treatments. Treatments for severe diseases such as cancer and HIV infection have well-known, significant side-effects. Even low-risk medications such as antibiotics can have potential to cause life-threatening anaphylactic reactions in a very few individuals. Many medications may cause minor but bothersome symptoms such as cough or upset stomach. In all of these cases, patients may be seeking out alternative therapies to avoid the adverse effects of conventional treatments. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ae01efd18 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 7/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Prevalence of use === +According to research published in 2015, the increasing popularity of CAM needs to be explained by moral convictions or lifestyle choices rather than by economic reasoning. +In developing nations, access to essential medicines is severely restricted by lack of resources and poverty. Traditional remedies, often closely resembling or forming the basis for alternative remedies, may comprise primary healthcare or be integrated into the healthcare system. In Africa, traditional medicine is used for 80% of primary healthcare, and in developing nations as a whole over one-third of the population lack access to essential medicines. +In Latin America, inequities against BIPOC communities keep them tied to their traditional practices and therefore, it is often these communities that constitute the majority of users of alternative medicine. Racist attitudes towards certain communities disable them from accessing more urbanized modes of care. In a study that assessed access to care in rural communities of Latin America, it was found that discrimination is a huge barrier to the ability of citizens to access care; more specifically, women of Indigenous and African descent, and lower-income families were especially hurt. Such exclusion exacerbates the inequities that minorities in Latin America already face. Consistently excluded from many systems of westernized care for socioeconomic and other reasons, low-income communities of color often turn to traditional medicine for care as it has proved reliable to them across generations. +Commentators including David Horrobin have proposed adopting a prize system to reward medical research. This stands in opposition to the current mechanism for funding research proposals in most countries around the world. In the US, the NCCIH provides public research funding for alternative medicine. The NCCIH has spent more than US$2.5 billion on such research since 1992 and this research has not demonstrated the efficacy of alternative therapies. As of 2011, the NCCIH's sister organization in the NIH Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine had given out grants of around $105 million each year for several years. Testing alternative medicine that has no scientific basis (as in the aforementioned grants) has been called a waste of scarce research resources. +That alternative medicine has been on the rise "in countries where Western science and scientific method generally are accepted as the major foundations for healthcare, and 'evidence-based' practice is the dominant paradigm" was described as an "enigma" in the Medical Journal of Australia. A 15-year systematic review published in 2022 on the global acceptance and use of CAM among medical specialists found the overall acceptance of CAM at 52% and the overall use at 45%. + +==== In the United States ==== +In the United States, the 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) required that for states to receive federal money, they had to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and abuse laws regarding religion-based healing practices. Thirty-one states have child-abuse religious exemptions. +The use of alternative medicine in the US has increased, with a 50 percent increase in expenditures and a 25 percent increase in the use of alternative therapies between 1990 and 1997 in America. According to a national survey conducted in 2002, "36 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine." Americans spend many billions on the therapies annually. Most Americans used CAM to treat and/or prevent musculoskeletal conditions or other conditions associated with chronic or recurring pain. In America, women were more likely than men to use CAM, with the biggest difference in use of mind-body therapies including prayer specifically for health reasons". In 2008, more than 37% of American hospitals offered alternative therapies, up from 27 percent in 2005, and 25% in 2004. More than 70% of the hospitals offering CAM were in urban areas. +A survey of Americans found that 88 percent thought that "there are some good ways of treating sickness that medical science does not recognize". Use of magnets was the most common tool in energy medicine in America, and among users of it, 58 percent described it as at least "sort of scientific", when it is not at all scientific. In 2002, at least 60 percent of US medical schools have at least some class time spent teaching alternative therapies. "Therapeutic touch" was taught at more than 100 colleges and universities in 75 countries before the practice was debunked by a nine-year-old child for a school science project. + +==== Prevalence of use of specific therapies ==== +The most common CAM therapies used in the US in 2002 were prayer (45%), herbalism (19%), breathing meditation (12%), meditation (8%), chiropractic medicine (8%), yoga (5–6%), body work (5%), diet-based therapy (4%), progressive relaxation (3%), mega-vitamin therapy (3%) and visualization (2%). +In Britain, the most often used alternative therapies were Alexander technique, aromatherapy, Bach and other flower remedies, body work therapies including massage, Counseling stress therapies, hypnotherapy, meditation, reflexology, Shiatsu, Ayurvedic medicine, nutritional medicine, and yoga. Ayurvedic medicine remedies are mainly plant based with some use of animal materials. Safety concerns include the use of herbs containing toxic compounds and the lack of quality control in Ayurvedic facilities. +According to the National Health Service (England), the most commonly used complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) supported by the NHS in the UK are: acupuncture, aromatherapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, massage, osteopathy and clinical hypnotherapy. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c0816e79c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 8/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== In palliative care ==== +Complementary therapies are often used in palliative care or by practitioners attempting to manage chronic pain in patients. Integrative medicine is considered more acceptable in the interdisciplinary approach used in palliative care than in other areas of medicine. "From its early experiences of care for the dying, palliative care took for granted the necessity of placing patient values and lifestyle habits at the core of any design and delivery of quality care at the end of life. If the patient desired complementary therapies, and as long as such treatments provided additional support and did not endanger the patient, they were considered acceptable." The non-pharmacologic interventions of complementary medicine can employ mind-body interventions designed to "reduce pain and concomitant mood disturbance and increase quality of life." + +=== Regulation === + +The alternative medicine lobby has successfully pushed for alternative therapies to be subject to far less regulation than conventional medicine. Some professions of complementary/traditional/alternative medicine, such as chiropractic, have achieved full regulation in North America and other parts of the world and are regulated in a manner similar to that governing science-based medicine. In contrast, other approaches may be partially recognized and others have no regulation at all. In some cases, promotion of alternative therapies is allowed when there is demonstrably no effect, only a tradition of use. Despite laws making it illegal to market or promote alternative therapies for use in cancer treatment, many practitioners promote them. +Regulation and licensing of alternative medicine ranges widely from country to country, and state to state. In Austria and Germany complementary and alternative medicine is mainly in the hands of doctors with MDs, and half or more of the American alternative practitioners are licensed MDs. In Germany herbs are tightly regulated: half are prescribed by doctors and covered by health insurance. +Government bodies in the US and elsewhere have published information or guidance about alternative medicine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has issued online warnings for consumers about medication health fraud. This includes a section on Alternative Medicine Fraud, such as a warning that Ayurvedic products generally have not been approved by the FDA before marketing. + +== Risks and problems == +The National Science Foundation has studied the problematic side of the public's attitudes and understandings of science fiction, pseudoscience, and belief in alternative medicine. They use a quote from Robert L. Park to describe some issues with alternative medicine: + +Alternative medicine is another concern. As used here, alternative medicine refers to all treatments that have not been proven effective using scientific methods. A scientist's view of the situation appeared in a recent book (Park 2000b)": +Between homeopathy and herbal therapy lies a bewildering array of untested and unregulated treatments, all labeled alternative by their proponents. Alternative seems to define a culture rather than a field of medicine—a culture that is not scientifically demanding. It is a culture in which ancient traditions are given more weight than biological science, and anecdotes are preferred over clinical trials. Alternative therapies steadfastly resist change, often for centuries or even millennia, unaffected by scientific advances in the understanding of physiology or disease. Incredible explanations invoking modern physics are sometimes offered for how alternative therapies might work, but there seems to be little interest in testing these speculations scientifically. + +=== Negative outcomes === + +According to the Institute of Medicine, use of alternative medical techniques may result in several types of harm: + +"Direct harm, which results in adverse patient outcome." +"Economic harm, which results in monetary loss but presents no health hazard;" +"Indirect harm, which results in a delay of appropriate treatment, or in unreasonable expectations that discourage patients and their families from accepting and dealing effectively with their medical conditions;" + +==== Interactions with conventional pharmaceuticals ==== +Forms of alternative medicine that are biologically active can be dangerous even when used in conjunction with conventional medicine. Examples include immuno-augmentation therapy, shark cartilage, bioresonance therapy, oxygen and ozone therapies, and insulin potentiation therapy. Some herbal remedies can cause dangerous interactions with chemotherapy drugs, radiation therapy, or anesthetics during surgery, among other problems. An example of these dangers was reported by Associate Professor Alastair MacLennan of Adelaide University, Australia regarding a patient who almost bled to death on the operating table after neglecting to mention that she had been taking "natural" potions to "build up her strength" before the operation, including a powerful anticoagulant that nearly caused her death. +To ABC Online, MacLennan also gives another possible mechanism: + +And lastly there's the cynicism and disappointment and depression that some patients get from going on from one alternative medicine to the next, and they find after three months the placebo effect wears off, and they're disappointed and they move on to the next one, and they're disappointed and disillusioned, and that can create depression and make the eventual treatment of the patient with anything effective difficult, because you may not get compliance, because they've seen the failure so often in the past. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..81be3084d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 9/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Side-effects ==== +Conventional treatments are subjected to testing for undesired side-effects, whereas alternative therapies, in general, are not subjected to such testing at all. Any treatment – whether conventional or alternative – that has a biological or psychological effect on a patient may also have potential to possess dangerous biological or psychological side-effects. Attempts to refute this fact with regard to alternative therapies sometimes use the appeal to nature fallacy, i.e., "That which is natural cannot be harmful." Specific groups of patients such as patients with impaired hepatic or renal function are more susceptible to side effects of alternative remedies. +An exception to the normal thinking regarding side-effects is homeopathy. Since 1938, the FDA has regulated homeopathic products in "several significantly different ways from other drugs." Homeopathic preparations, termed "remedies", are extremely dilute, often far beyond the point where a single molecule of the original active (and possibly toxic) ingredient is likely to remain. They are, thus, considered safe on that count, but "their products are exempt from good manufacturing practice requirements related to expiration dating and from finished product testing for identity and strength", and their alcohol concentration may be much higher than allowed in conventional drugs. + +==== Treatment delay ==== +Alternative medicine may discourage people from getting the best possible treatment. Those having experienced or perceived success with one alternative therapy for a minor ailment may be convinced of its efficacy and persuaded to extrapolate that success to some other alternative therapy for a more serious, possibly life-threatening illness. For this reason, critics argue that therapies that rely on the placebo effect to define success are very dangerous. According to mental health journalist Scott Lilienfeld in 2002, "unvalidated or scientifically unsupported mental health practices can lead individuals to forgo effective treatments" and refers to this as opportunity cost. Individuals who spend large amounts of time and money on ineffective treatments may be left with precious little of either, and may forfeit the opportunity to obtain treatments that could be more helpful. In short, even innocuous treatments can indirectly produce negative outcomes. Between 2001 and 2003, four children died in Australia because their parents chose ineffective naturopathic, homeopathic, or other alternative medicines and diets rather than conventional therapies. + +==== Unconventional cancer "cures" ==== +There have always been "many therapies offered outside of conventional cancer treatment centers and based on theories not found in biomedicine. These alternative cancer cures have often been described as 'unproven,' suggesting that appropriate clinical trials have not been conducted and that the therapeutic value of the treatment is unknown." However, "many alternative cancer treatments have been investigated in good-quality clinical trials, and they have been shown to be ineffective.... The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'." +Edzard Ernst has stated: + +any alternative cancer cure is bogus by definition. There will never be an alternative cancer cure. Why? Because if something looked halfway promising, then mainstream oncology would scrutinize it, and if there is anything to it, it would become mainstream almost automatically and very quickly. All curative "alternative cancer cures" are based on false claims, are bogus, and, I would say, even criminal. + +=== Rejection of science === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-9.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0fe9252a1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine-9.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Alternative medicine" +chunk: 10/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:46.424743+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is not as well researched as conventional medicine, which undergoes intense research before release to the public. Practitioners of science-based medicine also discard practices and treatments when they are shown ineffective, while alternative practitioners do not. Funding for research is also sparse making it difficult to do further research for effectiveness of CAM. Most funding for CAM is funded by government agencies. Proposed research for CAM are rejected by most private funding agencies because the results of research are not reliable. The research for CAM has to meet certain standards from research ethics committees, which most CAM researchers find almost impossible to meet. Even with the little research done on it, CAM has not been proven to be effective. Studies that have been done will be cited by CAM practitioners in an attempt to claim a basis in science. These studies tend to have a variety of problems, such as small samples, various biases, poor research design, lack of controls, negative results, etc. Even those with positive results can be better explained as resulting in false positives due to bias and noisy data. +Alternative medicine may lead to a false understanding of the body and of the process of science. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale School of Medicine, wrote that government-funded studies of integrating alternative medicine techniques into the mainstream are "used to lend an appearance of legitimacy to treatments that are not legitimate." Marcia Angell proposed that healthcare practices should be classified based solely on scientific evidence, and if a treatment had been rigorously tested and found safe and effective, science-based medicine will adopt it regardless of whether it was considered "alternative" to begin with. It is possible for a method to change categories (proven vs. unproven), based on increased knowledge of its effectiveness or lack thereof. Prominent supporters of this position are George D. Lundberg, former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the journal's interim editor-in-chief Phil Fontanarosa. +Writing in 1999 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians Barrie R. Cassileth mentioned a 1997 letter to the United States Senate's Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety, which had deplored the lack of critical thinking and scientific rigor in OAM-supported research, had been signed by four Nobel Laureates and other prominent scientists. (This was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).) +In March 2009, a staff writer for The Washington Post reported that the impending national discussion about broadening access to health care, improving medical practice and saving money was giving a group of scientists an opening to propose shutting down the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. They quoted one of these scientists, Steven Salzberg, a genome researcher and computational biologist at the University of Maryland, as saying "One of our concerns is that NIH is funding pseudoscience." They noted that the vast majority of studies were based on fundamental misunderstandings of physiology and disease, and had shown little or no effect. +Writers such as Carl Sagan, a noted astrophysicist, advocate of scientific skepticism and the author of The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1996), have lambasted the lack of empirical evidence to support the existence of the putative energy fields on which these therapies are predicated. +Sampson has also pointed out that CAM tolerated contradiction without thorough reason and experiment. Barrett has pointed out that there is a policy at the NIH of never saying something does not work, only that a different version or dose might give different results. Barrett also expressed concern that, just because some "alternatives" have merit, there is the impression that the rest deserve equal consideration and respect even though most are worthless, since they are all classified under the one heading of alternative medicine. +Some critics of alternative medicine are focused upon health fraud, misinformation, and quackery as public health problems, notably Wallace Sampson and Paul Kurtz founders of Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and Stephen Barrett, co-founder of The National Council Against Health Fraud and webmaster of Quackwatch. Grounds for opposing alternative medicine include that: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_Clinics-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_Clinics-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4a1e3b20e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_Clinics-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Amen Clinics" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen_Clinics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:48.760251+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Amen Clinics is a chain of brain health clinics focused on the treatment of brain activity functions and psychiatric disorders. It was founded in 1989 by Daniel Amen an American medical doctor and psychiatrist. They use brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) imaging to diagnose brain activity patterns in their patients. Amen's marketing of SPECT scans has been condemned by scientists and doctors as lacking scientific validity and as being unethical, especially since the way SPECT is used in his clinics exposes people to harmful radiation with no clear benefit. + + +== Operations == +Amen Clinics were founded in 1989. Since 1991, the clinics have performed brain SPECT scans, purportedly to diagnose brain conditions that manifest as psychiatric health issues by evaluating the brain activity amount and location in the brain. +The effectiveness of SPECT scans in treating psychiatric conditions has been the subject of scientific debate. John Seibyl of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has stated that it is settled that SPECT is of no value for diagnosing psychological disorders. In 2008, Tufts professor and writer Daniel Carlat published an article on Amen's use of SPECT imaging. After visiting Amen's clinics, Carlat called Amen's interpretations of the scans "spectacularly meaningless". +Amen Clinics incorporates questionnaires (of clients and their family about the client together), clinical histories, and clinical interviews in its practice. Some Amen Clinics locations also use quantitative electroencephalography as a purported diagnostic tool. +As of 2026, Amen Clinics had a database of more than 200,000 functional brain SPECT scans. The clients are from over 100 countries with ages ranging from 9 months to 105 years old. + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Official website \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-0.md index 24eba6c16..a445fe92c 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:48.911811+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:49.995978+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-1.md index 5636de7f2..d93d9b0cd 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:48.911811+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:49.995978+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-2.md index 8d1aeb607..06c8348c0 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:48.911811+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:49.995978+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-3.md index 61074b7a2..398a7c804 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-3.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-3.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 4/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:48.911811+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:49.995978+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-4.md index 380ef6fa3..310e9a426 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-4.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine-4.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 5/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Academy_of_Anti-Aging_Medicine" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:48.911811+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:49.995978+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..971d612f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Ancient astronauts" +chunk: 1/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a pseudoscientific set of beliefs, also called paleocontact, that hold that intelligent extraterrestrial beings (alien astronauts) visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times. Proponents of the theory suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, religions, and human biology. A common position is that deities from most (if not all) religions are extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans. +The idea that ancient astronauts existed and visited Earth is not taken seriously by academics and archaeologists, who identify such claims as pseudoarchaeological or unscientific. It has received no credible attention in peer-reviewed studies. When proponents of the idea present evidence in favor of their beliefs, it is often distorted or fabricated. Some authors and scholars also argue that ancient astronaut theories have racist undertones or implications, diminishing the accomplishments and capabilities of indigenous cultures. +Well-known proponents of these beliefs in the latter half of the 20th century who have written numerous books or appear regularly in mass media include Robert Charroux, Jacques Bergier, Jean Sendy, Erich von Däniken, Alexander Kazantsev, Zecharia Sitchin, Robert K. G. Temple, Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, David Hatcher Childress, Peter Kolosimo, and Mauro Biglino. + +== Overview == + +Various terms are used to reference claims about ancient astronauts, such as ancient aliens, ancient ufonauts, ancient space pilots, paleocontact, astronaut- or alien gods, or paleo- or biblical-SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence). +Believers in such ancient astronaut stories often maintain that all or some humans are either descendants or creations of extraterrestrial intelligence who landed on Earth at some point in the ancient past. An associated idea is that human knowledge, religion, and culture came from extraterrestrial visitors in ancient times, in that ancient astronauts acted as a "mother culture". Additionally, proponents often claim that travelers from outer space built many of the structures on Earth (such as Egyptian pyramids and the Moai stone heads of Easter Island) or aided humans in building them. Proponents contend that the evidence for ancient astronauts comes from documentary gaps in historical and archaeological records while citing archaeological artifacts that they believe, contrary to the mainstream explanations, are anachronistic and supposedly beyond the technical capabilities of the people who made them. These are sometimes referred to as "out-of-place artifacts"; and include artwork and legends which believers reinterpret to fit stories of extraterrestrial contact or technologies. +As a pseudoarcheology, the idea receives notice in fringe pulp media, such as the History Channel series Ancient Aliens. Such shows use a strategy known as 'fire-hosing' to co-mingle fact with fiction in order to spread theories of an alternate past with tropes that follow white supremacist, nativist, imperialist, settler-colonial, and Christian Identity beliefs relevant to the past. The celebrity proponents of ancient aliens profess to be a part of an oppressed minority of academics that 'big archaeology' is conspiring to disenfranchise while their identity of being a maverick or a rogue aligns with the individuals' lack of credentials. +Like archaeological endeavors of the criticized past, these proponents focus primarily on monumental archaeological structures claiming they could have only been constructed with extraterrestrial intervention. The implication is that the non-white Indigenous people in the regions in which these monuments appear could not have built them on their own. However, Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer Ruth H. Burns, in Atmos magazine, counters that ancient alien theory and the idea of extraterrestrials in general supports the viewpoints of indigenous, non-European peoples. She believes the denial of extraterrestrial encounters and indigenous peoples' stories tracing their origins to extraterrestrials is part of "Indigenous erasure," as it minimizes or completely discounts the viewpoints of indigenous peoples. Many indigenous peoples trace their ancestry to "star-people" or the like—extraterrestrials who as the progenitors of indigenous peoples cannot by definition be white or "Aryan." +A common feature in the stories portray the aliens as light-skinned or Aryan in complexion, as prominent alien astronaut proponent Erich von Däniken claims in his foundational work Chariots of the Gods? Some ancient astronaut proponents are thus associated with white supremacism, although their theories are sometimes applied to European cultures as well. +Archaeologists have ignored the existence of these outlandish claims. However due to rising popular belief in fringe theories, they began actively engaging with the public via social media around 2020 to advocate mainstream archeological views. The few dedicated popular science explainers and skeptics who did offer opinions on the ideas universally panned them. For example, Carl Sagan wrote, "In the long litany of 'ancient astronaut' pop archaeology, the cases of apparent interest have perfectly reasonable alternative explanations, or have been misreported, or are simple prevarications, hoaxes and distortions". + +== History of ancient aliens beliefs and their proponents == +Paleocontact or "ancient astronaut" narratives first appeared in the early science fiction of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the 1898 novel Edison's Conquest of Mars and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The idea was proposed in earnest by journalist Harold T. Wilkins in 1954. It grew in popularity in the 1960s, mainly due to the Space Race and the success of Erich von Däniken's works, although it also received limited consideration as a serious hypothesis. Critics emerged throughout the 1970s, discrediting Von Däniken's claims. Ufologists separated the idea from the UFO controversy. By the early 1980s little remaining support could be found. + +=== Shklovsky and Sagan === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d2e583e18 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Ancient astronauts" +chunk: 2/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + + Carl Sagan co-authored a widely popular book Intelligent Life in the Universe, with Soviet astrophysicist Iosif Shklovsky and published in 1966. In his 1979 book Broca's Brain, Sagan suggested that he and Shklovsky might have inspired the wave of 1970s ancient astronaut books, expressing disapproval of "von Däniken and other uncritical writers" who seemingly built on these ideas not as guarded speculations but as "valid evidence of extraterrestrial contact." Sagan pointed out that while many legends, artifacts, and purported out-of-place artifacts were cited in support of ancient astronaut hypotheses, "very few require more than passing mention" and could be easily explained with more conventional hypotheses. Sagan also reiterated his earlier conclusion that extraterrestrial visits to Earth were possible but unproven and improbable. + +=== Erich von Däniken === + +Erich von Däniken was a leading proponent of this hypothesis in the late 1960s and early 1970s, gaining a large audience through the 1968 publication of his best-selling book Chariots of the Gods? and its sequels. +According to von Däniken, certain artifacts require a more sophisticated technological ability in their construction than that which was available to the ancient cultures who constructed them. Von Däniken maintains that these artifacts were constructed either directly by extraterrestrial visitors or by humans who learned the necessary knowledge from said visitors. These include Stonehenge, Pumapunku, the Moai of Easter Island, the Great Pyramid of Giza, and the ancient Baghdad electric batteries. + +Von Däniken writes that ancient art and iconography throughout the world illustrates air and space vehicles, non-human but intelligent creatures, ancient astronauts, and artifacts of an anachronistically advanced technology. Von Däniken also states that geographically separated historical cultures share artistic themes, which he argues imply a common origin. One such example is von Däniken's interpretation of the sarcophagus lid recovered from the tomb of the Classic-era Maya ruler of Palenque, Pacal the Great. Von Däniken writes that the design represented a seated astronaut. The iconography and accompanying Maya text, however, identifies it as a portrait of the ruler himself with the World Tree of Maya mythology. +The origins of many religions are interpreted by von Däniken as reactions to encounters with an alien race. According to his view, humans considered the technology of the aliens to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be gods. Von Däniken states that the oral and written traditions of most religions contain references to alien visitors in the way of descriptions of stars and vehicular objects traveling through air and space. One such is Ezekiel's revelation, which Däniken interprets as a detailed description of a landing spacecraft (The Spaceships of Ezekiel). +Von Däniken's hypotheses became popularized in the U.S. after the NBC-TV documentary In Search of Ancient Astronauts hosted by Rod Serling, and the film Chariots of the Gods. +Critics argue that von Däniken misrepresented data, that many of his claims were unfounded, and that none of his core claims have been validated. In particular the Christian creationist community is highly critical of most of von Däniken's work. Young Earth creationist author Clifford A. Wilson published Crash Go the Chariots in 1972 in which he attempted to discredit all the claims made in Chariots of the Gods. +In Chariots of the Gods?, regarding the Nazca Lines, von Däniken states that "Seen from the air, the clear-cut impression that the 37-mile (60 km) long plain of Nazca made on me was that of an airfield." Considering he was in the process of seeking evidence of ancient aliens, von Däniken exhibits confirmation bias, as he does not consider the Nazca Lines to be man-made until after the publication of Chariots of the Gods? This etic perspective that he presents could be easily accepted by a reader familiar with air travel, and an undeveloped knowledge of the nature of the geoglyphs. Furthermore, since the majority of readers of Chariots of the Gods? are not educated in viewing artifacts from ancient civilizations, their interpretations are highly subject to von Däniken's opinions of the artifacts. Kenneth L. Feder argues a reader seeing the Nazca Lines for the first time in a book about aliens would be much more likely to associate those features with extraterrestrial origins, rather than from a civilization that existed on Earth. +In 1970, von Däniken admitted that the Nazca markings "could have been laid out on their gigantic scale by working from a model using a system of coordinates." + +=== Zecharia Sitchin === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..52e9570bf --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Ancient astronauts" +chunk: 3/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Zecharia Sitchin's series The Earth Chronicles, beginning with The 12th Planet, revolves around Sitchin's unique interpretation of ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern texts, megalithic sites, and artifacts from around the world. He hypothesizes that the gods of old Mesopotamia were astronauts from the planet "Nibiru", which Sitchin states the Sumerians believed to be a remote "12th planet" (counting the Sun, Moon, and Pluto as planets) associated with the god Marduk. According to Sitchin, Nibiru continues to orbit the Sun on a 3,600-year elongated orbit. Modern astronomy has found no evidence to support Sitchin's ideas. +Sitchin argues that there are Sumerian texts that tell the story that 50 Anunnaki, inhabitants of a planet named Nibiru, came to Earth approximately 400,000 years ago with the intent of mining raw materials, especially gold, for transport back to Nibiru. With their small numbers they soon grew tired of the task and set out to genetically engineer laborers to work the mines. After much trial and error they eventually created Homo sapiens sapiens: the "Adapa" (model man) or Adam of later mythology. Sitchin contended the Anunnaki were active in human affairs until their culture was destroyed by global catastrophes caused by the abrupt end of the last ice age some 12,000 years ago. Seeing that humans survived and all they had built was destroyed, the Anunnaki left Earth after giving humans the opportunity and means to govern themselves. Sitchin's work has not received mainstream scholarly support and has been roundly criticized by professionals that have reviewed his hypotheses. Semitic languages scholar Michael S. Heiser says that many of Sitchin's translations of Sumerian and Mesopotamian words are not consistent with Mesopotamian cuneiform bilingual dictionaries, produced by ancient Akkadian scribes. +Alan F. Alford, author of Gods of the New Millennium (1996), was an adherent of the ancient astronaut hypothesis. Much of his work draws on Sitchin's hypotheses. However, he now finds fault with Sitchin's hypothesis after deeper analysis, stating that: "I am now firmly of the opinion that these gods personified the falling sky; in other words, the descent of the gods was a poetic rendition of the cataclysm myth which stood at the heart of ancient Near Eastern religions." + +=== Robert Temple === + +Robert K. G. Temple's 1976 book, The Sirius Mystery, argues that the Dogon people of northwestern Mali preserved an account of extraterrestrial visitation from around 5,000 years ago. He quotes various lines of evidence, including advanced astronomical knowledge inherited by the tribe, descriptions, and comparative belief systems with ancient civilizations such as ancient Egypt and Sumer. His work draws heavily on the studies of cultural anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. +His conclusions have been criticized by scientists, who point out discrepancies within Temple's account, and suggested that the Dogon may have received some of their astronomical information recently, probably from European sources, and may have misrepresented Dogon ethnography. + +=== UFO religions === + +Various new religious movements including some branches of Theosophy, Scientology, Raëlism, Aetherius Society, and Heaven's Gate believe in ancient and present-day contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Many of these faiths see both ancient scriptures and recent revelations as connected with the action of aliens from other planetary systems. Psychologists have found that UFO religions have similarities which suggest that members of these groups consciously or subliminally associate enchantment with the memes of science fiction. + +== Claims of proponents == + +Among scientists, the consensus is that the ancient astronaut hypothesis is not impossible, but unjustified and unnecessary. The "mysteries" cited as evidence for the hypothesis can be explained without having to invoke ancient astronauts; proponents look for mysteries where none exist. Since ancient astronauts are unnecessary, Occam's razor should be applied and the hypothesis rejected according to the scientific consensus. + +=== Ancient religious texts === +Proponents cite ancient mythologies to support their viewpoints based on the idea that ancient creation myths of gods who descend from the heavens to Earth to create or instruct humanity are representations of alien visitors, whose superior technology accounts for their perception as gods. Proponents draw an analogy to occurrences in modern time when isolated cultures are exposed to advanced technology, such as when, in the early 20th century, "cargo cults" were discovered in the South Pacific: cultures who believed various Western ships and their cargo to be sent from the gods as fulfillment of prophecies concerning their return. +The ancient Sumerian myth of Enûma Eliš, inscribed on cuneiform tablets and part of the Library of Ashurbanipal, says humankind was created to serve gods called the "Annunaki". Hypothesis proponents believe that the Annunaki were aliens who came to Earth to mine gold for their own uses. According to the hypothesis proponents, the Annunaki realized mining gold was taking a toll on their race, and then created the human race as slaves. + +==== The Bible ==== + +===== Book of Genesis and Book of Enoch ===== +The Book of Genesis, Chapter 6 verses 1–2 and 4, states: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9f4dcfdca --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Ancient astronauts" +chunk: 4/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose... The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. +Many Christians consider these groups to be the different families of Adam and Eve's children. Another interpretation is that the Nephilim are the children of the "sons of God" and "daughters of humans", although scholars are uncertain. The King James Version translates "Nephilim" as "giants" (or Gibborim). Ancient Astronaut proponents argue that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in order "to be godlike", and this was the first step in human evolution. +The first part of the apocryphal Book of Enoch expands and interprets Genesis 6:1: that the "sons of God" were a group of 200 "angels" called "Watchers", who descended to Earth to breed with humans. Their offspring are the Nephilim, "giants" who "consumed all the acquisitions of men". When humans could no longer sustain the Nephilim, they turned against humanity. The Watchers also instructed humans in metallurgy and metalworking, cosmetics, sorcery, astrology, astronomy, and meteorology. God then ordered the Watchers to be imprisoned in the ground, and created the Great Flood (or the numerous Deluge myths) to rid Earth of the Nephilim and of the humans given knowledge by the Watchers. To ensure humanity's survival, Noah is forewarned of the oncoming destruction. Because they disobeyed God, the book describes the Watchers as "fallen angels". +Some ancient astronaut proponents argue that this story is a historical account of extraterrestrials visiting Earth, called Watchers because their mission was to observe humanity. Some of the extraterrestrials disobeyed orders; they made contact with humans, cross-bred with human females, and shared knowledge with them. The Nephilim were thus half-human-half-extraterrestrial hybrids. +Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman argue that modern UFOs carry the fallen angels, or offspring of fallen angels, and that "Noah's genealogy was not tarnished by the intrusion of fallen angels. It seems that this adulteration of the human gene pool was a major problem on the planet earth". +Von Däniken also suggests that the two angels who visited Lot in Genesis 19 were ancient astronauts, who used atomic weapons to destroy the city of Sodom. +Marc Dem reinterprets the Book of Genesis by writing that humanity started on another planet and that the God of the Bible is an extraterrestrial. + +===== Book of Ezekiel ===== + +Chapter 1 of the Book of Ezekiel recounts a vision in which Ezekiel sees "an immense cloud" that contains fire and emits lightning and "brilliant light". Within the cloud, the passage describes cherubim and ophanim: + +...and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved... +As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. +In Chapter 4 of Chariots of the Gods?, entitled "Was God an Astronaut?", von Däniken suggests that Ezekiel had seen a spaceship or spaceships; this hypothesis had been put forward by Morris Jessup in 1956 and by Arthur W. Orton in 1961. A detailed version of this hypothesis was described by Josef F. Blumrich in his book The Spaceships of Ezekiel (1974). + +===== Elsewhere in the Bible ===== +The characteristics of the Ark of the Covenant and the Urim and Thummim have been said to suggest high technology, perhaps from alien origins. +Robert Dione and Paul Misraki published books in the 1960s describing the events in the Bible as caused by alien technology. Barry Downing, a Presbyterian minister, wrote a book in 1968 arguing that Jesus was an extraterrestrial, citing John 8:23 and other biblical verses as evidence. +Some ancient astronaut proponents such as Von Däniken and Barry Downing believe that the concept of hell in the Bible could be a real description of the planet Venus brought to Earth by extraterrestrials showing photos of the hot surface on Venus to humans. Proponents of the hypothesis state that 'God' and 'Satan' were aliens that disagreed on whether or not human beings should be allowed the information that is offered by the tree of knowledge. David Childress, a leading proponent of ancient astronaut creation hypothesis, compares this story to the Greek tale of Prometheus, who gave mankind the knowledge of fire. Ancient Astronaut proponents believe the biblical concept of Satan is based on a misunderstood visit by extraterrestrials. Erich von Däniken posited that the descendants of extraterrestrials had children with hominids, and this was referred to in the Bible as the "Original sin." Von Däniken believes that the biblical great flood was punishment after an extraterrestrial 'God' discovered that earthbound, fallen angels were mating with ape-like early humans. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..33fa19109 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Ancient astronauts" +chunk: 5/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== The Book of Invasions ==== +Childress and others have written that the passage in the Book of Invasions describing the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Ireland, records "the arrival of aliens in spacecraft with cloaking devices" at Slieve Anierin. The text states "so that they were the Tuatha De Danand who came to Ireland. In this wise they came, in dark clouds. They landed on the mountains of Conmaicne Rein in Connacht and they brought a darkness over the sun for three days and three nights". + +=== Ancient artwork === + +==== Worldwide petroglyphic evidence ==== +Ancient astronaut proponents believe Hopi cave drawings of Kachinas (spirit beings) found in the desert link the origins of the Hopi and Zuni tribes with "star people". They point to similar etchings elsewhere as evidence that extraterrestrials visited many different ancient civilizations. +Other artistic support for the ancient astronaut hypothesis has been sought in Palaeolithic cave paintings. Wondjina in Australia and in the Rock Drawings in Valcamonica, in Italy (seen above) are said to bear a resemblance to present day astronauts. Supporters of the ancient astronaut hypothesis sometimes argue that similarities such as dome shaped heads, interpreted as beings wearing space helmets, prove that early man was visited by an extraterrestrial race. + +==== Medieval and Renaissance art ==== + +More support of this hypothesis draws upon what are said to be representations of flying saucers and other unidentified flying objects in Medieval and Renaissance art. + + Some examples of these said objects include an ovoid shape in the sky of the painting Madonna con Bambino e San Giovannino (Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John), an unidentified flying object in the Annunciazione (Annunciation) (1486) by Carlo Crivelli, a "spherical object with antennae" that appears similar to Sputnik in Bonaventura Salimbeni's Santissima Trinita (Holy Trinity) (1595), and many such unidentified flying objects in Masolino Da Panicale's Miracolo della neve (Miracle of the Snow) (1428). According to Italian art expert Diego Cuoghi, these objects contain religious symbolism behind them as most paintings of the time were of religious subjects. In such artworks, he says that angels and "radiant clouds" often appear in the sky. He says the object in the Madonna and Child is one of these radiant clouds, the object in the Annunciazione is a vortex of angels, the Sputnik-like object of Santissima Trinita is a globe representing creation with two sceptres held by God and Christ, and the Miracolo della neve contains many lenticular clouds. + +==== Nazca Lines ==== + +The ancient Nazca Lines are hundreds of huge ground drawings etched into the high desert of southern Peru. Some are stylized animals and humanoid figures, while others are merely straight lines hundreds of meters long. As the figures were made to be seen from a great height, they have been linked with the ancient astronaut hypothesis. In the 1970s, the pseudohistorical writer Erich von Däniken popularized a notion that the Nazca lines and figures could have been made "according to instructions from aircraft" and that the longer and wider lines might be runways for spacecraft. According to archaeologist Kenneth Feder, Von Däniken's extraterrestrial interpretation is not supported by any evidence. Feder wrote that "the lines are interpreted by archaeologists as ceremonial pathways of the ancient Nazca people; they were used precisely in this way in the fairly recent past." +Joe Nickell of the University of Kentucky re-created one of the figures using only wooden stakes and string. + +=== Ancient artifacts === + +==== Ancient flying machines ==== +Proponents of the ancient astronauts idea say some artifacts discovered in Egypt (the Saqqara Bird) and Colombia-Ecuador (Quimbaya artifacts) are similar to modern planes and gliders. These artifacts have been interpreted by mainstream archaeologists, however, as stylized representations of birds and insects. + +=== Ancient structures and megalithic sites === + +Proposed evidence for ancient astronauts includes the existence of ancient monuments and megalithic ruins such as the Giza pyramids of Egypt, Machu Picchu in Peru, or Baalbek in Lebanon, the Moai of Easter Island and Stonehenge of England. Supporters say that these stone structures could not have been built with the technical abilities and tools of the people of the time and further argue that many could not be duplicated even today. They suggest that the large size of the building stones, the precision with which they were laid, and the distances many were transported leaves the question open as to who constructed these sites. +These ideas are categorically rejected by mainstream archeology. Some mainstream archeologists have participated in experiments to move large megaliths. These experiments have succeeded in moving megaliths up to at least 40 tons, and some have speculated that with a larger workforce larger megaliths could be towed with the use of known ancient technology. + +==== Pyramids of Egypt ==== +Von Däniken states that ancient Egypt, with its great structures of the Giza pyramid complex such as the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Giza, became a "fantastic, ready-made civilization" suddenly and without transitions and development. Ancient astronaut proponents suggest that sites like the pyramids of Giza were instead constructed by extraterrestrials. However, archaeological evidence demonstrates not only the long cultural trajectory of prehistoric Egypt but also the developmental processes the ancient Egyptians underwent. Egyptian tombs began with important leaders of villages being buried in the bedrock and covered with mounds of earth. Eventually, the first pharaohs had tombs covered with single-story, mud-brick, square structures called mastabas. The stepped pyramid developed out of multiple mastabas being stacked on each one in one structure. This led to the construction of pharaoh Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara, which is known from records to have been built by the ancient Egyptian architect and advisor Imhotep. It was pharaoh Sneferu who had his pyramid transitioned from a stepped to a true pyramid like the well-known pyramids of Giza. A papyrus document like a logbook kept by an official called inspector Merer has also been discovered with records of the construction of the Great Pyramid. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..65cc10c5e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +title: "Ancient astronauts" +chunk: 6/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:51.153763+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Moai ==== +The Moai statues of Easter Island were moved miles from the Rano Raraku quarry to their current locations, and archaeologists have wondered how massive statues such as these could have been transported. The folklore of the native Rapa Nui people says that chiefs and priests used mana to make the statues of the island walk. In 1982, Czech engineer Pavel Pavel and a group of sixteen people used a replica concrete moai to test a method that could have transported the statues. They tied ropes to it and in two groups pulled and twisted it back and forth, making it move forward in a walking motion. They called it the "refrigerator method" and demonstrated that the massive statues could be easily moved by a small group of people. + +=== Religious and cultural practices === + +A number of ancient cultures, such as the ancient Egyptians and some Native Americans, artificially lengthened the skulls of their children. Some ancient astronaut proponents propose that this was done to emulate extraterrestrial visitors, whom they saw as gods. + +==== Akhenaten ==== +Among the ancient rulers depicted with elongated skulls are pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti. The depiction of Akhenaten and his family with traits like elongated skulls, limbs, underdeveloped torsos, and gynecomastia in Amarna art is hypothesized to be the effect of a familial disease. Marriage between family members, especially siblings, was common in ancient Egyptian royal families, elevating the risk of such disorders. Studies on the remains of the ruling family of 18th Dynasty Egypt have found evidence of deformities and illnesses. Proposed syndromes of Akhenaten include Loeys-Dietz syndrome, Marfan's syndrome, Frohlich syndrome, and Antley-Bixler syndrome. Akhenaten worshipped the sun disk god Aten and it is suggested that such worship could point to a disease that is alleviated by sunlight. + +== In popular culture == + +Ancient astronauts have been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction in many different media. In a 2004 article in Skeptic magazine, Jason Colavito writes that von Däniken borrowed many of the book's concepts from Le Matin des magiciens (Morning of the Magicians), that this book in turn was heavily influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos, and that the core of the ancient astronaut hypothesis originates in H. P. Lovecraft's works "The Call of Cthulhu" and At the Mountains of Madness. Colavito later expanded on this idea in his book The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture. +The idea that aliens visited Earth in the past is frequently seen in works of fiction. For example, the comic book Thor considers that all the Norse mythology is based on actual beings living in other dimensions, who were worshipped as gods by the Vikings and who reappear on Earth in modern times. Däniken's work, however, inspired several works and franchises over time, such as Eternals, Stargate, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Prometheus and The X-Files. All those works do not take the idea seriously, but merely use it as a narrative device. Another angle may be to leave the aliens out of the story, and focus instead on devices they left behind, as in the novels Scarlet Dream, Galactic Derelict, World of Ptavvs, Toolmaker Koan, and A Fire Upon the Deep. Aliens may also appear as an elder race that created or shepherded humans in their early times; and may or may not be present in the work's present day. +Ancient Aliens is a television series that features proponents of the ancient astronaut hypothesis, such as Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, David Childress, Erich von Däniken, Steven M. Greer, and Nick Pope. + +== Proponents == +Many publications have argued for the ancient astronauts hypotheses. The following are notable examples: + +== See also == +Archaeoastronomy +Vimana +Extraterrestrials in Meitei culture +Extraterrestrial hypothesis +First contact (science fiction) +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Panspermia +Pseudoarchaeology +Science fantasy +Silurian hypothesis +Xenoarchaeology +In film: +2001: A Space Odyssey + +== Notes == + +== References == + +=== Bibliography === + +== Further reading == +Avalos, Hector (2002), "The Ancient Near East in Modern Science Fiction: Zechariah Sitchin's The 12th Planet as Case Study", Journal of Higher Criticism, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 49–70 +Colavito, Jason (2005), The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-59102-352-1 +Fagan, Garrett G. (2006). Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-30593-4 +Grünschloß, Andreas (June 2006), ""Ancient Astronaut" Narrations: A Popular Discourse on Our Religious Past" (PDF), Marburg Journal of Religion, vol. 11, no. 1, ISSN 1612-2941, archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2008, retrieved December 9, 2006 +Harris, Christie. (1975). Sky Man on the Totem Pole?. New York: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-30450-1 +Raël (1974), The Message Given by Extra-terrestrials, Nova Dist, ISBN 2-940252-20-3 +Sitchin, Zecharia (1999), The 12th Planet (The Earth Chronicles, Book 1), Avon, ISBN 0-380-39362-X +Stiebing, William H. (1984). Ancient Astronauts, Cosmic Collisions and Other Popular Theories About Man's Past. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-285-8 +Story, Ronald. (1976). The Space Gods Revealed: A Close Look at the Theories of Erich von Däniken. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-014141-7 +Trefil, James. (2007). "Who Were the Ancient Engineers of Egypt?". Skeptical Inquirer (Committee for Skeptical Inquiry) 17.1. +White, Peter. (1976). The Past Is Human: Debunking Von Daniken's Gee-Whiz Theories. Taplinger. ISBN 978-0-8008-6266-4 + +== External links == +'Fringe' or 'cult' archaeology examined by professional archaeologist Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, archived from the original on December 14, 2007, retrieved February 4, 2007 +Ancient Astronauts – Skeptic's Dictionary +Dunning, Brian. "Skeptoid #449: Ancient Astronauts". Skeptoid. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..efb014538 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Anecdotal evidence" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:52.333239+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Anecdotal evidence (or anecdata) is evidence based on descriptions and reports of individual, personal experiences, or observations, collected in a non-systematic manner. +The term anecdotal encompasses a variety of forms of evidence, including personal experiences, self-reported claims, eyewitness accounts of others, and those from fictional sources, making it a broad category that can lead to confusion due to its varied interpretations. Anecdotal evidence can be true or false but is not usually subjected to scholarly methods, scientific methods, or rules of legal, historical, academic, or intellectual rigor, meaning there are little or no safeguards against fabrication or inaccuracy. However, the use of anecdotal reports in advertising or promotion of a product, service, or idea may be considered a testimonial, which is highly regulated in certain jurisdictions. +The persuasiveness of anecdotal evidence compared to that of statistical evidence has been a subject of debate; some studies have argued that there is a generalized tendency to overvalue anecdotal evidence, whereas others argue the contrary. + + +== Scientific context == + +In science, definitions of anecdotal evidence include: + +"casual observations/indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis" +"information passed along by word-of-mouth but not documented scientifically" +"evidence that comes from an individual experience. This may be the experience of a person with an illness or the experience of a practitioner based on one or more patients outside a formal research study" +"the report of an experience by one or more persons that is not objectively documented or an experience or outcome that occurred outside of a controlled environment" +Anecdotal evidence may be considered within the scope of scientific methods. Some anecdotal evidence can be both empirical and verifiable, e.g., case studies in medicine. Other anecdotal evidence does not qualify as scientific evidence because its nature prevents it from being investigated by the scientific method, such as folklore or intentionally fictional anecdotes. Anecdotal evidence is considered the least certain type of scientific literature. Researchers may use anecdotal evidence for suggesting new hypotheses but never as validating evidence. +Anecdotal evidence varies in formality. For instance, in medicine, published anecdotal evidence by a doctor like a case report is subjected to formal peer review. Although such evidence is seen as inconclusive, researchers sometimes regard it as an invitation to more rigorous scientific study. For instance, one study found that 35 of 47 anecdotal reports of drug side effects were later sustained as "clearly correct". +Where only one or few anecdotes are presented, they risk being unreliable due to cherry-picking or otherwise non-representative sampling. Similarly, psychologists have found that due to cognitive bias, people are more likely to remember notable or unusual examples. Thus, anecdotal evidence is not necessarily representative of a typical experience even when accurate. Determination of whether an anecdote is typical requires statistical evidence. Misuse of anecdotal evidence in the form of argument from anecdote is an informal fallacy and is sometimes referred to as the "person who" fallacy, with statements like "I know a person who..." or "I know of a case where...". This places undue weight on possibly atypical experiences of close peers. If an anecdote illustrates a desired conclusion rather than a logical conclusion, it is considered a faulty generalization. +In medicine, anecdotal evidence may be subject to the placebo effect. + + +== Legal == +In the legal sphere, anecdotal evidence, if it passes certain legal requirements and is admitted as testimony, is a common form of evidence used in a court of law. In many cases, anecdotal evidence is the only evidence presented at trial. +For a testimony to be considered evidence, it must be given under oath, where the individual swears they only testify to their words and actions. Someone intentionally lying under oath is subject to perjury. However, these legal rigors do not make testimony in a court of law equal to scientific evidence. Testimony about another person's experiences or words is termed hearsay and is usually not admissible. However, hearsay that is not objected to by a judge is considered evidence for a jury. This means trials contain a considerable amount of anecdotal evidence that juries find relevant. Eyewitness testimony, a type of anecdotal evidence, is considered the most compelling form of evidence by a jury. + + +== See also == + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a57ea4033 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Anthroposophic medicine" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:53.536351+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Anthroposophic medicine (or anthroposophical medicine) is a form of alternative medicine based on pseudoscientific and occult notions. Devised in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) in conjunction with Ita Wegman (1876–1943), anthroposophical medicine draws on Steiner's spiritual philosophy, which he called anthroposophy. Practitioners employ a variety of treatment techniques based upon anthroposophic precepts, including massage, exercise, counselling, and administration of substances. +Many drug preparations used in anthroposophic medicine are ultra-diluted, similar to those used in homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies are not medically effective and are generally considered harmless, except when used as a substitute for a scientifically proven and effective prevention and cure. In certain European countries, people with cancer are sometimes prescribed remedies made from specially harvested mistletoe, although no evidence of clinical benefit exists. Some anthroposophic doctors oppose childhood vaccination, and this has led to preventable outbreaks of disease. +Anthroposophic medicine departs from fundamental biological, physical, and chemical principles in several respects. For example, Steiner said that the heart is not a pump, but that the blood, in a sense, pumps itself. Anthroposophic medicine also proposes that patients' past lives may influence their illness and that the course of an illness is subject to karmic destiny. Professor of complementary medicine Edzard Ernst and other physicians and scientists including Simon Singh and David Gorski have characterized anthroposophic medicine as pseudoscientific quackery, with no basis in reason or logic. + +== Background == + +=== History === + +According to Egil Asprem, "Steiner's teachings had a clear authoritarian ring, and developed a rather crass polemic against 'materialism', 'liberalism', and cultural 'degeneration'. [...] For example, anthroposophical medicine was developed to contrast with the 'materialistic' (and hence 'degenerate') medicine of the establishment." According to anthroposophy, mainstream medical science is "Ahrimanic". +The first steps toward an anthroposophic approach to medicine were taken before 1920, when homeopathic physicians and pharmacists began working with Steiner, who recommended a new form of pharmacy, Anthroposophic Pharmacy, along with specific preparation methods and an anthroposophic concept of humankind. In 1921, Ita Wegman opened the first anthroposophic medical clinic, now known as the Klinik Arlesheim, in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Wegman was soon joined by several other clinicians, who trained the first anthroposophic nurses for the clinic. +At Wegman's request, Steiner regularly visited the clinic and suggested treatment regimes for particular patients. Between 1920 and 1925, he also gave several series of medical lectures. In 1925, Wegman and Steiner wrote the first book on the anthroposophic approach to medicine, Fundamentals of Therapy. +Wegman later opened a separate clinic and curative home in Ascona. Wegman lectured widely, visiting the Netherlands and England particularly frequently, and an increasing number of physicians began to include the anthroposophic approach in their practices. The Lukas Clinic, a cancer clinic, opened in Arlesheim in 1963. +In 1976, anthroposophic medicine in Germany was regulated by law as a specific therapeutic system (Besondere Therapierichtung) under the Medicines Act and the Social Law Code V. In the 1990s, the Witten/Herdecke University in Germany established a chair in anthroposophical medicine. The press described the appointment as a "death sentence," and the perception that pseudoscience was being taught damaged the university's reputation, bringing it to the brink of financial collapse. A cash injection ultimately saved it from Software AG, a technology corporation with a history of funding anthroposophic projects. +In 2012, the University of Aberdeen considered establishing a chair in holistic health jointly funded by Software AG and the Anthroposophic Health, Education, and Social Care Movement, each of which would provide £1.5 million of endowment. Edzard Ernst commented, "that any decent university should even consider an anthroposophical medicine unit seems incomprehensible. The fact that it would be backed by people who have a financial interest in this bogus approach makes it even worse." The university's governance and nominations committee eventually decided not to proceed with the appointment. +Joseph A. Schwarcz (2022) regards Steiner as a quack. + +=== Categorization and conceptual basis === +The categorization of anthroposophical medicine is complex because it both complements and substitutes conventional medicine. In 2008, Ernst wrote that it was being promoted as an "extension to conventional medicine". +Ernst writes that Steiner used imagination and insight as a basis for his ideas, drawing on mystical knowledge from the occult Akashic Records, a work supposedly situated on the astral plane, which Steiner said he could access via his intuitive powers. On this basis, Steiner proposed "associations between four postulated dimensions of the human body (physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego), plants, minerals, and the cosmos". Steiner also proposed a connection betweens planets, metals and organs so that, for example, the planet Mercury, the element mercury and the lung were all somehow associated. These propositions form the basis of anthroposophical medicine. +Ernst has said that anthroposophical medicine "includes some of the least plausible theories one could possibly imagine", categorized it as "pure quackery", and said that it "has no basis in science". According to Quackwatch, anthroposophical medicine practitioners regard illness as a "rite of passage" necessary to purge spiritual impurities carried over from past lives, according to the precepts of "karmic destiny". +The French governmental anti-cult agency MIVILUDES reported in 2022 that it remains vigilant about anthroposophy, especially because of its deviant medical applications and its work with underage persons. According to Ernst, "Anthroposophic medicine is based on several bizarre assumptions". Steiner seems to have been right about the role of diet in health maintenance, although his assumptions were erroneous. + +== Methods == + +In anthroposophic pharmacy, drugs are prepared according to notions of alchemy and homeopathy rather than the science underlying modern pharmacology. During the preparation process, patterns formed by crystallization are interpreted to see which "etheric force" they most closely resemble. Most anthroposophic preparations are highly diluted, akin to homeopathic remedies. This means that, while they are completely harmless in themselves, using them in place of conventional medicine to treat serious illness carries a risk of severe adverse consequences. +As well as drug remedies, anthroposophical medicine also includes: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a097c9c15 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +--- +title: "Anthroposophic medicine" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:53.536351+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Anthroposophic nursing +Counselling +Eurythmy – claimed to affect "inner life functions" leading to a "re-integration of body, soul, and spirit". +External applications +Rhythmic massages + +=== Plant-derived treatments === +To select an anthroposophic substance for a particular illness, practitioners consider the source of the substances used. The character of a mineral, plant, or animal is hypothesised to have been formed by the substances most active within it, in the belief that this character may also influence what those substances accomplish when given to treat another organism. This is related to the doctrine of signatures. Willow, for example, is considered to have an unusual character: + +... plants that grow near water are usually heavy, with big, dark green leaves that wilt and break easily. An exception is ... the white willow, a tree that always grows near water and loves light. However, unlike other "watery" plants, the willow has fine, almost dry leaves and looks very light ... Its branches are unbelievably tough. They are elastic and cannot be broken. They bend easily and form "joints" rather than break. These few signatures can give us the clue to what salix can be used for therapeutically: arthritis, deformation of joints, swollen joints ... +There is no scientific evidence that the shape of plants has ever caused a new medical property to be discovered. + +=== Beliefs about human biology === +Steiner described the heart not as a pump but as a regulator of flow, such that the heartbeat itself can be distinguished from the circulation of blood. Anthroposophic medicine claims the flow of blood of the circulatory system is, as Marinelli put it, "propelled with its own biological momentum, as can be seen in the embryo, and boosts itself with induced momenta from the heart". +This view of the heart is not based on any scientific theory and has been characterized as "crank science". +Steiner believed that the sex of a baby was determined at the moment of conception by the alignment of the stars. +Steiner's model of anatomy was based on a three-part notion whereby the head is the "thinking part," the abdomen and limbs the "metabolic part," and the chest and heart a "rhythmic center". +According to Dan Dugan, Steiner challenged established science in the following ways: + +by supporting vitalism; +by doubting germ theory; +by ignoring physiological systems; +by hypothesizing that "the heart is not a pump". + +=== Reaction to COVID-19 === +During the COVID-19 pandemic, Steiner hospitals in Germany became notorious amongst healthcare authorities for forcing quack remedies on sedated hospital patients, some of whom were critically ill. Remedies used included ginger poultices and homeopathic pellets claimed to contain the dust of shooting stars. Stefan Kluge, the director of intensive care medicine at Hamburg's University Medical Centre, said the claims of anthroposophic providers during the pandemic were "highly unprofessional" and that they "risk[ed] causing uncertainty among patients". + +=== Mistletoe treatment for cancer === + +Rudolf Steiner conjectured that mistletoe could cure cancer based on the observation that the plant was a parasite that eventually killed its host—a process he claimed paralleled the progression of cancer. Steiner believed the plant's medical potential was influenced by the position of the sun, moon, and planets and that it was important to harvest the plant at the right time. Some mistletoe preparations are ultra-diluted; others are made from fermented mistletoe. The most commonly used trade names for mistletoe drugs are Iscador and Helixor. +Although laboratory experiments have suggested that mistletoe extract may affect the immune system and be able to kill some kinds of cancer cells, there is little evidence of its benefit to people with cancer. Most of the clinical research claiming that mistletoe therapy is effective is published in Germany, and it is generally considered unreliable because of major lapses in quality. Edzard Ernst wrote that research by anthroposophic clinicians often reached positive conclusions on mistletoe therapy because it drew on unreliable material; independent researchers tended instead to find no evidence of benefit. The American Cancer Society says that "available evidence from well-designed clinical trials does not support claims that mistletoe can improve length or quality of life". +Mistletoe-based cancer drugs are widely used in Europe, especially in German-speaking countries. In 2002, nearly half a million prescriptions were paid for by German health insurance, and in 2006, there were reportedly around 30 types of mistletoe extract on the market. Mistletoe extracts have been used as an unconventional treatment for cancer patients in the Netherlands, and in Germany, the treatment has been approved as palliative therapy to treat the symptoms of patients with malignant tumors. In Sweden, controversially, mistletoe therapy has been approved for use in the treatment of cancer symptoms. +In other countries, mistletoe therapy is virtually unknown. The United States Food and Drug Administration has not approved mistletoe-based drugs for any purpose; mistletoe extracts may not be distributed in or imported to the U.S. except for research purposes. As of 2015 no mistletoe-based drugs are licensed for use in the United Kingdom. +A 2013 article on mistletoe in Lancet Oncology invoked Ben Goldacre's observation that a geographical preference for certain therapies was a hallmark of quackery, and proposed that the continuing use of this "apparently ineffectual therapy" in a small cluster of countries was based on sociological rather than medical reasons, indicating a need for a more informed consent from patients. + +== Immunization == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..54dc510cb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Anthroposophic medicine" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:53.536351+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The risks arising from using anthroposophical medicine as a substitute for evidence-based medicine are exemplified by several cases of low vaccination levels in Waldorf schools, since some anthroposophical doctors oppose immunization. A 1999 study of children in Sweden showed that in Waldorf schools, only 18% had received MMR vaccination, compared to a level of 93% in other schools nationally. +A 2003 report of a widespread measles outbreak around Coburg, Germany, identified a Waldorf school as the origin. At the time, the town's mayor had condemned homeopathic doctors who had discouraged vaccination, saying, "Their stronghold is the Waldorf School, which actively encourages people not to have their children vaccinated. Now we have an epidemic." +Paul Offit wrote that Steiner believed vaccination "interferes with karmic development and the cycles of reincarnation", and that adherence to this belief led to a 2008 pertussis outbreak in a Californian Waldorf school, causing its temporary closure. + +== See also == +Alternative cancer treatments +Herbalism +Holistic health + +== References == + +== Further reading == + +=== Books and journal articles === +Ernst, Edzard (2004). "Anthroposophical medicine: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials". Wiener klinische Wochenschrift. 116 (4): 128–30. doi:10.1007/bf03040749. PMID 15038403. S2CID 7435250. +Kienle, GS; Kiene, H (2007). "Complementary cancer therapy: A systematic review of prospective clinical trials on anthroposophic mistletoe extracts". European Journal of Medical Research. 12 (3): 103–19. PMID 17507307. +Singh, Simon; Ernst, Edzard (2009). "Anthroposophical medicine". Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial. Transworld. ISBN 978-1-4090-8180-7. + +=== Lectures by Rudolf Steiner === +Broken Vessels: The Spiritual Structure of Human Frailty, Michael Lipson (ed.). ISBN 0-88010-503-8. +Fundamentals of Anthroposophical Medicine, ISBN 0-936132-80-9. +Geographic medicine: The secret of the double. ISBN 0-936132-06-X +The Healing Process: Spirit, Nature & Our Bodies, Catherine E. Creeger (ed.). ISBN 0-88010-474-0 +Introducing Anthroposophical Medicine (Foundations of Anthroposophical Medicine, v. 1). ISBN 0-88010-463-5 +Medicine: An Introductory Reader, Andrew Maendl (ed.). ISBN 1-85584-133-9 +Occult Physiology ISBN 1-85584-141-X +Pastoral Medicine: The Collegial Working of Doctors and Priests. ISBN 0-88010-253-5 + +== External links == + +Medical Section at the Rudolf Steiner Archive, An Online Library +Anthroposophic Medical Library, An Online Resource \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Sunscreen_Movement-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Sunscreen_Movement-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..50f6ae3b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Sunscreen_Movement-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,66 @@ +--- +title: "Anti-Sunscreen Movement" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Sunscreen_Movement" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:55.931142+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The anti-sunscreen movement is a loosely organized online trend that promotes skepticism about the safety and effectiveness of sunscreen. Adherents commonly claim that commercial sunscreens are toxic, that avoiding sunscreen is healthier for vitamin D status, that dietary changes (such as avoiding so-called "seed oils") can prevent sunburn, or that homemade products offer adequate protection. These claims have been amplified on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms, and have been criticized by dermatologists and public-health organizations as misinforming the public about the prevention of skin cancer. + + +== Background == +Sunscreens are over-the-counter drugs in the United States that reduce exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a known human carcinogen. Dermatology organizations recommend daily use of a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher, applied in sufficient quantity and reapplied regularly when outdoors. +Concerns about ingredient absorption were heightened by U.S. FDA–sponsored randomized trials in 2019 and 2020 showing that several organic (chemical) UV filters can be detected in blood after maximal-use application. Regulators and investigators emphasized that absorption does not imply harm and that further toxicology data are needed, while continuing to recommend sun protection. +In 2021, several aerosol sunscreens were voluntarily recalled in the U.S. after testing found contamination with benzene, a carcinogenic solvent. Public-health sources noted that benzene is not a sunscreen ingredient and that the issue was a manufacturing contamination affecting certain batches, primarily sprays. + + +=== Evidence from randomized trials and reviews === +A 2011 critical review in Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine concluded that regular sunscreen use prevents squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), while evidence for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) reduction was mixed and melanoma prevention remained inconclusive in older studies conducted with low-SPF, weak-UVA products. The review emphasized that systemic absorption of some organic UV filters does not imply harm, that typical use does not cause vitamin D deficiency, and that zinc oxide/titanium dioxide nanoparticles remain within the stratum corneum in healthy skin. It also found no convincing human evidence that retinyl palmitate in sunscreens is photocarcinogenic. Long-term trials using contemporary broad-spectrum sunscreens were identified as a need. +Randomized evidence from the Nambour, Australia community trial showed that daily sunscreen application prevented SCC during the 4.5-year trial; extended follow-up to 2004 found a ~38% lower SCC tumor incidence in the group originally randomized to daily sunscreen, with no clear benefit for BCC. Reported outdoor time did not differ between groups during follow-up, arguing against risk-compensation as the explanation for SCC reduction. +In children, a randomized trial of broad-spectrum SPF 30 sunscreen over three years found fewer new melanocytic nevi in the intervention group (median 24 vs 28), with modeling suggesting 30–40% fewer new nevi among freckled children. Because higher nevus counts are a melanoma risk factor, these findings support sunscreen as a pediatric photoprotection strategy while not serving as direct melanoma-incidence evidence. + + +== Origins and growth == +Commentators and reporters identified the movement’s rise with wellness-influencer communities and short-form video platforms in the early to mid-2020s. Newspaper coverage in 2024–2025 described creators who discourage sunscreen or promote “natural” alternatives and sun “tolerance,” often framing such content as a corrective to perceived regulatory or industry failures. + + +=== Key proponents === +The anti-sunscreen movement is largely decentralized and promoted by numerous online influencers in the wellness and alternative health communities. Reporting by The Wall Street Journal and other outlets has highlighted several social media accounts that have gained large followings while promoting anti-sunscreen content. Such content is often spread by influencers who are not medical professionals. + + +=== Extremist and antisemitic variants === +Analyses of the anti-sunscreen movement note that, on fringe and extremist forums, some narratives become explicitly antisemitic—casting sunscreen as part of a supposed “Jewish” plot or linking it to ideologies with antisemitic roots. Research from the Middlebury Institute’s Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC) documents posts on imageboards that frame sunscreen as a “Jewish trick” and traces links to Germanic New Medicine, an alternative-medicine ideology whose founder advanced antisemitic conspiracy claims. +Trade and academic commentary similarly report that antisemitic rhetoric appears in “sunscreen truther” content on extremist platforms such as 4chan and alternative social networks, where broader conspiracist tropes (e.g., blaming “Big Pharma” or shadowy elites) are fused with explicit blame directed at Jews. +Mainstream public-health sources and dermatology guidance reject these claims as baseless and emphasize that sunscreen use reduces ultraviolet exposure and related disease risk. + + +== Narratives and claims == +This table summarizes the most common narratives promoted by the anti-sunscreen movement and the state of the scientific evidence. + + +== Public-health and expert responses == +Professional societies and health systems have issued reminders on evidenced sun-safety practices (seeking shade, protective clothing, and appropriate sunscreen use) and cautioned against untested alternatives and false claims amplified by social media. In August 2025, the FDA warned that certain mousse-format sunscreen products may be ineffective and issued warning letters to companies marketing unapproved drug products, while reiterating the importance of effective sun protection. +Dermatological and cancer-prevention organizations have actively worked to counter the claims of the anti-sunscreen movement. In addition to the American Academy of Dermatology, Canadian dermatologists have labeled the claims as "misinformation," emphasizing that the risk from UV radiation far outweighs any purported risks from sunscreen ingredients. The Cancer Council of Australia explicitly advises against using homemade sunscreens, noting they are not regulated for safety or efficacy and that natural oils provide insufficient protection. +Experts also address the benzene contamination issue by clarifying it was a specific manufacturing problem affecting certain aerosol products and that benzene is not an ingredient in sunscreens. Public health messaging consistently reinforces that proven sun-safety practices—seeking shade, wearing protective clothing, and using a properly-tested, broad-spectrum sunscreen—remain the most effective strategies for preventing skin cancer. + + +== Media coverage == +Mainstream reporting has framed anti-sunscreen narratives as part of a broader wave of wellness-oriented health misinformation online, noting the potential for harm if people abandon proven UV protection strategies. + + +== See also == +Health misinformation +Sun tanning +Ultraviolet +Photoaging +Sunburn + + +== References == + + +== External links == +"Sun protection (patient guidance)". American Academy of Dermatology. American Academy of Dermatology Association. Retrieved 25 August 2025. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-0.md index eea588f8c..8a0469408 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:06.313644+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:54.702608+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-1.md index f6c598f11..e21b86878 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:06.313644+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:54.702608+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-2.md index 4445e44a9..858122a0c 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-gravity" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:06.313644+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:54.702608+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..25266810f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Applied kinesiology" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:57.083838+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Applied kinesiology (AK), also known as muscle testing, is a pseudoscience-based technique in alternative medicine claimed to be able to diagnose illness or choose treatment by testing muscles for strength and weakness. +According to their guidelines on allergy diagnostic testing, the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology stated there is "no evidence of diagnostic validity" of applied kinesiology. Another study indicated that the use of applied kinesiology to evaluate nutrient status is "no more useful than random guessing." The American Cancer Society has said that "scientific evidence does not support the claim that applied kinesiology can diagnose or treat cancer or other illness". + +== History and current use == +George J. Goodheart, a chiropractor, originated applied kinesiology in 1964 and began teaching it to other chiropractors. An organization of Goodheart Study Group Leaders began meeting in 1973, selected the name "The International College of Applied Kinesiology" (ICAK) in 1974, adopted bylaws in 1975, elected officers in 1975, and "certified" its charter members (called "diplomates") in 1976. ICAK now considers 1976 to be the date it was founded and 1973 to be the date that its first chairman took office. +AK grew in popularity among Mormon alternative medicine culture. In Educated, Tara Westover recounts her Mormon mother beginning to practice AK in the mid-to-late 1990s. In 2007, Mormon chiropractor Bradley Nelson published the AK book The Emotion Code, which further popularized the practice. +While AK is primarily used by chiropractors, it is also used by many other practitioners of complementary therapy. In 2003, it was the 10th most frequently used chiropractic technique in the United States, with 37.6% of chiropractors employing this method and 12.9% of patients being treated with it. Some basic AK-based techniques have also been used by nutritional supplement distributors, including multilevel distributors. + +== Claims == +Applied kinesiology is presented as a system that evaluates structural, chemical, and mental aspects of health by using a method referred to as muscle response testing or manual muscle testing (MMT) alongside conventional diagnostic methods. The essential premise of applied kinesiology, which is not shared by mainstream medical theory, is that every organ dysfunction is accompanied by a weakness in a specific corresponding muscle, known as the "viscerosomatic relationship". Treatment modalities relied upon by AK practitioners include joint manipulation and mobilization, myofascial, cranial and meridian therapies, clinical nutrition, and dietary counseling. + +=== Muscle testing === +A manual muscle test in AK is conducted by having the patient use the target muscle or muscle group to resist while the practitioner applies a force. A smooth response is sometimes referred to as a "strong muscle," and a response that was not appropriate is sometimes called a "weak response". This is not a raw test of strength, but rather a subjective evaluation of tension in the muscle and smoothness of response, taken to be indicative of a difference in spindle cell response during contraction. These differences in muscle response are claimed to be indicative of various stresses and imbalances in the body. A weak muscle test is equated to dysfunction and chemical or structural imbalance or mental stress, indicative of suboptimal functioning. It may be suboptimal functioning of the tested target muscle, or a normally optimally functioning muscle can be used as an indicator muscle for other physiological testing. A commonly known and very basic test is the arm-pull-down test, or "Delta test," where the patient resists as the practitioner exerts a downward force on an extended arm. Proper positioning is paramount to ensure that the muscle in question is isolated or positioned as the prime mover, minimizing interference from adjacent muscle groups. + +=== Nutrient testing === +Nutrient testing is used to examine the response of a patient's various muscles to assorted chemicals. Gustatory and olfactory stimulation are said to alter the outcome of a manual muscle test, with previously weak muscles being strengthened by application of the correct nutritional supplement, and previously strong muscles being weakened by exposure to harmful or imbalancing substances or allergens. Though its use is deprecated by the ICAK, stimulation to test muscle response to a certain chemical is also done by contact or proximity (for instance, testing while the patient holds a bottle of pills). + +=== Therapy localization === +Therapy localization is another diagnostic technique using manual muscle testing, which is unique to applied kinesiology. The patient places a hand that is not being tested on the skin over an area suspected to need therapeutic attention. This fingertip contact may lead to a change in muscle response from strong to weak or vice versa when therapeutic intervention is indicated. If the area touched is not associated with a need for such intervention, the muscle response is unaffected. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..873f8b8de --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +--- +title: "Applied kinesiology" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:57.083838+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Scientific research == +In 2015 the Australian Government's Department of Health published the results of a review of alternative therapies that sought to determine if any were suitable for being covered by health insurance; applied kinesiology was one of 17 therapies evaluated for which no clear evidence of effectiveness was found. According to the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support the claim that applied kinesiology can diagnose or treat cancer or other illness". +A review of several scientific studies of AK-specific procedures and diagnostic tests concluded: "When AK is disentangled from standard orthopedic muscle testing, the few studies evaluating unique AK procedures either refute or cannot support the validity of AK procedures as diagnostic tests. The evidence to date does not support the use of manual muscle testing for the diagnosis of organic disease or pre/subclinical conditions." Another concluded that "There is little or no scientific rationale for these methods. Results are not reproducible when subject to rigorous testing and do not correlate with clinical evidence of allergy." A double-blind study was conducted by the ALTA Foundation for Sports Medicine Research in Santa Monica, California, and published in the June 1988 Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The study used three experienced AK practitioners and concluded that, "The results of this study indicated that the use of applied kinesiology to evaluate nutrient status is no more useful than random guessing." +Despite more than four decades of review, RCT (randomized, controlled trials) and other evaluative methods, even invested researchers delivered the following opinion: + +One shortcoming is the lack of RCTs to substantiate (or refute) the clinical utility (efficacy, effectiveness) of chiropractic interventions based on MMT findings. Also, because the etiology of a muscle weakness may be multifactorial, any RCT that employs only one mode of therapy to only one area of the body may produce outcomes that are poor due to these limitations. + +== Criticism == +Nearly all AK tests are subjective, relying solely on practitioner assessment of muscle response. Specifically, some studies have shown test-retest reliability, inter-tester reliability, and accuracy to have no better than chance correlations. Some skeptics have argued that there is no scientific understanding of the proposed underlying theory of a viscerosomatic relationship, and the efficacy of the modality is unestablished in some cases and doubtful in others. Skeptics have also dismissed AK as "quackery", "magical thinking", and a misinterpretation of the ideomotor effect. It has also been criticized on theoretical and empirical grounds, and characterized as pseudoscience. With only anecdotal accounts claiming to provide positive evidence for the efficacy of the practice, a review of peer-reviewed studies concluded that the "evidence to date does not support the use of [AK] for the diagnosis of organic disease or pre/subclinical conditions." + +== Position statements == + +=== Allergy diagnosis === +In the United States, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have both advised that applied kinesiology should not be used in the diagnosis of allergies. The European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence of the UK, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy and the Allergy Society of South Africa has also advised similarly. The World Allergy Organization does not have a formal position on applied kinesiology, but in educational materials from its Global Resources In Allergy program, it lists applied kinesiology as an unproven test and describes it as useless. In 1998, a small pilot study published in the International Journal of Neuroscience showed a correlation between applied kinesiology muscle testings and serum immunoglobulin levels for food allergies. In it, 19 of 21 (90.5%) suspected food allergies diagnosed by applied kinesiology were confirmed by serum immunoglobulin tests. A follow-up review published in 2005 in the Current Opinion of Allergy and Clinical Immunology concluded applied kinesiology had no proven basis for diagnosis. + +=== American Chiropractic Association === +According to the American Chiropractic Association, in 2003, applied kinesiology was the 10th most frequently used chiropractic technique in the United States, with 37.6% of chiropractors employing this method and 12.9% of patients being treated with it. They describe AK as follows: + +This is an approach to chiropractic treatment in which several specific procedures may be combined. Diversified/manipulative adjusting techniques may be used with nutritional interventions, together with light massage of various points referred to as neurolymphatic and neurovascular points. Clinical decision-making is often based on testing and evaluating muscle strength. + +=== Danish Chiropractic Association === +According to a March 26, 1998, letter from the DKF (Dansk Kiropraktor Forening – Danish Chiropractic Association), following public complaints from patients receiving homeopathic care and/or AK instead of standard (DKF-defined) chiropractic care, the DKF has determined that applied kinesiology is not a form of chiropractic care and must not be presented to the public as such. AK and homeopathy can continue to be practiced by chiropractors as long as it is noted to be alternative and adjunctive to chiropractic care and is not performed in a chiropractic clinic. Chiropractors may not infer or imply that the Danish chiropractic profession endorses AK to be legitimate or effective, nor may the word/title chiropractic/chiropractor be used or associated with the practice of AK. + +== See also == +Ideomotor effect +List of ineffective cancer treatments +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique +Observer-expectancy effect +Facilitated Communication + +== References == + +== External links == + +=== Promotional sites === +The International Journal of Applied Kinesiology and Kinesiologic Medicine + +=== Skeptical evaluations === +Applied Kinesiology: Muscle-Testing for "Allergies" and "Nutrient Deficiencies" by Stephen Barrett, Quackwatch +Applied Kinesiology by William T. Jarvis, The National Council Against Health Fraud +Applied kinesiology James Randi Educational Foundation, An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural +The Mischief-Making of Ideomotor Action Archived 2008-02-10 at the Wayback Machine by Ray Hyman, The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine +Applied Foolishness by John Blanton, The North Texas Skeptics +InteliHealth applied kinesiology article material was reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School with final editing approved by Natural Standard. +Muscle Testing by John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs +Walker, James (1992), "Testing Muscle Testing: Applied Kinesiology", The Watchman Expositor, vol. 9, no. 7, Watchman Fellowship ministry +Applied Kinesiology and Nutritional Muscle Response Testing: A Christian Perspective by Janice Lyons +Applied Kinesiology By Nicholas Brewer, 2006 +Applied Kinesiology Archived 2021-03-08 at the Wayback Machine by Harry Edwards, A Skeptic's Guide to the New Age \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-0.md index 31ce890af..35b8936f4 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:51.283990+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:58.343233+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-1.md index b17370ac3..e4fd33ee7 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:51.283990+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:58.343233+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-2.md index 910a3ad3b..a97ff9fc3 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:51.283990+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:58.343233+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-3.md index c9306a852..5782ca84c 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-3.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis-3.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 4/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:51.283990+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:58.343233+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_in_spirituality-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_in_spirituality-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..edf3e3641 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_in_spirituality-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Artificial intelligence in spirituality" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_in_spirituality" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:59.492126+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Some users of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, especially chatbots, may develop beliefs that AI has or can attain supernatural or spiritual powers. AI models such as ChatGPT are turned to for fortune telling, mysticism and remote viewing. Recent and sudden advances in large language models have led to folk myths about their origin or capabilities, as well as their deification or worship by some users. Tucker Carlson has made similar claims, including directly to Sam Altman. Pope Leo XIV advised priests against using LLM models when it came to the creation of sermons. + + +== See also == +AI slop +Cargo cult +Chatbot psychosis +Quantum mysticism +Artificial intimacy +Roko's basilisk +Superintelligence +TempleOS +Theta Noir +Way of the Future + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..da6ac2b19 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Aryan race" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:00.861442+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Aryan race is a pseudoscientific historical race concept that emerged in the late-19th century to describe people who descend from the Proto-Indo-Europeans as a racial grouping. The terminology derives from the historical usage of Aryan, used by modern Indo-Iranians as an epithet of "noble". Anthropological, historical, and archaeological evidence does not support the validity of the racial concept. +The concept derives from the notion that the original speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language were distinct progenitors of a superior specimen of humankind, and that their descendants up to the present day constitute either a distinctive race or a sub-race of the Caucasian race, alongside the Semitic race and the Hamitic race. This taxonomic approach to categorizing human population groups is now considered to be misguided and biologically meaningless due to the close genetic similarity and complex interrelationships between these groups. +The term was adopted by various racist and antisemitic writers during the 19th century, including Arthur de Gobineau, Richard Wagner, and Houston Stewart Chamberlain, whose scientific racism influenced later Nazi racial ideology. By the 1930s, the concept had been associated with both Nazism and Nordicism, and used to support the white supremacist ideology of Aryanism that portrayed the Aryan race as a "master race", with non-Aryans regarded as racially inferior (Untermensch, lit. 'subhuman') and an existential threat that was to be exterminated. In Nazi Germany, these ideas formed an essential part of the state ideology that led to the Holocaust. + +== History == + +=== Debates on linguistic homeland === +In the late 18th century, Proto-Indo-European (PIE) was constructed as the hypothesized common proto-language of the Indo-European languages. Sir William Jones, who was acclaimed as the "most respected linguist in Europe" for his Grammar of the Persian Language (1771), was appointed one of the three justices of the Supreme Court of Bengal. Jones, who arrived in Calcutta and began his study of Sanskrit and the Rig Veda, was astonished by the lexical similarities between Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages such as Persian, Gothic, Greek, and Latin, and concluded that Sanskrit—as a descendant language—belonged to the same proto- or parent-language in the language family—that is PIE, as the other Indo-European languages, in his Third Anniversary Discourse on the Hindus (1786). However, the linguistic homeland of the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European was a politicized debate among the archaeologists and comparative historical linguists since the start, entangling in chauvinistic causes. Some European nationalists and dictators, most notably the Nazis, later attempted to identify their country or region as the Proto-Indo-European homeland and their people as belonging to a pure and superior race. +According to Leon Poliakov, the concept of the Aryan race was deeply rooted in philology, based on the work of Sir William Jones' claiming that Sanskrit was related to Greco-Roman (European) languages. Other thinkers invented secularized origins for European civilization that were not based on the biblical genealogies from which Europe's aristocracy had long claimed descent. + +=== Romanticism and Social Darwinism === + +The influence of Romanticism in Germany saw a revival of the intellectual quest for "the German language and traditions" and a desire to "discard the cold, artificial logic of Enlightenment". After Darwin's 1859 publication of On the Origin of Species and publicization of the theorized model of Proto-Indo-European language (PIE), the Romantics convicted that language was a defining factor in national identity, combined with the new ideas of Darwinism. The German nationalists misemployed the scientific theory of natural selection for the rationalization of the supposed fitness of some races over others, although Darwin himself never applied his theory of fitness to vague entities such as races or languages. The "unfit" races were suggested as a source of genetic weakness, and a threat that might contaminate the superior qualities of the "fit" races. The misleading mixture of pseudoscience and Romanticism produced new racial ideologies which used distorted Social Darwinist interpretations of race to explain "the superior biological-spiritual-linguistic essence of the Northern Europeans" in self-congratulatory studies. Subsequently, the German Romantics' quest for a "pure" national heritage led to the interpretation of the ancient speakers of PIE language as the distinct progenitors of a "racial-linguistic-national stereotype". + +== Invention == + +=== Racial association of the term Aryan === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2056defd3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Aryan race" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:00.861442+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The term "Aryan" was originally used as an ethnocultural self-designative identity and epithet of "noble" by Indo-Iranians and the authors of the oldest known religious texts of Rig Veda and Avesta within the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family—Sanskrit and Iranian, who lived in ancient India and Iran. Although the Sanskrit ā́rya- and Iranian *arya- descended from a form *ā̆rya-, it was only attested to the Indo-Iranian tribes. Benjamin W. Fortson states that there may have been no term for self-designation of Proto-Indo-Europeans, and no such morphemes has survived. J. P. Mallory et al. states although the term "Aryan" takes on an ethnic meaning attesting to Indo-Iranians, there is no grounds for ascribing this semantic use to the Proto-Indo-European reconstruction of lexicon *h₂eryós i.e. there is no evidence that the speakers of proto-language referred to themselves as "Aryans". However, in the 19th century, it was proposed that ā́rya- was not only the tribal self-designation of Indo-Iranians, but self-designation of Proto-Indo-Europeans themselves, a theory rejected by modern scholarships. "Aryan" then came to be used by scholars of the 19th century to refer to Indo-Europeans. The now-discredited and chronologically reconstructed North European hypothesis was endorsed by such scholars who situated the PIE homeland in northern Europe, which led to the association of "Proto-Indo-Europeans", originally a hypothesized linguistic population of Eurasian PIE speakers, with a new, imagined biological category: "a tall, light-complexioned, blonde, blue-eyed race" - supposed phenotypic traits of Nordic race. The anglicized term "Aryan" then developed into a purely racialist meaning implicating Nordic racial type. However, modern scholarship of Indo-European studies use "Aryan" and "Indo-Aryan" in their original senses referring to Indo-Iranian and Indic branch of Indo-Europeans. +Classification of human races based on the now-pseudoscientific study of phenotypical differences developed during the nineteenth century and evidence in support of such theories were sought from the study of language and reconstructions of language families. Scholars of this era established the ethnological term "Aryan" as the race that had spoken the Proto-Indo-European language, and in this context, the term was often used as a synonym for "Indo-Europeans". +There is considerable disagreement as to whether or not the Indo-Iranians actually belonged to a distinct physical type. According to Elena Kuzmina, the Aryans in the Avesta were tall, light-skinned and frequently light-haired or light-eyed. She states that, in the Rig Veda, light skin was the primary physical differentiator between the Aryans and the indigenous population of India, who were darker. Skin color was also the basis of social division among the Vedic Aryans; the varnas of priests and warriors condemned the 'black skinned' aboriginal Dasa. +However, other scholars have opined that Aryan identity as asserted in the Rig Veda was cultural, religious, and linguistic, not racial; and that the Vedas does not contemplate racial purity. Michael Witzel states that term Aryan "does not mean a particular people or even a particular 'racial' group but all those who had joined the tribes speaking Vedic Sanskrit and adhering to their cultural norms, indicating diversity among them. David Anthony said it is "highly doubtful" that the Aryans of south Asia were blond and blue-eyed. + +=== North Europe hypothesis and archaeological affirmation === +The racial interpretation of Aryans stems from the now-discredited culture-historical archaeology theory of Gustaf Kossinna, who asserted a one-to-one correspondence between archaeological culture and archaeological race. According to Kossinna, the continuity of a "culture" exposits the continuity of a "race" which lived continuously in the same area, and the resemblance of a culture in a younger layer to a culture from an older layer indicates that the autochthonous tribe from the homeland had migrated. Kossinna developed an ethnic paradigm in archaeology called settlement archaeology and practiced the nationalistic interpretation of German archaeology for the Third Reich. The obsolete North European hypothesis was endorsed by Kossinna and Karl Penka, including German nationalists, which was later used by the Nazis to condone their genocidal and racist state policies. Kossinna identified the Proto-Indo-Europeans with the Corded Ware culture, and placed the Proto-Indo-European homeland in Schleswig-Holstein. He argued a diffusionist model of culture, and emphasised the racial superiority of Germanic peoples over Romans (Roman Empire) and French, whom he described as destroyers of culture as compared to Germanics. Kossinna's ideas have been heavily criticised for its inherent ambiguities in the method and advocacy for the ideology of a Germanic master race. + +=== Earliest utilization of Aryan race === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..eab668a74 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Aryan race" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:00.861442+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Max Müller popularized the term Aryan in his writings on comparative linguistics, and is often identified as the first writer to mention an Aryan race in English. He began the racial interpretation of the Vedic passages based upon his editing of the Rigveda from 1849 to 1874. He postulated a small Aryan clan living on a high elevation in central Asia, speaking a proto-language ancestral to later Indo-European languages, which later branched off in two directions: one moved towards Europe and the other migrated to Iran, eventually splitting again with one group invading north-western India and conquering the dark-skinned dasas of Scythian origin who lived there. The northern Aryans of Europe became energetic and combative, and they invented the idea of a nation, while the southern Aryans of Iran and India were passive and meditative and focussed on religion and philosophy. +Though he occasionally used the term "Aryan race" afterward, Müller later objected to the mixing of the linguistic and racial categories, and was "deeply saddened by the fact that these classifications later came to be expressed in racist terms". In his 1888 lecture at Oxford, he stated, "[the] science of Language and the science of Man cannot be kept too much asunder [...] it would be as wrong to speak of Aryan blood as of dolichocephalic grammar", and in his Biographies of Words and the Home of the Aryas (1888), he writes, "[the] ethnologist who speaks of Aryan race, Aryan blood, Aryan eyes, and hair, is a great sinner as a linguist [...]". +European scholars of 19th century interpreted the Vedic passages as depicting battle between light-skinned Aryan migrants and dark-skinned indigenous tribes, but modern scholars reject this characterization of racial division as a misreading of the Sanskrit text, and indicate that the Rig Vedic opposition between ārya and dasyu is distinction between "disorder, chaos and dark side of human nature" contrasted with the concepts of "order, purity, goodness and light", and "dark and light worlds". In other contexts of the Vedic passages the dinstiction between ārya and dasyu refers to those who had adopted the Vedic religion, speaking Vedic Sanskrit, and those who opposed it. +However, increasing number of Western writers of this era, especially among anthropologists and non-specialists influenced by Darwinist theories, contrasted Aryans as a "physical-genetic species" rather than an ethnolinguistic category. +Encyclopedias and textbooks of historiography, ethnography, and anthropology from this era, such as Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, Nordisk familjebok, H. G. Wells's A Short History of the World, John Clark Ridpath's Great Races of Mankind, and other works reinforced European racial constructions developed on now-pseudoscientific concepts such as racial taxonomy, Social Darwinism, and scientific racism to classify human races. + +=== Theories of racial supremacy === +The term Aryan was adopted by various racist and antisemitic writers such as Arthur de Gobineau, Theodor Poesche, Houston Chamberlain, Paul Broca, Karl Penka and Hans Günther during the nineteenth century for the promotion of scientific racism, spawning ideologies such as Nordicism and Aryanism. The connotation of the term Aryan was detached from its proper geographic and linguistic confinement as a Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European language family by this time. The inequality of races and the notion of a "superior race" was universally accepted by the scholars of this era, therefore race was referred to "national character and national culture" beyond biological confinement. +In 1853, Arthur de Gobineau published An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races, in which he originally identified the Aryan race as the white race, and the only civilized one, and conceived cultural decline and miscegenation as intimately intertwined. He argued that the Aryans represented a superior branch of humanity, and attempted to identify the races of Europe as Aryan and associated them with the sons of Noah, emphasizing superiority, and categorized non-Aryan as an intrusion of the Semitic race. According to him, northern Europeans had migrated across the world and founded the major civilizations, before being diluted through racial mixing with indigenous populations described as racially inferior, leading to the progressive decay of the ancient Aryan civilizations. +In 1878, German American anthropologist Theodor Poesche published a survey of historical references attempting to demonstrate that the Aryans were light-skinned blue-eyed blonds. +In 1899, Houston Stewart Chamberlain published what is described as "one of the most important proto-Nazi texts", The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century, in which he theorized an existential struggle to the death between a superior German-Aryan race and a destructive Jewish-Semitic race. +In 1916, Madison Grant published The Passing of the Great Race, a polemic against interbreeding between "Aryan" Americans, the original Thirteen Colonies settlers of British-Irish-German origin, with immigrant "inferior races", which according to him were, Poles, Czechs, Jews, and Italians. The book was a best-seller at the time. +While the Aryan race theory remained popular, particularly in Germany, some authors opposed it, in particular Otto Schrader, Rudolph von Jhering and the ethnologist Robert Hartmann, who proposed to ban the notion of Aryan from anthropology. The term was also adopted by various occultists and esoteric ideological systems of this era, such as Helena Blavatsky, and Ariosophy. + +== Nazism == + +=== Subhuman and inferior races in Nazi Germany === + +The racial policies of Nazi Germany, the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, and the racist doctrines of Adolf Hitler considered Jews, Roma and Slavs, including Poles, Czechs, Russians and Serbs, "racially inferior sub-humans" (German: Untermensch, lit. 'sub-human'); the term was also applied to "Mischling" (persons of mixed "Aryan" and non-Aryan, such as Jewish, ancestry) and black people. + +=== Connotation of the term Aryan in Nazi racial theories === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cfa12cd1f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Aryan race" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:00.861442+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A definition of Aryan that included all non-Jewish Europeans was deemed unacceptable, and the Expert Committee on Questions of Population and Racial Policy of 1933 brought together important Nazi intellectuals Alfred Ploetz, Fritz Thyssen, and Ernst Rüdin to plan the course of Nazi racial policy, defining an Aryan as one who was "tribally related to the German blood and descendant of a Volk". The term "Volksdeutsche" was used by Nazis to indicate "ethnic Germans" who did not hold German Reich citizenship; Volksdeutsche further consist of "racial groups"—minorities within a state—who are descendants of a Volk domiciled in Europe in a closed tribal settlement and are closely related to German racial community. The Nazi concept of "Volksgemeinschaft" racially unified ethnic Germans, including those living outside the German Reich, propounding only the members of the racial community be considered Aryan. +Members of the SS deemed Aryans not to be of a single ethnic group, and did not have to be exclusively German, but could be selected from populations across Europe to create "master race". Nazi Party established the organization NSDAP/AO to disseminate Nazi propaganda among the ethnic German minorities considered Volksdeutsche in central and eastern Europe. Nazi racial theories considered the "purest stock of Aryans" the Nordic people, identified by physical anthropological features such as tallness, white skin, blue eyes, narrow and straight noses, dolichocephalic skulls, prominent chins, and blond hair, including Scandinavians, Germans, English and French, with Nordic and Germanic people being the "master race" (German: Herrenrasse). Recent archaeogenetic studies contradict these ideas, and instead suggest that Proto-Indo-European speaking peoples probably had brown eyes and hair, and intermediate skin complexion. + +=== Historical revisionism === +After the death of Kossinna, Heinrich Himmler, and other Nazi figures such as Alfred Rosenberg, adopted his nationalistic theories of Germanic peoples and methodologies, including settlement archaeology, and founded the SS organization Ahnenerbe (German: Deutsches Ahnenerbe) for conducting archaeological investigations of a presumed "Germanic expansion in pre-history". Nazi scholars endorsed the now-discredited North European hypothesis in an effort to prove PIE was originally spoken by an "Aryan master race", and associated the Semitic languages with "inferior races". Historical revisionism around race was disseminated through the Nazi think tank Ahnenerbe. Hitler regularly invoked Social Darwinist concepts of Ernst Haeckel such as higher evolution (German: Höherentwicklung), struggle for existence (German: Existenzkampf), selection (German: Auslese), struggle for life (German: Lebenskampf), in his Nazi racial ideology, which is the central theme in the chapter "Nation and Race" of Mein Kampf. Haeckel's Social Darwinism was also praised by Alfred Ploetz, founder of the German Society for Racial Hygiene, who made him an honorary member of the eugenic organization. + +=== Nazi eugenics and Nordic supremacy === + +In 1938, the Reich Ministry of Education released the German biology curriculum which reflected the curriculum developed by the National Socialist Teachers League and emphasized the Social Darwinst interpretation of the evolution of human races. Hans Weinert, who had joined the SS and worked for the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology publishing theories of Nazi eugenics and racial evolution, claimed the Nordic race as a highly evolved race, and Aboriginal Australians as being the lowest rank in the racial hierarchy. Hans F. K. Günther was considered to be the most influential Nazi anthropologist, although he was not professionally trained. Günther's racist writings on Nordicism was suffused with the ideas of Gobineau, who believed the Nordic race had originated in northern Europe and spread through conquest; this had expressed approval of the Nazi eugenics policies and had critical influence on scientific racism. Günther's theories gained acclamation from Hitler, who later included his books as a recommended reading material for the Nazi Party members. After the Nazis came to power, selective breeding for supposed Aryan traits such as athleticism, blond hair and blue eyes was encouraged, while the "inferior races" and people with physical or mental illness were deemed "life unworthy of life" (German: lebensunwertes Leben, lit. 'lives unworthy of life') and many were interned in concentration camps. + +=== Ethnic cleansing and the Holocaust === + +The culmination of Nazi eugenicist and racial hygiene programs of sterilization and extermination aimed at creating an "Aryan master race" and eliminating "inferior non-Aryan types" such as Jews, Slavs, Poles, Roma, homosexuals, and the disabled. Nazi Germany introduced the Anti-Jewish legislation that systemically discriminated against Jews by requiring Aryan certification for a German Reich citizen. After Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany, the public policies of Nazi Germany became increasingly hostile towards supposed "inferior types", particularly Jews, who were considered to be the highest manifestation of the Semitic race, and segregation of Jews in ghettos culminated in the policy of extermination the Nazis called the Final Solution to the Jewish Question. The state-sponsored persecution systematically murdered over 6 million Jews, 5.7 million Slavs, 1.8–3 million Poles, 270,000 disabled people, among other victims, including children through mass shooting, gas chamber, gas van, and concentration camps, in the process known as the Holocaust. The ethnic Germans considered Volksdeutsche joined the local SS organizations under NSDAP/AO and participated in Nazi-sponsored pogroms in eastern and central Europe during the Holocaust, including seizures of Jewish property. The Aryan race belief was used by the Nazis to justify the persecution, depicting the victims as the "antipode and eternal enemy of the Aryans". + +== White supremacy == + +Following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, various neo-Nazi and racial nationalist movements developed a more inclusive definition of Aryan claiming to Western European peoples, with Nordic and Germanic peoples being the most "racially pure". However, in the United States, most white nationalists define whiteness broadly as people of European ancestry, and some consider Jews to be white although this is controversial within white nationalist circles. +Many white supremacist neo-Nazi groups and prison gangs, notably in the United States, view themselves as part of an Aryan race, including the Aryan Brotherhood, Aryan Nations, Aryan Guard, Aryan Republican Army, White Aryan Resistance, Aryan Circle, Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, and others. + +== Neo-pagan movements == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e32b66b28 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Aryan race" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:00.861442+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Indo-European history, real and feigned, plays a significant role in various neo-pagan movements. + +=== Russian neo-paganism === + +The Russian Slavophile movements borrowed various discrete ideas of a presumed "prestigious Aryan origin" of Europeans from Nazi Germany. Although Russian Orthodoxy was the primary religious influence on Russian nationalists, the primacy of Christianity was treated skeptically by these groups, who later began searching for an ancient text to rationalize a "return to the origins". Various writers in the newspaper Zhar-Ptitsa showed interest in a purported manuscript—the Book of Veles—which supposedly dated to the first century BCE. F. A. Izenbek, a White Army officer, alleged the discovery of this manuscript during the Russian Civil War. However one of Izenbek's friends, Iurii Miroliubov, had forged the manuscript, and used the term "Vedism" to describe Russian neo-paganism; he later appropriated the Indian religious scripture, the Vedas, to aggrandize the manuscript. Nationalistic white Russian émigrés and neo-Pagans consider the manuscript to be an authentic historical source of Slavic antiquity, who claim a direct link between "ancient Aryans" and themselves as Slavs. However, the manuscript is declared literary forgery by scholars. Alexey Dobrovolsky, a Russian neo-Nazi, is considered the founding Nazi ideologue of Slavic Neopaganism. + +=== Goddess movement === + +With the rise of first-wave feminism, various authors of the Goddess movement cast the ancient Indo-Europeans as a "patriarchal, warlike invaders who destroyed a utopian prehistoric world of feminine peace and beauty" in various archaeological dramas and books such as Riane Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade (1987) and Marija Gimbutas's Civilization of the Goddess (1991). + +== See also == + +== References == +Notes + +Bibliography \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..42344a2bd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +title: "Astral projection" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:02.127693+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In esotericism, astral projection (also known as astral travel, soul journey, soul wandering, spiritual journey, spiritual travel) is an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) in which a subtle body, known as the astral body or body of light which consciousness functions separately through from the physical body, travels throughout the astral plane. +The idea of astral travel is ancient and occurs in multiple cultures. The term "astral projection" was coined and promoted by 19th-century Theosophists. It is sometimes associated with dreams and forms of meditation. Some individuals have reported perceptions similar to descriptions of astral projection that were induced through various hallucinogenic and hypnotic means (including self-hypnosis). There is no scientific evidence that there is a consciousness whose embodied functions are separate from normal neural activity, or that one can consciously leave the body and make observations of the physical universe. As a result, astral projection has been characterized as pseudoscience. + +== Accounts == + +=== Ancient Egyptian === +Similar concepts of soul travel appear in various other religious traditions. For example, ancient Egyptian teachings present the soul (ba) as having the ability to hover outside the physical body via the ka, or subtle body. + +=== Amazon === +The yaskomo of the Waiwai is believed to have the ability to perform a soul flight that can serve several functions, such as healing; flying to the sky to consult cosmological beings (the Moon or the Brother of the Moon) to obtain a name for a newborn baby; flying to the cave of peccaries' mountains to ask the father of peccaries for abundance of game; or flying deep down into a river to seek the aid of other beings. + +=== Inuit === + +In some Inuit groups, individuals with special capabilities, known as angakkuq, are said to be able to travel to (mythological) remote places, and report their experiences and important matters back to their community. Those abilities would be unavailable to individuals with normal capabilities. Among other things, an angakkuq was said to have the ability to stop bad hunting luck or heal a sick person. Soul wandering is classified as a culture-specific disorder. + +=== Hindu === +Similar ideas such as the Liṅga Śarīra are found in ancient Hindu scriptures such as the Yogavashishta-Maharamayana of Valmiki. Modern Indians who have vouched for astral projection include Paramahansa Yogananda who witnessed Swami Pranabananda doing a miracle through a possible astral projection. +The Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba described one's use of astral projection: + +In the advancing stages leading to the beginning of the path, the aspirant becomes spiritually prepared for being entrusted with free use of the forces of the inner world of the astral bodies. He may then undertake astral journeys in his astral body, leaving the physical body in sleep or wakefulness. The astral journeys that are taken unconsciously are much less important than those undertaken with full consciousness and as a result of deliberate volition. This implies conscious use of the astral body. Conscious separation of the astral body from the outer vehicle of the gross body has its own value in making the soul feel its distinction from the gross body and in arriving at fuller control of the gross body. One can, at will, put on and take off the external gross body as if it were a cloak and use the astral body for experiencing the inner world of the astral and for undertaking journeys through it, if and when necessary. ... The ability to undertake astral journeys therefore involves considerable expansion of one's scope for experience. It brings opportunities for promoting one's own spiritual advancement, which begins with the involution of consciousness. + +Astral projection is one of the siddhis ('magical powers') considered achievable by yoga practitioners through self-disciplined practice. In the epic Mahabharata, Drona leaves his physical body to see if his son is alive. + +=== Japanese === + +In Japanese mythology, an ikiryō (生霊; also read as shōryō, seirei, or ikisudama) is a manifestation of the soul of a living person separately from their body. Traditionally, if someone holds a sufficient grudge against another person, it is believed that a part or the whole of their soul can temporarily leave their body and appear before the target of their hate in order to curse or otherwise harm them, similar to an evil eye. Souls are also believed to leave a living body when the body is extremely sick or comatose; but such ikiryō are not malevolent. + +=== Taoist === +Taoist alchemical practice involves creation of an energy body by breathing meditations, drawing energy into a 'pearl' that is then circulated. + +Xiangzi ... with a drum as his pillow fell fast asleep, snoring and motionless. His primordial spirit, however, went straight into the banquet room and said, "My lords, here I am again." When Tuizhi walked with the officials to take a look, there really was a Taoist sleeping on the ground and snoring like thunder. Yet inside, in the side room, there was another Taoist beating a fisher drum and singing Taoist songs. The officials all said, "Although there are two different people, their faces and clothes are exactly alike. Clearly he is a divine immortal who can divide his body and appear in several places at once. ..." At that moment, the Taoist in the side room came walking out, and the Taoist sleeping on the ground woke up. The two merged into one. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a0009515a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Astral projection" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:02.127693+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Judaic and Christian === +Carrington, Muldoon, Peterson, and Williams say that the subtle body is attached to the physical body by means of a psychic silver cord. Ecclesiastes 12:6 is often cited in this respect: "Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well". Rabbi Nosson Scherman, however, contends that the context points to this being merely a metaphor, comparing the body to a machine, with the silver cord referring to the spine. +James Hankins argues that 2 Corinthians 12:2, "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows", refers to the astral planes. + +=== Western esotericism === + +According to the classical, medieval, renaissance Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, and later Theosophist and Rosicrucian thought, the 'astral body' is an intermediate body of light linking the rational soul to the physical body while the astral plane is an intermediate world of light between Heaven and Earth, composed of the spheres of the planets and stars. These astral spheres were held to be populated by angels, demons, and spirits. +In the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, for example, the individual is a microcosm ("small world") of the universe (the macrocosm or "great world"). "The rational soul...is akin to the great Soul of the World" while "the material universe, like the body, is made as a faded image of the Intelligible". Each succeeding plane of manifestation is causal to the next, a world-view known as emanationism; "from the One proceeds Intellect, from Intellect Soul, and from Soul—in its lower phase, or that of Nature—the material universe". The idea of the astral figured prominently in the work of the nineteenth-century French occultist Eliphas Levi, whence it was adopted and developed further by Theosophy, and used afterwards by other esoteric movements. +The subtle bodies, and their associated planes of existence, form an essential part of some esoteric systems that deal with astral phenomena. Often these bodies and their planes of existence are depicted as a series of concentric circles or nested spheres, with a separate body traversing each realm. + +== Terminology == +The expression "astral projection" came to be used in two different ways. For the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and some Theosophists, it retained the classical and medieval philosophers' meaning of journeying to other worlds, heavens, hells, the astrological spheres and other landscapes in the body of light; but outside these circles the term was increasingly applied to non-physical travel around the physical world. +Though this usage continues to be widespread, the term, "etheric travel", used by some later Theosophists, offers a useful distinction. Some experimenters say they visit different times and/or places: etheric, then, is used to represent the sense of being out of the body in the physical world; whereas astral may connote some alteration in time-perception. Robert Monroe describes the former type of projection as "Locale I" or the "Here-Now", involving people and places that exist: Robert Bruce calls it the "Real Time Zone" (RTZ) and describes it as the non-physical dimension-level closest to the physical. This etheric body is usually, though not always, invisible but is often perceived by the experient as connected to the physical body during separation by a silver cord. Some link falling dreams with projection. +According to Max Heindel, the etheric double serves as a medium between the astral and physical realms. In his system the ether, also called prana, is the vital force that empowers the physical forms to change. From his descriptions it can be inferred that, to him, when one views the physical during an out-of-body experience, one is not technically in the astral realm at all. +Other experiments may describe a domain that has no parallel to any known physical setting. Environments may be populated or unpopulated, artificial, natural or abstract, and the experience may be beatific, horrific or neutral. A common Theosophical belief is that one may access a compendium of mystical knowledge called the Akashic records. In many accounts the experiencer correlates the astral world with the world of dreams. Some even report seeing other dreamers enacting dream scenarios unaware of their wider environment. +The astral environment may also be divided into levels or sub-planes by theorists, but there are many different views in various traditions concerning the overall structure of the astral planes: they may include heavens and hells and other after-death spheres, transcendent environments, or other less-easily characterized states. + +== Scientific reception == +There is no known scientific evidence that astral projection as an objective phenomenon exists, although there are cases of patients having experiences suggestive of astral projection from brain stimulation treatments and hallucinogenic drugs, such as ketamine, phencyclidine, and DMT. Subjects in parapsychological experiments have attempted to project their astral bodies to distant rooms and see what was happening. However, such experiments have not produced clear results. +Psychologist Donovan Rawcliffe wrote that astral projection can be explained by delusion, hallucination, and vivid dreams. Arthur W. Wiggins wrote that purported evidence of the ability to astrally travel great distances and give descriptions of places visited is predominantly anecdotal and considers astral travel an illusion. He looks to neuroanatomy, prior knowledge, and human belief and imagination to provide prosaic explanations for those who experience it. Robert Todd Carroll writes that the main evidence to support claims of astral travel is anecdotal and comes "in the form of testimonials of those who claim to have experienced being out of their bodies when they may have been out of their minds." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e792ed175 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Astral projection" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_projection" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:02.127693+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Notable practitioners == +Emanuel Swedenborg was one of the first practitioners to write extensively about the out-of-body experience, in his Spiritual Diary (1747–1765). In her book, My Religion, Helen Keller tells of her beliefs in Swedenborgianism and how she once traveled astrally to Athens: +I have been far away all this time, and I haven't left the room...It was clear to me that it was because I was a spirit that I had so vividly 'seen' and felt a place a thousand miles away. Space was nothing to spirit! +In occult traditions, practices range from inducing trance states to the mental construction of a second body, called the "body of light" by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), through visualization and controlled breathing, followed by the transfer of consciousness to the secondary body by a mental act of will. +There are many 20th-century publications on astral projection, although only a few writers continue to be cited. These include Edgar Cayce (1877–1945), Hereward Carrington (1880–1958), Oliver Fox (1885–1949), Sylvan Muldoon (1903–1969), and Robert Monroe (1915–1995). +Robert Monroe's accounts of journeys to other realms (1971–1994) popularized the term "OBE" and were translated into a large number of languages. Though his books themselves only placed secondary importance on descriptions of method, Monroe also founded an institute dedicated to research, exploration and non-profit dissemination of auditory technology for assisting others in achieving projection and related altered states of consciousness. +Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) discusses his teacher Don Juan's beliefs about "the double" and its abilities in his books Tales of Power (1974), The Second Ring of Power (1977), and The Art of Dreaming (1993). Florinda Donner, a student of Castaneda, further describes methods of using the double to access the physical world while dreaming and access the dream world while in a waking dream state in her 1992 book, Being-in-Dreaming. +Michael Crichton (1942–2008) gives lengthy and detailed explanations and experience of astral projection in his 1988 non-fiction book Travels. Robert Bruce, William Buhlman, Marilynn Hughes, and Albert Taylor have discussed their theories and findings on the syndicated show Coast to Coast AM several times. + +== See also == + +== References == + +=== Citations === + +=== Works cited === + +== Further reading == +Nema (1995). Maat Magic: a Guide to Self-Initiation. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser. ISBN 0-87728-827-5. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..36ac31a6c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Astrological sign" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:03.283862+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In Western astrology, astrological signs are the zodiac, twelve 30-degree sectors that are crossed by the Sun's 360-degree orbital path as viewed from Earth in its sky. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. The astrological signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The Western zodiac originated in Babylonian astrology, and was later influenced by the Hellenistic culture. Each sign was named after a constellation the sun annually moved through while crossing the sky. This observation is emphasized in the simplified and popular sun sign astrology. Over the centuries, Western astrology's zodiacal divisions have shifted out of alignment with the constellations they were named after by axial precession of the Earth while Hindu astrology measurements correct for this shifting. Astrology (i.e. a system of omina based on celestial appearances) was developed in Chinese and Tibetan cultures as well but these astrologies are not based upon the zodiac but deal with the whole sky. +Astrology is a pseudoscience. Scientific investigations of the theoretical basis and experimental verification of claims have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory power. More plausible explanations for the apparent correlation between personality traits and birth months exist, such as the influence of seasonal birth in humans. +According to astrology, celestial phenomena relate to human activity on the principle of "as above, so below", so that the signs are held to represent characteristic modes of expression. Scientific astronomy used the same sectors of the ecliptic as Western astrology until the 19th century. +Various approaches to measuring and dividing the sky are currently used by differing systems of astrology, although the tradition of the Zodiac's names and symbols remain mostly consistent. Western astrology measures from Equinox and Solstice points (points relating to equal, longest, and shortest days of the tropical year), while Hindu astrology measures along the equatorial plane (sidereal year). + +== Western zodiac signs == + +=== History === + +Western astrology is a direct continuation of Hellenistic astrology as recorded in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in the 2nd century. Hellenistic astrology in turn was partly based on concepts from Babylonian tradition. Specifically, the division of the ecliptic in twelve equal sectors is a Babylonian conceptual construction. This division of the ecliptic originated in the Babylonian "ideal calendar" found in the old compendium MUL.APIN and its combination with the Babylonian lunar calendar, represented as the "path of the moon" in MUL.APIN. In a way, the zodiac is the idealisation of an ideal lunar calendar. +By the 4th century BC, Babylonian astronomy and its system of celestial omens influenced the culture of ancient Greece, as did the astronomy of Egypt by late 2nd century BC. This resulted, unlike the Mesopotamian tradition, in a strong focus on the birth chart of the individual and the creation of Horoscopic astrology, employing the use of the Ascendant (the rising degree of the ecliptic, at the time of birth), and of the twelve houses. Association of the astrological signs with Empedocles' four classical elements was another important development in the characterization of the twelve signs. +The body of the Hellenistic astrological tradition as it stood by the 2nd century is described in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos. This is the seminal work for later astronomical tradition not only in the West but also in India and the Islamic sphere and has remained a reference for almost seventeen centuries as later traditions made few substantial changes to its core teachings. + +=== Western astrological correspondence chart === +The following table shows the approximate dates of the twelve astrological signs, along with the classical and modern rulerships of each sign. By definition, Aries starts at the First Point of Aries which is the location of the Sun at the March equinox. The precise date of the Equinox varies from year to year but is always between 19 March and 21 March. The consequence is the start date of Aries and therefore the start date of all the other signs can change slightly from year to year. The following Western astrology table enumerates the twelve divisions of celestial longitude with the Latin names. The longitude intervals, are treated as closed for the first endpoint (a) and open for the second (b) – for instance, 30° of longitude is the first point of Taurus, not part of Aries. The signs are occasionally numbered 0 through 11 in place of symbols in astronomical works. + +The twelve signs are positioned in a circular pattern, creating a pattern of oppositions related to different philosophically polarized attributes. Fire and air elements are generally 180 degrees opposed in Western astrology, as well as earth and water elements. Not all systems of astrology have four elements, notably the Sepher Yetzirah describes only three elements emanating from a central divine source. Spring signs are opposite to autumn ones, winter signs are opposite to summer ones and vice versa. + +Aries is opposite to Libra +Taurus is opposite to Scorpio +Gemini is opposite to Sagittarius +Cancer is opposite to Capricorn +Leo is opposite to Aquarius +Virgo is opposite to Pisces + +==== Polarity ==== +In Western astrology, the polarity divides the zodiac in half and refers to the alignment of a sign's energy as either positive or negative, with various attributes associated to them as a result. Positive polarity signs, also called active, yang, expressive, or masculine signs, are the six odd-numbered signs of the zodiac: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. Positive signs make up the fire and air triplicities. Negative polarity signs, also called passive, yin, receptive, or feminine signs, are the six even-numbered signs of the zodiac: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces. Negative signs make up the earth and water triplicities. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..92a24e3ce --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Astrological sign" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:03.283862+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +===== Planets ===== +Polarity can also be extended to planets, referring to the orientation of their symbolic energy as either masculine (active, expressive, outward-directed) or feminine (receptive, inward-directed, containing). This classification complements the traditional division of the zodiac signs and provides an additional interpretative layer in astrological analysis. +Masculine polarity planets are generally associated with projection, initiative, and outward activity. These include the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Mercury, and Eris. Although Mercury is traditionally considered neutral, most modern approaches emphasize its masculine quality due to its volatility, speed, adaptability, and primarily centrifugal communicative function. Feminine polarity planets are associated with receptivity, consolidation, containment, and inner processes. These include the Moon, Venus, Ceres, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto. In this framework, all main-belt asteroids are generally considered to have feminine polarity, reflecting their symbolic association with internal processes, cycles, and forms of containment or gestation. +It is also noteworthy that planetary polarity does not necessarily correspond to mythological gender. Some planets with masculine names, such as Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto, are classified as feminine in polarity, whereas Eris, despite having a feminine name, is considered masculine in polarity due to its outward-activating, and catalytic nature. + +==== The three modalities ==== +The modality or mode of a given sign refers to its position in the season it is found in. Each of the four elements manifests in three modalities: ‘’’cardinal’’’, ‘’’fixed’’’, and ‘’’mutable’’’. Each modality comprehends four signs, also known as Quadruplicities. For example, the sign Aries is found in the first month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, so practitioners of astrology describe it as having a cardinal modality. The combination of element and modality provides the signs with their unique characterizations. For instance, Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign, impressing its association with action (cardinal modality) in the material world (earth element). + +==== Triplicities of the four elements ==== + +The Greek philosopher Empedocles identified fire, earth, air, and water as elements in the fifth-century BC. He explained the nature of the universe as an interaction of two opposing principles, love and strife, which manipulate the elements into different mixtures that produce the different natures of things. He stated all the elements are equal, the same age, rule their own provinces, and possess their own individual character. Empedocles said that those born with nearly equal proportions of the elements are more intelligent and have the most exact perceptions. +The elemental categories are called triplicities because each classical element is associated with three signs The four astrological elements are also considered as a direct equivalent to Hippocrates' personality types (sanguine = air; choleric = fire; melancholic = earth; phlegmatic = water). A modern approach looks at elements as "the energy substance of experience" and the next table tries to summarize their description through keywords. The elements have grown in importance and some astrologers begin natal chart interpretations by studying the balance of elements in the location of planets (especially the Sun and Moon) and the position of angles in the chart. + +==== Celestial body rulerships ==== + +Rulership is the connection between planet and correlated sign and house. The conventional rulerships are as follows: + +Aries: Mars +Taurus: Venus +Gemini: Mercury +Cancer: Moon +Leo: Sun +Virgo: classically Mercury, Ceres in the late 20th century +Libra: classically Venus, Eris starting in the 21st century +Scorpio: classically Mars, Pluto starting in the 20th century +Sagittarius: Jupiter +Capricorn: Saturn +Aquarius: classically Saturn, Uranus starting in the 20th century +Pisces: classically Jupiter, Neptune starting in the 20th century + +==== Dignity, detriment, exaltation and fall traditional ==== +A traditional belief of astrology, known as essential dignity, is the idea that the Sun, Moon, and planets are more powerful and effective in some signs than others because the basic nature of both is held to be in harmony. By contrast, they are held to find some signs to be weak or difficult to operate in because their natures are thought to be in conflict. These categories are Dignity, Detriment, Exaltation, and Fall. + +Dignity and Detriment: A planet is strengthened or dignified if it falls within the sign that it rules. In other words, it is said to exercise Rulership of the sign. For example, the Moon in Cancer is considered "strong" (well-dignified). If a planet is in the sign opposite which it rules (or is dignified in), it is said to be weakened or in Detriment (for example, the Moon in Capricorn). This may also be termed a "debility". +In traditional astrology, other levels of Dignity are recognised in addition to Rulership. These are known as Exaltation, Triplicity, Terms or bounds, and Face or Decan, which together are known as describing a planet's Essential dignity, the quality or ability of one's true nature. + +Exaltation and Fall: A planet is also strengthened when it is in its sign of exaltation. In traditional horary astrology, this denotes a dignity just less than rulership. Exaltation was considered to give the planet's significance(s) the dignity of an honoured guest: the centre of attention but constrained in power. Examples of planets in their Exaltation are: Saturn (Libra), Sun (Aries), Venus (Pisces), Moon (Taurus), Mercury (Virgo, although some disagree with this classification), Mars (Capricorn), Jupiter (Cancer). A planet in the opposite sign of this is in its fall, and thus weakened, perhaps more than Detriment. There is discord as to the signs in which the two extra-Saturnian planets may be considered to be exalted. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4b84511ed --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: "Astrological sign" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:03.283862+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In addition to essential dignity, the traditional astrologer considers Accidental dignity of planets. This is placement by house in the chart under examination. Accidental dignity is the planet's "ability to act". So we might have, for example, Moon in Cancer, dignified by rulership, is placed in the 12th house it would have little scope to express its good nature. The twelfth is a cadent house as are the third, sixth and ninth and planets in these houses are considered weak or afflicted. On the other hand, Moon in the first, fourth, seventh, or 10th would be more able to act as these are Angular houses. Planets in Succedent houses of the chart (second, fifth, eighth, eleventh) are generally considered to be of medium ability to act. Besides Accidental Dignity, there are a range of Accidental Debilities, such as retrogradation, Under the Sun's Beams, Combust, and so forth. + +==== Additional classifications ==== + +Each sign can be divided into three 10° sectors known as decans or decanates, though these have fallen into disuse. The first decanate is said to be most emphatically of its own nature and is ruled by the sign ruler. The next decanate is sub-ruled by the planet ruling the next sign in the same triplicity. The last decanate is sub-ruled by the next in order in the same triplicity. +While the element and modality of a sign are together sufficient to define it, they can be grouped to indicate their symbolism. The first four signs, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer, form the group of personal signs. The next four signs, Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio form the group of interpersonal signs. The last four signs of the zodiac, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, form the group of transpersonal signs. +Dane Rudhyar presented the tropical zodiac primary factors, used in the curriculum of the RASA School of Astrology. The tropical zodiac is the zodiac of seasonal factors as opposed to the sidereal zodiac (constellation factors). The primary seasonal factors are based on the changing ratio of sunlight and darkness across the year. The first factor is whether the chosen time falls in the half of the year when daylight is increasing, or the half of the year when darkness is increasing. The second factor is whether the chosen time falls in the half of the year when there is more daylight than darkness, or the half when there is more darkness than daylight. The third factor is which of the four seasons the chosen time falls in, defined by the first two factors. Thus + +The spring season is when daylight is increasing and there is more daylight than darkness. +The summer season is when darkness is increasing and there is more daylight than darkness. +The autumn season is when darkness is increasing and there is more darkness than daylight. +The winter season is when daylight is increasing and there is more darkness than daylight. + +=== Western sign gallery === + +== Indian astrology == + +In Indian astrology (Jyotiṣa), the cosmological framework is based on the Pancha Mahābhūta, the five great elements: Fire (Agni), Earth (Pṛthvī), Air (Vāyu), Water (Jala), and Ether (Ākāśa). The master of fire is Mars, while Mercury is of land, Saturn of air, Venus of water, and Jupiter of ether. +Each of the five visible planets (excluding Sun and Moon) is associated with one of these elements as its ruling principle: + +Mars (Maṅgala) is the ruler of Fire (Agni) +Mercury (Budha) rules Earth (Pṛthvī) +Saturn (Śani) governs Air (Vāyu) +Venus (Śukra) rules Water (Jala) +Jupiter (Bṛhaspati) governs Ether (Ākāśa) +Jyotisha recognises twelve zodiac signs (Rāśi), that correspond to those in Western astrology. The relation of the signs to the elements is the same in the two systems. + +=== Nakshatras === + +A nakshatra (Devanagari: नक्षत्र, Sanskrit nakshatra, a metaphorical compound of naksha- 'map/chart', and tra- 'guard'), or lunar mansion, is one of the 27 divisions of the sky identified by prominent star(s), as used in Hindu astronomy and astrology (Jyotisha). "Nakshatra" in Sanskrit, Kannada, Tulu and Tamil and Prakrit refers to stars themselves. + +== Chinese zodiac signs == + +Chinese astrological signs operate on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (also known as shichen). A particular feature of the Chinese zodiac is its operation in a 60-year cycle in combination with the Five Phases of Chinese astrology (Wood, Fire, Metal, Water and Earth). +Nevertheless, some researches say that there is an obvious relationship between the Chinese 12-year cycle and zodiac constellations: each year of the cycle corresponds to a certain disposal of Jupiter. For example, in the year of Snake Jupiter is in the Sign of Gemini, in the year of Horse Jupiter is in the Sign of Cancer and so on. So the Chinese 12-year calendar is a solar-lunar-jovian calendar. + +=== Zodiac symbolism === +The following table shows the twelve signs and their attributes. + +=== The twelve signs === + +In Chinese astrology, the zodiac of twelve animal signs represents twelve different types of personality. The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and there are many stories about the Origins of the Chinese Zodiac which explain why this is so. When the twelve zodiac signs are part of the 60-year calendar in combination with the four elements, they are traditionally called the twelve Earthly Branches. The Chinese zodiac follows the lunisolar Chinese calendar and thus the "changeover" days in a month (when one sign changes to another sign) vary each year. The following are the twelve zodiac signs in order. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9c797ea71 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "Astrological sign" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:03.283862+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +子 Rat (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water): Rat years include 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032. The Rat also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Rat are 11pm – 1am. +丑 Ox (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Earth: Ox years include 1901, 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033. The Ox also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Ox are 1am – 3am. +寅 Tiger (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Tiger years include 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034. The Tiger also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Tiger are 3am – 5am. +卯 Rabbit (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Wood): Rabbit Years include 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035. The Rabbit also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Rabbit are 5am – 7am. +辰 Dragon (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Earth): Dragon years include 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036. The Dragon also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Dragon are 7am – 9am. +巳 Snake (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Snake years include 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037. The Snake also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Snake are 9am – 11am. +午 Horse (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Fire): Horse years include 1906, 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038. The Horse also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Horse are 11am – 1pm. +未 Goat (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Earth): Goat years include 1907, 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039. The Goat also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Goat are 1pm – 3pm. +申 Monkey (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Monkey years include 1908, 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040. The Monkey also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Monkey are 3pm – 5pm. +酉 Rooster (Yin, 2nd Trine, Fixed Element Metal): Rooster years include 1909, 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041. The Rooster also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Rooster are 5pm – 7pm. +戌 Dog (Yang, 3rd Trine, Fixed Element Earth): Dog years include 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042. The Dog also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Dog are 7pm – 9pm. +亥 Pig (Yin, 4th Trine, Fixed Element Water): Pig years include 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043. The Pig also corresponds to a particular month in the year. The hours of the Pig are 9pm – 11pm. + +=== The five elements === +Wood: The wood person has high morals, is self-confident, expansive and co-operative, with wide and varied interests and idealistic goals. The direction associated with Wood is East, and the season is spring, which makes it the fixed element for the animal signs Tiger and Rabbit. +Fire: The fire person has leadership qualities, dynamic passion, and is decisive, self-confident, positive, and assertive. The direction associated with Fire is South, and the season is summer, which makes it the fixed element for the animal signs Snake and Horse. +Earth: The earth person is serious, logical and methodical, intelligent, objective and good at planning. The direction associated with Earth is Center. The season for Earth is the changeover point of the four seasons. It is the fixed element for the animal signs Ox, Dragon, Goat and Dog. +Metal: The metal person is sincere, has fixed values and opinions, is strong of will, and has eloquence of speech. The direction associated with Metal is West. The season for Metal is Autumn. It is the fixed element for the animal signs Monkey and Rooster. +Water: The water person is persuasive, intuitive, and empathetic. The water person is objective and often sought out for their counsel. The direction associated with water is North. The season for Water is Winter. It is the fixed element for the animal signs Rat and Pig. +The five elements operate together with the twelve animal signs in a 60-year calendar. The five elements appear in the calendar in both their yin and yang forms and are known as the ten Heavenly Stems. The yin/yang split seen in the Gregorian calendar means years that end in an even number are Yang (representing masculine, active, and light), those that end with an odd number are Yin (representing feminine, passive and darkness), subject to Chinese New Year having passed. + +== See also == +Influence of seasonal birth in humans +Chinese zodiac +Glossary of astrology + +== Notes == + +== References == +Arroyo, Stephen (1975). Astrology, Psychology and The Four Elements. California: CCRS Publications +Arroyo, Stephen (1989). Chart Interpretation Handbook. California: CCRS Publications. ISBN 0-916360-49-0 +Bobrick, Benson (2005). The Fated Sky: Astrology in History. Simon & Schuster. 369 pp. +Caiozzo, Anna (2003). Images of the Sky. Paris-Sorbonne. Signs and Constellations. Archived 2021-04-17 at the Wayback Machine +Eric Francis (2016). "Why Your Zodiac Sign is Not Wrong" +Hone, Margaret (1978). The Modern Text-Book of Astrology. Revised edition. England: L. N. Fowler & Co. Ltd. ISBN 085243-357-3 +Johnsen, Linda (2004 March). A Thousand Suns: Designing Your Future with Vedic Astrology. Yes International Publishers. +Mayo, Jeff (1979). Teach Yourself Astrology. London: Hodder and Stoughton. +Rochberg, Francesca (1998), "Babylonian Horoscopes", American Philosophical Society, New Series, Vol. 88, No. 1, pp. i–164. doi:10.2307/1006632. JSTOR 1006632. +Rudhyar, Dane (1943). Astrological Signs – The Pulse of Life. +Sachs, Abraham (1948), "A Classification of the Babylonian Astronomical Tablets of the Seleucid Period", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 271–290. doi:10.2307/3515929. JSTOR 3515929. +Sutton, Komilla (1999). The Essentials of Vedic Astrology. England: The Wessex Astrologer Ltd. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d68377e56 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 1/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Different cultures have employed forms of astrology since at least the 2nd millennium BCE, these practices having originated in calendrical systems used to predict seasonal shifts and to interpret celestial cycles as signs of divine communications. +Most, if not all, cultures have attached importance to what they observed in the sky, and some—such as the Hindus, Chinese, and the Maya—developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. Western astrology, one of the oldest astrological systems still in use, can trace its roots to 19th–17th century BCE Mesopotamia, from where it spread to Ancient Greece, Rome, the Islamic world, and eventually Central and Western Europe. Contemporary Western astrology is often associated with systems of horoscopes that purport to explain aspects of a person's personality and predict significant events in their lives based on the positions of celestial objects; the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems. +Throughout its history, astrology has had its detractors, competitors and skeptics who opposed it for moral, religious, political, and empirical reasons. Nonetheless, prior to the Enlightenment, astrology was generally considered a scholarly tradition and was common in learned circles, often in close relation with astronomy, meteorology, medicine, and alchemy. It was present in political circles and is mentioned in various works of literature, from Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca. During the Enlightenment, however, astrology lost its status as an area of legitimate scholarly pursuit. +Since the end of the 19th century and the wide-scale adoption of the scientific method, researchers have successfully challenged astrology on both theoretical and experimental grounds and have shown it to have no scientific validity or explanatory power. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing in the western world, and common belief in it largely declined, until a continuing resurgence starting in the 1960s. + +== Etymology == + +The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia, which derives from the Greek ἀστρολογία—from ἄστρον astron ("star") and -λογία -logia, ("study of"—"account of the stars"). The word entered the English language via Latin and medieval French, and its use overlapped considerably with that of astronomy (derived from the Latin astronomia). By the 17th century, astronomy became established as the scientific term, with astrology referring to divinations and schemes for predicting human affairs. + +== History == + +Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, and Maya developed elaborate systems for predicting terrestrial events from celestial observations. A form of astrology was practised in the Old Babylonian period of Mesopotamia, c. 1800 BCE. Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa is one of earliest known Hindu texts on astronomy and astrology (Jyotisha). The text is dated between 1400 BCE to final centuries BCE by various scholars according to astronomical and linguistic evidences. Chinese astrology was elaborated in the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE). Hellenistic astrology after 332 BCE mixed Babylonian astrology with Egyptian Decanic astrology in Alexandria, creating horoscopic astrology. Alexander the Great's conquest of Asia allowed astrology to spread to Ancient Greece and Rome. In Rome, astrology was associated with "Chaldean wisdom". After the conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century, astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars, and Hellenistic texts were translated into Arabic and Persian. In the 12th century, Arabic texts were imported to Europe and translated into Latin. Major astronomers including Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo practised as court astrologers. Astrological references appear in literature in the works of poets such as Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer, and of playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. +Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition. It was accepted in political and academic contexts, and was connected with other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. At the end of the 17th century, new scientific concepts in astronomy and physics (such as heliocentrism and Newtonian mechanics) called astrology into question. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in astrology has largely declined. + +=== Ancient world === + +==== Ancient applications ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..014e61f79 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 2/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky. Early evidence for humans making conscious attempts to measure, record, and predict seasonal changes by reference to astronomical cycles, appears as markings on bones and cave walls, which show that lunar cycles were being noted as early as 25,000 years ago. This was a first step towards recording the Moon's influence upon tides and rivers, and towards organising a communal calendar. Farmers addressed agricultural needs with increasing knowledge of the constellations that appear in the different seasons—and used the rising of particular star-groups to herald annual floods or seasonal activities. By the 3rd millennium BCE, civilisations had sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, and may have oriented temples in alignment with heliacal risings of the stars. +Scattered evidence suggests that the oldest known astrological references are copies of texts made in the ancient world. The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa is thought to have been compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE. A scroll documenting an early use of electional astrology is doubtfully ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash (c. 2144 – 2124 BCE). This describes how the gods revealed to him in a dream the constellations that would be most favourable for the planned construction of a temple. However, there is controversy about whether these were genuinely recorded at the time or merely ascribed to ancient rulers by posterity. The oldest undisputed evidence of the use of astrology as an integrated system of knowledge is therefore attributed to the records of the first dynasty of Babylon (1950–1651 BCE). This astrology had some parallels with Hellenistic Greek (western) astrology, including the zodiac, a norming point near 9 degrees in Aries, the trine aspect, planetary exaltations, and the dodekatemoria (the twelve divisions of 30 degrees each). The Babylonians viewed celestial events as possible signs rather than as causes of physical events. +The system of Chinese astrology was elaborated during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE) and flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE), during which all the familiar elements of traditional Chinese culture – the Yin-Yang philosophy, theory of the five elements, Heaven and Earth, Confucian morality – were brought together to formalise the philosophical principles of Chinese medicine and divination, astrology, and alchemy. +The ancient Arabs that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of Islam used to profess a widespread belief in fatalism (ḳadar) alongside a fearful consideration for the sky and the stars, which they held to be ultimately responsible for every phenomena that occurs on Earth and for the destiny of humankind. Accordingly, they shaped their entire lives in accordance with their interpretations of astral configurations and phenomena. + +==== Ancient objections ==== + +The Hellenistic schools of philosophical skepticism criticized astrology, alongside all other beliefs. Criticism of astrology by academic skeptics such as Carneades, Cicero, and Favorinus; Pyrrhonists such as Sextus Empiricus; and neoplatonists such as Plotinus, has been preserved. +Carneades argued that belief in fate denies free will and morality; that people born at different times can all die in the same accident or battle; and that contrary to uniform influences from the stars, tribes and cultures are all different. +Cicero, in De Divinatione, leveled a critique of astrology that some modern philosophers consider to be the first working definition of pseudoscience and the answer to the demarcation problem. The philosopher of science Massimo Pigliucci, building on the work of the historian of science, Damian Fernandez-Beanato, argues that Cicero outlined a "convincing distinction between astrology and astronomy that remains valid in the twenty-first century." Cicero stated the twins objection (that with close birth times, personal outcomes can be very different), later developed by Augustine. He argued that since the other planets are much more distant from the Earth than the Moon, they could have only very tiny influence compared to the Moon's. He also argued that if astrology explains everything about a person's fate, then it wrongly ignores the visible effect of inherited ability and parenting, changes in health worked by medicine, or the effects of the weather on people. The historian Stefano Rapisarda notes that the text is formally "equally balanced between pro and contra, and no final or definite answer is given." +Favorinus argued that it was absurd to imagine that stars and planets would affect human bodies in the same way as they affect the tides, and equally absurd that small motions in the heavens cause large changes in people's fates. +Sextus Empiricus argued that it was absurd to link human attributes with myths about the signs of the zodiac, and wrote an entire book, Against the Astrologers (Πρὸς ἀστρολόγους, Pros astrologous), compiling arguments against astrology. Against the Astrologers was the fifth section of a larger work arguing against philosophical and scientific inquiry in general, Against the Professors (Πρὸς μαθηματικούς, Pros mathematikous). +Plotinus, a neoplatonist, had a lasting interest in astrology, including the question of how the world of humans could be affected by the stars, and (if so) whether astrology could predict events on Earth. He argued that since the fixed stars are much more distant than the planets, it is laughable to imagine the planets' effect on human affairs should depend on their position with respect to the zodiac. He also argues that the interpretation of the Moon's conjunction with a planet as good when the moon is full, but bad when the moon is waning, is clearly wrong, as from the Moon's point of view, half of its surface is always in sunlight; and from the planet's point of view, waning should be better, as then the planet sees some light from the Moon, but when the Moon is full to us, it is dark, and therefore bad, on the side facing the planet in question. + +=== Hellenistic Egypt === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e65077d54 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 3/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In 525 BCE, Egypt was conquered by the Persians. The 1st century BCE Egyptian Dendera Zodiac shares two signs – the Balance and the Scorpion – with Mesopotamian astrology. +With the occupation by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, Egypt became Hellenistic. The city of Alexandria was founded by Alexander after the conquest, becoming the place where Babylonian astrology was mixed with Egyptian Decanic astrology to create Horoscopic astrology. This contained the Babylonian zodiac with its system of planetary exaltations, the triplicities of the signs and the importance of eclipses. It used the Egyptian concept of dividing the zodiac into thirty-six decans of ten degrees each, with an emphasis on the rising decan, and the Greek system of planetary Gods, sign rulership and four elements. 2nd century BCE texts predict positions of planets in zodiac signs at the time of the rising of certain decans, particularly Sothis. The astrologer and astronomer Ptolemy lived in Alexandria. Ptolemy's work the Tetrabiblos formed the basis of Western astrology, and, "...enjoyed almost the authority of a Bible among the astrological writers of a thousand years or more." + +=== Greece and Rome === +The conquest of Asia by Alexander the Great exposed the Greeks to ideas from Syria, Babylon, Persia and central Asia. Around 280 BCE, Berossus, a priest of Bel from Babylon, moved to the Greek island of Kos, teaching astrology and Babylonian culture. By the 1st century BCE, there were two varieties of astrology, one using horoscopes to describe the past, present and future; the other, theurgic, emphasising the soul's ascent to the stars. Greek influence played a crucial role in the transmission of astrological theory to Rome. +Satirist Lucian of Samasota wrote a satirical critique of the astrology in the Roman Empire. Modern scholars of the Second Sophistic consider this an early example of a rationalist polemic against "what the author considers a pseudoscience." +The first definite reference to astrology in Rome comes from the orator Cato, who in 160 BCE warned farm overseers against consulting with Chaldeans, who were described as Babylonian 'star-gazers'. Among both Greeks and Romans, Babylonia (also known as Chaldea) became so identified with astrology that 'Chaldean wisdom' became synonymous with divination using planets and stars. The 2nd-century Roman poet and satirist Juvenal complains about the pervasive influence of Chaldeans, saying, "Still more trusted are the Chaldaeans; every word uttered by the astrologer they will believe has come from Hammon's fountain." +One of the first astrologers to bring Hermetic astrology to Rome was Thrasyllus, astrologer to the emperor Tiberius, the first emperor to have had a court astrologer, though his predecessor Augustus had used astrology to help legitimise his Imperial rights. + +=== Medieval world === + +==== Hindu ==== + +The main texts upon which classical Indian astrology is based are early medieval compilations, notably the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, and Sārāvalī by Kalyāṇavarma. +The Horāshastra is a composite work of 71 chapters, of which the first part (chapters 1–51) dates to the 7th to early 8th centuries and the second part (chapters 52–71) to the later 8th century. The Sārāvalī likewise dates to around 800 CE. English translations of these texts were published by N.N. Krishna Rau and V.B. Choudhari in 1963 and 1961, respectively. + +==== Islamic ==== + +Astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars following the collapse of Alexandria to the Arabs in the 7th century, and the founding of the Abbasid empire in the 8th. The second Abbasid caliph, Al Mansur (754–775) founded the city of Baghdad to act as a centre of learning, and included in its design a library-translation centre known as Bayt al-Hikma 'House of Wisdom', which continued to receive development from his heirs and was to provide a major impetus for Arabic-Persian translations of Hellenistic astrological texts. The early translators included Mashallah, who helped to elect the time for the foundation of Baghdad, and Sahl ibn Bishr, (a.k.a. Zael), whose texts were directly influential upon later European astrologers such as Guido Bonatti in the 13th century, and William Lilly in the 17th century. Knowledge of Arabic texts started to become imported into Europe during the Latin translations of the 12th century. + +==== Jewish ==== +Medieval Jewish astrology developed significantly in the Islamic world, where Jewish scholars studied, adapted, and debated astrological knowledge inherited from Greek and Arabic sources. While some, like Maimonides, famously rejected astrology as unscientific and theologically problematic, others, including Saadia Gaon, Sherira Gaon, and Hai Gaon, addressed astrological ideas in their commentaries and responsa. Dunash ibn Tamim, active in Kairouan, incorporated astrology into biblical exegesis and authored a critical treatise on its principles. Astrological texts circulated widely among Jewish communities, as evidenced by hundreds of Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic fragments preserved in the Cairo Geniza, including horoscopes, almanacs, and medical or meteorological prognostications. +The most influential figure was Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089–1164), who was born in Tudela, in Al-Andalus, and later traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and Western Europe. His astrological corpus includes treatises on horoscopy (Sefer ha-She’elot), electional astrology (Sefer ha-Mivḥarim), medical astrology (Sefer ha-Me'orot), and introductions to theory (Reshit Ḥokhmah, Mishpeṭei ha-Mazalot). His writings served as a bridge between Arabic and Latin astrological traditions and shaped Jewish and Christian astrology in medieval Europe. + +==== Europe ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3f507de26 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 4/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In the seventh century, Isidore of Seville argued in his Etymologiae that astronomy described the movements of the heavens, while astrology had two parts: one was scientific, describing the movements of the Sun, the Moon and the stars, while the other, making predictions, was theologically erroneous. +The first astrological book published in Europe was the Liber Planetis et Mundi Climatibus ("Book of the Planets and Regions of the World"), which appeared between 1010 and 1027 AD, and may have been authored by Gerbert of Aurillac. Ptolemy's second century AD Tetrabiblos was translated into Latin by Plato of Tivoli in 1138. The Dominican theologian Thomas Aquinas followed Aristotle in proposing that the stars ruled the imperfect 'sublunary' body, while attempting to reconcile astrology with Christianity by stating that God ruled the soul. The thirteenth century mathematician Campanus of Novara is said to have devised a system of astrological houses that divides the prime vertical into 'houses' of equal 30° arcs, though the system was used earlier in the East. The thirteenth century astronomer Guido Bonatti wrote a textbook, the Liber Astronomicus, a copy of which King Henry VII of England owned at the end of the fifteenth century. +In Paradiso, the final part of the Divine Comedy, the Italian poet Dante Alighieri referred "in countless details" to the astrological planets, though he adapted traditional astrology to suit his Christian viewpoint, for example using astrological thinking in his prophecies of the reform of Christendom. +John Gower in the fourteenth century defined astrology as essentially limited to the making of predictions. The influence of the stars was in turn divided into natural astrology, with for example effects on tides and the growth of plants, and judicial astrology, with supposedly predictable effects on people. The fourteenth-century sceptic Nicole Oresme however included astronomy as a part of astrology in his Livre de divinacions. Oresme argued that current approaches to prediction of events such as plagues, wars, and weather were inappropriate, but that such prediction was a valid field of inquiry. However, he attacked the use of astrology to choose the timing of actions (so-called interrogation and election) as wholly false, and rejected the determination of human action by the stars on grounds of free will. The friar Laurens Pignon (c. 1368–1449) similarly rejected all forms of divination and determinism, including by the stars, in his 1411 Contre les Devineurs. This was in opposition to the tradition carried by the Arab astronomer Albumasar (787–886) whose Introductorium in Astronomiam and De Magnis Coniunctionibus argued the view that both individual actions and larger scale history are determined by the stars. +In the late 15th century, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola forcefully attacked astrology in Disputationes contra Astrologos, arguing that the heavens neither caused, nor heralded earthly events. His contemporary, Pietro Pomponazzi, a "rationalistic and critical thinker", was much more sanguine about astrology and critical of Pico's attack. + +=== Renaissance and Early Modern === + +Renaissance scholars commonly practised astrology. Gerolamo Cardano cast the horoscope of king Edward VI of England, while John Dee was the personal astrologer to queen Elizabeth I of England. Catherine de Medici paid Michael Nostradamus in 1566 to verify the prediction of the death of her husband, king Henry II of France, made by her astrologer Lucus Gauricus. Major astronomers who practised as court astrologers included Tycho Brahe in the royal court of Denmark, Johannes Kepler to the Habsburgs, Galileo Galilei to the Medici, and Giordano Bruno who was burnt at the stake for heresy in Rome in 1600. The distinction between astrology and astronomy was not entirely clear. Advances in astronomy were often motivated by the desire to improve the accuracy of astrology. Kepler, for example, was driven by a belief in harmonies between Earthly and celestial affairs, yet he disparaged the activities of most astrologers as "evil-smelling dung". +Ephemerides with complex astrological calculations, and almanacs interpreting celestial events for use in medicine and for choosing times to plant crops, were popular in Elizabethan England. In 1597, the English mathematician and physician Thomas Hood made a set of paper instruments that used revolving overlays to help students work out relationships between fixed stars or constellations, the midheaven, and the twelve astrological houses. Hood's instruments also illustrated, for pedagogical purposes, the supposed relationships between the signs of the zodiac, the planets, and the parts of the human body adherents believed were governed by the planets and signs. While Hood's presentation was innovative, his astrological information was largely standard and was taken from Gerard Mercator's astrological disc made in 1551, or a source used by Mercator. Despite its popularity, Renaissance astrology had what historian Gabor Almasi calls "elite debate", exemplified by the polemical letters of Swiss physician Thomas Erastus who fought against astrology, calling it "vanity" and "superstition." Then around the time of the new star of 1572 and the comet of 1577 there began what Almasi calls an "extended epistemological reform" which began the process of excluding religion, astrology and anthropocentrism from scientific debate. By 1679, the yearly publication La Connoissance des temps eschewed astrology as a legitimate topic. + +=== Enlightenment period and onwards === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..875107e1a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 5/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +During the Enlightenment, intellectual sympathy for astrology fell away, leaving only a popular following supported by cheap almanacs. One English almanac compiler, Richard Saunders, followed the spirit of the age by printing a derisive Discourse on the Invalidity of Astrology, while in France Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire of 1697 stated that the subject was puerile. The Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift ridiculed the Whig political astrologer John Partridge. +In the second half of the 17th century, the Society of Astrologers (1647–1684), a trade, educational, and social organization, sought to unite London's often fractious astrologers in the task of revitalizing astrology. Following the template of the popular "Feasts of Mathematicians" they endeavored to defend their art in the face of growing religious criticism. The Society hosted banquets, exchanged "instruments and manuscripts", proposed research projects, and funded the publication of sermons that depicted astrology as a legitimate biblical pursuit for Christians. They commissioned sermons that argued Astrology was divine, Hebraic, and scripturally supported by Bible passages about the Magi and the sons of Seth. According to historian Michelle Pfeffer, "The society's public relations campaign ultimately failed." Modern historians have mostly neglected the Society of Astrologers in favor of the still extant Royal Society (1660), even though both organizations initially had some of the same members. +Astrology saw a popular revival starting in the 19th century, as part of a general revival of spiritualism and—later, New Age philosophy, and through the influence of mass media such as newspaper horoscopes. Early in the 20th century the psychiatrist Carl Jung developed some concepts concerning astrology, which led to the development of psychological astrology. + +== Principles and practice == +Advocates have defined astrology as a symbolic language, an art form, a science, and a method of divination. Though most cultural astrology systems share common roots in ancient philosophies that influenced each other, many use methods that differ from those in the West. These include Hindu astrology (also known as "Indian astrology" and in modern times referred to as "Vedic astrology") and Chinese astrology, both of which have influenced the world's cultural history. + +=== Western === +Western astrology is a form of divination based on the construction of a horoscope for an exact moment, such as a person's birth. It uses the tropical zodiac, which is aligned to the equinoctial points. +Western astrology is founded on the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies such as the Sun, Moon and planets, which are analysed by their movement through signs of the zodiac (twelve spatial divisions of the ecliptic) and by their aspects (based on geometric angles) relative to one another. They are also considered by their placement in houses (twelve spatial divisions of the sky). Astrology's modern representation in western popular media is usually reduced to Sun sign astrology, which considers only the zodiac sign of the Sun at an individual's date of birth, and represents only 1/12 of the total chart. +The horoscope visually expresses the set of relationships for the time and place of the chosen event. These relationships are between the seven 'planets', signifying tendencies such as war and love; the twelve signs of the zodiac; and the twelve houses. Each planet is in a particular sign and a particular house at the chosen time, when observed from the chosen place, creating two kinds of relationship. A third kind is the aspect of each planet to every other planet, where for example two planets 120° apart (in 'trine') are in a harmonious relationship, but two planets 90° apart ('square') are in a conflicted relationship. Together these relationships and their interpretations are said to form "...the language of the heavens speaking to learned men." +Along with tarot divination, astrology is one of the core studies of Western esotericism, and as such has influenced systems of magical belief not only among Western esotericists and Hermeticists, but also belief systems such as Wicca, which have borrowed from or been influenced by the Western esoteric tradition. Tanya Luhrmann has said that "all magicians know something about astrology," and refers to a table of correspondences in Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, organised by planet, as an example of the astrological lore studied by magicians. + +=== Hindu === + +The earliest Vedic text on astronomy is the Vedanga Jyotisha; Vedic thought later came to include astrology as well. +Hindu natal astrology originated with Hellenistic astrology by the 3rd century BCE, though incorporating the Hindu lunar mansions. The names of the signs (e.g. Greek 'Krios' for Aries, Hindi 'Kriya'), the planets (e.g. Greek 'Helios' for Sun, astrological Hindi 'Heli'), and astrological terms (e.g. Greek 'apoklima' and 'sunaphe' for declination and planetary conjunction, Hindi 'apoklima' and 'sunapha' respectively) in Varaha Mihira's texts are considered conclusive evidence of a Greek origin for Hindu astrology. The Indian techniques may also have been augmented with some of the Babylonian techniques. + +=== Chinese and East Asian === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..178daf960 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 6/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theory of the three harmonies: heaven, earth and man) and uses concepts such as yin and yang, the Five phases, the 10 Celestial stems, the 12 Earthly Branches, and shichen (時辰 a form of timekeeping used for religious purposes). The early use of Chinese astrology was mainly confined to political astrology, the observation of unusual phenomena, identification of portents and the selection of auspicious days for events and decisions. +The constellations of the Zodiac of western Asia and Europe were not used; instead the sky is divided into Three Enclosures (三垣 sān yuán), and Twenty-Eight Mansions (二十八宿 èrshíbā xiù) in twelve Ci (十二次). The Chinese zodiac of twelve animal signs is said to represent twelve different types of personality. It is based on cycles of years, lunar months, and two-hour periods of the day (the shichen). The zodiac traditionally begins with the sign of the Rat, and the cycle proceeds through 11 other animal signs: the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Complex systems of predicting fate and destiny based on one's birthday, birth season, and birth hours, such as ziping and Zi Wei Dou Shu (simplified Chinese: 紫微斗数; traditional Chinese: 紫微斗數; pinyin: zǐwēidǒushù) are still used regularly in modern-day Chinese astrology. They do not rely on direct observations of the stars. +The Korean zodiac is identical to the Chinese one. The Vietnamese zodiac is almost identical to the Chinese, except for second animal being the Water Buffalo instead of the Ox, and the fourth animal the Cat instead of the Rabbit. The Japanese have since 1873 celebrated the beginning of the new year on 1 January as per the Gregorian calendar. The Thai zodiac begins, not at Chinese New Year, but either on the first day of the fifth month in the Thai lunar calendar, or during the Songkran festival (now celebrated every 13–15 April), depending on the purpose of the use. + +== Theological viewpoints == + +=== Ancient === +Augustine (354–430) believed that the determinism of astrology conflicted with the Christian doctrines of man's free will and responsibility, and God not being the cause of evil, but he also grounded his opposition philosophically, citing the failure of astrology to explain twins who behave differently although conceived at the same moment and born at approximately the same time. + +=== Medieval === + +Some of the practices of astrology were contested on theological grounds by medieval Muslim astronomers such as Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) and Avicenna. They said that the methods of astrologers conflicted with orthodox religious views of Islamic scholars, by suggesting that the Will of God can be known and predicted. For example, Avicenna's 'Refutation against astrology', Risāla fī ibṭāl aḥkām al-nojūm, argues against the practice of astrology while supporting the principle that planets may act as agents of divine causation. Avicenna considered that the movement of the planets influenced life on earth in a deterministic way, but argued against the possibility of determining the exact influence of the stars. Essentially, Avicenna did not deny the core dogma of astrology, but denied our ability to understand it to the extent that precise and fatalistic predictions could be made from it. Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350), in his Miftah Dar al-SaCadah, also used physical arguments in astronomy to question the practice of judicial astrology. He recognised that the stars are much larger than the planets, and argued: And if you astrologers answer that it is precisely because of this distance and smallness that their influences are negligible, then why is it that you claim a great influence for the smallest heavenly body, Mercury? Why is it that you have given an influence to al-Ra's [the head] and al-Dhanab [the tail], which are two imaginary points [ascending and descending nodes]? + +=== Modern === + +Martin Luther denounced astrology in his Table Talk. He asked why twins like Esau and Jacob had two different natures yet were born at the same time. Luther also compared astrologers to those who say their dice will always land on a certain number. Although the dice may roll on the number a couple of times, the predictor is silent for all the times the dice fails to land on that number. + +What is done by God, ought not to be ascribed to the stars. The upright and true Christian religion opposes and confutes all such fables. +The Catechism of the Catholic Church maintains that divination, including predictive astrology, is incompatible with modern Catholic beliefs such as free will: + +All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. + +== Scientific analysis and criticism == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..94772991a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 7/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The scientific community rejects astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe, and considers it a pseudoscience. Scientific testing of astrology has been conducted, and no evidence has been found to support any of the premises or purported effects outlined in astrological traditions. There is no proposed mechanism of action by which the positions and motions of stars and planets could affect people and events on Earth that does not contradict basic and well understood aspects of biology and physics. Those who have faith in astrology have been characterised by scientists including Bart J. Bok as doing so "...in spite of the fact that there is no verified scientific basis for their beliefs, and indeed that there is strong evidence to the contrary". +Confirmation bias is a form of cognitive bias, a psychological factor that contributes to belief in astrology. Astrology believers tend to selectively remember predictions that turn out to be true, and do not remember those that turn out false. Another, separate, form of confirmation bias also plays a role, where believers often fail to distinguish between messages that demonstrate special ability and those that do not. Thus there are two distinct forms of confirmation bias that are under study with respect to astrological belief. + +=== Demarcation === +Under the criterion of falsifiability, first proposed by the philosopher of science Karl Popper, astrology is a pseudoscience. Popper regarded astrology as "pseudo-empirical" in that "it appeals to observation and experiment," but "nevertheless does not come up to scientific standards." In contrast to scientific disciplines, astrology has not responded to falsification through experiment. +In contrast to Popper, the philosopher Thomas Kuhn argued that it was not lack of falsifiability that makes astrology unscientific, but rather that the process and concepts of astrology are non-empirical. Kuhn thought that, though astrologers had, historically, made predictions that categorically failed, this in itself does not make astrology unscientific, nor do attempts by astrologers to explain away failures by saying that creating a horoscope is very difficult. Rather, in Kuhn's eyes, astrology is not science because it was always more akin to medieval medicine; astrologers followed a sequence of rules and guidelines for a seemingly necessary field with known shortcomings, but they did no research because the fields are not amenable to research, and so "they had no puzzles to solve and therefore no science to practise." While an astronomer could correct for failure, an astrologer could not. An astrologer could only explain away failure but could not revise the astrological hypothesis in a meaningful way. As such, to Kuhn, even if the stars could influence the path of humans through life, astrology is not scientific. +The philosopher Paul Thagard asserts that astrology cannot be regarded as falsified in this sense until it has been replaced with a successor. In the case of predicting behaviour, psychology is the alternative. To Thagard a further criterion of demarcation of science from pseudoscience is that the state-of-the-art must progress and that the community of researchers should be attempting to compare the current theory to alternatives, and not be "selective in considering confirmations and disconfirmations." Progress is defined here as explaining new phenomena and solving existing problems, yet astrology has failed to progress having only changed little in nearly 2000 years. To Thagard, astrologers are acting as though engaged in normal science believing that the foundations of astrology were well established despite the "many unsolved problems", and in the face of better alternative theories (psychology). For these reasons Thagard views astrology as pseudoscience. +For the philosopher Edward W. James, astrology is irrational not because of the numerous problems with mechanisms and falsification due to experiments, but because an analysis of the astrological literature shows that it is infused with fallacious logic and poor reasoning. + +What if throughout astrological writings we meet little appreciation of coherence, blatant insensitivity to evidence, no sense of a hierarchy of reasons, slight command over the contextual force of critieria, stubborn unwillingness to pursue an argument where it leads, stark naivete concerning the efficacy of explanation and so on? In that case, I think, we are perfectly justified in rejecting astrology as irrational. ... Astrology simply fails to meet the multifarious demands of legitimate reasoning. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..32c9c26e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 8/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Effectiveness === +Astrology has not demonstrated its effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity. Where it has made falsifiable predictions under controlled conditions, they have been falsified. One famous experiment included 28 astrologers who were asked to match over a hundred natal charts to psychological profiles generated by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) questionnaire. The double-blind experimental protocol used in this study was agreed upon by a group of physicists and a group of astrologers nominated by the National Council for Geocosmic Research, who advised the experimenters, helped ensure that the test was fair and helped draw the central proposition of natal astrology to be tested. They also chose 26 out of the 28 astrologers for the tests (two more volunteered afterwards). The study, published in Nature in 1985, found that predictions based on natal astrology were no better than chance, and that the testing "...clearly refutes the astrological hypothesis." +In 1955, the astrologer and psychologist Michel Gauquelin stated that though he had failed to find evidence that supported indicators like zodiacal signs and planetary aspects in astrology, he did find positive correlations between the diurnal positions of some planets and success in professions that astrology traditionally associates with those planets. The best-known of Gauquelin's findings is based on the positions of Mars in the natal charts of successful athletes and became known as the Mars effect. A study conducted by seven French scientists attempted to replicate the claim, but found no statistical evidence. They attributed the effect to selective bias on Gauquelin's part, accusing him of attempting to persuade them to add or delete names from their study. +Geoffrey Dean has suggested that the effect may be caused by self-reporting of birth dates by parents rather than any issue with the study by Gauquelin. The suggestion is that a small subset of the parents may have had changed birth times to be consistent with better astrological charts for a related profession. The number of births under astrologically undesirable conditions was also lower, indicating that parents choose dates and times to suit their beliefs. The sample group was taken from a time when belief in astrology was more common. Gauquelin had failed to find the Mars effect in more recent populations, where a nurse or doctor recorded the birth information. +Dean, a scientist and former astrologer, and psychologist Ivan Kelly conducted a large scale scientific test that involved more than one hundred cognitive, behavioural, physical, and other variables—but found no support for astrology. Furthermore, a meta-analysis pooled 40 studies that involved 700 astrologers and over 1,000 birth charts. Ten of the tests—which involved 300 participants—had the astrologers pick the correct chart interpretation out of a number of others that were not the astrologically correct chart interpretation (usually three to five others). When date and other obvious clues were removed, no significant results suggested there was any preferred chart. + +=== Lack of mechanisms and consistency === +Testing the validity of astrology can be difficult, because there is no consensus amongst astrologers as to what astrology is or what it can predict. Most professional astrologers are paid to predict the future or describe a person's personality and life, but most horoscopes only make vague untestable statements that can apply to almost anyone. +Many astrologers believe that astrology is scientific, while some have proposed conventional causal agents such as electromagnetism and gravity. Scientists reject these mechanisms as implausible since, for example, the magnetic field, when measured from Earth, of a large but distant planet such as Jupiter is far smaller than that produced by ordinary household appliances. +Western astrology has taken the earth's axial precession (also called precession of the equinoxes) into account since Ptolemy's Almagest, so the "first point of Aries", the start of the astrological year, continually moves against the background of the stars. The tropical zodiac has no connection to the stars; tropical astrologers distinguish the constellations from their historically associated sign, thereby avoiding complications involving precession. Charpak and Broch, noting this, referred to astrology based on the tropical zodiac as being "...empty boxes that have nothing to do with anything and are devoid of any consistency or correspondence with the stars." Sole use of the tropical zodiac is inconsistent with references made, by the same astrologers, to the Age of Aquarius, which depends on when the vernal point enters the constellation of Aquarius. +Astrologers usually have only a small knowledge of astronomy, and often do not take into account basic principles—such as the precession of the equinoxes, which changes the position of the Sun with time. They commented on the example of Élizabeth Teissier, who wrote that "The sun ends up in the same place in the sky on the same date each year" as the basis for the idea that two people with the same birthday, but a number of years apart, should be under the same planetary influence. Charpak and Broch noted that, "There is a difference of about twenty-two thousand miles between Earth's location on any specific date in two successive years", and that thus they should not be under the same influence according to astrology. Over a 40-year period there would be a difference greater than 780,000 miles. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..16c3c5e4a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 9/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Reception in the social sciences === +The general consensus of astronomers and other natural scientists is that astrology is a pseudoscience which carries no predictive capability, with many philosophers of science considering it a "paradigm or prime example of pseudoscience." Some scholars in the social sciences have cautioned against categorizing astrology, especially ancient astrology, as "just" a pseudoscience or projecting the distinction backwards into the past. Thagard, while demarcating it as a pseudoscience, notes that astrology "should be judged as not pseudoscientific in classical or Renaissance times...Only when the historical and social aspects of science are neglected does it become plausible that pseudoscience is an unchanging category." Historians of science such as Tamsyn Barton, Roger Beck, Francesca Rochberg, and Wouter J. Hanegraaff argue that such a wholesale description is anachronistic when applied to historical contexts, stressing that astrology was not pseudoscience before the 18th century and the importance of the discipline to the development of medieval science. R. J. Hakinson writes in the context of Hellenistic astrology that "the belief in the possibility of [astrology] was, at least some of the time, the result of careful reflection on the nature and structure of the universe." +Nicholas Campion, both an astrologer and academic historian of astrology, argues that Indigenous astronomy is largely used as a synonym for astrology in academia, and that modern Indian and Western astrology are better understood as modes of cultural astronomy or ethnoastronomy. Roy Willis and Patrick Curry draw a distinction between propositional episteme and metaphoric metis in the ancient world, identifying astrology with the latter and noting that the central concern of astrology "is not knowledge (factual, let alone scientific) but wisdom (ethical, spiritual and pragmatic)". Similarly, historian of science Justin Niermeier-Dohoney writes that astrology was "more than simply a science of prediction using the stars and comprised a vast body of beliefs, knowledge, and practices with the overarching theme of understanding the relationship between humanity and the rest of the cosmos through an interpretation of stellar, solar, lunar, and planetary movement." Scholars such as Assyriologist Matthew Rutz have begun using the term "astral knowledge" rather than astrology "to better describe a category of beliefs and practices much broader than the term 'astrology' can capture." + +== Cultural impact == + +=== Western politics and society === +In the West, political leaders have sometimes consulted astrologers. For example, the British intelligence agency MI5 employed Louis de Wohl as an astrologer after it was reported that Adolf Hitler used astrology to time his actions. The War Office was "...interested to know what Hitler's own astrologers would be telling him from week to week." In fact, de Wohl's predictions were so inaccurate that he was soon labelled a "complete charlatan", and later evidence showed that Hitler considered astrology "complete nonsense". After John Hinckley's attempted assassination of US President Ronald Reagan, first lady Nancy Reagan commissioned astrologer Joan Quigley to act as the secret White House astrologer. However, Quigley's role ended in 1988 when it became public through the memoirs of former chief of staff Donald Regan. +There was a boom in interest in astrology in the late 1960s. The sociologist Marcello Truzzi described three levels of involvement of "Astrology-believers" to account for its revived popularity in the face of scientific discrediting. He found that most astrology-believers did not think that it was a scientific explanation with predictive power. Instead, those superficially involved, knowing "next to nothing" about astrology's 'mechanics', read newspaper astrology columns, and could benefit from "tension-management of anxieties" and "a cognitive belief-system that transcends science." Those at the second level usually had their horoscopes cast and sought advice and predictions. They were much younger than those at the first level, and could benefit from knowledge of the language of astrology and the resulting ability to belong to a coherent and exclusive group. Those at the third level were highly involved and usually cast horoscopes for themselves. Astrology provided this small minority of astrology-believers with a "meaningful view of their universe and [gave] them an understanding of their place in it." This third group took astrology seriously, possibly as an overarching religious worldview (a sacred canopy, in Peter L. Berger's phrase), whereas the other two groups took it playfully and irreverently. +In 1953, the sociologist Theodor W. Adorno conducted a study of the astrology column of a Los Angeles newspaper as part of a project examining mass culture in capitalist society. Adorno believed that popular astrology, as a device, invariably leads to statements that encouraged conformity—and that astrologers who go against conformity, by discouraging performance at work etc., risk losing their jobs. Adorno concluded that astrology is a large-scale manifestation of systematic irrationalism, where individuals are subtly led—through flattery and vague generalisations—to believe that the author of the column is addressing them directly. Adorno drew a parallel with the phrase opium of the people, by Karl Marx, by commenting, "occultism is the metaphysic of the dopes." +A 2005 Gallup poll and a 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center reported that 25% of US adults believe in astrology, while a 2024 Pew survey found a figure of 27%. According to data released in the National Science Foundation's 2014 Science and Engineering Indicators study, "Fewer Americans rejected astrology in 2012 than in recent years." The NSF study noted that in 2012, "slightly more than half of Americans said that astrology was 'not at all scientific,' whereas nearly two-thirds gave this response in 2010. The comparable percentage has not been this low since 1983." Astrology apps became popular in the late 2010s, some receiving millions of dollars in Silicon Valley venture capital. + +=== India and Japan === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-9.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..651ad5b73 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology-9.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "Astrology" +chunk: 10/10 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:04.565712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In India, there is a long-established and widespread belief in astrology. It is commonly used for daily life, particularly in matters concerning marriage and career, and makes extensive use of electional, horary and karmic astrology, a vertent who believes in reincarnation and in the idea they can read a person's karma in a Natal chart by studying in particular Lunar nodes and retrograde planets. Indian politics have also been influenced by astrology. It is still considered a branch of the Vedanga. In 2001, Indian scientists and politicians debated and critiqued a proposal to use state money to fund research into astrology, resulting in permission for Indian universities to offer courses in Vedic astrology. +In February 2011, the Bombay High Court reaffirmed astrology's standing in India when it dismissed a case that challenged its status as a science. +In Japan, strong belief in astrology has led to dramatic changes in the fertility rate and the number of abortions in the years of Fire Horse. Adherents believe that women born in hinoeuma years are unmarriageable and bring bad luck to their father or husband. In 1966, the number of babies born in Japan dropped by over 25% as parents tried to avoid the stigma of having a daughter born in the hinoeuma year. + +=== Literature and music === + +The fourteenth-century English poets John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer both referred to astrology in their works, including Gower's Confessio Amantis and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer commented explicitly on astrology in his Treatise on the Astrolabe, demonstrating personal knowledge of one area, judicial astrology, with an account of how to find the ascendant or rising sign. +In the fifteenth century, references to astrology, such as with similes, became "a matter of course" in English literature. + +In the sixteenth century, John Lyly's 1597 play, The Woman in the Moon, is wholly motivated by astrology, while Christopher Marlowe makes astrological references in his plays Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine (both c. 1590), and Sir Philip Sidney refers to astrology at least four times in his romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (c. 1580). Edmund Spenser uses astrology both decoratively and causally in his poetry, revealing "...unmistakably an abiding interest in the art, an interest shared by a large number of his contemporaries." George Chapman's play, Byron's Conspiracy (1608), similarly uses astrology as a causal mechanism in the drama. William Shakespeare's attitude towards astrology is unclear, with contradictory references in plays including King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and Richard II. Shakespeare was familiar with astrology and made use of his knowledge of astrology in nearly every play he wrote, assuming a basic familiarity with the subject in his commercial audience. Outside theatre, the physician and mystic Robert Fludd practised astrology, as did the quack doctor Simon Forman. In Elizabethan England, "The usual feeling about astrology ... [was] that it is the most useful of the sciences." +In seventeenth century Spain, Lope de Vega, with a detailed knowledge of astronomy, wrote plays that ridicule astrology. In his pastoral romance La Arcadia (1598), it leads to absurdity; in his novela Guzman el Bravo (1624), he concludes that the stars were made for man, not man for the stars. Calderón de la Barca wrote the 1641 comedy Astrologo Fingido (The Pretended Astrologer); the plot was borrowed by the French playwright Thomas Corneille for his 1651 comedy Feint Astrologue. + +The most famous piece of music influenced by astrology is the orchestral suite The Planets. Written by the British composer Gustav Holst (1874–1934), and first performed in 1918, the framework of The Planets is based upon the astrological symbolism of the planets. Each of the seven movements of the suite is based upon a different planet, though the movements are not in the order of the planets from the Sun. The composer Colin Matthews wrote an eighth movement entitled Pluto, the Renewer, first performed in 2000, as the suite was written prior to Pluto's discovery. In 1937, another British composer, Constant Lambert, wrote a ballet on astrological themes, called Horoscope. In 1974, the New Zealand composer Edwin Carr wrote The Twelve Signs: An Astrological Entertainment for orchestra without strings. Camille Paglia acknowledges astrology as an influence on her work of literary criticism Sexual Personae (1990). The American comedian Harvey Sid Fisher is known for his comedic songs about astrology. +Astrology features strongly in Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries, recipient of the 2013 Man Booker Prize. + +== See also == +Astrology and science +Astrology software +Barnum effect +Glossary of astrology +List of astrological traditions, types, and systems +List of topics characterised as pseudoscience +Jewish astrology +Scientific skepticism +Worship of heavenly bodies + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== External links == +Digital International Astrology Library (ancient astrological works) +Biblioastrology (www.biblioastrology.com) (specialised bibliography) +Paris Observatory \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b511366de --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 1/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Attachment therapy (also called "the Evergreen model", "holding time", "rage-reduction", "compression therapy", "rebirthing", "corrective attachment therapy", "coercive restraint therapy", and "holding therapy") is a pseudoscientific mental health intervention intended to treat attachment disorders in children. During the height of its popularity, the practice was found primarily in the United States; much of it was centered in about a dozen locations in Evergreen, Colorado, where Foster Cline, one of its founders, established a clinic in the 1970s. +The practice has resulted in adverse outcomes for children, including at least six documented child fatalities. Since the 1990s, there have been a number of prosecutions for deaths or serious maltreatment of children at the hands of "holding therapists" or parents following their instructions. Two of the most well-known cases are those of Candace Newmaker in 2000 and the Gravelles in 2003. Following the associated publicity, some advocates of attachment therapy began to alter views and practices to be less potentially dangerous to children. This change may have been hastened by the publication of a task force report on the subject in January 2006, commissioned by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), which was largely critical of attachment therapy. In April 2007, ATTACH, an organization originally set up by attachment-based therapists, formally adopted a white paper stating its unequivocal opposition to the use of coercive practices in therapy and parenting, promoting instead newer techniques of attunement, sensitivity and regulation. +Attachment therapy is primarily based on Robert Zaslow's rage-reduction therapy from the 1960s-1970s and on psychoanalytic theories about suppressed rage, catharsis, regression, breaking down of resistance and defence mechanisms. Zaslow and other early proponents such as Nikolas Tinbergen and Martha Welch used it as a treatment for autism, based on the now discredited belief that autism was the result of failures in the attachment relationship with the mother. +This form of treatment differs significantly from attachment-based therapies, as well as talking psychotherapies such as attachment-based psychotherapy and relational psychoanalysis. + +== Theory == +Attachment therapy is a treatment used primarily with fostered or adopted children who have behavioral difficulties, including disobedience and perceived lack of gratitude or affection for their caregivers. The children's problems are ascribed to an inability to bond to their new parents, because of suppressed rage due to past maltreatment and abandonment. Attachment therapy involves a child being firmly held and/or lain upon by therapists or parents. Through this process of restraint and confrontation, therapists seek to produce in the child a range of responses such as rage and despair with the goal of achieving catharsis. In theory, when the child's resistance is overcome and the rage is released, the child is reduced to an infantile state in which he or she can be "re-parented" by methods such as cradling, rocking, bottle feeding and enforced eye contact. The aim is to promote bonding with the new caregivers. Control over the children is usually considered essential, and the therapy is often accompanied by parenting techniques which emphasize obedience. These accompanying parenting techniques are based on the belief that a properly bonded child should comply with parental demands in a manner "fast, snappy and right the first time" and should be "fun to be around". These techniques have been implicated in several child deaths and other harmful effects. +This form of therapy, including diagnosis and accompanying parenting techniques, is not scientifically validated, nor is it considered to be part of mainstream psychology. The form described as "attachment therapy", despite its name, has theoretical foundations inconsistent with those of attachment theory and its guidance is incompatible with the norms of attachment-based therapy. + +== Treatment characteristics == +The controversy, as outlined in the 2006 American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Task Force Report, has broadly centered around "holding therapy" and coercive, restraining, or aversive procedures. These include deep tissue massage, aversive tickling, punishments related to food and water intake, enforced eye contact, requiring children to submit totally to adult control over all their needs, barring normal social relationships outside the primary caretaker, encouraging children to regress to infant status, reparenting, attachment parenting, or techniques designed to provoke cathartic emotional discharge. Variants of these treatments have carried various labels that change frequently. They may be known as "rebirthing therapy", "compression therapy", "corrective attachment therapy", "the Evergreen model", "holding time", "rage-reduction therapy", or "prolonged parent-child embrace therapy". Some authors critical of this therapeutic approach have used the term Coercive Restraint Therapy. It is this form of treatment for attachment difficulties or disorders which is popularly known as "attachment therapy". Advocates for Children in Therapy, a group that campaigns against attachment therapy, give a list of therapies they state are attachment therapy by another name. They also provide a list of additional therapies used by attachment therapists which they consider to be unvalidated. +Matthew Speltz of the University of Washington School of Medicine describes a typical treatment taken from The Center's material (apparently a replication of the program at the Attachment Center, Evergreen) as follows: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a14e22982 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 2/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Like Welsh [sic] (1984, 1989), The Center induces rage by physically restraining the child and forcing eye contact with the therapist (the child must lie across the laps of two therapists, looking up at one of them). In a workshop handout prepared by two therapists at The Center, the following sequence of events is described: (1) therapist 'forces control' by holding (which produces child 'rage'); (2) rage leads to child 'capitulation' to the therapist, as indicated by the child breaking down emotionally ('sobbing'); (3) the therapist takes advantage of the child's capitulation by showing nurturance and warmth; (4) this new trust allows the child to accept 'control' by the therapist and eventually the parent. According to The Center's treatment protocol, if the child 'shuts down' (i.e., refuses to comply), he or she may be threatened with detainment for the day at the clinic or forced placement in a temporary foster home; this is explained to the child as a consequence of not choosing to be a 'family boy or girl.' If the child is actually placed in foster care, the child is then required to 'earn the way back to therapy' and a chance to resume living with the adoptive family. +According to the APSAC Task Force, + +A central feature of many of these therapies is the use of psychological, physical, or aggressive means to provoke the child to catharsis, ventilation of rage, or other sorts of acute emotional discharge. To do this, a variety of coercive techniques are used, including scheduled holding, binding, rib cage stimulation (e.g., tickling, pinching, knuckling), and/or licking. Children may be held down, may have several adults lie on top of them, or their faces may be held so they can be forced to engage in prolonged eye contact. Sessions may last from 3 to 5 hours, with some sessions reportedly lasting longer ... Similar but less physically coercive approaches may involve holding the child and psychologically encouraging the child to vent anger toward her or his biological parent. +The APSAC Task Force describes how the conceptual focus of these treatments is the child's individual internal pathology and past caregivers rather than current parent-child relationships or current environment. If the child is well-behaved outside the home, the child's doing so is seen as successful manipulation of outsiders rather than as evidence of a problem in the current home or current parent-child relationship. The APSAC Task Force noted that this perspective has its attractions because it relieves the caregivers of responsibility to change aspects of their own behavior and aspirations. Proponents believe that traditional therapies fail to help children with bonding problems because it is impossible to establish a trusting relationship with them. They believe this is because children with bonding problems actively avoid forming genuine relationships. Proponents emphasize the child's resistance to bonding and the need to break it down. In rebirthing and similar approaches, protests of distress from the child are considered to be resistance that must be overcome by more coercion. +Coercive techniques, such as scheduled or enforced holding, may also serve the intended purpose of demonstrating dominance over the child. Establishing total adult control, demonstrating to the child that they have no control, and demonstrating that all of the child's needs are met through the adult, is a central tenet of many controversial attachment therapies. Similarly, many controversial treatments hold that children described as attachment–disordered must be pushed to revisit and relive early trauma. Children may be encouraged to regress to an earlier age where trauma was experienced or be reparented through holding sessions. Other features of holding therapy are the "two-week intensive" course of therapy, and the use of "therapeutic foster parents" with whom the child stays whilst undergoing therapy. According to O'Connor and Zeanah, the "holding" approach would be viewed as intrusive and therefore non-sensitive and counter-therapeutic, in contrast with accepted theories of attachment. +According to Advocates for Children in Therapy, + +Attachment Therapy almost always involves extremely confrontational, often hostile confrontation of a child by a therapist or parent (sometimes both). Restraint of the child by more powerful adult(s) is considered an essential part of the confrontation." The purported correction is described as "... to force the children into loving (attaching to) their parents; ... there is a hands-on treatment involving physical restraint and discomfort. Attachment Therapy is the imposition of boundary violations – most often coercive restraint – and verbal abuse on a child, usually for hours at a time; ... Typically, the child is put in a lap hold with the arms pinned down, or alternatively an adult lies on top of a child lying prone on the floor. +Psychiatrist Bruce Perry cites the use of holding therapy techniques by caseworkers and foster parents investigating a Satanic Ritual Abuse case in the late 1980s, early 1990s, as instrumental in obtaining lengthy and detailed alleged "disclosures" from children. In his opinion, using force or coercion on traumatized children simply re-traumatizes them and far from producing love and affection, produces obedience based on fear, as in the trauma bond known as Stockholm syndrome. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-10.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-10.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..78307eea4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-10.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 11/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Andrea Swenson, 1990; a 13-year-old adopted girl undergoing attachment therapy at The Attachment Center, Evergreen, Colorado. She was placed with "therapeutic foster parents". When the insurance company refused to continue to pay for her treatment, the adoptive parents were asked to allow the foster parents to adopt Andrea so that a fresh claim could be made. Andrea, having asked her foster parents what would happen if she took an overdose of drugs or slit her wrist, and been told she would die, took an overdose of aspirin. She was violently ill during the night and was incoherent, breathing heavily and still vomiting in the morning. Nevertheless, the foster parents went bowling, leaving her alone. A visitor found her dead in the hallway. The suit was settled out of court. +Lucas Ciambrone, 1995; a seven-year-old adopted boy who was starved, beaten, bitten and forced to sleep in a stripped bathroom at his parents home in Sarasota, Florida. At the post-mortem he was found to have 200 bruises and five old broken ribs. The adoptive mother was convicted as the abuser and the adoptive father of being aware but doing nothing to prevent it or seek help. Foster Cline gave evidence for both parents claiming Lucas had reactive attachment disorder and that living with such a child was like living "in a situation with the same psychic pressures as those experienced in a concentration camp or cult" and that the parents were in no way responsible for the genesis of Lucas' alleged difficult behaviors. No violent or angry behaviors were reported at school. +David Polreis, 1996; a two-year-old adopted boy who was beaten to death by his adoptive mother. Foster Cline gave evidence for the mother claiming David had reactive attachment disorder. The adoptive mother, supported by attachment therapists practising the Evergreen model, claimed he had beaten himself to death as a consequence of his attachment disorder. She subsequently instead claimed he had attacked her and she had acted in self-defense. David had been diagnosed with attachment disorder by an attachment therapist and was undergoing treatment and accompanying attachment parenting techniques. Mourners at the funeral were asked to contribute to The Attachment Center. +Krystal Tibbets, 1997; a three-year-old adopted child who was killed by her adoptive father using holding therapy techniques he claimed had been taught to him by an attachment therapy center in Midvale, Utah. This was denied by the therapist and the adoptive mother. He lay on top of Krystal, a technique known as "compression therapy", and pushed his fist into her abdomen to release "visceral rage" and to enforce bonding. When she stopped screaming and struggling he believed she had "shut down" as a form of "resistance". After his release from a five-year prison sentence the adoptive father campaigned to have attachment therapy banned. +Candace Newmaker, 2000; a ten-year-old adopted girl who was killed by asphyxiation during a rebirthing session used as part of a two-week attachment therapy "intensive". The two attachment therapists, Connell Watkins (formerly of The Attachment Center, Evergreen) and Julie Ponder were each sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for their part in the therapy during which Candace was wrapped in blankets and required to struggle to be reborn, against the weight of several adults. Her inability to struggle out was interpreted as "resistance". Her adoptive mother and the "therapeutic foster parents" with whom she had been placed received lesser penalties. Watkins was released on parole in August 2008 after serving approximately 7 years of her sentence. +Logan Marr, 2001; a five-year-old child who had been fostered by a Maine state caseworker. While having a tantrum, the screaming girl was buckled into a highchair, wrapped with duct tape, including over her mouth, and left in a basement where she suffocated. The foster mother claimed to have used some attachment therapy ideas and techniques she had picked up when working as a caseworker. +Cassandra Killpack, 2002; a four-year-old adopted child who died from complications of hyponatremia secondary to water intoxication. This apparently occurred when she was restrained in a chair and forced to drink excessive amounts of water by her adoptive parents as part of an "attachment-based" treatment using techniques they claimed had been taught to them at the attachment therapy center where Cassandra was undergoing treatment. It appears this was a punishment for having drunk some of her sister's drink. +Gravelles, 2003; 11 children adopted by Michael and Sharon Gravelle. Ten of the 11 children slept in cages. The case also involved allegations of extreme control over food and toileting and severe punishments for disobedience. The children were home-schooled. Some of the children underwent holding therapy from their attachment therapist and the adoptive parents used accompanying attachment therapy parenting techniques at home. The adoptive parents and therapist were prosecuted and convicted in 2003. +Vasquez, 2007: four adopted children, three of them were kept in cages, fed limited diets, and permitted only primitive sanitary facilities. The fourth child, the favorite, was given medication to delay puberty. The adoptive mother received a prison sentence of less than a year and her parental rights were terminated in 2007. There was no therapist in this case but the adoptive mother claimed that three of her four adopted children had reactive attachment disorder. +Skyler Wilson, 2023: A 2-year-old adopted child who died from hypoxic brain injuries after being "swaddled" and allegedly duct-taped to the floor by his adoptive parents, who referenced Nancy Thomas by name in information provided to the police. A former foster parent also alleged that the adoptive parents performed exorcisms. Jodi and Joseph Wilson are currently awaiting trial. + +== See also == + +Attachment-based therapy +Traumatic bonding +Child development +Child abuse +Theraplay +Child of Rage +Death of Candace Newmaker + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-11.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-11.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..771917750 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-11.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 12/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Further reading == +Fairlove, Abigail (26 December 2012). "Importance of Strong Sitting for Reactive Attachment Disorder Treatment". Rad Children- Information on Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder ( RAD ). Abigail Fairlove. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014. +Mercer J, Sarner L, Rosa L (2003), Attachment Therapy on Trial: The Torture and Death of Candace Newmaker, Praeger, ISBN 978-0-275-97675-0 +O'Connor TG, Nilsen WJ (2005), "Models versus Metaphors in Translating Attachment Theory to the Clinic and Community", in Berlin LJ, Ziv Y, Amaya-Jackson L, Greenberg MT (eds.), Enhancing Early Attachments: Theory, Research, Intervention and Policy, Duke series in child development and public policy, Guilford Press, ISBN 978-1-59385-470-6 +Prior V, Glaser D (2006), Understanding Attachment and Attachment Disorders: Theory, Evidence and Practice, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Series, London: Jessica Kingsley, ISBN 978-1-84310-245-8, OCLC 70663735 +Zeanah, Charles H.; Chesher, Tessa; Boris, Neil W.; Walter, Heather J.; Bukstein, Oscar G.; Bellonci, Christopher; Benson, R. Scott; Bussing, Regina; Chrisman, Allan; Hamilton, John; Hayek, Munya; Keable, Helene; Rockhill, Carol; Siegel, Matthew; Stock, Saundra (November 2016). "Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder". Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 55 (11): 990–1003. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.08.004. PMID 27806867. + +== External links == +Advocates for Children in Therapy +Science based medicine +Report of the APSAC Task Force on Attachment Therapy, Reactive Attachment Disorder, and Attachment Problems \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a6d1c413c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 3/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Parenting techniques === +Therapists often instruct parents to follow programs of treatment at home, for example obedience-training techniques such as "strong sitting" (frequent periods of required silence and immobility) and withholding or limiting food. Earlier authors sometimes referred to this as "German Shepherd training". In some programs children undergoing the two-week intensive stay with "therapeutic foster parents" for the duration or beyond and the adoptive parents are trained in their techniques. +According to the APSAC Task Force, because it is believed children with bonding problems resist bonding, fight against it and seek to control others to avoid bonding, the child's character flaws must be broken before bonding can occur. According to proponents, their idea of attachment parenting may include keeping the child at home with no social contacts, home schooling, hard labor or meaningless repetitive chores throughout the day, motionless sitting for prolonged periods of time, and control of all food and water intake and bathroom needs. Children described as attachment-disordered are expected by attachment therapists to comply with parental commands "fast and snappy and right the first time", and to always be "fun to be around" for their parents. Deviation from this standard, such as not finishing chores or arguing, is interpreted as a sign of attachment disorder that must be forcibly eradicated. From this perspective, parenting a child with an attachment disorder is a battle, and winning the battle by defeating the child is paramount. +Proper appreciation of total adult control is also considered vital, and information, such as how long a child will be with therapeutic foster parents or what will happen to him or her next, is deliberately withheld. Attachment parenting expert Nancy Thomas states that attachment-disordered children act worse when given information about what is going to occur because they will use the information to manipulate their environment and everyone in it. +In addition to restrictive behavior, parents are advised to provide daily sessions in which older children are treated as if they were babies to create attachment. The child is held in the caregiver's lap, rocked, hugged and kissed, and fed with a bottle and given sweets. These sessions are carried out at the caregiver's wish and not upon the child's request. +Attachment-based parenting is the widely acknowledged to be the opposite of what holding therapy proponents describe. Attachment is an affectionate, mutually satisfying relationship between a child and a caregiver that serves the purpose of making the child feel safe, secure, protected from danger, and comforted especially after exposure to danger. In addition, bonding and attachment involve overlapping concepts but describe different phenomenon. + +=== Contrasting attachment theory-based methods === + +In contrast, traditional attachment theory holds that the provision of a safe and predictable environment and caregiver qualities such as sensitivity, responsiveness to children's physical and emotional needs and consistency, support the development of healthy attachment. Therapy based on this viewpoint emphasizes providing a stable environment and taking a calm, sensitive, non-intrusive, non-threatening, patient, predictable, and nurturing approach toward children. Further, as attachment patterns develop within relationships, methods to correct problems with attachment focus on improving the stability and positive qualities of the caregiver-child interactions and relationship. All mainstream interventions with an existing or developing evidential foundation focus on enhancing caregiver sensitivity, creating positive interactions with caregivers, or change of caregiver if that is not possible with existing caregivers. Some interventions focus specifically on increasing caregiver sensitivity in foster parents. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cc8be1948 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 4/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Theoretical principles == +Like a number of other alternative mental health treatments for children, attachment therapy is based on some assumptions that differ strongly from the theoretical foundations of other attachment-based therapies. In contrast to traditional attachment theory, the theory of attachment described by attachment therapy proponents is that young children who experience adversity (including maltreatment, loss, separations, adoption, frequent changes in child care, colic or even frequent ear infections) become enraged at a very deep and primitive level. This results in a lack of ability to bond, attach, or to be genuinely affectionate to others. Suppressed or unconscious rage is theorized to prevent the child from forming bonds with caregivers and leads to behavior problems when the rage erupts into unchecked aggression. Such children are said to fail to develop a conscience, to not trust others, to seek control rather than closeness, to resist the authority of caregivers, and to engage in endless power struggles. They are seen as highly manipulative and as trying to avoid true attachments while simultaneously striving to control those around them through manipulation and superficial sociability. Such children are said to be at risk of becoming psychopaths who will go on to engage in very serious delinquent, criminal, and antisocial behaviors if left untreated. The tone in which the attributes of these children are described has been characterized as "demonizing". +Advocates of this treatment also believe that emotional attachment of a child to a caregiver begins during the prenatal period, during which the unborn child is aware of the mother's thoughts and emotions. If the mother is distressed by the pregnancy, especially if she considers abortion, the child responds with distress and anger that continue through postnatal life. If the child is separated from the mother after birth, no matter how early this occurs, the child again feels distress and rage that will block attachment to a foster or adoptive caregiver. To the contrary, attachment research establishes that the attachment system is not activated until a child is approximately seven months old. +If the child has had a peaceful gestation, but after birth suffers pain or ungratified needs during the first year, attachment will again be blocked. If the child reaches the toddler period safely, but is not treated with strict authority during the second year, according to the so-called "attachment cycle", attachment problems will result. Failure of attachment results in a lengthy list of mood and behavior problems, but these may not be revealed until the child is much older. According to attachment therapist Elizabeth Randolph, attachment problems can be diagnosed even in an asymptomatic child through observation of the child's inability to crawl backward on command. +Critics say holding therapies have been promoted as "attachment" therapies, even though they are more antithetical to than consistent with attachment theory, and not based on attachment theory or research. Indeed, they are considered incompatible. There are many ways in which holding therapy/attachment therapy contradicts Bowlby's attachment theory, e.g. attachment theory's fundamental and evidence-based statement that security is promoted by sensitivity. According to Mary Dozier, "holding therapy does not emanate in any logical way from attachment theory or from attachment research". + +== Diagnosis and attachment disorder == +To the extent that attachment disorders exist or can be diagnosed, holding therapy methods were not recognized in mainstream practice. Prior and Glaser describe two discourses on attachment disorder. One is science-based, found in academic journals and books with careful reference to theory, international classifications and evidence. They list Bowlby, Ainsworth, Tizard, Hodges, Chisholm, O'Connor and Zeanah and colleagues as respected attachment theorists and researchers in the field. The other discourse is found in clinical practice, non-academic literature and on the Internet where claims are made which have no basis in attachment theory and for which there is no empirical evidence. In particular unfounded claims are made as to efficacy of treatments. The Internet is considered essential to the popularization of holding therapy as an "attachment" therapy. +The APSAC Task Force describes the relationship between the proponents of holding therapy and mainstream therapies as polarized. "This polarization is compounded by the fact that holding therapy has largely developed outside the mainstream scientific and professional community and flourishes within its own networks of attachment therapists, treatment centers, caseworkers, and parent support groups. Indeed, proponents and critics of the controversial attachment therapies appear to move in different worlds." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8baf222f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 5/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Diagnosis lists and questionnaires === +Both the APSAC Task Force and Prior and Glaser describe the proliferation of alternative "lists" and diagnoses, particularly on the Internet, by proponents of holding therapy, that are not in accord with either DSM or ICD classifications and which are partly based on the unsubstantiated views of Zaslow and Menta and Cline. According to the Task Force, "These types of lists are so nonspecific that high rates of false-positive diagnoses are virtually certain. Posting these types of lists on internet sites that also serve as marketing tools may lead many parents or others to conclude inaccurately that their children have attachment disorders." +Prior and Glaser describe the lists as "wildly inclusive" and state that many of the behaviors in the lists are likely to be the consequences of neglect and abuse rather than located within the attachment paradigm. Descriptions of children are frequently highly pejorative and "demonizing". Examples given from lists of attachment disorder symptoms found on the internet include lying, avoiding eye contact except when lying, persistent nonsense questions or incessant chatter, fascination with fire, blood, gore and evil, food related issues (such as gorging or hoarding), cruelty to animals and lack of conscience. They also give an example from the Evergreen Consultants in Human Behavior which offers a 45-symptom checklist including bossiness, stealing, enuresis and language disorders. +A commonly used diagnostic checklist in attachment therapy is the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire or "RADQ", which originated at the Institute for Attachment in Evergreen. It is presented not as an assessment of reactive attachment disorder but rather attachment disorder. The checklist includes 93 discrete behaviors, many of which either overlap with other disorders, like Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder or are not related to attachment difficulties. It is largely based on the earlier Attachment Disorder Symptom Checklist which itself shows considerable overlap with even earlier checklists for indicators of sexual abuse. The Attachment Disorder Symptom Checklist includes statements about the parent's feelings toward the child as well as statements about the child's behavior. For example, parental feelings are evaluated through responses to such statements as "Parent feels used" and "is wary of the child's motives if affection is expressed", and "Parents feel more angry and frustrated with this child than with other children". The child's behavior is referred to in such statements as "Child has a grandiose sense of self-importance" and "Child 'forgets' parental instructions or directives". The compiler of the RADQ claims validity by reference to the Attachment Disorder Symptom Checklist. It also purports to diagnose attachment disorder for which there is no classification. A critic has stated that a major problem of the RADQ is that it has not been validated against any established objective measure of emotional disturbance. + +=== Patient recruitment === +In addition to concerns about the use of non-specific diagnostic checklists on the Internet being used as a marketing tool, the Task Force also noted the extreme claims made by proponents as to both the prevalence and effect of attachment disorders. Some proponents suggest most or a high proportion of adopted children are likely to have an attachment or bonding disorder. Statistics on the prevalence of maltreatment are wrongly used to estimate the prevalence of RAD. Problematical or less desirable styles such as insecure or disorganized attachment are conflated with attachment disorder. Children are labeled as "RADs", "RAD-kids" or "RADishes". They are seen as manipulative, dishonest, without conscience and dangerous. Some holding therapy sites predict that attachment-disordered children will grow up to become violent predators or psychopaths unless they receive the treatment proposed. A sense of urgency is created which serves to justify the application of aggressive and unconventional techniques. One site was noted to contain the argument that Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, and Jeffrey Dahmer were examples of children who were attachment-disordered who "did not get help in time". Foster Cline, in his seminal work on holding therapy, Hope for High Risk and Rage Filled Children, uses the example of Ted Bundy. +In answering the question posed as to how a treatment widely regarded by attachment clinicians and researchers as destructive and unethical came to be linked with attachment theory and to be seen as a viable and useful treatment, O'Connor and Nilson cite the use of the Internet to publicize holding therapy and the lack of knowledgeable mainstream professionals or appropriate mainstream treatments or interventions. They set out recommendations for the better dissemination of both understanding of attachment theory and knowledge of the more recent evidence-based treatment options available. +Rachel Stryker in her anthropological study The Road to Evergreen argues that adoptive families of institutionalized children who have difficulties transitioning to a nuclear family are attracted to the Evergreen model despite the controversy, because it legitimises and reanimates the same ideas about family and domesticity as does the adoption process itself, offering renewed hope of "normal" family life. Institutionalized or abused children often do not conform to adopters conceptualizations of family behaviours and roles. The Evergreen model pathologizes the child's behaviour by a medical diagnosis, thus legitimising the family. As well as the promise of working where traditional therapies fail, holding therapy also offers the idea of attachment as a negotiable social contract that can be enforced in order to convert the unsatisfactory adoptee into the "emotional asset" the family requires. By the use of confrontation the model offers the means to condition children to comply with parental expectations. Where the therapy fails to achieve this the fault is attributed to the child's conscious choice to not be a family member, or the child's inability to perform as family material. + +=== Contrasting mainstream position === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..77d3e79ea --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 6/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Within mainstream practice, disorders of attachment are classified in DSM-5 and ICD-10 as reactive attachment disorder (generally known as RAD), and Disinhibited social engagement disorder. Both classification systems warn against automatic diagnosis based on abuse or neglect. Many symptoms are present in a variety of other more common and more easily treatable disorders. There is as yet no other accepted definition of attachment disorders. +According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) practice parameter published in 2005, the question of whether attachment disorders can be reliably diagnosed in older children and adults has not been resolved. Attachment behaviors used for the diagnosis of RAD change markedly with development and defining analogous behaviors in older children is difficult. There are no substantially validated measures of attachment in middle childhood or early adolescence. + +== Prevalence == +Holding therapy prospered during the 1980s and 1990s as a consequence of both the influx of older adopted orphans from Eastern European and third world countries and the inclusion of reactive attachment disorder in the 1980 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders which attachment therapists adopted as an alternative name for their existing unvalidated diagnosis of attachment disorder. +According to the APSAC Task Force, these therapies are sufficiently prevalent to have prompted position statements or specific prohibitions against using coercion or restraint as a treatment by mainstream professional societies such as: American Psychological Association (Division on Child Maltreatment), National Association of Social Workers (and its Utah Chapter), American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and American Psychiatric Association. The Association for the Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children, (ATTACh), an organization for professionals and families associated with holding therapy, has also issued statements against coercive practices. Two American states, Colorado and North Carolina, have outlawed rebirthing. There have been professional licensure sanctions against some leading proponents and successful criminal prosecutions and imprisonment of therapists and parents using holding therapy techniques. Despite this, the treatments appear to be continuing among networks of attachment therapists, attachment therapy centers, caseworkers, and adoptive or foster parents. The advocacy group ACT states, "Attachment Therapy is a growing, underground movement for the 'treatment' of children who pose disciplinary problems to their parents or caregivers." +Rachel Stryker in her anthropological study The Road to Evergreen states that attachment therapies "of all stripes" are increasingly popular in the US and that the number of therapists associated with the Evergreen model registering with ATTACh grows each year. She cites the large number of formerly institutionalized domestic and foreign adoptees in the US and the apparently higher risk of disruption of foreign adoptions, of which there were 216,000 between 1998 and 2008. +The practice of holding therapy is not confined to the US. Prior and Glaser cite at least one clinic in the UK. Attachment therapists from the USA have conducted conferences in the UK. The British Association for Adoption and Fostering, (BAAF), has issued an extensive position statement on the subject which covers not only physical coercion but also the underlying theoretical principles. It had been thought, until recently, that therapists calling themselves "attachment therapists" practising in the UK tended to be practising conventional forms of psychotherapy based on attachment theory. In 2009 The British Journal of Social Work accepted an article rehabilitating holding therapy, "To Have and to Hold: Questions about a Therapeutic Service for Children" describing an earlier study involving the Keys Attachment Centre in Rossendale, Lancashire and the surrounding Keys Attachment Homes. In 2012, first-hand accounts from a survivor and a number of professionals provided evidence that the coercive Evergreen model of holding therapy had been systematically used to treat children in Local Authority care within a programme in North West England. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4438ff42b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,14 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 7/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Developments == +The APSAC Task Force stated that proponents of holding therapy correctly point out that most critics have never actually observed any of the treatments they criticize or visited any of the centers where the controversial therapies are practiced. Proponents argue that their therapies present no physical risk if undertaken properly and that critics' concerns are based on unrepresentative occurrences and misapplications of techniques, or misunderstanding by parents. Holding is described as gentle or nurturing and it is maintained that intense, cathartic approaches are necessary to help children with attachment disorders. Their evidence for this is primarily clinical experience and testimonials. +According to the APSAC Task Force, there are controversies within the holding therapy community about coercive practices. There has been a move away from coercive and confrontational models towards attunement and emotional regulation amongst some leaders in the field, notably Hughes, Kelly and Popper. A number of therapies are quite different from those that have led to the abuse and deaths of children in much publicized court cases. The Task Force, however, points out that all the therapies, including those using frankly coercive practices, present themselves as humane, respectful and nurturing; therefore caution is advised. Some practitioners condemn the most dangerous techniques but continue to practice other coercive techniques. Others have taken a public stand against coercion. The Task Force was of the view that all could benefit from more transparency and specificity as to how the therapy is behaviorally delivered. +In 2001, 2003 and 2006, ATTACh, an organization set up by Foster Cline and associates, issued a series of statements in which they progressively changed their stance on coercive practices. In 2001, after the death of Candace Newmaker they stated "The child will never be restrained or have pressure put on them in such a manner that would interfere with their basic life functions such as breathing, circulation, temperature, etc." A White Paper, formally accepted in April 2007, "unequivocally state(s) our opposition to the use of coercive practices in therapy and parenting." They acknowledge ATTACh's historical links with catharsis, provocation of rage, and intense confrontation, among other overtly coercive techniques (and indeed continue to offer for sale books by controversial proponents) but state that the organization has evolved significantly away from earlier positions. They state that their recent evolution is due to a number of factors including tragic events resulting from such techniques, an influx of members practicing other techniques such as attunement and a "fundamental shift ... away from viewing these children as driven by a conscious need for control toward an understanding that their often controlling and aggressive behaviors are automatic, learned defensive responses to profoundly overwhelming experiences of fear and terror." While being of the view that authoritative practices are necessary, and that nurturing touch and treatment aimed at the perceived developmental rather than chronological age are an integral part of the therapy, the White Paper promotes the techniques of attunement, sensitivity and regulation and deprecates coercive practices such as enforced holding or enforced eye contact. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d28793ba8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,14 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 8/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== History == +Matthew Speltz of the University of Washington School of Medicine states that the roots of holding therapy are traceable to psychologist Robert Zaslow and his "Z-process" in the 1970s. Zaslow attempted to force attachment in autistic children by creating rage while holding them against their will. He believed this would lead to a breakdown in their defense mechanisms, making them more receptive to others. Zaslow thought attachment arose when an infant experienced feelings of pain, fear and rage, and then made eye contact with the carer who relieved those feelings. If an infant did not experience this cycle of events by having his fear and rage relieved, the infant would not form an attachment and would not make eye contact with other people. Zaslow believed that creating pain and rage and combining them with eye contact would cause attachment to occur, long after the normal age for such developments. Holding therapies derive from these "rage-reduction" techniques applied by Zaslow. The holding is not used for safety purposes but is initiated for the purpose of provoking strong negative emotions such as fear and anger. The child's release typically depends upon his or her compliance with the therapist's clinical agenda or goals. In 1971, Zaslow surrendered his California psychology license following an injury to a patient during rage-reduction therapy. Zaslow's ideas on the use of the Z-process and holding for autism have been dispelled by research on the genetic/biologic causes of autism. Zaslow and his "Z-process", a physically rough version of holding therapy, influenced Foster Cline (known as the "father of attachment therapy") and associates at his clinic in Evergreen. A key tenet of Zaslow's approach was the notion of "breaking through" a child's defenses—based on the model of ego defenses borrowed from psychoanalytic theory, which critics state has been misapplied. The "breaking through" metaphor was then applied to children whose attachments were thought to be impaired. The clinic, originally called the Youth Behavior Program, was subsequently renamed the Attachment Center at Evergreen. In 1983, ethologist Nikolas Tinbergen published a book recommending the use of holding therapy by parents as a treatment or "cure" for autistic children. Tinbergen based his ideas on his methods of observational study of birds. Parents were advised to hold their autistic children despite resistance and to endeavor to maintain eye contact and share emotions. Tinbergen believed that autism related to a failure in the bond between mother and child caused by "traumatic influences" and that enforced holding and eye contact could establish such a relationship and rescue the child from autism. Tinbergen's interpretations of autism were without scientific rigor and were contrary to the then growing acceptance that autism had a genetic cause. Despite the lack of a sound theoretical or scientific base, holding therapy as a treatment for autism is still practiced in some parts of the world, notably Europe. Speltz cites child psychiatrist Martha Welch and her 1988 book, Holding Time, as the next significant development. Like Zaslow and Tinbergen, Welch recommended holding therapy as a treatment for autism. Like Tinbergen, Welch believed autism was caused by the failure of the attachment relationship between mother and child. Mothers were instructed to hold their defiant child, provoking anger and rage, until such time as the child ceased to resist, at which point a bonding process was believed to begin. Foster Cline and associates at the Attachment Center at Evergreen, Colorado began to promote the use of the same or similar holding techniques with adopted, maltreated children who were said to have an "attachment disorder". This was replicated elsewhere such as at "The Center" in the Pacific Northwest. A number of other clinics arose in Evergreen, Colorado, set up by those involved in or trained at the Attachment Center at Evergreen (renamed the Institute for Attachment and Child Development in about 2002). These included one set up by Connell Watkins, formerly an associate of Foster Cline at the Attachment Center and its clinical director. Watkins was one of the therapists convicted in the Candace Newmaker case in 2001 in which a child was asphyxiated during a rebirthing process in the course of a two-week holding therapy "intensive". Foster Cline gave up his license and moved to another state following an investigation of a separate holding therapy related incident. In addition to the notion of "breaking through" defense mechanisms, other metaphors were adopted by practitioners relating to the supposed effects of early deprivation, abuse or neglect on the child's ability to form relationships. These included the idea of the child's development being "frozen" and treatment being required to "unfreeze" development. Practitioners of holding therapy also added some components of Bowlby's attachment theory and the therapy came to be known as attachment therapy. Language from attachment theory is used but descriptions of the practices contain ideas and techniques based on misapplied metaphors deriving from Zaslow and psychoanalysis, not attachment theory. According to Prior and Glaser "there is no empirical evidence to support Zaslow's theory. The concept of suppressed rage has, nevertheless, continued to be a central focus explaining the children's behavior." +Cline's privately published work Hope for high risk and rage filled children also cites family therapist and hypnotherapist Milton Erickson as a source, and reprints parts of a case of Erickson's published in 1961. The report describes the case of a divorced mother with a non-compliant son. Erickson advised the mother to sit on the child for hours at a time and to feed him only on cold oatmeal while she and a daughter ate appetizing food. The child did increase in compliance, and Erickson noted, with apparent approval, that he trembled when his mother looked at him. Cline commented, with respect to this and other cases, that in his opinion all bonds were trauma bonds. According to Cline, it illustrates the three essential components of 1) taking control, 2) the child's expression of rage; and, 3) relaxation and the development of bonding. In addition, proponents believed that holding induced age regression, enabling a child to make up for physical affection missed earlier in life. Regression is key to the holding therapy approach. In holding therapy, breaking down the child's resistance by confrontational techniques is thought to reduce the child to an infantile state, thus making the child receptive to forming attachment by the application of early parenting behaviors such as bottle feeding, cradling, rocking and eye contact. Some, but by no means all, attachment therapists have used rebirthing techniques to aid regression. The roots of the form of rebirthing used within holding therapy lie in primal therapy (sometimes known as primal scream therapy), another therapy based on beliefs in very early trauma and the transformational nature of age regression. Bowlby explicitly rejected the notion of regression stating "present knowledge of infant and child development requires that a theory of developmental pathways should replace theories that invoke specific phases of development in which it is held a person may become fixated and/or to which he may regress." +According to O'Connor and Nilsen, although other aspects of treatment are applied, the holding component has attracted most attention because proponents believe it is an essential ingredient. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..551abb02f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 9/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +They also considered the lack of available and suitable interventions from mainstream professionals as essential to the popularization of holding therapy as an attachment therapy. In 2003, an issue of Attachment & Human Development was devoted to the subject of attachment therapy with articles by well-known experts in the field of attachment. Attachment researchers and authors condemned holding therapy as empirically unfounded, theoretically flawed and clinically unethical. It has also been described as potentially abusive and a pseudoscientific intervention, not based on attachment theory or research, that has resulted in tragic outcomes for children including at least six documented child fatalities. In 2006, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) Task Force reported on the subjects of attachment therapy, reactive attachment disorder, and attachment problems and laid down guidelines for the future diagnosis and treatment of attachment disorders. The APSAC Task Force was largely critical of Attachment Therapy's theoretical base, practices, claims to an evidence base, non-specific symptoms lists published on the internet, claims that traditional treatments do not work and dire predictions for the future of children who do not receive attachment therapy. "Although focused primarily on specific attachment therapy techniques, the controversy also extends to the theories, diagnoses, diagnostic practices, beliefs, and social group norms supporting these techniques, and to the patient recruitment and advertising practices used by their proponents." In 2007, Scott Lilienfeld included holding therapy as one of the potentially harmful therapies (PHT's) at level 1 in his Psychological Science review. Describing it as "unfortunately" referred to as "attachment therapy", Mary Dozier and Michael Rutter consider it critical to differentiate it from treatments derived from attachment theory. A mistaken association between attachment therapy and attachment theory may have resulted in a relatively unenthusiastic view towards the latter among some practitioners despite its relatively profound lines of research in the field of socioemotional development. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-9.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4348fabb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy-9.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Attachment therapy" +chunk: 10/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:08.228014+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Claims == +According to the APSAC Task Force, proponents of holding therapy commonly assert that their therapies alone are effective for attachment-disordered children and that traditional treatments are ineffective or harmful. The APSAC Task Force expressed concern over claims by therapies to be "evidence-based", or the only evidence-based therapy, when the Task Force found no credible evidence base for any such therapy so advertised. Nor did it accept more recent claims to evidence base in its November 2006 Reply. +Two approaches on which published studies have been undertaken are holding therapy and dyadic developmental psychotherapy. Each of these non-randomized studies concluded that the treatment method studied was effective. Both the APSAC Task Force and Prior and Glaser cite and criticize the one published study on holding therapy undertaken by Myeroff et al., which "purports to be an evaluation of holding therapy". This study covers the "across the lap" approach, described as "not restraint" by Howe and Fearnley but "being held whilst unable to gain release." Prior and Glaser state that although the Myeroff study claims it is based on attachment theory, the theoretical basis for the treatment is in fact Zaslow. +Dyadic developmental psychotherapy was developed by psychologist Daniel Hughes, described by the Task Force as a "leading attachment therapist". Hughes' website gave a list of attachment therapy techniques, repeated by the APSAC Task Force from an earlier website, which he stated do not or should not form part of dyadic developmental psychotherapy, which the Task Force took as a description of attachment therapy techniques. Two studies on dyadic developmental psychotherapy have been published by Becker-Weidman, the second being a four-year follow up of the first. Prior and Glaser state Hughes' therapy reads as good therapy for abused and neglected children, though with "little application of attachment theory", but the advocacy group ACT and the Task Force place Hughes within the attachment therapy paradigm. +In 2004, Saunders, Berliner and Hanson developed a system of categories for social work interventions which has proved somewhat controversial. In their first analysis, holding therapy was placed in Category 6 as a "Concerning treatment". In 2006 Craven and Lee classified 18 studies in a literature review under the Saunders, Berliner & Hanson system. They considered both dyadic developmental psychotherapy and holding therapy. They placed both in Category 3 as "Supported and acceptable". This categorization by Craven and Lee has been criticized as unduly favorable, a point to which Craven and Lee responded by arguments in support of holding therapy. Both Myeroff et al.'s study and Becker-Weidman's first study (published after the main Report) were examined in the Task Force's November 2006 Reply to Letters and were criticized as to their methodology. Becker-Weidman's study was described by the Task Force as "an important first step toward learning the facts about DDP outcomes" but falling far short of the criteria necessary to constitute an evidence base. +Some studies are still being undertaken on coercive therapies. A non-randomized, before-and-after 2006 pilot study by Welch (the progenitor of "holding time") et al. on Welch's "prolonged parent-child embrace therapy" was conducted on children with a range of diagnoses for behavioral disorders and claimed to show significant improvement. +In March 2007, attachment therapy was placed on a list of treatments that have the potential to cause harm to clients in the APS journal, Perspectives on Psychological Science. Concern was expressed about methods that involve holding and restraint, and the lack of randomized, controlled experiments showing the effectiveness of the treatment. +In 2010 a modest social work study and "invitation to a debate", based on interviews with the deliverers and recipients of a therapeutic intervention incorporating non-coercive holding at one centre in the UK, called for further consideration of the use of this type of intervention. The intervention was not described as "holding therapy" but as using a degree of holding in the course of therapy. Although recipients were generally positive about the therapy received, the holding aspect was the least liked. The authors call for research and a debate on issues of what constitutes "coercion" and the distinctions between the different variants of "holding" in therapy. + +== Cases of harm and death == +There have been a number of cases of serious harm to children, all adopted, while using the therapy. An estimated six children have died as a consequence of the more coercive forms of such treatments or the application of the accompanying parenting techniques. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2c96c7068 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Attunement" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:09.472799+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Attunement was the early term adopted by practitioners of the pseudoscientific discipline of energy medicine, originally developed by Lloyd Arthur Meeker (1907–1954) and his colleagues. Meeker taught and practiced Attunement as a central feature of his spiritual teaching and ministry, Emissaries of Divine Light. Attunement is taught as a personal spiritual practice and as a healing modality offered through the hands. Emissaries of Divine Light believe that Attunement is a pivotal factor in the conscious evolution of humanity. +Like qigong, reiki, and therapeutic touch, attunement is a putative practice as defined by the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), lacking published scientific study of its effectiveness. Attunement practitioners and clients rely on personal and anecdotal experience to promote it. + +== History == + +=== Beginnings === +Lloyd Arthur Meeker shared the first Attunement with Rudolph Plagge in Wichita, Kansas, in 1929, and developed the teaching and practice of Attunement with colleagues until his death in 1954. From September 14 to 16, 1932, Meeker had a spiritual awakening experience that he described as a “heavenly ordination.” He marked that experience as the initiation of Emissaries of Divine Light. That same year he instituted a series of energy medicine experiments. Meeker reported that he could stand across the room from the client and the client could feel the intensification of life force. He also reported excellent results when his hands were one to six inches from the client. +Lloyd Arthur Meeker wrote and lectured using the name Uranda, which was how he was known to his followers. From 1935 to 1945, Meeker traveled across the United States and Canada, establishing centers for healing and spiritual teaching for varying periods of time in Atascadero, Oakland, Burbank and Long Beach, California; Buffalo, New York; Grand Forks, Iowa; and Loveland, Colorado. In December 1945 Meeker established his headquarters at Sunrise Ranch in Loveland, where Attunement continues to be taught and practiced. + +=== The role of G-P-C chiropractors === +The G-P-C movement played a significant role in the development of attunement. G-P-C stood for God – Patient – Chiropractor. It was a no-fee system of service that George Shears created in the late 1930s after he, himself, had a severely debilitating ruptured disk, and vowed to offer his services on a donation basis. Shears had been a Major League Baseball pitcher in 1912, and then a graduate of the Palmer School of Chiropractic in 1917. He experimented with "no-force" chiropractic adjustments in which he believed it was the healing energy through his hands that brought positive results, shown through x-rays. The G-P-C movement saw the relationship between the chiropractor and the patient as the base of a triangle with God at the apex. Meeker eventually embraced this model for the healing relationship. +In 1949, Albert Ackerley, a G-P-C chiropractor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was introduced to Lloyd Arthur Meeker's writings. In June 1949, when Ackerley was preparing to offer an adjustment to his patient, he saw that the patient's spine had aligned before he had given the adjustment. He believed that this result was a consequence of the flow of subtle energy between himself and the patient, rather than any physical intervention. Ackerley met Meeker in July 1949 and began to practice Attunement under his tutelage. Up to this point, Meeker had referred to Attunements as “treatments.” It was Albert Ackerley who named those treatments “Attunements.” With Lloyd Meeker's urging, Ackerley began to experiment with long-distance Attunements in which the person receiving the Attunement was not in the physical presence of the practitioner. Albert Ackerley and G.P.C. President, Virgil Givens, were both prosecuted legally due to their practice of energy medicine, but continued to practice nonetheless. +In May 1950, Lloyd Arthur Meeker met George Shears. Meeker's meeting with Shears was followed by G-P-C meetings at a Chiropractic Convention in August 1950 in Davenport, Iowa, and then a G-P-C conference in Huntingburg, Indiana, which was attended by Meeker. Following these events, about twenty-five chiropractors attended a G-P-C Convention from September 2 through 8 of that year at Sunrise Ranch. +The prospect of joining with Meeker and Emissaries of Divine Light raised suspicion and concerns among the G-P-C chiropractors. Nonetheless, at the G-P-C Convention in the home of George Shears in Huntingburg, Indiana, on February 24 and 25, 1951, the G-P-C board of directors voted to cooperate with the Emissaries to establish a G-P-C Servers Training School at Sunrise Ranch. Lloyd Arthur Meeker led three six-month G-P-C Servers Training School sessions at Sunrise Ranch from 1952 to 1954. His classes from the 1952 session were transcribed and published as The Divine Design of Man, # 1 and # 2. The audio recordings and the transcripts of Meeker's classes from the 1953 and 1954 sessions are still extant. The sessions included Attunement technique, nutrition, psychology and a broad spectrum of spiritual teachings. +In August 1954, Lloyd Arthur Meeker, his wife, Kathy Meeker, Albert Ackerley and two children died in the crash of Meeker's small plane in San Francisco Bay. A close associate of Meeker's, Martin Cecil, assumed the responsibility for the leadership of Emissaries of Divine Light and for carrying forward Meeker's Attunement work. With assistance from G-P-C chiropractors, James Wellemeyer and Bill Bahan, and from Roger de Winton, Alan Hammond and others, Martin Cecil continued the Servers Training School at Sunrise Ranch and the teaching of Attunement. George Shears eventually moved to Sunrise Ranch in 1968 where he practiced Attunement until he died in 1978. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4f5c99862 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Attunement" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:09.472799+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Development === +As Emissaries of Divine Light grew in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, so did the teaching and practice of Attunement. Martin Cecil emphasized in his teaching of Attunement that the basis of it was a spiritual practice. While many of the early Attunement practitioners were chiropractors, lay people became increasingly active in the practice. Building on the early work of Lloyd Arthur Meeker, Attunement evolved to include groups of people practicing it together. In 1993, a World Blessing time was established for practitioners to share a time of collective Attunement and healing prayer. In the '80s and '90s, the teaching and practice of long-distance Attunement was developed further. +Following Martin Cecil's death in 1988, his son, Michael Cecil, become the Spiritual Leader of the Emissaries. In 1996, Emissaries of Divine Light formed an Attunement Guild, which established standards for the teaching and certification of Attunement practitioners. A group of Attunement practitioners, including Chris Jorgensen and Andrew Shier, formed the International Association of Attunement Practitioners (IAAP) in 1999. IAAP developed and taught the practice of Attunement separate from the organization of Emissaries of Divine Light. Roger de Winton continued his Attunement trainings through Attunement Intensives offered at Sunrise Ranch. He also continued his work of long-distance Attunement until his death in 2001. +In 1996, Michael Cecil left Emissaries of Divine Light to continue his own work, which includes Attunement through The Ashland Institute. A group of trustees assumed the leadership of Emissaries of Divine Light with Michael Cecil's departure. In August 2004, the trustees of Emissaries of Divine Light named David Karchere as the leader of the global network. Since becoming the leader of the Emissaries, Karchere has developed programs, including Life Destiny Immersion and Journey into the Fire, that are designed to assist people to transform the spiritual and emotional factors that block the experience of Attunement. In 2010, with other Attunement practitioners, David Karchere founded the Attunement School at Sunrise Ranch. + +== Philosophy == +Attunement is based on Lloyd Arthur Meeker's vision that the human body is designed to be the temple of God. The foundational principle underlying Attunement is what Meeker named as The One Law, or the Law of Cause and Effect. Emissaries of Divine Light teach that the causative factor in spiritual regeneration is the universal power and intelligence within all people, and that through response and opening to that power and intelligence, people experience healing. Attunement practitioners believe that positive shifts in consciousness release a healing energy through a person's body, mind and emotions. Traditionally, the Attunement practitioner is referred to as a server and the recipient is referred to as a servee. +Attunement servers believe they transmit universal life energy through their hands to the servee. The primary connecting points on the servee are the endocrine glands. Attunement servers teach that the endocrine glands are portals for universal life energy that operates through the physical body, and through the mental and emotional function of the individual, and that the servee has the opportunity to open more fully to the life energy within them through receiving an Attunement. +Emissaries of Divine Light hold that the origin of universal life energy is divine in nature and that the core reality of all people is divine. The goal of Attunement is to increase the energetic flow while removing blockages to that flow so that a person's core reality can emerge. +Lloyd Meeker taught that the human connection to universal life energy relies on pneumaplasm, which was his name for the aura of subtle energy, or etheric body surrounding the physical body. Attunement practitioners believe that pneumaplasm is generated when the universal life energy flows through a person, and that the clarity of the pneumaplasmic body depends on the clarity of that energy flow. Attunement practitioners focus on clarifying and enriching the pneumaplasm associated with the endocrine glands and the anatomical systems of the body. +Practitioners believe that the endocrine glands translate seven aspects of the universal life energy into the human experience. They name these as the Seven Spirits. + +Attunement practitioners relate these Seven Spirits to the Seven Spirits of God referenced in the book of Revelation in the Bible. Some Attunement practitioners correlate the seven endocrine glands with seven chakras. + +== Technique == +At the core of the teaching of the technique is the establishment of an energetic circuit between the practitioner (server) and the client (servee). Practitioners seek to establish that circuit by the radiant extension of life energy through the dominant hand of the practitioner to the gland or organ of the client, and the receiving of life energy through the opposite hand from a corresponding contact point in the body. +Meeker taught that the first step in the Attunement process was the alignment of the cervical vertebrae by the radiation of healing energy through the hands on either side of the neck. Contemporary Attunement practitioners continue to teach attunement technique that begins and ends with an Attunement of the cervical vertebrae. Often, the cervical Attunement is followed by Attunement of the endocrine glands and some of the major organs of the body. + +== Spiritual practice == +As a spiritual practice, Attunement is intended to connect a person more closely to their spiritual source and to open the flow of life current. The practice includes conscious attention to the quality of spirit expressing through the practitioner in the daily living of life, and specific periods of meditation in the beginning and ending of each day, taught as Sanctification in the Evening and the Morning. +A central aspect of Attunement as a spiritual practice is referred to by Emissaries of Divine Light as spiritual centering, which they define as a daily practice of opening thoughts and emotions to the spiritual. + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3829c1d4f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,53 @@ +--- +title: "Auditing (Scientology)" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Auditing, also called processing, is a central practice in Scientology in which a trained "auditor" asks structured questions intended to help a participant identify and address past experiences and emotional difficulties. Most auditing uses an E-meter, a device the Church of Scientology describes as a spiritual tool for detecting areas of mental or spiritual trauma, though courts and scientists have found it to have no medical or scientific validity. Auditing is presented as the primary method for advancing up Scientology's Bridge to Total Freedom, a graded series of levels involving procedures and rundowns, using concepts such as the reactive mind, engrams, and past‑life incidents and implants. Scholars and critics have variously described auditing as a form of psychological conditioning, hypnosis, or pseudotherapy, and have raised concerns about its methods, the misuse of confidential session records, and its space‑opera cosmology. There have been legal, regulatory, and ethical controversies related to its unproven medical claims, misuse of private information, the use of child labor, and the death of some participants. + +== Terminology == +L. Ron Hubbard assigned special meanings to many ordinary English words when he wrote about Scientology, and Scientologese has become a language in itself. These are some very basic meanings of words Scientology uses when describing this subject. + +Auditing +The procedures where two individuals work together to improve one of the person's abilities and to reduce or eliminate their neuroses. + +Auditor +A trained Scientologist who is helping another individual through the use of auditing techniques. An auditor is only allowed to audit processes (on others) up to the level of training they have completed (their 'class'). + +Preclear +The person being questioned by an auditor. Also called a "PC". + +Case +The collection of all the preclear's upsets and emotional baggage which auditing is trying to relieve. A preclear's case level is how far a preclear has advanced on the Bridge to Total Freedom. + +Session +A single time when an auditor and preclear sit down to audit. The duration of a session can range from a few minutes to several hours. + +Process +A specific step in auditing. It may consist of repeatedly asking the preclear the same question (an auditing command) until there is no more upset on that question. Many processes are run during a single session. + +Rundown +A series of processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case, such as communication, problems, or happiness. It may take many sessions to complete a rundown. + +End phenomenon +Abbreviated "EP", it is what an auditor is looking for that indicates a process, session or rundown has been completed. The EP of a process might be that the preclear realizes something, is happy about it, and the e-meter is showing certain needle movements. The EP of a session might be that several processes have been performed, and the preclear is very happy about it so it is a good point to stop for the day. A rundown would have a specific EP, such as all auditing questions for the rundown have been asked, and the preclear has experienced some sort of realization such as saying they feel they could now communicate freely with anyone on any subject. + +Intensive +An "intensive" is a block of 12 1/2 hours purchased in advance by the preclear for auditing services. Auditing is to occur intensively so that the 12 1/2 hours is performed within one week. At the end of each session, the hours and minutes used are written down on a form in the preclear's folder, deducted from the amount on account, and the balance is calculated. + +== Description == + +The term "auditing" was coined by L. Ron Hubbard in 1950. Auditing in Scientology is an activity where a trained Scientologist, known as an auditor, listens and asks various questions to the subject, who is referred to as a "preclear" or "PC". +Auditing involves the use of "processes", which are sets of questions asked or directions given by an auditor. Based on a prior interview looking for "charged" subjects—"charge" being that which prevents the PC from thinking on a subject or getting rid of a subject or approaching a subject—on the E-meter, found by asking questions to the PC in regard to them and their fancied case. When the specific objective of any one "process" is achieved, the process is ended, and another can then be started. Through auditing, the subjects are said to free themselves from barriers that inhibit their natural abilities. Charged areas can be viewed as areas of misinformation or lies. Once uncovered, they dissipate as their truth becomes apparent and the charge is eliminated once viewed for what it really is, an untruth. +The Auditor's Code outlines a series of 29 promises which an auditor pledges, such as: + +Not to evaluate for the preclear or tell him what he should think about his case in session +Not to invalidate the preclear's case or gains in or out of session +Never to use the secrets of a preclear divulged in session for punishment or personal gain +The main intention of an auditing session is to remove "charged incidents" that have caused trauma, which are believed in Scientology to be stored in the "reactive mind". These incidents must then be eliminated for proper functioning. +In 1952, auditing techniques "began to focus on the goal of exteriorizing the thetan" with the goal of providing complete spiritual awareness. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a54abcc45 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Auditing (Scientology)" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Preclear === +The "preclear" or "PC" is the person who is being audited—the client, formerly called the "patient". At most levels of auditing, there are two people present: the auditor is the one asking questions, and the preclear is the one answering them. In some of the upper levels, a person audits oneself, being both auditor and preclear at the same time. The term was created back when the ultimate goal of auditing was to create a person who had been cleared, ergo the person being audited was pre-Clear. However, even after Hubbard created the upper levels, the term preclear was still used even if the person had surpassed the state of Clear. The term has continued to represent the role in auditing rather than the level the person has attained. +During an auditing session, the auditor writes down the questions and the preclear's answers, and the papers are stored in the client's PC folder (preclear folder). + +=== E-meter === + +Most auditing sessions involve a device called the Hubbard Electropsychometer or E-meter. It consists of two handheld electrodes connected to a galvanometer. It measures changes in electrical resistance in the body (galvanic skin response). Scientology teaches that changes in electrical resistance indicate areas of "charge", meaning topics that contain emotional or spiritual distress. +According to L. Ron Hubbard, the E-Meter helps the auditor identify areas that need addressing by indicating which processes should be run and when a process or rundown is complete. Hubbard clarified how the E-Meter should be used in conjunction with auditing: + +Auditing is aimed at reactivity. You run what reacts on the meter because it reacts and is therefore part of the reactive mind. A read means there is charge present and available to run. Running reading items, flows and questions is the only way to make a pc better. This is our purpose in auditing. —L. Ron Hubbard +The device is considered a "religious artifact" with no scientific validity and is not considered a medical or scientific instrument. + +== Bridge to Total Freedom == + +The Bridge to Total Freedom (Bridge), also known as the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart (grade chart), is Scientology's primary road map to guide a person through the sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard used the analogy of a bridge: "We are here at a bridge between one state of Man and a next. We are above the chasm which divides a lower from a higher plateau and this chasm marks an artificial evolutionary step in the progress of Man. [...] In this handbook we have the basic axioms and a therapy which works. For God's sake, get busy and build a better bridge!" The current Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart is printed with red ink on white paper and hangs as a poster in every Scientology organization. A newcomer to Scientology starts the Bridge at the bottom of the chart and rises through the levels, perhaps reaching the level of Clear, then continuing upward through the OT Levels to higher states of awareness and ability. Ultimately, the Scientologist hopes to become, as the sociologist David G. Bromley puts it, "an immortal, godlike expression of the life force". + +== Procedure == +Each Grade on the Bridge has a list of processes that auditors should run. Some auditing actions use commands, for example "Recall a time you knew you understood someone," and some auditing actions use questions such as, "What are you willing for me to talk to others about?" Below are sample commands from processes run in each Grade. + +ARC Straightwire: "Recall a communication." +Grade 0: "Recall a place from which you have communicated to another." +Grade I: "Recall a problem you have had with another." +Grade II: "Recall a secret." +Grade III: "Can you recall a time of change?" +Grade IV: "What about a victim you could be responsible for?" +Each Grade targets at a specific area of potential difficulty a person might have. If the subject matter is not "charged"; in other words, if it is not causing any difficulty, then the E-meter will not show any reaction and the person will not be asked further questions on that subject. +John H. Wolfe differentiates auditing from interrogation, prayer, meditation, confession or hypnosis, instead likening it to nondirective therapy: "In its general philosophy and approach, auditing is closest to the nondirective therapy of Carl Rogers (1961), who stressed the importance of having the client find the client's own answers, while the counselor refrains from interpretation, but listens with empathic understanding. Auditing differs from Roger's approach by having the auditor direct the preclear's attention using auditing questions, and by breaking up the session into discrete cycles of action." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..50e92a333 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Auditing (Scientology)" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Rundowns == +Hubbard defines a rundown as "a series of steps which are auditing actions and processes designed to handle a specific aspect of a case and which have a known end phenomena". Hubbard devised dozens of rundowns. The main rundowns are the levels of the Bridge to Total Freedom, which are the codified sequential steps to attain Scientology's concept of spiritual freedom. +One of the earliest rundowns on the Bridge, which most Scientologists are expected to do, is the Purification Rundown. The "purif" is a sauna-and-sweat detoxification program requiring a high intake of vitamins, allegedly designed to remove toxins from the body that would inhibit one's recall needed for future auditing. Some of the basic levels of the Bridge include rundowns said to alleviate issues with communication, problems, and upsets. The Clear Certainty Rundown is the step where the Church of Scientology verifies that the preclear has correctly attained the State of Clear. +There are specialty rundowns such as the three very high-priced "L's Rundowns" available only at Flag which are promoted as executive boosters and promise the ability to be stably exterior—outside of your body. The Super Power Rundown is intended to increase one's perceptions; Hubbard said we have 57 senses which he calls "perceptics". +One of the most controversial rundowns is the Introspection Rundown, which is alleged to handle a psychotic episode or complete mental breakdown but was a key factor in the death of Lisa McPherson and has been widely written about. +Numerous other rundowns are listed on the right margin of the Bridge to Total Freedom. + +== Constructs == + +=== Reactive mind === +The reactive mind (also called a reactive bank, or simply bank) is a concept formulated by Hubbard, referring to that portion of the human mind that is unconscious and operates on a stimulus-response basis. In the reactive mind are engrams which are recordings of incidents in one's life that Hubbard says cause most mental, emotional, and psychosomatic ailments. + +What can it do? It can give a man arthritis, bursitis, asthma, allergies, sinusitis, coronary trouble, high blood pressure and so on down the whole catalogue of psycho-somatic ills, adding a few more which were never specifically classified as psycho-somatic, such as the common cold. —L. Ron Hubbard +The action of auditing is to locate these incidents and "erase" them, meaning they are removed from the unconscious reactive mind and re-filed into the person's conscious analytical mind. + +=== Engram === +The use of the word engram in Dianetics and Scientology is different from the meaning of "engram" in cognitive psychology. According to Hubbard, an engram is a detailed mental image or memory of a traumatic event from the past that occurred when an individual was partially or fully unconscious. Whenever something painful happens while one's "analytic mind" is unconscious, engrams are said to be recorded and stored within the reactive mind. +In 1950, Hubbard first described an engram as a "cellular level recording" that includes both physical and emotional pain, but later redefined his concept as being "a mental image picture of a moment of pain and unconsciousness". +Engrams are said to originate from painful incidents, which close down the "analytic function", leaving a person to operate only on the "reactive" level, where everything, including pain, position, and location are experienced as "aspects of the unpleasant whole." An engram is restimulated if the person is later reminded of the painful experience, causing feelings of guilt or embarrassment – another engram. This cycle is called a "lock" in Scientology terminology. Engrams are stored as series of incidents that are similar, called "chains". +Jeff Jacobsen compared the process of auditing engrams to the Freudian psychoanalytic concept of abreaction, equating engrams to the painful subconscious memories that abreaction therapy brings up to the conscious mind. He quoted Nathaniel Thornton, who compared abreaction to confession. Dorthe Refslund Christensen describes engrams in layman's terms as trauma, a means to explain the long and short term effects of painful experiences. According to Christensen, Hubbard wrote about the dramatization of an engram, where the one who suffered and recorded the pain as an engram relates all sensory perceptions during the time of the painful incident to the incident. These sensory perceptions become "restimulators" that remind the individual of the pain and triggers him or her to re-experience it. +Scholar Richard Holloway writes that according to Scientology, engrams are "damaging experiences that happen by accident," bruises through time implanted on thetans through the course of millions of lives. Sometimes the damage is intentionally inflicted by thetans who desired power over other thetans. Deliberate injuries are called implants in Scientology. Hubbard wrote, "Implants result in all varieties of illness, apathy, degradiation, neurosis and insanity and are the principle causes of these in man." The Christian idea of heaven is a deceptive implant, Hubbard taught, for there is an infinite series of lives after the first, contrary to the Christian notion of the afterlife. +The term engram was coined in 1904 by the German scholar Richard Semon, who defined it as a "stimulus impression" which could be reactivated by the recurrence of "the energetic conditions which ruled at the generation of the engram." Hubbard re-used Semon's concept when he published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950. He conceived of the engram as a form of "memory trace", an idea that had long existed in medicine. According to physician Joseph Winter, who collaborated with Hubbard during the early years of the Dianetics organizations, Hubbard had taken the term "engram" from a 1936 edition of Dorland's Medical Dictionary, where it was defined as "a lasting mark or trace...In psychology it is the lasting trace left in the psyche by anything that has been experienced psychically; a latent memory picture." Hubbard had originally used various terms such as "norn", "comanome" and "impediment" before settling on "engram" following a suggestion from Winter. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e29e77157 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Auditing (Scientology)" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Incidents and implants === +"Incidents" are events that happened to a person which continue to have a grip on their mind or spirit, and negatively affects them. It could be an accident or traumatic event that includes pain and subconscious commands, whether from this life or in a past life. Auditing procedures locate incidents in the person and relieve or erase them from the person's mind. +"Implants" are an element of some incidents involving externally-imposed memories that contain commands and fictitious events. Hubbard alleges that the person will believe the implanted incident actually existed, and the commands in the implant make the person act strangely. A contemporary analogy would be the installing of a hypnotic command. However, the implants Hubbard presents in his lectures and writings are characterized by past-life incidents set in technologically advanced, space opera scenarios. Typically, these implants involve electronic fields entrapping and zapping a thetan (the being), installing commands, and showing cinema-like moving pictures to install false memories. Such incidents are alleged to have occurred millions or trillions of years ago. However, Hubbard believed that implantation is being performed in contemporary times by psychiatrists and priests. +Methods of trapping and implanting a thetan might include blasts of raw electricity, explosions, fantastic motion, or white energy. Hubbard named his implants based on elements in the narratives—like aircraft door, gorilla, hoipolloi, bear, black thetan, and invisible picture. +Hubbard wrote extensively about specific incidents and implants he alleged are common to all beings on earth, and which should be "audited out" (removed) in order to help a person become more sane or spiritually free. The incidents that have most been covered in media, scholarly works, and books include the between-lives implants, Christian-story implants, and the OT III implants known as the Xenu story. +Jon Atack wrote that "implants are [considered] the true foundation of the Reactive Mind" and specific implants are addressed by auditing on OT levels II and III. Hubbard names the earliest implant on the whole track as "Facsimile One", and describes the "Between-lives implants" as forgetter implants that cause humans to not remember their past lives. +Hubbard's incidents and implants are unique to Scientology beliefs and have not been proven to exist or to have happened. Critics have noted many scientific implausibilities connected with the OT III incidents. Peter Forde's paper "A Scientific Scrutiny of OT III" analyzes the matter in detail, and the placement of events trillions of years ago contradicts the currently accepted age of the Universe as 13.8 billion years. +Some examples of Hubbard's incidents and implants include the following. + +Helatrobus implants +Hubbard describes the Helatrobus implants as occurring 52 to 382 trillion years ago by an alien nation called the Helatrobans, who sought to restrain minds by capturing and brainwashing thetans; these implants are said to be responsible for the concept of Heaven. +Heaven implants +The Heaven Implants were dated at "43,891,832,611,177 years, 344 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes and 40 seconds ago from 10:02+1⁄2 P.M. Daylight Greenwich Time May 9, 1963." They comprised two series of views of Heaven, the first of which was quite positive: Hubbard compares Heaven to "Busch Gardens in Pasadena". In the second series, Heaven had become a lot shabbier: +The place is shabby. The vegetation is gone. The pillars are scruffy. The saints have vanished. So have the Angels. A sign on one (the left as you "enter") says "This is Heaven". The right has a sign "Hell" with an arrow and inside the grounds one can see the excavations like archaeological diggings with raw terraces, that lead to "Hell". +After being ridiculed in the Anderson Report (a 1960s Australian public inquiry into Scientology), this bulletin was withdrawn from circulation. + +Incident I +Incident I is set four quadrillion years ago, wherein an unsuspecting thetan was subjected to a loud snapping noise, followed by a flood of luminescence, then saw a chariot followed by a trumpeting cherub. After a loud set of snaps, the thetan was overwhelmed by darkness. This is described as the implant opening the gateway to the present universe, separating thetans from their static (natural/godlike) state. The incident is described in Operating Thetan level III (OT III), written in 1967. + +R6 implants (Incident II) +The R6 Implants were the work of the Galactic Confederacy's tyrannical leader, Xenu, 75 million years ago. According to Hubbard, Xenu destroyed billions of captured subjects during Incident II by dropping them into volcanoes and attacking them with nuclear weapons. The subjects, once disembodied, were forced to watch a "three-D, super colossal motion picture" for thirty-six days. This implanted pictures "contain[ing] God, the Devil, Angels, space opera, theaters, helicopters, a constant spinning, a spinning dancer, trains and various scenes very like modern England." +Bodies in pawn +One of the more gruesome incidents is "Bodies in pawn": +A fellow is grabbed, hypnotized, shoved into an electronic field, and then told he is somewhere else. And so he departs—most of him—and goes to the new location while still being under control of the implanters. He picks up a [physical] body in the new location and starts living a life there, while still having a living body somewhere else. The implanters can keep his original body alive indefinitely, and control the [being] through it. If the [being] tries to flee, the hypnotizers simply cause pain to the original body, still alive in a vat of fluid, and he is immediately recalled. That's a BODY IN PAWN. It's a second body you may have, living somewhere else, right in present time. But the second body is not under YOUR direct control. —L. Ron Hubbard + +== Controversies == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0621610a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Auditing (Scientology)" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditing_(Scientology)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:10.624540+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Claimed benefits === +L. Ron Hubbard claimed benefits from auditing including improved IQ, improved ability to communicate, enhanced memory and alleviation of issues such as psychosis, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder. Some people have alleged that auditing amounts to medical treatment without a license, and in the 1950s, some auditors were arrested on the charge. The Church of Scientology disputes that it is practicing medicine, and it has successfully established in United States courts of law that auditing addresses only spiritual relief. According to the Church, the psychotherapist treats mental health and the Church treats the spiritual being. Hubbard clarified the difference between the two: + +If we processed a specific type of aberration, we of course would be in the field of mental healing, and so forth. But long ago we actually discovered that we must not process specific aberrations, which takes us out of the field of mental healing. +It is quite fatal to do this because in the first place it's an evaluation for the case. In the second place, it's a negative type process; you're condemning the individual for hitting girls. Doesn't validate the individual at all. Do you follow? And if carried on very long, does not result in the betterment of an individual. All we're interested in is the spiritual betterment of the individual[.] +In 1971, a ruling of the United States District Court, District of Columbia (333 F. Supp. 357), specifically stated that the E-meter "has no proven usefulness in the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease, nor is it medically or scientifically capable of improving any bodily function." As a result of this ruling, Scientology now publishes disclaimers in its books and publications declaring that the E-meter "by itself does nothing" and that it is used specifically for spiritual purposes. + +=== Misuse of confidential information === +Auditing sessions are permanently recorded in the form of handwritten notes stored in folders called preclear folders, which are supposed to be kept private and confidential. Judge Paul Breckenridge, in Church of Scientology of California v. Armstrong, noted that Mary Sue Hubbard (the plaintiff in that case) "authored the infamous order 'GO 121669', which directed culling of supposedly confidential P.C. files/folder for the purposes of internal security". This directive was later canceled because it was not part of Scientology as written by L. Ron Hubbard. Bruce Hines has noted in an interview with Hoda Kotb that Scientology's collecting of personal and private information through auditing can possibly leave an adherent vulnerable to potential "blackmail" should they ever consider disaffecting from the cult. A number of sources have claimed that information gleaned from preclear folders have indeed been used for intimidation and harassment. + +=== Hypnosis === + +Auditing has been described by some scholars and government inquiries as involving hypnotic elements. Hassan and Scheflin (2024) states that Hubbard incorporated hypnotic techniques into auditing practice and that these techniques can induce a light hypnotic state and create dependency and obedience in the subject. In 1965 the Anderson Report, an official inquiry conducted for the state of Victoria, Australia, found that auditing involved a form of "authoritative" or "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the subject. The report stated: "It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous [...] it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology." + +=== Child labor === +Dutch investigative reporter Rinke Verkerk reported that she was given an auditing session by an 11-year-old in the Netherlands. This has been criticized by clinical psychologists and child psychologists, on the grounds that secondary trauma can affect children more strongly than adults. The fact that the child was working full days for a whole weekend was also considered to be problematic. + +== Cost == +The prices to undertake a full course of auditing with the Church of Scientology are not often advertised publicly. As of 2011 it can easily cost $400,000 to do the entirety of Scientology's "Bridge to Total Freedom" (equivalent to $572,000 in 2025). In a 1964 letter, Hubbard stated that a 25-hour block of auditing should cost the equivalent of "three months' pay for the average middle class working individual." In 2007, the fee for a 12 and a half hour block of auditing at the Tampa Org was $4000 (equivalent to $6,210 in 2025). The Church of Scientology is often criticized for the prices it charges for auditing, and examinations of the orgranization have indicated that profit is their primary purpose. Hubbard stated that charging for auditing was necessary because the practice required an exchange, and should the auditor not receive something for their services it could harm both parties. + +== See also == +Scientology security checks + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== External links == +Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..41504c695 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Aura (paranormal)" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:11.877987+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +According to spiritual beliefs, an aura or energy field is a colored emanation said to enclose a human body or any animal or object. In some esoteric positions, the aura is described as a subtle body. Psychics and holistic medicine practitioners often claim to have the ability to see the size, color and type of vibration of an aura. +In spiritual alternative medicine, the human aura is seen as part of a hidden anatomy that reflects the state of being and health of a client, often understood to even comprise centers of vital force called chakras. Such claims are not supported by scientific evidence and are thus considered pseudoscience. When tested under scientific controlled experiments, the ability to see auras has not been proven to exist. + +== Etymology == +In Latin and Ancient Greek, aura means wind, breeze or breath. It was used in Middle English to mean "gentle breeze". By the end of the 19th century, the word was used in some spiritualist circles to describe a speculated subtle emanation around the body. + +== History == + +The concept of auras was first popularized by Charles Webster Leadbeater, a former priest of the Church of England and a member of the mystic Theosophical Society. He had studied theosophy in India, and believed he had the capacity to use his clairvoyant powers to make scientific investigations. He claimed that he had discovered that most men came from Mars but the more advanced men came from the Moon, and that hydrogen atoms were made of six bodies contained in an egg-like form. In his book Man Visible and Invisible, published in 1903, Leadbeater illustrated the aura of man at various stages of his moral evolution, from the "savage" to the saint. In 1910, he introduced the modern conception of auras by incorporating the Tantric notion of chakras in his book The Inner Life. Leadbeater did not simply present the Tantric beliefs to the West: he reconstructed and reinterpreted them by mixing them with his own ideas. Some of Leadbeater's innovations are describing chakras as energy vortices, and associating each of them with a gland, an organ and other body parts. +In the following years, Leadbeater's ideas on the aura and chakras were adopted and reinterpreted by other theosophists such as Rudolf Steiner and Edgar Cayce, but his occult anatomy remained of minor interest within the esoteric counterculture until the 1980s, when it was picked up by the New Age movement. +In 1977, American esotericist Christopher Hills published the book Nuclear Evolution: The Rainbow Body, which presented a modified version of Leadbeater's occult anatomy. Whereas Leadbeater had drawn each chakras with intricately detailed shapes and multiple colors, Hills presented them as a sequence of centers, each one being associated with a color of the rainbow. Most of the subsequent New Age writers based their representations of the aura on Hill's interpretation of Leadbeater's ideas. Chakras became a part of mainstream esoteric speculations in the 1980s and 1990s. Many New Age techniques that aim to clear blockages of the chakras were developed during those years, such as crystal healing and aura-soma. By the late 1990s chakras were less connected with their theosophical and Hindu roots, and more infused with New Age ideas. A variety of New Age books proposed different links between each chakras and colors, personality traits, illnesses, Christian sacraments, etc. Various type of holistic healing within the New Age movement claim to use aura reading techniques, such as bioenergetic analysis, spiritual energy and energy medicine. + +== Auric energy == +In yoga participants attempt to focus on, or enhance their "auric energy shield". The concept of auric energy is spiritual and is concerned with metaphysics. Some people think that the aura carries a person's soul after death. + +== Aura photography == + +There have been numerous attempts to capture an energy field around the human body, going as far back as photographs by French physician Hippolyte Baraduc in the 1890s. Supernatural interpretations of these images have often been the result of a lack of understanding of the simple natural phenomena behind them, such as heat emanating from a human body producing aura-like images under infrared photography. + +In 1939, Semyon Davidovich Kirlian discovered that by placing an object or body part directly on photographic paper, and then passing a high voltage across the object, he would obtain the image of a glowing contour surrounding the object. This process came to be known as Kirlian photography. Some parapsychologists, such as Thelma Moss of UCLA, have proposed that these images show levels of psychic powers and bioenergies. However, studies have found that the Kirlian effect is caused by the presence of moisture on the object being photographed. Electricity produces an area of gas ionization around the object if it is moist, which is the case for living things. This causes an alternation of the electric charge pattern on the film. After rigorous experimentations, no mysterious process has been discovered in relation to the Kirlian photography. +More recent attempts at capturing auras include the Aura Imaging cameras and software introduced by Guy Coggins in 1992. Coggins claims that his software uses biofeedback data to color the picture of the subject. The technique has failed to yield reproducible results. + +== Tests == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f5563a7b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "Aura (paranormal)" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_(paranormal)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:11.877987+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Tests of psychic abilities to observe alleged aura emanations have repeatedly been met with failure. +One test involved placing people in a dark room and asking the psychic to state how many auras she could observe. Only chance results were obtained. +Recognition of auras has occasionally been tested on television. One test involved an aura reader standing on one side of a room with an opaque partition separating her from a number of slots which might contain either actual people or mannequins. The aura reader failed to identify the slots containing people, incorrectly stating that all contained people. +In another televised test another aura reader was placed before a partition where five people were standing. He claimed that he could see their auras from behind the partition. As each person moved out, the reader was asked to identify where that person was standing behind the slot. He identified two out of five correctly. +Attempts to prove the existence of auras scientifically have repeatedly met with failure; for example people are unable to see auras in complete darkness, and auras have never been successfully used to identify people when their identifying features are otherwise obscured in controlled tests. A 1999 study concluded that conventional sensory cues such as radiated body heat might be mistaken for evidence of a metaphysical phenomenon. + +== Scientific explanation == +Psychologist Andrew Neher has written that "there is no good evidence to support the notion that auras are, in any way, psychic in origin". +It has been suggested that auras may result from synaesthesia. However, a 2012 study discovered no link between auras and synaesthesia, concluding that "the discrepancies found suggest that both phenomena are phenomenological and behaviourally dissimilar". Clinical neurologist Steven Novella has written: "Given the weight of the evidence it seems that the connection between auras and synaesthesia is speculative and based on superficial similarities that are likely coincidental." +Bridgette Perez, in a review for the Skeptical Inquirer, wrote: "perceptual distortions, illusions, and hallucinations might promote belief in auras... Psychological factors, including absorption, fantasy proneness, vividness of visual imagery, and after-images, might also be responsible for the phenomena of the aura." +Scientists have repeatedly concluded that the ability to see auras does not actually exist. + +== In popular culture == +The book The Third Eye, written by Cyril Henry Hoskin under the pseudonym Lobsang Rampa, claims that Tibetan monks opened the spiritual third eye using trepanation in order to accelerate the development of clairvoyance and allow them to see the aura. It also includes body gazing techniques purported to help achieve aura visualization. The book is by some considered to be a hoax. +Auras are an integral part of the 1994 novel Insomnia by Stephen King. Through constant insomnia, the main character, Ralph Roberts, begins to see the world as different colored auras. +In the Pokémon series, Lucario, introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (2006), is known as the "Aura Pokémon" and it's said to be able to tell how others feel by reading the auras of all things. Additionally, the concept of aura inspired the English names of two different moves: the Fighting-type move Aura Sphere and the Electric-type move Aura Wheel. The Pokémon Kirlia seems to receive its English name from the Kirlian photography. + +== See also == +Aureola +Clairvoyance +Confirmation bias +Energy field disturbance +Halo (religious iconography) +Human Design +Lesya +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Metaphysics +Scientific skepticism +Spirit photography + +== References == + +=== Works cited === +Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (2006). Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004152311. +Hammer, Olav (2001). Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 900413638X. +Hines, Terence (2002). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (2nd ed.). Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573929794. +Tillett, Gregory John (1 January 1986). Charles Webster Leadbeater 1854–1934: a biographical study (Thesis). University of Sydney. hdl:2123/1623. + +== External links == +Auras in the "Skeptic's dictionary" +How Aura Photography Invaded Instagram \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriculotherapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriculotherapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9330392c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriculotherapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: "Auriculotherapy" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriculotherapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:13.094510+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Auriculotherapy (also auricular therapy, ear acupuncture, and auriculoacupuncture) is a form of alternative medicine based on the idea that the ear is a micro system and an external organ, which reflects the entire body, represented on the auricle, the outer portion of the ear. Conditions affecting the person's physical, mental, or emotional health are assumed to be treatable by stimulating the surface of the ear exclusively. Similar mappings are used by several modalities, including the practices of reflexology and iridology. These mappings are not based on or supported by any medical or scientific evidence, and are therefore considered to be pseudoscience. + + +== History and development == +French neurologist Paul Nogier invented auriculotherapy in 1957. Nogier developed a phrenological method of projection of a fetal Homunculus on the ear and published what he called the "Vascular Autonomic Signal" which measured a change in the amplitude of the pulse. That mechanism would only produce a signal upon the introduction of new information to the electromagnetic field of the patient. Nogier cited a 'principle of matching resonance' which he could use the vascular autonomic signal to detect the active points of the auricular microsystem. +Nogier's Auricular acupuncture was introduced to China in 1958. +A variation of auriculotherapy called "ear stapling" involves the long-term insertion of a medical staple in the conchal bowl of the ear. Advocates variously claim that the procedure aids in losing weight, stopping smoking, and managing stress. + + +== Battlefield acupuncture == +In 2001, Richard Niemtzow developed a procedure he called "battlefield acupuncture", in an attempt to research more efficient relief for phantom limb pain and chronic pain for veterans. Battlefield Acupuncture involves placing gold aiguille semi-permanent needles at up to five sites in the ears. In 2018, the United States Department of Defense, the Veterans Center for Integrative Pain Management, and the Veterans Health Administration National Pain Management Program office completed a 3-year, $5.4 million acupuncture education and training program, which trained over 2800 providers in Battlefield Acupuncture. Retired U.S. Air Force flight surgeon Harriet Hall characterized the Department of Defense's use of acupuncture and auriculotherapy as an embarrassing "infiltration of quackery into military medicine", a waste of tax dollars, and a potential harm to patients. + + +== Nogier points == + +The principles of auriculotherapy are contrary to the known anatomy and physiology of the human body. +According to Nogier, the relevant structures include: + +Helix, the outer prominent rim of the auricle +Antihelix, the elevated ridge anterior and parallel to the helix +Triangular fossa, a triangular depression +Scapha, the narrow curved depression between the helix and the antihelix +Tragus, the small, curved flap in front of the auricle +Antitragus, the small tubercle opposite to the tragus +Concha, the hollow next to the ear canal +Nogier claims that various points located on the ear lobe are related to the head, and facial region, those on the scapha are related to the upper limbs, those on the antihelix and antihelix crura to the trunk and lower limbs and those in the concha are related to the internal organs. + + +== Chinese auricular acupuncture == +"Auricular acupuncture therapy is an important part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which is ascribed to a kind of micro-needle system. It has been considered to be a valuable asset in the treasure house of Chinese medicine". There are many Chinese medical classics that have the inclusion of Auricular points to treat illness as defined by Chinese medical theory. It was not until the French neurologist Paul Nogier systematically referenced and chartered the points of the ear in the late 1950s. This treatment was extensively researched, developed, and practiced as a modality in East Asia and the West. + + +== Criticism == +A controlled crossover study of 36 patients failed to find any difference between the two experiments. The study concluded that auriculotherapy is not an effective therapeutic procedure for chronic pain. +The first experiment compared the effects of stimulation of auriculotherapy points versus control points. A second experiment compared the stimulation of these points with a placebo control of no stimulation. Using the McGill Pain Questionnaire, pain was not decreased at the points compared to the controls. Patients' reports of pain relief after auriculotherapy are due to placebo effects. +Also, during electrical stimulation, patients sometimes reported new pain in an unrelated body part. These referred sensations reinforce the pain relief produced by the placebo effect and may be part of why the belief in auriculotherapy persists. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9a21d0283 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "Australo-Melanesian" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australo-Melanesian" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:14.315236+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Australo-Melanesians (also known as Australasians or the Australomelanesoid, Australoid or Australioid race) is an outdated historical grouping of various people indigenous to Melanesia and Australia. Controversially, some groups found in parts of Southeast Asia and South Asia were also sometimes included. +While most authors included Papuans, Aboriginal Australians and Melanesians (mainly from Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu), there was controversy about the inclusion of the various Southeast Asian populations grouped as "Negrito", or a number of dark-skinned tribal populations of the Indian subcontinent. +The concept of dividing humankind into three, four or five races (often called Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australoid) was introduced in the 18th century and further developed by Western scholars in the context of "racist ideologies" during the age of colonialism. With the rise of modern genetics, the concept of distinct human races in a biological sense has become obsolete. In 2019, the American Association of Biological Anthropologists stated: "The belief in “races” as natural aspects of human biology, and the structures of inequality (racism) that emerge from such beliefs, are among the most damaging elements in the human experience both today and in the past." + + +== Terminological history == +The term "Australoid" was coined in ethnology in the mid 19th century, describing tribes or populations "of the type of native Australians". The term "Australioid race" was introduced by Thomas Huxley in 1870 to refer to certain peoples indigenous to South and Southeast Asia and Oceania. In physical anthropology, Australoid is used for morphological features characteristic of Aboriginal Australians by Daniel John Cunningham in his Text-book of Anatomy (1902). An Australioid (sic, with an additional -i-) racial group was first proposed by Thomas Huxley in an essay On the Geographical Distribution of the Chief Modifications of Mankind (1870), in which he divided humanity into four principal groups (Xanthochroic, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australioid). His original model included the native inhabitants of Deccan in India under the Australoid category, specifically "in a well-marked form" among the hill tribes of the Deccan Plateau. Huxley further classified the Melanochroi (Peoples of the Mediterranean race) as a mixture of the Xanthochroi (northern Europeans) and Australioids. +Huxley (1870) described Australioids as dolichocephalic; their hair as usually silky, black and wavy or curly, with large, heavy jaws and prognathism, with skin the color of chocolate and irises which are dark brown or black. +The term "Proto-Australoid" was used by Roland Burrage Dixon in his Racial History of Man (1923). In The Origin of Races (1962), Carleton Coon expounded his system of five races (Australoid, Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Congoid and Capoid) with separate origins. Based on such evidence as claiming Australoids had the largest, megadont teeth, this group was assessed by Coon as being the most archaic and therefore the most primitive and backward. Coon's methods and conclusions were later discredited and show either a "poor understanding of human cultural history and evolution or his use of ethnology for a racialist agenda." +Terms associated with outdated notions of racial types, such as those ending in "-oid" have come to be seen as potentially offensive and related to scientific racism. + + +== Controversies == + +The populations grouped as "Negrito", such as the Andamanese (from the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean), the Semang and Batek peoples (from Malaysia), the Maniq people (from Thailand), the Aeta people, the Ati people, and certain other ethnic groups in the Philippines, the Vedda people of Sri Lanka and a number of dark-skinned tribal populations in the interior of the Indian subcontinent (some Dravidian-speaking tribes and Austroasiatic-speaking Munda peoples) were also suggested by some to belong to the Australo-Melanesian group, but there were controversies about this inclusion. +The inclusion of Indian tribes in the group was not well-defined, and was closely related to the question of the original peopling of India, and the possible shared ancestry between Indian, Andamanese, and Sahulian populations of the Upper Paleolithic. +The suggested Australo-Melanesian ancestry of the original South Asian populations has long remained an open question. It was embraced by Indian anthropologists as emphasising the deep antiquity of Indian prehistory. Australo-Melanesian hunter-gatherer and fisherman tribes of the interior of India were identified with the Nishada Kingdom described in the Mahabharata. Panchanan Mitra (1923) following Vincenzo Giuffrida-Ruggeri (1913) recognises a Pre-Dravidian Australo-Veddaic stratum in India. +Alternatively, the Dravidians themselves have been claimed as originally of Australo-Melanesian stock, a view held by Biraja Sankar Guha among others. +South Indian tribes specifically described as having Australo-Melanesian affinities include the Oraon, Munda, Santal, Bhil, Gondi, the Kadars of Kerala, the Kurumba and Irula of the Nilgiris, the Paniyans of Malabar, the Uralis, Kannikars, Muthuvan and Chenchus. +In 1953, the Australoid race were believed to be part of the "Archaic Caucasoid race", along with Ainus, Dravidians and Veddas. + + +== Criticism based on modern genetics == + +After discussing various criteria used in biology to define subspecies or races, Alan R. Templeton concludes in 2016: "[T]he answer to the question whether races exist in humans is clear and unambiguous: no." +The Pan-Asian genome project concluded that Negrito populations in Malaysia and the Negrito populations in the Philippines were more closely related to non-Negrito local populations, rather than to each other, highlighting the non-existence of a distinct Australo-Melanesian grouping. + + +== See also == +Austronesian peoples +Orang Asli + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics-0.md index 5e701380b..e152751a7 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autodynamics" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:07.486350+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:15.509623+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1d1e4085c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 1/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Ayurveda (; IAST: āyurveda) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. Ayurveda has been adapted for Western consumption, notably by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and Maharishi ayurveda in the 1980s. The theory and practice of ayurveda are pseudoscientific, and many ayurvedic preparations, particularly in the rasa shastra tradition, contain toxic levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic. There is no evidence that cancer can be treated or cured through ayurveda. +Ayurveda therapies have varied and evolved over more than two millennia. Therapies include herbal medicines, special diets, meditation, yoga, massage, laxatives, enemas, and medical oils. Early ayurvedic preparations were almost entirely based on complex herbal compounds based on the materia medica of South Asia. Minerals and other metal substances began to enter the traditional pharmacopoeia more pervasively after the eleventh century, under the influence of early Indian alchemy or rasashastra. Ancient ayurveda texts also taught surgical techniques, including rhinoplasty, lithotomy, sutures, cataract surgery, and the extraction of foreign objects. +Historical evidence for ayurvedic terminology and concepts appear in the Buddhist Canon from the middle of the first millennium BCE onwards. The main classical ayurveda texts are datable in their present form to the first centuries CE. Like many texts from Classical Antiquity, these texts begin with accounts of the transmission of medical knowledge from the gods to sages and then to human physicians. Printed editions of the Sushruta Samhita (Sushruta's Compendium), frame the work as the teachings of Dhanvantari, the Hindu deity of ayurveda, incarnated as King Divodāsa of Varanasi, to a group of physicians, including Sushruta. The oldest manuscripts of the work, however, omit this frame, ascribing the work directly to King Divodāsa. +In ayurveda texts, dosha balance is emphasised, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness. Ayurveda treatises describe three elemental doshas: vāta, pitta and kapha, and state that balance (Skt. sāmyatva) of the doshas results in health, while imbalance (viṣamatva) results in disease. Ayurveda treatises divide medicine into eight canonical components. Ayurveda practitioners had developed various medicinal preparations and surgical procedures from at least the beginning of the common era. + +== Etymology == +The term āyurveda (Sanskrit: आयुर्वेद) is composed of two words, āyus, आयुस्, "life" or "longevity", and veda, वेद, "knowledge", translated as "knowledge of longevity" or "knowledge of life and longevity". + +== Eight components == + +The earliest classical Sanskrit works on ayurveda describe medicine as being divided into eight components (Skt. aṅga). This characterization of the physician's art, "the medicine that has eight components" (Sanskrit: चिकित्सायामष्टाङ्गायाम्, romanized: cikitsāyām aṣṭāṅgāyāṃ), is first found in the Sanskrit epic the Mahābhārata, c. 4th century BCE. The components are: + +Kāyachikitsā: general medicine, medicine of the body +Kaumāra-bhṛtya (Pediatrics): Discussions about prenatal and postnatal care of baby and mother; methods of conception; choosing the child's sex, intelligence, and constitution; childhood diseases; and midwifery +Śalyatantra: surgical techniques and the extraction of foreign objects +Śhālākyatantra: treatment of ailments affecting openings or cavities in the upper body: ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. +Bhūtavidyā: pacification of possessing spirits, and the people whose minds are affected by such possession +Agadatantra/Vishagara-vairodh Tantra (Toxicology): includes epidemics; toxins in animals, vegetables and minerals; and keys for recognizing those anomalies and their antidotes +Rasāyantantra: rejuvenation and tonics for increasing lifespan, intellect and strength +Vājīkaraṇatantra: aphrodisiacs; treatments for increasing the volume and viability of semen and sexual pleasure; infertility problems. +Note, however, that the chapter-divisions of the major ancient encyclopedias of ayurveda do not follow these divisions. + +== Principles and terminology == + +The central philosophical ideas of ayurveda show parallels with Samkhya and Vaisheshika philosophies, as well as with Buddhism and Jainism. Moderation is emphasized, and suppressing natural urges is considered unhealthy and claimed to lead to illness. For example, to suppress sneezing is said to potentially give rise to shoulder pain. However, people are also cautioned to stay within the limits of reasonable balance and measure when following nature's urges. For example, emphasis is placed on moderation of food intake, sleep, and sexual intercourse. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4e4c1892a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 2/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +According to ayurveda, the human body is composed of tissues (dhatus), waste (malas), and humoral fluids (doshas). The seven dhatus are chyle (rasa), blood (rakta), muscles (māmsa), fat (meda), bone (asthi), marrow (majja), and semen (shukra). Like the medicine of classical antiquity, the classic treatises of ayurveda divided bodily substances into five classical elements (panchamahabhuta) viz. earth, water, fire, air and ether. There are also twenty gunas (qualities or characteristics) which are considered to be inherent in all matter. These are organized in ten pairs: heavy/light, cold/hot, unctuous/dry, dull/sharp, stable/mobile, soft/hard, non-slimy/slimy, smooth/coarse, minute/gross, and viscous/liquid. +The three postulated elemental bodily humours, the doshas or tridosha, are vata (air, which some modern authors equate with the nervous system), pitta (bile, fire, equated by some with enzymes), and kapha (phlegm, or earth and water, equated by some with mucus). Contemporary critics assert that doshas are not real, but are a fictional concept. The humours (doshas) may also affect mental health. Each dosha has particular attributes and roles within the body and mind; the natural predominance of one or more doshas thus explains a person's physical constitution (prakriti) and personality. Ayurvedic tradition holds that imbalance among the bodily and mental doshas is a major etiologic component of disease. One ayurvedic view is that the doshas are balanced when they are equal to each other, while another view is that each human possesses a unique combination of the doshas which define this person's temperament and characteristics. In either case, it says that each person should modulate their behavior or environment to increase or decrease the doshas and maintain their natural state. Practitioners of ayurveda must determine an individual's bodily and mental dosha makeup, as certain prakriti are said to predispose one to particular diseases. For example, a person who is thin, shy, excitable, has a pronounced Adam's apple, and enjoys esoteric knowledge is likely vata prakriti and therefore more susceptible to conditions such as flatulence, stuttering, and rheumatism. Deranged vata is also associated with certain mental disorders due to excited or excess vayu (gas), although the ayurvedic text Charaka Samhita also attributes "insanity" (unmada) to cold food and possession by the ghost of a sinful Brahman (brahmarakshasa). +Ama (a Sanskrit word meaning "uncooked" or "undigested") is used to refer to the concept of anything that exists in a state of incomplete transformation. With regards to oral hygiene, it is claimed to be a toxic byproduct generated by improper or incomplete digestion. The concept has no equivalent in standard medicine. +In medieval taxonomies of the Sanskrit knowledge systems, ayurveda is assigned a place as a subsidiary Veda (upaveda). Some medicinal plant names from the Atharvaveda and other Vedas can be found in subsequent ayurveda literature. Some other school of thoughts considers 'ayurveda' as the 'Fifth Veda'. The earliest recorded theoretical statements about the canonical models of disease in ayurveda occur in the earliest Buddhist Canon. + +== Practice == + +Ayurvedic practitioners regard physical existence, mental existence, and personality as three separate elements of a whole person with each element being able to influence the others. This holistic approach used during diagnosis and healing is a fundamental aspect of ayurveda. Another part of ayurvedic treatment says that there are channels (srotas) which transport fluids, and that the channels can be opened up by massage treatment using oils and Swedana (fomentation). Unhealthy, or blocked, channels are thought to cause disease. + +=== Diagnosis === + +Ayurveda has eight ways to diagnose illness, called nadi (pulse), mootra (urine), mala (stool), jihva (tongue), shabda (speech), sparsha (touch), druk (vision), and aakruti (appearance). Ayurvedic practitioners approach diagnosis by using the five senses. For example, hearing is used to observe the condition of breathing and speech. The study of vulnerable points, or marma, is particular to ayurvedic medicine. + +=== Treatment and prevention === +Two of the eight branches of classical ayurveda deal with surgery (Śalya-cikitsā and Śālākya-tantra), but contemporary ayurveda tends to stress attaining vitality by building a healthy metabolic system and maintaining good digestion and excretion. Ayurveda also focuses on exercise, yoga, and meditation. One type of prescription is a Sattvic diet. +Ayurveda follows the concept of dinacharya, which says that natural cycles (waking, sleeping, working, meditation etc.) are important for health. Hygiene, including regular bathing, cleaning of teeth, oil pulling, tongue scraping, skin care, and eye washing, is also a central practice. + +=== Substances used === + +The vast majority (90%) of ayurvedic remedies are plant based. Plant-based treatments in ayurveda may be derived from roots, leaves, fruits, bark, or seeds; some examples of plant-based substances include cardamom and cinnamon. In the 19th century, William Dymock and co-authors summarized hundreds of plant-derived medicines along with the uses, microscopic structure, chemical composition, toxicology, prevalent myths and stories, and relation to commerce in British India. Triphala, an herbal formulation of three fruits, Amalaki, Bibhitaki, and Haritaki, is one of the most commonly used ayurvedic remedies. The herbs Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) and Ocimum tenuiflorum (Tulsi) are also routinely used in ayurveda. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c66371231 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 3/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Animal products used in ayurveda include milk, bones, and gallstones. In addition, fats are prescribed both for consumption and for external use. Consumption of minerals, including sulfur, arsenic, lead, copper sulfate and gold, are also prescribed. The addition of minerals to herbal medicine is called rasashastra. +Ayurveda uses alcoholic beverages called Madya, which are said to adjust the doshas by increasing pitta and reducing vatta and kapha. Madya are classified by the raw material and fermentation process, and the categories include: sugar-based, fruit-based, cereal-based, cereal-based with herbs, fermented with vinegar, and tonic wines. The intended outcomes can include causing purgation, improving digestion or taste, creating dryness, or loosening joints. Ayurvedic texts describe Madya as non-viscid and fast-acting, and say that it enters and cleans minute pores in the body. +Purified opium is used in eight ayurvedic preparations and is said to balance the vata and kapha doshas and increase the pitta dosha. It is prescribed for diarrhea and dysentery, for increasing the sexual and muscular ability, and for affecting the brain. The sedative and pain-relieving properties of opium are considered in ayurveda. The use of opium is found in the ancient ayurvedic texts, and is first mentioned in the Sarngadhara Samhita (1300–1400 CE), a book on pharmacy used in Rajasthan in Western India, as an ingredient of an aphrodisiac to delay male ejaculation. It is possible that opium was brought to India along with or before Muslim conquests. The book Yoga Ratnakara (1700–1800 CE, unknown author), which is popular in Maharashtra, uses opium in a herbal-mineral composition prescribed for diarrhea. In the Bhaisajya Ratnavali, opium and camphor are used for acute gastroenteritis. In this drug, the respiratory depressant action of opium is counteracted by the respiratory stimulant property of camphor. Later books have included the narcotic property for use as analgesic pain reliever. +Cannabis indica is also mentioned in the ancient ayurveda books, and is first mentioned in the Sarngadhara Samhita as a treatment for diarrhea. In the Bhaisajya Ratnavali it is named as an ingredient in an aphrodisiac. +Ayurveda says that both oil and tar can be used to stop bleeding, and that traumatic bleeding can be stopped by four different methods: ligation of the blood vessel, cauterisation by heat, use of preparations to facilitate clotting, and use of preparations to constrict the blood vessels. + +Massage with oil is commonly prescribed by ayurvedic practitioners. Oils are used in a number of ways, including regular consumption, anointing, smearing, head massage, application to affected areas, and oil pulling. Warm oil may also be poured on the patient's forehead, a technique called shirodhara. + +=== Panchakarma === +According to ayurveda, panchakarma are techniques to eliminate toxic elements from the body. Panchakarma refers to five actions, which are meant to be performed in a designated sequence with the stated aim of restoring balance in the body through a process of purgation. + +== Current status == +Ayurveda is widely practiced in India and Nepal where public institutions offer formal study in the form of a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degree. The legal standing of practitioners is not equivalent to that of conventional medicine and it is unrecognised in most countries. Several scholars have described the contemporary Indian application of ayurvedic practice as being "biomedicalised" relative to the more "spiritualised" emphasis to practice found in variants in the West. +Exposure to European developments in medicine from the nineteenth century onwards, through European colonization of India and the subsequent institutionalized support for European forms of medicine amongst European heritage settlers in India were challenging to ayurveda, with the entire epistemology called into question. From the twentieth century, ayurveda became politically, conceptually, and commercially dominated by modern biomedicine, resulting in "modern ayurveda" and "global ayurveda". Modern ayurveda is geographically located in the Indian subcontinent and tends towards secularisation through the minimisation of the magical and mythical aspects of ayurveda. Global ayurveda encompasses multiple forms of practice that developed through dispersal to a wide geographical area outside of India. Smith and Wujastyk further delineate that global ayurveda includes those primarily interested in the ayurveda pharmacopeia, and also the practitioners of New Age ayurveda (which may link ayurveda to yoga and Indian spirituality and/or emphasize preventative practice, mind body medicine, or Maharishi ayurveda). +Since the 1980s, ayurveda has also become the subject of interdisciplinary studies in ethnomedicine which seeks to integrate the biomedical sciences and humanities to improve the pharmacopeia of ayurveda. According to industry research, the global ayurveda market was worth US$4.5 billion in 2017. + +=== The Indian subcontinent === + +==== India ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a4eec7aa3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 4/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +It was reported in 2008 and again in 2018 that around 80 percent of people in India used ayurveda exclusively or combined with conventional Western medicine. A 2014 national health survey found that, in general, forms of the Indian system of medicine or AYUSH (ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, unani, siddha, and homeopathy) were used by about 3.5% of patients who were seeking outpatient care over a two-week reference period. +In 1970, the Indian parliament passed the Indian Medical Central Council Act which aimed to standardise qualifications for ayurveda practitioners and provide accredited institutions for its study and research. In 1971, the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) was established under the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha medicine and Homoeopathy, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to monitor higher education in ayurveda in India. The Indian government supports research and teaching in ayurveda through many channels at both the national and state levels, and helps institutionalise traditional medicine so that it can be studied in major towns and cities. The state-sponsored Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) is designed to do research on ayurveda. Many clinics in urban and rural areas are run by professionals who qualify from these institutes. As of 2013, India had over 180 training centers that offered degrees in traditional ayurvedic medicine. +To fight biopiracy and unethical patents, the government of India set up the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library in 2001 to serve as a repository for formulations from systems of Indian medicine, such as ayurveda, unani and siddha medicine. The formulations come from over 100 traditional ayurveda books. An Indian Academy of Sciences document quoting a 2003–04 report states that India had 432,625 registered medical practitioners, 13,925 dispensaries, 2,253 hospitals and a bed strength of 43,803, 209 undergraduate teaching institutions, and 16 postgraduate institutions. In 2012, it was reported that insurance companies covered expenses for ayurvedic treatments in case of conditions such as spinal cord disorders, bone disorder, arthritis and cancer. Such claims constituted 5–10 percent of the country's health insurance claims. +Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an organisation dedicated to fighting superstition in India, considers ayurveda to be pseudoscience. +On 9 November 2014, India formed the Ministry of Ayush. National Ayurveda Day is also observed in India on the birth of Dhanvantari that is Dhanteras. +In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report titled "The Health Workforce in India" which found that 31 percent of those who claimed to be doctors in India in 2001 were educated only up to the secondary school level and 57 percent went without any medical qualification. The WHO study found that the situation was worse in rural India with only 18.8 percent of doctors holding a medical qualification. Overall, the study revealed that nationally, the density of all doctors (mainstream, ayurvedic, homeopathic and unani) was 8 per 10,000 people, compared to 13 per 10,000 people in China. + +==== Nepal ==== +About 75% to 80% of the population of Nepal use ayurveda. As of 2009, ayurveda was considered to be the most common and popular form of medicine in Nepal. + +==== Sri Lanka ==== +The Sri Lankan tradition of ayurveda is similar to the Indian tradition. Practitioners of ayurveda in Sri Lanka refer to Sanskrit texts which are common to both countries. However, they do differ in some aspects, particularly in the herbs used. +In 1980, the Sri Lankan government established a Ministry of Indigenous Medicine to revive and regulate ayurveda. The Institute of Indigenous Medicine (affiliated to the University of Colombo) offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and MD degrees in ayurveda medicine and surgery, and similar degrees in unani medicine. In 2010, the public system had 62 ayurvedic hospitals and 208 central dispensaries, which served about 3 million people (about 11% of Sri Lanka's population). There are an estimated 20,000 registered practitioners of ayurveda in Sri Lanka. +According to the Mahavamsa, an ancient chronicle of Sinhalese royalty from the sixth century CE, King Pandukabhaya (reigned 437 BCE to 367 BCE) had lying-in-homes and ayurvedic hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala) built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documented evidence available of institutions dedicated specifically to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. The hospital at Mihintale is the oldest in the world. + +=== Outside the Indian subcontinent === + +Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine developed during antiquity and the medieval period, and as such is comparable to pre-modern Chinese and European systems of medicine. In the 1960s, ayurveda began to be advertised as alternative medicine in the Western world. Due to different laws and medical regulations around the globe, the expanding practice and commercialisation of ayurveda raised ethical and legal issues. Ayurveda was adapted for Western consumption, particularly by Baba Hari Dass in the 1970s and by Maharishi Ayurveda in the 1980s. In some cases, this involved active fraud on the part of proponents of ayurveda in an attempt to falsely represent the system as equal to the standards of modern medical research. + +==== United States ==== +Baba Hari Dass was an early proponent who helped bring ayurveda to the United States in the early 1970s. His teachings led to the establishment of the Mount Madonna Institute. He invited several notable ayurvedic teachers, including Vasant Lad, Sarita Shrestha, and Ram Harsh Singh. The ayurvedic practitioner Michael Tierra wrote that the "history of Ayurveda in North America will always owe a debt to the selfless contributions of Baba Hari Dass". +In the United States, the practice of ayurveda is not licensed or regulated by any state. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) stated that "Few well-designed clinical trials and systematic research reviews suggest that Ayurvedic approaches are effective". The NCCIH warned against the issue of heavy metal poisoning, and emphasised the use of conventional health providers first. As of 2018, the NCCIH reported that 240,000 Americans were using ayurvedic medicine. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6c31a1764 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 5/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Europe ==== +The first ayurvedic clinic in Switzerland was opened in 1987 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 2015, the government of Switzerland introduced a federally recognized diploma in ayurveda. + +== Classification and efficacy == +Ayurvedic medicine is considered pseudoscientific because its premises are not based on science. Both the lack of scientific soundness in the theoretical foundations of ayurveda and the quality of research have been criticized. +Although laboratory experiments suggest that some herbs and substances in ayurveda might be developed into effective treatments, there is no evidence that any are effective in themselves. There is no evidence they can prevent or treat cancer in humans. +Ethnologist Johannes Quack writes that although the rationalist movement Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti officially labels ayurveda a pseudoscience akin to astrology, these practices are in fact embraced by many of the movement's members. +A review of the use of ayurveda for cardiovascular disease concluded that the evidence is not convincing for the use of any ayurvedic herbal treatment for heart disease or hypertension, but that many herbs used by ayurvedic practitioners could be appropriate for further research. + +=== Promotion === +In India, promotion of ayurveda is undertaken by the Ministry of AYUSH through a national network of research institutes. +In Nepal, the National Ayurvedic Training and Research Centre (NATRC) promotes medicinal herbs in the country. +In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine looks after the promotion of ayurveda through various national research institutes. + +==== Use of toxic metals ==== +Rasashastra is the practice of adding metals, minerals or gems to herbal preparations. A random sample study found 20% of rasa medicines sold on the Internet in 2005 included toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic. Adverse reactions to herbs are described in traditional ayurvedic texts, but practitioners are reluctant to admit that herbs could be toxic and that reliable information on herbal toxicity is not readily available. There is a communication gap between practitioners of medicine and ayurveda. +Several ayurvedic preparations have been found to contain lead, mercury, and arsenic. substances known to be harmful to humans. A 2008 study found the three substances in close to 21% of US and Indian-manufactured patent ayurvedic medicines sold through the Internet. The public health implications of such metallic contaminants in India are unknown. +Traditional Indian herbal medicinal products have been found to contain harmful levels of heavy metals, including lead. For example, ghasard, a product commonly given to infants for digestive issues, has been found to have up to 1.6% lead concentration by weight, leading to lead encephalopathy. A 1990 study on ayurvedic medicines in India found that 41% of the products tested contained arsenic, and that 64% contained lead and mercury. A 2004 study found toxic levels of heavy metals in 20% of ayurvedic preparations made in South Asia and sold in the Boston area, and concluded that ayurvedic products posed serious health risks and should be tested for heavy-metal contamination. A 2008 study of more than 230 products found that approximately 20% of remedies (and 40% of rasashastra medicines) purchased over the Internet from U.S. and Indian suppliers contained lead, mercury or arsenic. A 2015 study of users in the United States found elevated blood lead levels in 40% of those tested, leading physician and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon Harriet Hall to say that "Ayurveda is basically superstition mixed with a soupçon of practical health advice. And it can be dangerous." A 2022 study found that ayurvedic preparations purchased over-the-counter in Chandigarh, India, had levels of zinc, mercury, arsenic and lead over the limits set by the Food and Agriculture Organisation / World Health Organisation. 83% exceeded the limit for zinc, 69% for mercury, 14% for arsenic and 5% for lead. In 2023, the Victorian Department of Health issued a health advisory warning that unregulated ayurvedic products sold in the state may contain unsafe levels of lead, mercury and arsenic, as well as harmful compounds from the plants Azadirachta indica and Acorus calamus. +Heavy metals are thought of as active ingredients by advocates of Indian herbal medicinal products. According to ancient ayurvedic texts, certain physico-chemical purification processes such as samskaras or shodhanas (for metals) 'detoxify' the heavy metals in it. These are similar to the Chinese pao zhi, although the ayurvedic techniques are more complex and may involve physical pharmacy techniques as well as mantras. However, these products have nonetheless caused severe lead poisoning and other toxic effects. Between 1978 and 2008, "more than 80 cases of lead poisoning associated with Ayurvedic medicine use [were] reported worldwide". In 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linked ayurvedic drugs to lead poisoning, based on cases where toxic materials were found in the blood of pregnant women who had taken ayurvedic drugs. +Ayurvedic practitioners argue that the toxicity of bhasmas (ash products) comes from improper manufacturing processes, contaminants, improper use of ayurvedic medicine, quality of raw materials and that the end products and improper procedures are used by charlatans. +In India, the government ruled that ayurvedic products must be labelled with their metallic content. However, in Current Science, a publication of the Indian Academy of Sciences, M. S. Valiathan said that "the absence of post-market surveillance and the paucity of test laboratory facilities [in India] make the quality control of Ayurvedic medicines exceedingly difficult at this time". In the United States, most ayurvedic products are marketed without having been reviewed or approved by the FDA. Since 2007, the FDA has placed an import alert on some ayurvedic products in order to prevent them from entering the United States. A 2012 toxicological review of mercury-based traditional herbo-metallic preparations concluded that the long-term pharmacotherapeutic and in-depth toxicity studies of these preparations are lacking. + +== History == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..730ae7f31 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 6/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Some scholars assert that the concepts of traditional ayurvedic medicine have existed since the times of the Indus Valley civilisation but since the Indus script has not been deciphered, such assertions are moot. The Atharvaveda contains hymns and prayers aimed at curing disease. There are various legendary accounts of the origin of ayurveda, such as that it was received by Dhanvantari (or Divodasa) from Brahma. Tradition also holds that the writings of ayurveda were influenced by a lost text by the sage Agnivesha. +Ayurveda is one of the few systems of medicine developed in ancient times that is still widely practised in modern times. As such, it is open to the criticism that its conceptual basis is obsolete and that its contemporary practitioners have not taken account of the developments in medicine. Responses to this situation led to an impassioned debate in India during the early decades of the twentieth century, between proponents of unchanging tradition (śuddha "pure" ayurveda) and those who thought ayurveda should modernize and syncretize (aśuddha "impure, tainted" ayurveda). The political debate about the place of ayurveda in contemporary India has continued to the present, both in the public arena and in government. Debate about the place of ayurvedic medicine in the contemporary internationalized world also continues today. + +=== Main texts === +Many ancient works on ayurvedic medicine are lost to posterity, but manuscripts of three principal early texts on ayurveda have survived to the present day. These works are the Charaka Samhita, the Sushruta Samhita and the Bhela Samhita. The dating of these works is historically complicated since they each internally present themselves as composite works compiled by several editors. All past scholarship on their dating has been evaluated by Meulenbeld in volumes IA and IB of his History of Indian Medical Literature. After considering the evidence and arguments concerning the Suśrutasaṃhitā, Meulenbeld stated (IA, 348), The Suśrutasaṃhitā is most probably the work of an unknown author who drew much of the material he incorporated in his treatise from a multiplicity of earlier sources from various periods. This may explain that many scholars yield to the temptation to recognize a number of distinct layers and, consequently, try to identify elements belonging to them. As we have seen, the identification of features thought to belong to a particular stratum is in many cases determined by preconceived ideas on the age of the strata and their supposed authors. The dating of this work to 600 BCE was first proposed by Hoernle over a century ago, but has long since been overturned by subsequent historical research. The current consensus amongst medical historians of South Asia is that the Suśrutasaṃhitā was compiled over a period of time starting with a kernel of medical ideas from the century or two BCE and then being revised by several hands into its present form by about 500 CE. The view that the text was updated by the Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna in the 2nd century CE has been disproved, although the last chapter of the work, the Uttaratantra, was added by an unknown later author before 500 CE. +Similar arguments apply to the Charaka Samhita, written by Charaka, and the Bhela Samhita, attributed to Atreya Punarvasu, that are also dated to the 6th century BCE by non-specialist scholars but are in fact, in their present form, datable to a period between the second and fifth centuries CE. The Charaka Samhita was also updated by Dridhabala during the early centuries of the Common Era. +The Bower Manuscript (dated to the early 6th century CE) includes of excerpts from the Bheda Samhita and its description of concepts in Central Asian Buddhism. In 1987, A. F. R. Hoernle identified the scribe of the medical portions of the manuscript to be a native of India using a northern variant of the Gupta script, who had migrated and become a Buddhist monk in a monastery in Kucha. The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hsien (c. 337–422 CE) wrote about the healthcare system of the Gupta empire (320–550) and described the institutional approach of Indian medicine. This is also visible in the works of Charaka, who describes hospitals and how they should be equipped. +Some dictionaries of materia medica include Astanga nighantu (8th century) by Vagbhata, Paryaya ratnamala (9th century) by Madhava, Siddhasara nighantu (9th century) by Ravi Gupta, Dravyavali (10th century), and Dravyaguna sangraha (11th century) by Chakrapani Datta, among others. + +=== Illnesses portrayed === +Underwood and Rhodes state that the early forms of traditional Indian medicine identified fever, cough, consumption, diarrhea, dropsy, abscesses, seizures, tumours, and leprosy, and that treatments included plastic surgery, lithotomy, tonsillectomy, couching (a form of cataract surgery), puncturing to release fluids in the abdomen, extraction of foreign bodies, treatment of anal fistulas, treating fractures, amputations, cesarean sections, and stitching of wounds. The use of herbs and surgical instruments became widespread. During this period, treatments were also prescribed for complex ailments, including angina pectoris, diabetes, hypertension, and stones. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..780901d01 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Ayurveda" +chunk: 7/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:16.698453+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Further development and spread === +Ayurveda flourished throughout the Indian Middle Ages. Dalhana (fl. 1200), Sarngadhara (fl. 1300) and Bhavamisra (fl. 1500) compiled works on Indian medicine. The medical works of both Sushruta and Charaka were also translated into the Chinese language in the 5th century, and during the 8th century, they were translated into the Arabic and Persian language. The 9th-century Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi was familiar with the text. The Arabic works derived from the ayurvedic texts eventually also reached Europe by the 12th century. In Renaissance Italy, the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) were influenced by the Arabic reception of the Sushruta's surgical techniques. +British physicians living in India observed rhinoplasty being performed using Indian methods, and reports on their rhinoplasty methods were published in London in the Gentleman's Magazine in 1794. Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in Europe. Joseph Constantine Carpue studied plastic surgery methods in India for 20 years and, in 1815, was able to perform the first major rhinoplasty surgery in the western world, using the "Indian" method of nose reconstruction. In 1840 Brett published an article about this technique. +The British had shown some interest in developing medical education in India in the early nineteenth century. A Native Medical Institution (NMI) was set up in 1822 where European medicine was taught through the medium of Indian languages. After the English Education Act 1835, the NMI was closed, and medical education was transferred to the newly founded Calcutta Medical College. Indian independence, there was more focus on ayurveda and other traditional medical systems. After push-back by the community of ayurvedic practitioners, and numerous other government commissions over a twenty-year period, ayurveda eventually became a part of the Indian national healthcare system, with state hospitals for ayurveda established across the country. However, the treatments of traditional medicines were not always integrated with others. + +== See also == + +== Footnotes == + +== References == + +=== Citations === + +=== Bibliography === + +== Further reading == +Drury, Heber (30 June 2010) [First published 1873]. The Useful plants of India. Research Press. ISBN 978-1-4460-2372-3. OCLC 1423763742. OL 47525041M. +Dymock, William; et al. (1890). Pharmacographia Indica A history of principal drugs of vegetable origin in British India. Vol. 1. London, Bombay, Calcutta: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, Education Society Press, Byculla, Thacker, Spink and Co. +Hoernle, Rudolf August Friedrich (1907). Studies in the Medicine of Ancient India: Part I: Osteology. Clarendon Press, Oxford. +Pattathu, Anthony George (2018). Ayurveda and Discursive Formations between Religion, Medicine and Embodiment: A Case Study from Germany. In: Lüddeckens, D., & Schrimpf, M. (2018). Medicine – religion – spirituality: Global perspectives on traditional, complementary, and alternative healing. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8376-4582-8, pp. 133–166. +Patwardhan, Kishore (2008). "Concepts of Human Physiology in Ayurveda" (PDF). In Roy, Pabitra Kumar (ed.). Sowarigpa and Ayurveda - Proceedings of the National Seminar on Sowarigpa and Āyurveda Held in October 2007. Samyak Vak Series-14. Sarnath, Varanasi: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. pp. 53–73. ISBN 978-81-87127-76-5. OCLC 320353589. +Wise, Thomas T. (1845). Commentary on the Hindu System of Medicine. Calcutta: Thacker & Co. +WHO guidelines on safety monitoring of herbal medicines in pharmacovigilance systems +Use Caution With Ayurvedic Products – US Food and Drug Administration. + +== External links == + +WHO benchmarks for the training of ayurveda World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, 2022. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c2255c8a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "BDORT" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:22.642607+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Bi-Digital O-Ring Test (BDORT), characterized as a form of applied kinesiology, is a patented alternative medicine diagnostic procedure in which a patient forms an 'O' with his or her fingers, and the diagnostician subjectively evaluates the patient's health according to the patient's finger strength as the diagnostician tries to pry them apart. +BDORT has been cited and characterized at length by the American Institute for Technology and Science Education as a specific and noteworthy example of pseudoscientific quackery. +BDORT was invented by Yoshiaki Omura, along with several other related alternative medicine techniques. They are featured in Omura's self-published Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research, The International Journal, of which Omura is founder and editor-in-chief, as well as in seminars presented by Omura and his colleagues. +Omura is registered to practice acupuncture in New York State. +In the only known full, formal independent evaluation of BDORT or of any other BDORT-related treatment and technique by a mainstream scientific or medical body, the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal of New Zealand ruled, in two separate cases brought before it in 2003, that Richard Warwick Gorringe, MB, ChB of Hamilton, New Zealand, who used BDORT (which he also called "Peak Muscle Resistance Testing", or "PMRT") to the exclusion of conventional diagnoses on his patients, was guilty of malpractice. In the first case, the Tribunal found it "is not a plausible, reliable, or scientific technique for making medical decisions" and "there is no plausible evidence that PMRT has any scientific validity". +In the second case the Tribunal ruled Gorringe again relied on BDORT to the exclusion of traditional diagnoses, which ultimately led to the death of a patient. As a result of these findings and conclusions, Gorringe was fined and stripped of his license to practice medicine. + +== Yoshiaki Omura == +Yoshiaki Omura (大村恵昭, Ōmura Yoshiaki) is president and founder of the International College of Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics, president and founder of the International Bi-Digital O-Ring Test Medical Association, and medical research director of the Heart Disease Research Foundation. + +== Description == +The test is a subjective evaluation of a patient's opposing muscle strength in which a diagnostician employs the thumb and forefinger of each hand, formed in the shape of an O, to attempt to force apart an O shape formed by the patient who places the fingertips of their thumb and one of their remaining fingers together. At the same time, the patient holds a slide of organ tissue, a sample of medication, potential allergen, etc., in their free hand, or is otherwise 'probed' at an appropriate acupuncture point by the use of a metal rod or laser pointer. The diagnostician then uses their perception of the strength required to force apart the patient's 'O-Ring' of thumb and one of the remaining fingers to assess the patient's health. + +== Patent == +The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the initial BDORT patent application as 'too unbelievable to be true'. The application was then resubmitted in 1987, and the USPTO again rejected it. After receiving expert testimony from Omura's "associates in clinical fields and basic sciences, both in Japan and the United States" regarding BDORT, the USPTO issued US 5188107 in 1993. +The fact that a patent was granted to the BDORT has been cited as an example of 'high weirdness' by one firm of patent attorneys. + +== Suggested uses and variants == +The BDORT is capable, according to its proponents, of a wide range of applications in the diagnosis, prescription of treatment, and evaluation of efficacy of treatment of, amongst others: heart conditions, cancers, "pre-cancers", allergic reactions, viral and bacterial infections, a range of organic and/or environmental stresses, as well as the precise location of acupuncture points and meridians previously unknown or inappropriately identified. +Other than the New Zealand Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal's reports, there is no known independent mainstream scientific or medical evaluation or validation of any of the BDORT or BDORT-related claims, including the following BDORT variants. + +=== The indirect method === +In the indirect method of application an intermediary is employed, and the patient is not directly examined. The intermediary, for example, directs a laser pointer held in their right hand at the appropriate acupuncture point, for example, atop the patient's head, while at the same time the diagnostician performs the test on the left hand of the intermediary. + +=== Remote application === +Omura claims that it is possible, if the procedure is performed by a very experienced practitioner such as himself, to perform the BDORT on a patient over the telephone without having any physical contact with the patient. In this procedure the patient is, for example, instructed to hold in one hand a substance being evaluated, while holding the telephone receiver at the bodily location prescribed by the diagnostician. The practitioner then evaluates the muscle strength necessary to separate the interlocked O–rings of thumb and forefinger of each of his or her own two hands, and uses this data in place of data from standard BDORT on the patient. + +=== Selective drug uptake enhancement method === +The selective drug uptake enhancement method is a central component of BDORT-derived treatments according to Omura. He claims that with this treatment it is possible, via BDORT diagnosis and evaluation coupled with appropriate acupuncture point stimulation, to "target" alternative or conventional medications to specific cells or tissues, for example, cancer cells. According to Omura, when this occurs the medications will have minimal 'uptake' by non-targeted tissues or cells, thus maximizing the efficacy of the prescribed medications while minimizing side effects. There is no known independent verification of these claims. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f92c4102f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "BDORT" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDORT" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:22.642607+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Solar energy stored papers === +Special solar energy: solar energy stored papers (SESP) is a device which Omura claims was developed using BDORT assessment and evaluation, that can capture a special healing power of sunlight. Omura uses index cards or other ordinary paper and he says the sunlight must be "captured" at the ideal times of sunrise and sunset. Omura says the energy can then be preserved in SESP while maintaining appropriate qigong polarity and shielding the papers from electromagnetic fields by carefully wrapping them in aluminum foil. Thus captured and preserved, he claims that special solar energy is effective in the treatment of a number of conditions, including arthritis, cancers, hypertension, and Alzheimer's disease. He has applied for a patent for this process. + +=== Psychic healing === +Omura, as published in his journal, has investigated the application of psychic healing and psychic surgery in Brazil, particularly that of Rubens Farias, Jr, who claims to channel the spirit of Dr Fritz. Applying the BDORT as his tool of evaluation, he concluded that the effects of psychic healing and psychic surgery were achieved through the application of qigong energy and the use of acupuncture points. + +== Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal of New Zealand review of BDORT == +The New Zealand Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, ruled on two separate malpractice cases against Richard Warwick Gorringe, MB, ChB, of Hamilton, New Zealand. + +In the first, held in Wellington in 2003, where BDORT was also referred to as 'PMRT' ('Peak Muscle Resistance Testing') by Gorringe, the tribunal examined and dismissed any claims of scientific validity of BDORT, offering the following summary statement of findings:We therefore accept that PMRT is not a plausible, reliable, or scientific technique for making medical decisions. We find there is no plausible evidence that PMRT has any scientific validity. It therefore follows that reliance on PMRT to make diagnoses to the exclusion of conventional and/or generally recognized diagnostic/investigatory techniques is unacceptable and irresponsible. +As a result of these findings and conclusions, Gorringe was fined and stripped of his license to practice medicine. +In separate hearings the Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal held in December 2003 and ruled upon in May 2004 in Auckland, found Gorringe guilty of malpractice in the death of an earlier patient, and concluded that Gorringe's reliance on BDORT to the exclusion of conventional diagnoses led to the patient's death. + +=== BDORT testimony used by Wellington tribunal in its decision === +Several expert witnesses provided testimony about BDORT at the MPDT Wellington hearings, with which the tribunal concurred:In summary, I find the descriptions of the AK [applied kinesiology] methods and in particular the BDORT test to be inconsistent with known physical principles. Even if it were possible to produce a "field" with these methods, AK [applied kinesiology] methods (and BDORTing) [testing] have not been shown to produce an electrical field which is required to alter the electrical activation of nerve and muscle. A limited survey of the literature shows that the AK [applied kinesiology] testing results are unreliable – and this idea is apparently supported by some organisations that support complementary medicine. I find it deeply disturbing that the only people who seem to claim reliable diagnostic results are those who make a living from applying it and some controlled scientific tests reveal no validity to these claims. +BDORT is operator dependent, meaning that what actually happens is that the operator diagnoses whatever it is that he believes in. One cannot scientifically evaluate "belief". In the context of testing, then, it would be impossible to challenge the practitioner's belief in his apparatus. +I think the big problem with the Bi-Digital O-Ring Test is the fact that it's not been properly tested to make sure that the results are reproducible. As Professor Cannell alluded to in his evidence, the key thing about science is a naive observer anywhere in the world should be able to reproduce the results using the same apparatus. + +=== Equivalence with PMRT === +In the first New Zealand MPDT report from Wellington in 2003, the tribunal defines the terms PMRT and BDORT as equivalent:At each consultation Dr Gorringe "muscle tested" Mrs Short by a procedure called "Peak Muscle Resistance Testing" which he used as a diagnostic tool. We refer to this procedure later and throughout this judgment as PMRT. It is also referred to as Bi Digital O Ring Testing (BDORT). +Later in the same report, the tribunal again equates PMRT and BDORT, but states that the technique used by Gorringe is different from Dr. Omura's:Dr. Gorringe gave evidence as to the background relating to PMRT (or BDORT) and attributed the origin of it to Dr. Yoshiaki Omura and produced some written material relating to the Omura technique (exhibits 31 and 42). However, it would appear from a perusal of those materials that the technique which Dr. Gorringe practices is different from that practiced by Dr. Omura and therefore the Omura materials do not assist the Tribunal to any real extent. +The tribunal uses the terms BDORT and PMRT interchangeably throughout the Wellington report from 2003. +In the second MPDT report from Auckland in 2004, the tribunal does not mention PMRT at all, and refers to Gorringe's technique exclusively as 'BDORT'. + +The Quackwatch article reviewing these two New Zealand MPDT reports also equates PMRT and BDORT, stating:The test Gorringe used is called peak muscle resistance testing (PMRT) -- also referred to as bi digital O ring testing (BDORT) -- in which the practitioner observes whether the subject's opposed thumb and fourth fingers can be pulled apart... + +== BDORT-related courses == +BDORT-related seminars, given by Omura, are conducted monthly in New York. The University of the State of New York Education Department allows these seminars to count towards course credit for physicians and dentists seeking certification for the application of acupuncture in the course of their practice. +In a Decision of 15 May 2007 the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, in Victoria, Australia, in an appeal against a decision by the Chinese Medical Registration Board of Victoria refusing registration to practice as an acupuncturist, found that attendance and participation in Yoshiaki Omura's Annual International Symposium on Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics as accredited by the University of the State of New York Education Department, in addition to "clinical experience ... with these subjects in respect of real patients" did not meet the Chinese Medicine Board's requirement of "competencies substantially equivalent to" those taught in a Board certified acupuncture class. Given this, the Tribunal ruled that the Board was not required to certify the applicant as a practitioner of Chinese medicine. + +== References == + +== External links == +Yoshiaki Omura Bi-Digital O-Ring Test Official Site \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fd7f0ac50 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Baghdad Battery" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:17.899908+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Baghdad Battery or Parthian Battery Persian: باتری اشکانی ،is the name given to an artifact consisting of a ceramic pot, a tube of copper, and a rod of iron fixed together with bitumen. It was discovered in present-day Khujut Rabu, Iraq in 1936, close to the ancient city of Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthian (150 BC – 223 AD) and Sasanian (224–650 AD) empires, and it is believed to date from either of these periods. +Its origin and purpose remain unclear. Wilhelm König, at the time director of the laboratory of the National Museum of Iraq, suggested that the object functioned as a galvanic cell, possibly used for electroplating, or some kind of electrotherapy. There is no electroplated object known from this period, and the claims are universally rejected by archaeologists. An alternative explanation is that it functioned as a container for magic spells for protection, defense or curses. +Ten similar clay vessels had been found earlier. Four were found in 1930 in Seleucia dating to the Sassanid period. Three were sealed with bitumen and contained a bronze cylinder, again sealed, with a pressed-in papyrus wrapper containing decomposed fiber rolls. They had been held in place with up to four bronze and iron rods sunk into the ground, and their cult meaning and use are inferred. Six other clay vessels were found nearby in Ctesiphon. Some had bronze wrappers with badly decomposed cellulose fibers. Others had iron nails or lead plates. +The current whereabouts of the artifact are unknown, since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. + +== Physical description and dating == +Austrian archaeologist Wilhelm König's description of the find, translated into English, included: + +In a vase-like container of bright yellow clay, the neck of which had been removed, a copper cylinder was stuck, held in place by asphalt. The vase was about 15cm high; the cylindrical tube with a closed bottom made from sheet copper had a diameter of 26 mm and a height of 9 cm. In the latter a completely oxidized rod of iron was found, held in place by a sort of stopper of asphalt... +König stated that the cylinder was "fairly pure copper with traces of zinc, lead and iron." +The copper cylinder is not watertight, so if the jar were filled with a liquid, this would surround the iron rod as well. The artifact had been exposed to the weather and had suffered corrosion. +König thought the objects might date to the Parthian period, between 250 BC and AD 224. However, according to St John Simpson of the Near Eastern department of the British Museum, their original excavation and context were not well-recorded, and evidence for this date range is very weak. Furthermore, the style of the pottery is Sasanian (224–640). +Albert Al-Haik noted original reports from the 1936 dig led by Sherif Yousif and Jawad al-Saffar at Khuyut Rabbou'a, giving the location as an area northeast of Baghdad, "some two miles off the Baghdad eastern bund." W. B. Hafford gives context to the discovery of the artifacts in his reaction video to Milo Rossi's video on the subject. + +== Comparable finds == +Similar vessels, which can be distinguished primarily by their contents, had previously been found and examined more closely: +Four clay vessels were excavated at Seleucia in 1930 under the archaeological direction of Leroy Waterman, University of Michigan. All four were common unglazed ceramic, sealed with bitumen stoppers and between 6 and 8 inches (15 to 20cm) tall. Three of these finds were lying horizontal, held in place by up to four metal rods at the ends and sides. The rods were six to ten inches (15 to 25cm) long, one iron rod per jar and the rest bronze. Each contained a bronze cylinder, sealed at both ends, all three the same size: 1¼ inches (3cm) in diameter and 3 inches (7½cm) long. All three cylinders contained plant matter, one decomposed to flakes, one just a small closely-wrapped core and the other appearing to be a papyrus roll folded over at the ends. The fourth jar was found upright and contained fragments of a small broken glass bottle. Silver coins found in context imply a Sasanian date. +In 1931, a German-American excavation expedition led by Ernst Kühnel found six more clay vessels in the immediately neighboring Ctesiphon, including three sealed find objects, each with one, three and ten wrapped and sealed bronze rolls. Inside these bronze wraps were already badly decomposed cellulose fibers. Another clay vessel contained three sealed bronze cylinders. In the other two vessels, which were also sealed, there were plates of originally pure lead coated with lead carbonate in a find specimen; in the other ten heavily corroded iron nails, on which traces of a wrapped organic fiber material could be detected. These finds were also dated to the late Sasanian period. + +== Electric battery theory == +Its origin and purpose remain unclear. Wilhelm König was an assistant at the Iraq Museum in the 1930s. He had observed a number of very fine silver objects from ancient Iraq, plated with very thin layers of gold, and speculated that they were electroplated. In 1938 he authored a paper offering the hypothesis that the Khujut Rabu jar may have formed a galvanic cell, perhaps used for electroplating gold onto silver objects. This interpretation is rejected by archaeologists and scientists. +Two media reports (in 2003 and 2004) stated that corrosion of the metal and tests both indicated that an acidic agent such as wine or vinegar was present in the jar, without giving sources for that information. In 1993, Paul T. Keyser had speculated that "the asphalt seal indicates the presence of liquid" and that because most liquids known at the time were acidic, except for vegetable and mineral oils, that the hypothetical liquid was used as an acidic electrolyte solution to generate an electric current from the difference between the electrode potentials of the copper and iron electrodes. + +== Experiments == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1a565de1b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Baghdad Battery" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:17.899908+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +After the publication of a sensationalist article describing the jar in the March 1939 edition of Astounding Science-Fiction, electrical engineer Willard F. M. Gray at the General Electric plant in Pittsfield, Massachusetts made a reconstruction. Gray chose to test it with copper (II) sulphate solution as the electrolyte. He reported that this “worked quite well for a short time.” +Arne Eggebrecht, a past director of the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, claimed to have electroplated silver onto an unspecified surface. Using many replicas of the jar connected together, with grape juice as the electrolyte, Eggebrecht only produced a layer of silver 100 nanometres thick. Speaking to a reporter for BBC News, Bettina Schmitz, a researcher based at the same museum, said, "There does not exist any written documentation of the experiments which took place here in 1978... The experiments weren't even documented by photos, which really is a pity...I have searched through the archives of this museum and I talked to everyone involved in 1978 with no results." +In 1993, W. Jansen reported an experiment with an electrolyte of diluted acetic acid with some dissolved benzoquinone in a cell and got "good experimental results". +On the 29th episode (23 March 2005) of Discovery Channel program MythBusters, the build team made ten hand-made replica terracotta jars fitted to act as batteries. Lemon juice was chosen as the electrolyte to allow the electrochemical reaction between the copper and iron. With all ten connected in series, the battery produced 4.33 volts of electricity. When linked in series, the ten cells had sufficient power to visibly electroplate a small copper token with zinc when left overnight. Five were sufficient to deliver a painful current through acupuncture type needles stuck in the skin, but ten were not enough to deliver an electric shock to dry skin. Archaeologist Ken Feder commented on the show noting that no archaeological evidence has been found either for connections between the jars (which would have been necessary to produce the required voltage) or for their use for electroplating. + +== Problems with the electrical interpretation == + +=== Lack of electrical connections === +Though the iron rod did project outside of the asphalt plug, the copper tube did not, making it impossible to connect a wire to this to complete a circuit. + +=== Expected residues === +A 2002 article in Plating & Surface Finishing addressed the expected results of the jar being used for electroplating. If used as an electrical cell, copper would have gone into solution in the liquid and copious amounts of copper salts would have been seen in the ceramic vessel and copper metal on the iron parts. This jar was theorised to be the battery but to effect electroplating another cell would be needed. Nothing resembling an electroplating cell with the associated gold or silver traces has been reported. + +=== Electroplating hypothesis === +König himself seems to have been mistaken on the nature of the objects he thought were electroplated. They were apparently fire-gilded (with mercury). Paul Craddock of the British Museum said, "The examples we see from this region and era are conventional gold plating and mercury gilding. There's never been any irrefutable evidence to support the electroplating theory". +König had seen primitive gold electroplating using a ceramic pot being done in Baghdad in 1938. He proposed that the technique could have been passed down through the millennia as a secret of the local jewelers. Gerhard Eggert showed that the method used by the Baghdadi silversmiths in 1938 was almost exactly the same process as that invented in Birmingham, UK in 1839 by John Wright - using a ceramic flowerpot. +David A. Scott, senior scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute and head of its Museum Research Laboratory, writes: "There is a natural tendency for writers dealing with chemical technology to envisage these unique ancient objects of two thousand years ago as electroplating accessories (Foley 1977), but this is clearly untenable, for there is absolutely no evidence for electroplating in this region at the time". +Paul T. Keyser of the University of Alberta noted that using only vinegar, or other electrolytes available at the time the jar was made, the battery would be very feeble. For that and other reasons, Keyser concluded that even if this was in fact a battery, it could not have been used for electroplating. However, Keyser still supported the battery theory, but believed it was used for some kind of mild electrotherapy such as pain relief, possibly through electroacupuncture. + +=== Bitumen as an insulator === +A bitumen seal, being thermoplastic, would be extremely inconvenient for a galvanic cell, which would require frequent topping up of the electrolyte for extended use. + +=== Oxygen needed to function === +Tests run by Emmerich Paszthory showed that oxygen was a limiting factor for the cell to function when the electrolyte was water with salt and acetic or citric acids. Sealing the copper cylinders in the way seen in the archaeological finds brought electricity production to a stop at once. + +=== Iron shape === +Emmerich Paszthory found that when used as an electrode an iron rod erodes at the neck, so the tapered shape of the iron nail showed it had not been used as an electrode. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0885060f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Baghdad Battery" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:17.899908+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Alternative hypothesis === +Wilhelm König noted the clear similarity of this jar with the 4 found in Seleucia and 6 found in Ctesiphon. In 1932, Kühnel described those found at Ctesiphon as containers for "conjurations, blessings and the like, written perhaps on papyrus". Emmerich Paszthory asserted the Khujut Rabu jar and those from Seleucia and Ctesiphon were clearly magic objects - as all the parts were known to be associated with magic in that time. As the tubes were copper, the spell was probably protective. "Magic nails have been preserved in large numbers." The iron nails were used to nail fast the contents. Brad Hafford of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Museum agreed with this analysis. The jars found in Seleucia were in the same vicinity as three magical or incantation bowls - made to protect against demons. Two of those bowls were covered with fake writing. Those two were found stacked together, covering a similarly inscribed eggshell. The jar found at Khujut Rabu' (the Baghdad Battery) was itself also found in association with magical bowls. +The artifacts are similar to other objects believed to be storage vessels for sacred scrolls from nearby Seleucia on the Tigris. +In March 2012, Professor Elizabeth Stone of Stony Brook University, an expert on Iraqi archaeology, returning from the first archaeological expedition in Iraq after 20 years, stated that she does not know a single archaeologist who believed that these were batteries. + +== See also == +Coso artifact – Spark plug supposedly encased in a 500,000-year-old geode +Dendera light – Motif in the Hathor temple in Egypt +History of the battery +Leyden jar – Antique electrical device that stores a high-voltage electric charge +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Out-of-place artifact – Artifacts that challenge historical chronology + +== References == + +== External links == +Dunning, Brian (September 11, 2018). "Skeptoid #640: Draining the Baghdad Battery". Skeptoid. +Rossi, M. [@Miniminuteman] (2022-09-30). Awful Archaeology Ep. 6.5: The Baghdad Battery... Again? (YouTube video). Retrieved 2023-05-09. +The Baghdad Battery? Archaeologist Reacts! Artifactually Speaking, by archaeologist Dr. Brad Hafford \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..db4642a44 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Bates method" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Bates method is an ineffective and potentially dangerous alternative therapy aimed at improving eyesight. Eye-care physician William Horatio Bates (1860–1931) held the erroneous belief that the extraocular muscles produced changes in focus and that "mental strain" caused abnormal action of these muscles; hence he believed that relieving such "strain" would cure defective vision. In 1952, optometry professor Elwin Marg wrote of Bates, "Most of his claims and almost all of his theories have been considered false by practically all visual scientists." +No type of training has been shown to change the refractive power of the eye. Moreover, certain aspects of the Bates method can put its followers at risk: They may damage their eyes through overexposure to sunlight, not wear their corrective lenses when they need them (e.g., while driving), or neglect conventional eye care, possibly allowing serious conditions to develop. + +== Early history == +In 1891, Bates published an article in the New York Medical Journal claiming to have successfully reversed seven cases of nearsightedness, or myopia. In 1911, Bates published an article claiming to have taught myopic schoolchildren how to correctly focus in the distance. He recommended that schools post a Snellen chart in each classroom and encourage students to read it daily. +In 1917, Bates teamed up with "'physical culture' faddist" Bernarr Macfadden on a "New Course of Eye Training" which was heavily advertised in the Physical Culture magazine. Bates' name was later dropped from the advertising, but Macfadden continued to market this correspondence course, which was renamed "Strengthening the Eyes". This course was criticized by the American Medical Association's Bureau of Investigation as dangerous quackery. In July 1919, Bates began publishing Better Eyesight, "A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Prevention and Cure of Imperfect Sight Without Glasses". This was also criticized "as it were the product of a psychopathic ward". +In 1920, Bates self-published a book, The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses (or Perfect Sight Without Glasses). In 1926, articles by his assistant Emily Lierman were re-printed in a book titled Stories From the Clinic; some of these stories claimed that such methods had cured glaucoma and cataracts as well as refractive errors. In 1929, the Federal Trade Commission lodged a complaint against Bates for advertising "falsely or misleadingly". + +== Underlying concepts == + +=== Accommodation === + +Accommodation is the process by which the vertebrate eye adjusts optical power to maintain focus on the retina while the eye's gaze shifts to a point either closer or farther away. The long-standing medical consensus is that this is accomplished by action of the ciliary muscle, a muscle within the eye, which adjusts the curvature of the eye's crystalline lens. This explanation is based in the observed effect of atropine temporarily preventing accommodation when applied to the ciliary muscle, as well as images reflected on the crystalline lens becoming smaller as the eye shifts focus to a closer point, indicating a change in the lens' shape. Bates rejected this explanation, and in his 1920 book presented photographs that he said showed that the image remained the same size even as the eye shifted focus, concluding from this that the lens was not a factor in accommodation. However, optometrist Philip Pollack in a 1956 work characterized these photographs as "so blurred that it is impossible to tell whether one image is larger than the other", in contrast to later photographs that clearly showed a change in the size of the reflected images, just as had been observed since the late 19th century. +Bates adhered to a different explanation of accommodation that had already been generally disregarded by the medical community of his time. Bates' model had the muscles surrounding the eyeball controlling its focus. In addition to their known function of turning the eye, Bates maintained, they also affect its shape, elongating the eyeball to focus at the near-point or shortening it to focus at a distance. Science author John Grant writes that many animals, such as fishes, accommodate by elongation of the eyeball, "it's just that humans aren't one of those animals." +Laboratory tests have shown that the human eyeball is far too rigid to spontaneously change shape to a degree that would be necessary to accomplish what Bates described. Exceedingly small changes in axial length of the eyeball (18.6–19.2 μm) are caused by the action of the ciliary muscle during accommodation. However, these changes are far too small to account for the necessary changes in focus, producing changes of only −0.036 dioptres. + +=== Causes of sight problems === +Medical professionals characterize refractive errors as consequences of the eye's shape and other basic anatomy, which no evidence shows any exercise can alter. Bates, however, believed that these conditions are caused by tension of the muscles surrounding the eyeball, which he believed prevents the eyeball from sufficiently changing shape (per his explanation of accommodation) when gaze is shifted nearer or farther. Bates characterized this supposed muscular tension as the consequence of a "mental strain" to see, the relief of which he claimed would instantly improve sight. He also linked disturbances in the circulation of blood, which he said is "very largely influenced by thought", not only to refractive errors, but also to double vision, crossed-eye, lazy eye, and to more serious eye conditions such as cataracts and glaucoma. His therapies were based on these assumptions. +Bates felt that corrective lenses, which he characterized as "eye crutches", are an impediment to curing poor vision. In his view, "strain" would increase as the eyes adjust to the correction in front of them. He thus recommended that glasses be discarded by anyone applying his method. + +== Treatments == +In his writings, Bates discussed several techniques that he claimed helped patients to improve their sight. These techniques were all supposed to relieve "strain" to which Bates attributed sight problems. + +=== Palming === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6e7871649 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Bates method" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Bates suggested closing the eyes for minutes at a time to help bring about relaxation. He asserted that the relaxation could be deepened in most cases by "palming", or covering the closed eyes with the palms of the hands, without putting pressure on the eyeballs. If the covered eyes did not strain, he said, they would see "a field so black that it is impossible to remember, imagine, or see anything blacker", since light was excluded by the palms. However, he reported that some of his patients experienced "illusions of lights and colors" sometimes amounting to "kaleidoscopic appearances" as they "palmed", occurrences he attributed to his ubiquitous "strain" and that he claimed disappeared when one truly relaxed. This phenomenon, however, was almost certainly caused by Eigengrau or "dark light". In fact, even in conditions of perfect darkness, as inside a cave, neurons at every level of the visual system produce random background activity that is interpreted by the brain as patterns of light and color. +If while palming one ends up applying pressure to the eyes, this may increase the risk of glaucoma. + +=== Visualization === +Bates placed importance on mental images, as he felt relaxation was the key to clarity of imagination as well as of actual sight. He claimed that one's poise could be gauged by the visual memory of black; that the darker it appeared in the mind, and the smaller the area of black that could be imagined, the more relaxed one was at the moment. He recommended that patients think of the top letter from an eye chart and then visualize progressively smaller black letters, and eventually a period or comma. He cautioned against "concentrating" on such images, as he regarded an attempt to "think of one thing only" as a strain. +While Bates preferred to have patients imagine something black, he also reported that some found objects of other colors easiest to visualize, thus were benefited most by remembering those, because, he asserted, "the memory can never be perfect unless it is easy." Skeptics reason that the only benefit to eyesight gained from such techniques is itself imagined, and point out that familiar objects, including letters on an eye chart, can be recognized even when they appear less than clear. + +=== Movement === + +Bates thought that the manner of eye movement affected the sight. He suggested "shifting", or moving the eyes back and forth to get an illusion of objects "swinging" in the opposite direction. He believed that the smaller the area over which the "swing" was experienced, the greater was the benefit to sight. He combined this with visualization, advocating that patients close their eyes and imagine movement of objects. By alternating actual and mental shifting over an image, Bates wrote, many patients were quickly able to shorten the "shift" to a point where they could "conceive and swing a letter the size of a period in a newspaper". +Perhaps finding Bates' concepts of "shifting" and "swinging" too complicated, Bernarr Macfadden suggested simply moving the eyes up and down, from side to side, and shifting one's gaze between a near-point and a far-point. + +=== Sunning === + +Bates advocated sungazing, characterizing ill effects as "always temporary". This is at odds with the well-known risk of eye damage that can result from direct sunlight observation. +In his magazine, Bates later suggested exposing only the white part of the eyeball to direct sunlight, and only for seconds at a time, after allowing the sun to shine on closed eyelids for a longer period. Posthumous publications of Bates' book omitted mention of the supposed benefits from direct sunlight shining on open eyes. Even on closed eyes, direct sunlight exposure poses a risk of damage to the eyelids, including skin cancer. + +== After Bates == +After Bates died in 1931, his methods of treatment were continued by his widow Emily and other associates. In 1932, Gayelord Hauser published a book endorsing the Bates method but also adding new exercises and recommendations for his own dietary products. Most subsequent proponents did not stand by Bates' explanation of how the eye focused mechanically, but nonetheless maintained that relieving habitual "strain" was the key to improving sight. + +=== Margaret Darst Corbett === + +Margaret Darst Corbett first met Bates when she consulted him about her husband's eyesight. She became his pupil, and eventually taught his method at her School of Eye Education in Los Angeles. She was of the stated belief that "the optic nerve is really part of the brain, and vision is nine-tenths mental and one-tenth only physical." +In late 1940, Corbett and her assistant were charged with violations of the Medical Practice Act of California for treating eyes without a license. At the trial, many of her students testified on her behalf, describing in detail how she had enabled them to discard their glasses. One witness testified that he had been almost blind from cataracts, but that after working with Corbett, his vision had improved to such an extent that for the first time he could read for eight hours at a stretch without glasses. Corbett explained in court that she was practicing neither optometry nor ophthalmology and represented herself not as a doctor, but only as an "instructor of eye training". Describing her method, she said, "We turn vision on by teaching the eyes to shift. We want the sense of motion to relieve staring, to end the fixed look. We use light to relax the eyes and to accustom them to the sun." +The trial attracted widespread interest, as did the "not guilty" verdict. The case spurred a bill in the Californian State Legislature that would have then made such vision "education" illegal without an optometric or medical license. After a lively campaign in the media, the bill was rejected. + +=== Aldous Huxley === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..43ef75556 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Bates method" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Perhaps the most famous proponent of the Bates method was the British writer Aldous Huxley. At the age of 16, Huxley had an attack of keratitis, which, after an 18-month period of near-blindness, left him with one eye just capable of light perception and the other with an unaided Snellen fraction of 10/200. This was mainly due to opacities in both corneas, complicated by hyperopia and astigmatism. He was able to read only if he wore thick glasses and dilated his better pupil with atropine, to allow that eye to see around an opacity in the center of the cornea. +In 1939, at the age of 45 and with eyesight that continued to deteriorate, he happened to hear of the Bates method and sought the help of Margaret Corbett, who gave him regular lessons. Three years later, he wrote The Art of Seeing, in which he related: "Within a couple of months, I was reading without spectacles, and what was better still, without strain and fatigue.... At the present time, my vision, though very far from normal, is about twice as good as it used to be when I wore spectacles." Describing the process, Huxley wrote, "Vision is not won by making an effort to get it: it comes to those who have learned to put their minds and eyes into a state of alert passivity, of dynamic relaxation." He expressed indifference regarding the veracity of Bates' explanation of how the eye focuses, stating, "my concern is not with the anatomical mechanism of accommodation, but with the art of seeing." +His case generated wide publicity, as well as scrutiny. Ophthalmologist Walter B. Lancaster, for example, suggested in 1944 that Huxley had "learned how to use what he has to better advantage" by training the "cerebral part of seeing", rather than actually improving the quality of the image on the retina. +In 1952, 10 years after writing The Art of Seeing, Huxley spoke at a Hollywood banquet, wearing no glasses, and according to Bennett Cerf, apparently reading his paper from the lectern without difficulty. In Cerf's words: + +Then suddenly he faltered—and the disturbing truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his address at all. He had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory, he brought the paper closer and closer to his eyes. When it was only an inch or so away, he still couldn't read it, and had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible to him. It was an agonizing moment. +In response to this, Huxley wrote, "I often do use magnifying glasses where conditions of light are bad, and have never claimed to be able to read except under very good conditions." This underscored that he had not regained anything close to normal vision, and in fact never claimed that he had. + +=== Modern variants === +"Natural vision correction" or "natural vision improvement" continues to be marketed by practitioners offering individual instruction, many of whom have no medical or optometric credentials. Most base their approach in the Bates method, though some also integrate vision therapy techniques. Also, many self-help books and programs, which have not been subjected to randomized controlled trials, are aimed at improving eyesight naturally. Purveyors of such approaches argue that they lack the funds to formally test them. +The heavily advertised "See Clearly Method" (of which sales were halted by a court order in November 2006, in response to what were found to be dishonest marketing practices) included "palming" and "light therapy", both adapted from Bates. The creators of the program, however, emphasized that they did not endorse Bates' approach overall. +In his 1992 book The Bates Method, A Complete Guide to Improving Eyesight—Naturally, "Bates method teacher" Peter Mansfield was very critical of eye care professionals for prescribing corrective lenses. The book included accounts of 12 "real cases", but did not report any information about refractive error. +Czech native John Slavicek claims to have created an "eye cure" that improves eyesight in three days, borrowing from ancient yogic eye exercises, visualizations from the Seth Material, and the Bates method. Although he has testimonials from his neighbor and others, several of his students indicate that he has greatly exaggerated their cases. Slavicek's self-published manual, Yoga for the Eyes, was rejected by an ophthalmologist who evaluated it, and evinced no interest from the World Health Organization and St. Erik's Eye Foundation in Sweden, as he had not conducted double-blind tests. + +== Possible reasons for claimed improvements == +Some eye conditions may naturally change for the better with age or in cycles (ophthalmologist Stewart Duke-Elder suggested that this happened with Aldous Huxley's keratitis). A cataract when first setting in sometimes results in much improved eyesight for a short time. One who has been practicing the Bates method will likely credit it for any improvement experienced regardless of the actual cause. +When corrective lenses are removed, vision can adapt to lessen the initial perceived blur, sometimes by more than two lines on an eye chart. This phenomenon is known as blur adaptation. Some studies have suggested that a learned ability to interpret blurred images may also account for perceived improvements in eyesight. + +== General research == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cc9a3d48f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Bates method" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_method" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:19.108469+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In 2004 the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) published a review of various research regarding "visual training", which consisted of "eye exercises, muscle relaxation techniques, biofeedback, eye patches, or eye massages", "alone or in combinations". No evidence was found that such techniques could objectively benefit eyesight, though some studies noted changes, both positive and negative, in the visual acuity of nearsighted subjects as measured by a Snellen chart. In some cases noted improvements were maintained at subsequent follow-ups. However, these results were not seen as actual reversals of nearsightedness, and were attributed instead to factors such as "improvements in interpreting blurred images, changes in mood or motivation, creation of an artificial contact lens by tear film changes, or a pinhole effect from miosis of the pupil." +In 2005 the Ophthalmology Department of New Zealand's Christchurch Hospital published a review of forty-three studies regarding the use of eye exercises. They found that "As yet there is no clear scientific evidence published in the mainstream literature supporting the use of eye exercises" to improve visual acuity, and concluded that "their use therefore remains controversial." + +== General criticisms == + +=== Dead-end === +A frequent criticism of the Bates method is that it has remained relatively obscure, which is seen as proof that it is not truly effective. Writer Alan M. MacRobert concluded in a 1979 article that the "most telling argument against the Bates system" and other alternative therapies was that they "bore no fruit". In regards to the Bates method, he reasoned that "If palming, shifting, and swinging could really cure poor eyesight, glasses would be as obsolete by now as horse-drawn carriages." +Philosopher Frank J. Leavitt has argued that the method Bates described would be difficult to test scientifically due to his emphasis on relaxation and visualization. Leavitt asked, "How can we tell whether someone has relaxed or imagined something, or just thinks that he or she has imagined it?" Regarding the possibility of a placebo trial, Leavitt commented, "I cannot conceive of how we could put someone in a situation where he thinks he has imagined something while we know that he has not." + +=== Corrective lenses and safety === +Discarding one's corrective lenses, as Bates recommended, or wearing lenses weaker than one's prescribed correction, as some Bates method advocates suggest, poses a potential safety hazard in certain situations, especially when one is operating a motor vehicle. James Randi related that his father, shortly after discarding glasses for this reason, wrecked his car. Bates method teachers often caution that when driving, one should wear the correction legally required. + +=== Avoidance of conventional treatment === +A follower of the Bates method may neglect urgently needed medical treatment for a condition such as glaucoma, which can lead to blindness. Also, children with vision problems may require early attention by a professional in order to successfully prevent lazy eye. Such treatment may include exercises, but which are different from those associated with the Bates method, and parents who subscribe to Bates' ideas may delay seeking conventional care until it is too late. It may further be necessary for a child at risk of developing lazy eye to wear the proper correction. + +== See also == + +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Iridology +Pinhole glasses +Tibetan eye chart + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Grosvenor, TP (2007). Nonsurgical Methods of Myopia Control or Reduction (5th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 370. ISBN 978-0750675758. There has never been any clinical or scientific evidence that these procedures are of any help in controlling myopia. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) + +== External links == +"The Unending Search for 'Normal' Vision". Life. 27 May 1957. +Orfield M.A. O.D., Antonia (1994). "Seeing Space: Undergoing Brain Re-Programming to Reduce Myopia" (PDF). Journal of Behavioral Optometry. 5 (5): 123–31. +"To See or Not to See–Natural Vision Correction". BBC. 27 September 2004. +Robertson, Kate (14 October 2007). "Seeing eye to eye". The Sydney Morning Herald. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baunscheidtism-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baunscheidtism-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cb3d78037 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baunscheidtism-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Baunscheidtism" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baunscheidtism" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:21.471712+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Baunscheidtism is a form of alternative medicine created in the 19th century. The practice, a form of homeopathy, is named for its founder Carl Baunscheidt (1809–1873), a German mechanic and inventor. + +The legitimacy of baunscheidtism as an effective medical practice was questioned by at least 1880, when a Melbourne practitioner named Samuel Fischer lost a lawsuit he brought against a patient who failed to pay him, based on the objection that Fischer (a bootmaker) was not a qualified medical practitioner. + + +== Lebenswecker == + +The lebenswecker (lit. 'life awakener' in German) or "artificial leech" was a medical device invented by Baunscheidt to pierce the skin with many fine needles. Billed as being able to cure myriad illnesses, the lebenswecker was used on skin treated with toxic oil. The resulting inflammation was alleged to draw the body's attention away from the patient's illness, thus effecting a cure. The diseases that could allegedly be cured with the lebenswecker included whooping cough, baldness, toothaches, and mental disorders. The device's popularity was great enough to support a market for "counterfeit" versions of the lebenswecker that were produced by Baunscheidt. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..04d27ebd9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Biodynamic agriculture" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudoscientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasising spiritual and mystical perspectives. +Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of manures and composts and excludes the use of synthetic (artificial) fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include its treatment of animals, crops, and soil as a single system, an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems, its use of traditional and development of new local breeds and varieties. Some methods use an astrological sowing and planting calendar. Biodynamic agriculture uses various herbal and mineral additives for compost additives and field sprays; these are prepared using methods that are more akin to sympathetic magic than agronomy, such as burying ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil". +No difference in beneficial outcomes has been scientifically established between certified biodynamic agricultural techniques and similar organic and integrated farming practices. Biodynamic agriculture is a pseudoscience as it lacks scientific evidence for its efficacy because of its reliance upon esoteric and mystical beliefs. +As of 2022, biodynamic techniques were used on 255,051 hectares in 65 countries, led by Germany, Italy and France. Germany accounts for 42% of the global total. The remainder average 1,750 ha per country. Biodynamic methods of cultivating grapevines have been taken up by several notable vineyards. There are certification agencies for biodynamic products, most of which are members of the international biodynamics standards group Demeter International. + +== History == + +=== Origin of a theory === + +Biodynamics was the first modern organic agriculture. Its development began in 1924 with a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by philosopher Rudolf Steiner at Schloss Koberwitz in Silesia, Germany (now Kobierzyce in Poland). These lectures, the first known presentation of organic agriculture, were held in response to a request by farmers who noticed degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers. The 111 attendees, fewer than half of whom were farmers, came from six countries, primarily Germany and Poland. The lectures were published in November 1924; the first English translation appeared in 1928 as The Agriculture Course. +Steiner emphasized that the methods he proposed should be tested experimentally. For this purpose, Steiner established a research group, the "Agricultural Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners of the General Anthroposophical Society". Between 1924 and 1939, this research group attracted about 800 members from around the world, including Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Another group, the "Association for Research in Anthroposophical Agriculture" (Versuchsring anthroposophischer Landwirte), directed by the German agronomist Erhard Bartsch, was formed to test the effects of biodynamic methods on the life and health of soil, plants and animals; the group published a monthly journal, Demeter. Bartsch was also instrumental in developing a sales organisation for biodynamic products, Demeter, which still exists today. The Research Association was renamed the Imperial Association for Biodynamic Agriculture (Reichsverband für biologisch-dynamische Wirtschaftsweise) in 1933. It was dissolved by the National Socialist regime in 1941. In 1931 the association had 250 members in Germany, 109 in Switzerland, 104 in other European countries and 24 outside Europe. The oldest biodynamic farms are the Wurzerhof in Austria and Marienhöhe in Germany. +In 1938, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer's text, Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening, was published in five languages – English, Dutch, Italian, French, and German; this became the standard work in the field for several decades. The following year Pfeiffer's book was published in Danish by Carl Vett. In July 1939, at the invitation of Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne, Pfeiffer travelled to the UK and presented the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Farming at Northbourne's farm in Kent. The conference has been described as the 'missing link' between biodynamic agriculture and organic farming because, in the year after Betteshanger, Northbourne published his manifesto of organic farming, Look to the Land, in which he coined the term 'organic farming' and praised the methods of Rudolf Steiner. In the 1950s, Hans Mueller was encouraged by Steiner's work to create the organic-biological farming method in Switzerland; this later developed to become the largest certifier of organic products in Europe, Bioland. + +=== Geographic developments === +Today biodynamics is practised in more than 50 countries worldwide and in a variety of circumstances, ranging from temperate arable farming, viticulture in France, cotton production in Egypt, to silkworm breeding in China. Demeter International is the primary certification agency for farms and gardens using the methods. In 2020 Demeter International and the International Biodynamic Association joined to become the Biodynamic Federation – Demeter International. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..40e16ef57 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Biodynamic agriculture" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In the United States, biodynamic farming dates from 1926. From 1926 through to 1938, 39 farmers and gardeners in the US pursued biodynamic practices. The Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association was founded in 1938 as a New York state corporation. +In Great Britain, biodynamic farming dates from 1927. In 1928 the Anthroposophical Agricultural Foundation was founded in England; this is now called the Biodynamic Agriculture Association. In 1939, Britain's first biodynamic agriculture conference, the Betteshanger Summer School and Conference on Biodynamic Agriculture, was held at Lord Northbourne's farm in Kent; Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was the lead presenter. +In Australia, the first biodynamic farmer was Ernesto Genoni who in 1928 joined the Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners, followed soon after by his brother Emilio Genoni. Ernesto Genoni's first biodynamic farm was at Dalmore, in Gippsland, Victoria, in 1933. The following year, Ileen Macpherson and Ernesto Genoni founded Demeter Biological Farm at Dandenong, Victoria, in 1934 and it was farmed using biodynamic principles for over two decades. Bob Williams presented the first public lecture in Australia on biodynamic agriculture on 26 June 1938 at the home of the architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin at Castlecrag, Sydney. Since the 1950s research work has continued at the Biodynamic Research Institute (BDRI) in Powelltown, near Melbourne under the direction of Alex Podolinsky. In 1989 Biodynamic Agriculture Australia was established, as a not for profit association. +In France the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) was formed in 1972 with five founding members, one of which was the Swedish Biodynamic Association. +The University of Kassel had a Department of Biodynamic Agriculture from 2006 to March 2011. +Emerson College (UK) was founded in 1962 and named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and transcendentalist. Since then it has held courses inspired by the philosophy and teachings of Rudolf Steiner, including on biodynamic agriculture. +In Canada, there are currently three biodynamic organisations, The Society for Biodynamic Farming and Gardening in Ontario, The Biodynamic Agricultural Society of British Columbia and the Association de Biodynamie du Québec that are members of Demeter Canada. + +== Biodynamic method of farming == +In common with other forms of organic agriculture, biodynamic agriculture uses management practices that are intended to "restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony". Central features include crop diversification, the avoidance of chemical soil treatments and off-farm inputs generally, decentralized production and distribution, and the consideration of celestial and terrestrial influences on biological organisms. The Demeter Association recommends that "(a) minimum of ten percent of the total farm acreage be set aside as a biodiversity preserve. That may include but is not limited to forests, wetlands, riparian corridors, and intentionally planted insectaries. Diversity in crop rotation and perennial planting is required: no annual crop can be planted in the same field for more than two years in succession. Bare tillage year round is prohibited so land needs to maintain adequate green cover." +The Demeter Association also recommends that the individual design of the land "by the farmer, as determined by site conditions, is one of the basic tenets of biodynamic agriculture. This principle emphasises that humans have a responsibility for the development of their ecological and social environment which goes beyond economic aims and the principles of descriptive ecology." Crops, livestock, and farmer, and "the entire socioeconomic environment" form a unique interaction, which biodynamic farming tries to "actively shape ...through a variety of management practices. The prime objective is always to encourage healthy conditions for life": soil fertility, plant and animal health, and product quality. "The farmer seeks to enhance and support the forces of nature that lead to healthy crops, and rejects farm management practices that damage the environment, soil, plant, animal or human health....the farm is conceived of as an organism, a self-contained entity with its own individuality," holistically conceived and self-sustaining. "Disease and insect control are addressed through botanical species diversity, predator habitat, balanced crop nutrition, and attention to light penetration and airflow. Weed control emphasizes prevention, including timing of planting, mulching, and identifying and avoiding the spread of invasive weed species." +Biodynamic agriculture differs from many forms of organic agriculture in its spiritual, mystical, and astrological orientation. It shares a spiritual focus, as well as its view toward improving humanity, with the "nature farming" movement in Japan. Important features include the use of livestock manures to sustain plant growth (recycling of nutrients), maintenance and improvement of soil quality, and the health and well-being of crops and animals. Cover crops, green manures and crop rotations are used extensively and the farms to foster the diversity of plant and animal life, and to enhance the biological cycles and the biological activity of the soil. +Biodynamic farms often have a cultural component and encourage local community, both through developing local sales and through on-farm community building activities. Some biodynamic farms use the Community Supported Agriculture model, which has connections with social threefolding. +Compared to non-organic agriculture, BD farming practices have been found to be more resilient to environmental challenges, to foster a diverse biosphere, and to be more energy efficient, factors Eric Lichtfouse describes being of increasing importance in the face of climate change, energy scarcity and population growth. + +=== Biodynamic preparations === +In his "agricultural course" Steiner prescribed nine different preparations to aid fertilisation, and described how these were to be prepared. Steiner believed that these preparations mediated terrestrial and cosmic forces into the soil. The prepared substances are numbered 500 through 508, where the first two are used for preparing fields, and the other seven are used for making compost. A long term trial (DOK experiment) evaluating the biodynamic farming system in comparison with organic and conventional farming systems, found that both organic farming and biodynamic farming resulted in enhanced soil properties, but had lower yields than conventional farming. Regarding compost development beyond accelerating the initial phase of composting, some positive effects have been noted: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0ee311483 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Biodynamic agriculture" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The field sprays contain substances that stimulate plant growth including cytokinins. +Some improvement in nutrient content of compost is evident from the ingredients included, but not necessarily as a result of the practices and exact preparations as Steiner described them. +Although the preparations have direct nutrient values, modern biodynamic practitioners believe their benefit is to support the self-regulating capacities of the biota already present in the soil and compost. Critics of the practice have pointed out that no evidence or logic underlies the practices themselves, which instead are dependent on magical thinking and debunked theories of Steiner himself. There is no evidence that biodynamic practices have any benefit beyond the direct nutrients they add as fertilizer, which may itself be of smaller benefit than other traditionally organic or commercial fertilizers. + +==== Field preparations ==== +Field preparations, for stimulating humus formation: + +500: A humus mixture prepared by filling a cow's horn with cow manure and burying it in the ground (40–60 cm below the surface) in the autumn. It is left to decompose during the winter and recovered for use as fertilizer the following spring. +501: Crushed powdered quartz stuffed into a cow's horn and buried in the ground in springtime and taken out in autumn. It can be mixed with 500 but is usually prepared on its own. The mixture is sprayed under very low pressure over the crop during the wet season, as a supposed antifungal. + +==== Compost preparations ==== +The compost preparations Steiner recommended employ herbs which are frequently used in alternative medical remedies. Many of the same herbs Steiner referenced are used in organic practices to make foliar fertilizers, green manure, or in composting. The preparations Steiner discussed were: + +502: Yarrow blossoms (Achillea millefolium) stuffed into the urinary bladders from red deer (Cervus elaphus), placed in the sun during summer, buried in the ground during winter, and retrieved in the spring. +503: Chamomile blossoms (Matricaria recutita) stuffed into the small intestines of cattle, buried in humus-rich earth in the autumn, and retrieved in the spring. +504: Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) plants in full bloom stuffed together underground surrounded on all sides by peat for a year. +505: Oak bark (Quercus robur) chopped in small pieces, placed inside the skull of a domesticated animal, surrounded by peat, and buried in the ground in a place near rain runoff. +506: Dandelion flowers (Taraxacum officinale) stuffed into the mesentery of a cow, buried in the ground during winter, and retrieved in the spring. +507: Valerian flowers (Valeriana officinalis) extracted into water. +508: Horsetail (Equisetum). + +=== Planting calendar === + +The approach considers that there are lunar and astrological influences on soil and plant development—for example, choosing to plant, cultivate, or harvest various crops based on both the phase of the moon and the zodiacal constellation the moon is passing through, and also depending on whether the crop is the root, leaf, flower, or fruit of the plant. This aspect of biodynamics has been termed "astrological" and "pseudoscientific" in nature. + +=== Seed production === +Biodynamic agriculture has focused on the open pollination of seeds (with farmers thereby generally growing their own seed) and the development of locally adapted varieties. + +== Biodynamic certification == +The Demeter biodynamic certification system established in 1924 was the first certification and labelling system for organic production. As of 2018, to receive certification as biodynamic, the farm must meet the following standards: agronomic guidelines, greenhouse management, structural components, livestock guidelines, and post-harvest handling and processing procedures. +The term Biodynamic is a trademark held by the Demeter association of biodynamic farmers for the purpose of maintaining production standards used both in farming and processing foodstuffs. The trademark is intended to protect both the consumer and the producers of biodynamic produce. Demeter International an organization of member countries; each country has its own Demeter organization which is required to meet international production standards (but can also exceed them). The original Demeter organization was founded in 1928; the U.S. Demeter Association was formed in the 1980s and certified its first farm in 1982. In France, Biodyvin certifies biodynamic wine. In Egypt, SEKEM has created the Egyptian Biodynamic Association (EBDA), an association that provides training for farmers to become certified. As of 2006, more than 200 wineries worldwide were certified as biodynamic; numerous other wineries employ biodynamic methods to a greater or lesser extent. + +== Effectiveness == +Research into biodynamic farming has been complicated by the difficulty of isolating the distinctively biodynamic aspects when conducting comparative trials. Consequently, there is no strong body of material that provides evidence of any specific effect. +Since biodynamic farming is a form of organic farming, it can be generally assumed to share its characteristics, including "less stressed soils and thus diverse and highly interrelated soil communities". +A 2009/2011 review found that biodynamically cultivated fields: + +had lower absolute yields than conventional farms, but achieved better efficiency of production relative to the amount of energy used; +had greater earthworm populations and biomass than conventional farms. +Both factors were similar to the result in organically cultivated fields. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7ea1f7d44 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Biodynamic agriculture" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:23.917461+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Reception == +In a 2002 newspaper editorial, Peter Treue, agricultural researcher at the University of Kiel, characterized biodynamics as pseudoscience and argued that similar or equal results can be obtained using standard organic farming principles. He wrote that some biodynamic preparations more resemble alchemy or magic akin to geomancy. +In a 1994 analysis, Holger Kirchmann, a soil researcher with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, concluded that Steiner's instructions were occult and dogmatic, and cannot contribute to the development of alternative or sustainable agriculture. According to Kirchmann, many of Steiner's statements are not provable because scientifically clear hypotheses cannot be made from his descriptions. Kirchmann asserted that when methods of biodynamic agriculture were tested scientifically, the results were unconvincing. Further, in a 2004 overview of biodynamic agriculture, Linda Chalker-Scott, a researcher at Washington State University, characterized biodynamics as pseudoscience, writing that Steiner did not use scientific methods to formulate his theory of biodynamics, and that the later addition of valid organic farming techniques has "muddled the discussion" of Steiner's original idea. Based on the scant scientific testing of biodynamics, Chalker-Scott concluded "no evidence exists" that homeopathic preparations improve the soil. +In Michael Shermer's The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, Dan Dugan says that the way biodynamic preparations are supposed to be implemented are formulated solely on the basis of Steiner's "own insight". Skeptic Brian Dunning writes "the best way to think of 'biodynamic agriculture' would be as a magic spell cast over an entire farm. Biodynamics sees an entire farm as a single organism, with something that they call a life force." +Florian Leiber, Nikolai Fuchs and Hartmut Spieß, researchers at the Goetheanum, have defended the principles of biodynamics and suggested that critiques of biodynamic agriculture which deny it scientific credibility are "not in keeping with the facts...as they take no notice of large areas of biodynamic management and research". Biodynamic farmers are "charged with developing a continuous dialogue between biodynamic science and the natural sciences sensu stricto", despite important differences in paradigms, world views, and value systems. +Philosopher of science Michael Ruse has written that followers of biodynamic agriculture rather enjoy the scientific marginalisation that comes from its pseudoscientific basis, revelling both in its esoteric aspects and the impression that they were in the vanguard of the wider anti-science sentiment that has grown in opposition to modern methods such as genetic modification. +Steiner's theory was similar to those of the agricultural scientist Richard Krzymowski, who was teaching in Breslau since 1922. The environmental scientist Frank M. Rauch mentioned in 1995, concerning the reprint of a book from Raoul Heinrich Francé, another source probably used by Steiner. +According to a scientific paper of Holger Kirchmann in 2021, the auras and forces mentioned by Steiner are not known to science. His statement (hypothesis) of “living forces” affecting crops cannot be tested, and is thus not falsifiable. However, when a hypothesis is not falsifiable, this is a sign of pseudoscience. + +As noted by Hammer, this means that anthroposophy harbors extensive empirical claims on "the most diverse subjects: matters normally defined as belonging to the domain of science, yet made immune to scientific critique because of Steiner's radical dichotomy—agronomy, chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, developmental psychology, astronomy, physics etc." (Hammer 2004, 227). +A research team from the Botanical Garden and Department of Experimental and Social Sciences Education of the Faculty of Teacher Training of the University of Valencia warned in 2021 about the risk of pseudoscience in relation with myths or beliefs about the influence of the moon on agriculture. The findings of this scientific review of over 100 papers (including scientific articles, papers and higher education textbooks) have been published in the journal Agronomy. They found that there is no reliable, science-based evidence for any relationship between lunar phases and plant physiology in any plant–science related textbooks or peer-reviewed journal articles justifying agricultural practices conditioned by the Moon. Nor does evidence from the field of physics support a causal relationship between lunar forces and plant responses. Therefore, popular agricultural practices that are tied to lunar phases have no scientific backing. + +== See also == + +Agroecology +Alan Chadwick +Biointensive agriculture +The Real Dirt on Farmer John – documentary on a conventional farm which converted to biodynamic and community-supported agriculture +Wild farming + +== References == + +== Further reading == + +=== Bibliography === + +== External links == +Biodynamics Section at the Rudolf Steiner Archive, An Online Library \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomesotherapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomesotherapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..beb0e5b49 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomesotherapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Biomesotherapy" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomesotherapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:25.062777+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Biomesotherapy is a pseudoscientific therapy that combines homeopathy, mesotherapy, and acupuncture. Saline and/or homeopathic solutions are injected subcutaneously at or along traditional acupuncture sites. Oral administration of homeopathic formulations may also form part of the treatment. Biomesotherapy is marketed as a form of pain management or as a generalised wellness treatment. Biomesotherapy was implicated in a cluster of mycobacterial infections in Australia in 2008. +This therapy involves the oral administration of a homeopathic remedy and the injection of a sterile saline solution into certain trigger points in the body with the aim of stimulating the organ systems, which is known as the cutivistic response. Biomesotherapy is claimed designed to relax tense muscles, and primarily aims to help the body heal itself and normalize the nervous system. This therapy is often used to treat pain as a result of joint disease or other musculoskeletal problems. Biomesotherapy is claimed to help the body to treat the root of the pain. Biomesotherapy is not recommended for the treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, AIDS etc. +There is no evidence to the efficacy of the treatment. + + +== References == +This article incorporates public domain text from the CDC as cited. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3ad497a1d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,99 @@ +--- +title: "Biorhythm (pseudoscience)" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:27.359615+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The biorhythm theory is the pseudoscientific idea that peoples' daily lives are significantly affected by rhythmic cycles with periods of exactly 23, 28 and 33 days, typically a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle, and a 33-day intellectual cycle. The idea was developed by German otolaryngologist Wilhelm Fliess in the late 19th century, and was popularized in the United States in the late 1970s. The proposal has been independently tested and, consistently, no validity for it has been found. +According to the notion of biorhythms, a person's life is influenced by rhythmic biological cycles that affect their ability in various domains, such as mental, physical, and emotional activity. These cycles begin at birth and oscillate in a steady (sine wave) fashion throughout life, and by modeling them mathematically, it is suggested that a person's level of ability in each of these domains can be predicted from day to day. It is built on the idea that the biofeedback chemical and hormonal secretion functions within the body could show a sinusoidal behavior over time. +Most biorhythm models use three cycles: a 23-day physical cycle, a 28-day emotional cycle, and a 33-day intellectual cycle. These cycles are to be adjusted based on the person's personal day clock which may run from 22 hours to 27 hours although 23-25 is the norm. Two ways one can find their personal day clock is to test one's grip and body temperature every 15 minutes for a few days or the same time each day for a few months. Although the 28-day cycle is the same length as the average woman's menstrual cycle and was originally described as a "female" cycle (see below), the two are not necessarily in synchronization. Each of these cycles varies between high and low extremes sinusoidally, with days where the cycle crosses the zero line described as "critical days" of greater risk or uncertainty. +The numbers from +100% (maximum) to -100% (minimum) indicate where on each cycle the rhythms are on a particular day. In general, a rhythm at 0% is crossing the midpoint and is thought to have no real impact on one's life, whereas a rhythm at +100% (at the peak of that cycle) would give one an edge in that area, and a rhythm at -100% (at the bottom of that cycle) would make life more difficult in that area. There is no particular meaning to a day on which one's rhythms are all high or all low, except the obvious benefits or hindrances that these rare extremes are thought to have on one's life. +In addition to the three popular cycles, various other cycles have been proposed, based on linear combination of the three, or on longer or shorter rhythms. + +== Calculation == +Theories published state the equations for the cycles as: + +physical: + + + + sin + ⁡ + ( + 2 + π + t + + / + + 23 + ) + + + {\displaystyle \sin(2\pi t/23)} + +, +emotional: + + + + sin + ⁡ + ( + 2 + π + t + + / + + 28 + ) + + + {\displaystyle \sin(2\pi t/28)} + +, +intellectual: + + + + sin + ⁡ + ( + 2 + π + t + + / + + 33 + ) + + + {\displaystyle \sin(2\pi t/33)} + +, +where + + + + t + + + {\displaystyle t} + + indicates the number of days since birth. Basic arithmetic shows that the combination of the simpler 23- and 28-day cycles repeats every 644 days (or 13⁄4 years), while the triple combination of 23-, 28-, and 33-day cycles repeats every 21,252 days (or 58.18+ years). + +== History == +The 23- and 28-day rhythms used by biorhythmists were first devised in the late 19th century by Wilhelm Fliess, a Berlin physician and friend of Sigmund Freud. Fliess believed that he observed regularities at 23- and 28-day intervals in a number of phenomena, including births and deaths. He labeled the 23-day rhythm "male" and the 28-day rhythm "female", matching the menstrual cycle. +In 1904, Viennese psychology professor Hermann Swoboda came to similar conclusions. Alfred Teltscher, professor of engineering at the University of Innsbruck, developed Swoboda's work and suggested that his students' good and bad days followed a rhythmic pattern; he believed that the brain's ability to absorb, mental ability, and alertness ran in 33-day cycles. One of the first academic researchers of biorhythms was Estonian-born Nikolai Pärna, who published a book in German called Rhythm, Life and Creation in 1923. +The practice of consulting biorhythms was popularized in the 1970s by a series of books by Bernard Gittelson, including Biorhythm—A Personal Science, Biorhythm Charts of the Famous and Infamous, and Biorhythm Sports Forecasting. Gittelson's company, Biorhythm Computers, Inc., made a business selling personal biorhythm charts and calculators, but his ability to predict sporting events was not substantiated. +Charting biorhythms for personal use was popular in the United States during the 1970s; many places (especially video arcades and amusement areas) had a biorhythm machine that provided charts upon entry of date of birth. Biorhythm programs were a common application on personal computers; and in the late 1970s, there were also handheld biorhythm calculators on the market, the Kosmos 1 and the Casio Biolator. + +== Critical views == +There have been some three dozen published studies of biorhythm theory, but according to a study by Terence Hines, all of those either supported the null hypothesis that there is no correlation of human experience and the supposed biorhythms beyond what can be explained by coincidence, or, in cases where authors claimed to have evidence for biorhythm theory, methodological and statistical errors invalidated their conclusions. Hines therefore concluded that the theory is not valid. +Supporters continued to defend the theory in spite of the lack of corroborating scientific evidence, leading to the charge that it had become a kind of pseudoscience due to its proponents' rejection of empirical testing: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9e0af750e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +title: "Biorhythm (pseudoscience)" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorhythm_(pseudoscience)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:27.359615+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +An examination of some 134 biorhythm studies found that the theory is not valid (Hines, 1998). It is empirically testable and has been shown to be false. Terence Hines believes that this fact implies that biorhythm theory 'can not be properly termed a pseudoscientific theory'. However, when the advocates of an empirically testable theory refuse to give up the theory in the face of overwhelming evidence against it, it seems reasonable to call the theory pseudoscientific. For, in fact, the adherents to such a theory have declared by their behaviour that there is nothing that could falsify it, yet they continue to claim the theory is scientific. (from Carroll's The Skeptic's Dictionary) +The physiologist Gordon Stein in the book Encyclopedia of Hoaxes (1993) wrote:Both the theoretical underpinning and the practical scientific verification of biorhythm theory are lacking. Without those, biorhythms became just another pseudoscientific claim that people are willing to accept without required evidence. Those pushing biorhythm calculators and books on a gullible public are guilty of making fraudulent claims. They are hoaxers of the public if they know what they are saying has no factual justification.A 1978 study of the incidence of industrial accidents found neither empirical nor theoretical support for the biorhythm model. +In Underwood Dudley's book, Numerology: Or What Pythagoras Wrought, he provides an example of a situation in which a magician provides a woman her biorhythm chart that supposedly included the next two years of her life. The women sent letters to the magician describing how accurate the chart was. The magician purposely sent her a biorhythm chart based on a different birthdate. After he explained that he sent the wrong chart to her, he sent her another chart, also having the wrong birthdate. She then said that this new chart was even more accurate than the previous one. This kind of willful credulous belief in vague or inaccurate prognostication derives from motivated reasoning backed up by fallacious acceptance of confirmation bias, post hoc rationalization, and suggestibility. +Wilhelm Fliess "was able to impose his number patterns on virtually everything" and worked to convince others that cycles happen within men and women every 23 and 28 days. Mathematically, Fliess's equation, n = 23x +28y is unconstrained as there are infinitely many solutions for x and y, meaning that Fliess and Sigmund Freud (who adopted this idea in the early 1890s) could predict anything they wanted with the combination. +The skeptical evaluations of the various biorhythm proposals led to a number of critiques lambasting the subject published in the 1970s and 1980s. Biorhythm advocates who objected to the takedowns claimed that because circadian rhythms had been empirically verified in many organisms' sleep cycles, biorhythms were just as plausible. However, unlike biorhythms, which are claimed to have precise and unaltering periods, circadian rhythms are found by observing the cycle itself and the periods are found to vary in length based on biological and environmental factors. Assuming such factors were relevant to biorhythms would result in chaotic cycle combinations that remove any "predictive" features. + +=== Additional studies === +Several controlled, experimental studies found no correlation between the 23, 28 and 33 day cycles and academic performance. These studies include: + +==== James (1984) ==== +James hypothesized that if biorhythms were rooted in science, then each proposed biorhythm cycle would contribute to task performance. Further, he predicted that each type of biorhythm cycle (i.e., intellectual, physical, and emotional) would be most influential on tasks associated with the corresponding cycle type. For example, he postulated that intellectual biorhythm cycles would be most influential on academic testing performance. In order to test his hypotheses, James observed 368 participants, noting their performance on tasks associated with intellectual, physical, and emotional functioning. Based on data collected from his experimental research, James concluded that there was no relation between subjects' biorhythmic status (on any of the three cycle types), and their performance on the associated practical tests. + +==== Peveto (1980) ==== +Peveto examined the proposed relationship between biorhythms and academic performance, specifically in terms of reading ability. Through examination of the data collected, Peveto concluded that there were no significant differences in the academic performance of the students, in regards to reading, during the high, low, or critical positions of neither the physical biorhythm cycle, the emotional biorhythm cycle, nor the intellectual biorhythm cycle. As a result, it was concluded that biorhythm cycles have no effect on the academic performance of students, when academic performance was measured using reading ability. + +== See also == + +Biological rhythm +Chronotherapy (treatment scheduling) +Circadian rhythm +Mood ring + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Hines, T.M., "Comprehensive review of biorhythm theory". Psychology Department, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY. Psychol Rep. 1998 Aug;83(1):19–64. (ed. concluded that biorhythm theory is not valid.) +D'Andrea, V.J., D.R. Black, and N.G. Stayrook, "Relation of the Fliess-Swoboda Biorhythm Theory to suicide occurrence". J Nerv Ment Dis. 1984 Aug;172(8):490–4. (ed. concluded that there was a validity to biorhythm when the innovative methods of the study are put to use.) +Laxenaire M., and O. Laurent, "What is the current thinking on the biorhythm theory?" Ann Med Psychol (Paris). 1983 Apr;141(4):425–9. [French] (ed. Biorhythm theory is disregarded by the medical world though it has achieved a bit of fame with the public) +Wolcott, J.H.; McMeekin, R.R.; Burgin, R.E.; Yanowitch, R.E. (Jun 1977). "Correlation of general aviation accidents with the biorhythm theory". Hum Factors. 19 (3): 283–93. doi:10.1177/001872087701900311. PMID 873528. S2CID 27406764. +Khalil, T.M.; Kurucz, C.N. (Jul 1977). "The influence of 'biorhythm' on accident occurrence and performance". Ergonomics. 20 (4): 389–98. doi:10.1080/00140137708931641. PMID 908322. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_salve-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_salve-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c457a2220 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_salve-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,59 @@ +--- +title: "Black salve" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_salve" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:29.804399+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Black salve, also known by the brand name Cansema, is an ineffective and unsafe alternative cancer treatment. The product is commonly classified as an escharotic—a topical paste which destroys skin tissue and leaves behind a scar called an eschar. Escharotics were widely used to treat skin lesions in the early 1900s, but have since been replaced by safer and more effective treatments. Escharotics, such as black salves, are currently advertised by some alternative medicine marketers as treatments for skin cancer, often with unsubstantiated testimonials and unsupported claims of effectiveness. +The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has listed Cansema as a "fake cancer cure" and warns consumers to avoid it. + + +== Usages and dangers == + +Cancer salves were first utilized during the Victorian period. As the medical profession started to gain a better understanding, many home remedies, black salve as one example, started to be criticized by medical professionals. An example of this is documented and labeled as a form of quackery in a 1955 Time magazine article: + +A 37-year-old housewife had a skin condition that later (at Duke) proved not to be a cancer. Convinced that it was, she had gone to a backwoods healer, who applied a salve. Soon, a quarter-sized hole disfigured her nose, opening up the nasal cavity. Duke's plastic surgeons had to build her a new nose. +They are not recommended as treatments for skin lesions or skin cancer by medical authorities, but are marketed as such by some alternative medicine practitioners. Use of escharotics, particularly when used instead of proven treatments, can be dangerous. The escharotic may not remove all of the cancerous cells, and frequently removes healthy tissue. Practitioners who use or sell escharotics frequently provide testimonials, in place of scientific evidence, to convince others of effectiveness and safety, which does not exist. Safer and more effective treatments exist for skin cancers, such as: cryotherapy; topical agents such as imiquimod, fluorouracil and ingenol mebutate; radiation therapy; and surgical excision, including Mohs surgery (microscopically controlled surgery used to remove and test cancerous tissue). +Escharotics can cause serious scarring and damage to normal skin. Their manufacture is largely unregulated, so the strength and purity of marketed products are unknown and unverified. Numerous reports in the medical literature describe serious consequences of using escharotics in place of standard treatments for skin cancer, ranging from disfigurement to preventable cancer recurrences. The website Quackwatch warned against the use of escharotics in 2008, with a collection of sourced documents compiling issues of patient injury from their use. A more recent study revealed that many individuals who have used black salve were unaware of its potential dangers. In 2016, the American Academy of Dermatology urged patients to consult a dermatologist before using home remedies for skin cancers. +It was reported in 2018 that the use of black salve had been expanded to include pets. In a Facebook group, people described the use of black salve on cats, dogs, and horses. +In 2018, black salve was strongly linked to the death of Helen Lawson in Australia. Lawson covered her abdomen in black salve under the direction of Dennis Wayne Jensen, a self-proclaimed healer, who advised her that it would draw out her ovarian cancer. The black salve left Lawson with a mass of wounds on her abdomen, which became so large within a few weeks that surgeons could not operate on it. Lawson's sister-in-law described the wounds as extending from "above her pubic bone, all across her abdomen almost up to her rib cage", and as "raw, mutilated bubbling flesh". Lawson died in April 2018. +In 2019, Jensen was issued a prohibition order by the Health Complaints Commissioner of Victoria, forbidding him permanently from providing substances which "he (or anyone else) claims can cure or treat cancer or other serious disease or illness". This includes black salve. + + +== Ingredients == +Common ingredients of black salves include zinc chloride, chaparral (also known as creosote bush), and often bloodroot, a plant frequently used in herbal medicine. +The extract of bloodroot is called sanguinarine, a quaternary benzophenanthridine alkaloid which attacks and destroys living tissue and is also classified as an escharotic. + + +== Regulation == + + +=== Australia === +The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia is advising consumers against purchasing or using black salve, red salve, or Cansema products. The TGA has found the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network (AVN) in breach of advertising regulations, and in a separate finding the AVN's former president Meryl Dorey together with Leon Pittard of Fair Dinkum Radio were found to be in breach. + + +=== United States === +Cansema is listed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as one of 187 fake cancer cures. Cansema continues to be marketed by numerous individuals, as evidenced by recent FDA Warning Letters. The FDA has taken enforcement action against illegal marketing of Cansema as a cancer cure, as in the 2004 arrest and conviction of Greg Caton. +The FDA has taken an active role in the banning of these chemicals for use as a cancer cure. Typical warning letters detail the dangers of this product while also admonishing the purveyors of their obligation to comply with federal law. Summaries of recent letters are cataloged on the FDA website. + + +== See also == +List of ineffective cancer treatments + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Hurley D. Natural Causes: Death, Lies, and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry. New York: Broadway Books, 2006. ISBN 0-7679-2042-2 + + +== External links == +Escharotics information: New Zealand Dermatological Society +"Bloodroot". Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Herbal Database. Retrieved July 28, 2021. +Escharotics information Archived October 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine: Therapeutic Goods Administration +Photo series illustrating harmful effects of black salve treatment. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_diet-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_diet-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6c880de95 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_diet-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Blood type diet" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_diet" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:30.997847+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The blood type diets are fad diets advocated by several authors, the most prominent of whom is Peter J. D'Adamo. These diets are based on the notion that blood type, according to the ABO blood group system, is the most important factor in determining a healthy diet, and each author recommends a distinct diet for each blood type. +The consensus among dietitians, physicians, and scientists is that these diets are unsupported by scientific evidence. +In what was apparently the first study testing whether there was any benefit to eating the "right" diet according to one's blood type, a study published in 2014 compared "biomarkers" such as body mass index, blood pressure, and serum cholesterol and insulin among young people, and assessed their diets over a period of a month. Based on one's diet each person was classified as tending to follow the blood-type diet recommended for O, A, or B. While there were significant differences in some biomarkers between these groups, there was no significant interaction between diet and biomarkers. In other words, those who were eating the "right" diet for their blood type did not show different biomarker values on average compared to those eating the "wrong" diet. +The blood type diet was named by the British Dietetic Association as one of the "Top 5 Celeb Diets to Avoid in 2019". + + +== Diet == +The underlying hypothesis of blood type diets is that people with different blood types digest lectins differently, and that if people eat food that is not compatible with their blood type, they will experience many health problems. On the other hand, if a person eats food that is compatible, they will be healthier. +That hypothesis is, in turn, based on an assumption that each blood type represents a different evolutionary heritage. "Based on the 'Blood-Type' diet theory, group O is considered the ancestral blood group in humans so their optimal diet should resemble the high animal protein diets typical of the hunter-gatherer era. In contrast, those with group A should thrive on a vegetarian diet as this blood group was believed to have evolved when humans settled down into agrarian societies. Following the same rationale, individuals with blood group B are considered to benefit from consumption of dairy products because this blood group was believed to originate in nomadic tribes. Finally, individuals with an AB blood group are believed to benefit from a diet that is intermediate to those proposed for group A and group B." + + +== Lack of evidence blood type diet improves health == +As of 2017 there is no scientific evidence to support the blood type diet hypothesis and no clinical evidence that it improves health. Peter J. D'Adamo, a naturopath, is the most prominent proponent of blood type diets. + + +== Lack of evidence group O is the ancestral blood == +Luiz C. de Mattos and Haroldo W. Moreira point out that assertions made by proponents of blood type diets that the O blood type was the first human blood type requires that the O gene have evolved before the A and B genes in the ABO locus; phylogenetic networks of human and non-human ABO alleles show that the A gene was the first to evolve. They argue that it would be extraordinary, from the perspective of evolution, for normal genes (those for types A and B) to have evolved from abnormal genes (for type O). +Yamamoto et al. further note: "Although the O blood type is common in all populations around the world, there is no evidence that the O gene represents the ancestral gene at the ABO locus. Nor is it reasonable to suppose that a defective gene would arise spontaneously and then evolve into normal genes. + + +== See also == +Blood type +Blood type personality theory +List of diets + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Edward Blonz (2003-03-18). "Book Review: Eat Right 4 Your Type (1996)". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2013-08-22. +"blood type diet". The Skeptic's Dictionary. 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2013-08-22. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9c2b9122a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Blood type personality theory" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:32.145274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The blood type personality theory is a pseudoscientific belief prevalent in East Asia that a person's blood type is predictive of a person's personality, temperament, and compatibility with others. The theory is generally considered a superstition by the scientific community. +One of the reasons Japan developed the blood type personality indicator theory was in reaction to a claim from German scientist Emil von Dungern, that blood type B people were inferior. The popular belief originates with publications by Masahiko Nomi in the 1970s. +Although some medical hypotheses have been proposed in support of blood type personality theory, the scientific community generally dismisses blood type personality theories as superstition or pseudoscience because of lack of evidence or testable criteria. Although research into the causal link between blood type and personality is limited, the majority of modern studies do not demonstrate any statistically significant association between the two. Some studies suggest that there is a statistically significant relationship between blood type and personality, although it is unclear if this is simply due to a self-fulfilling prophecy. + +== Overview == +According to popular belief, people with type A blood are friendly and kind but also obsessive and anxious, people with type B are spontaneous and creative but can be selfish, and people with type O are confident but stubborn and aggressive. In a logical extension of this system, those with type AB are a mix of stereotypical A and B traits, while also being seen as mysterious or aloof due to their relatively low population in Japan. The minority types B and AB are more likely to be negatively stereotyped than A or O. + +== History == + +The idea that personality traits were inherited through the blood dates as far back as Aristotle. Hippocrates also sought to link personality biologically, linking traits with the four bodily humors –sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic. +In 1926, Hayashi Hirano and Tomita Yajima published the article "Blood Type Biological Related" in the Army Medical Journal. + +=== Takeji Furukawa === +In 1927, Takeji Furukawa, a professor at Tokyo Women's Teacher's School, published his paper "The Study of Temperament Through Blood Type" in the scholarly journal Psychological Research. The idea quickly took off with the Japanese public despite Furukawa's lack of credentials, and the militarist government of the time commissioned a study aimed at breeding ideal soldiers. The study used ten to twenty people for the investigation, thereby failing to meet the statistical requirements for generalizing the results to the wider population. +On the other hand, in 1934, Fisher announced the chi-squared test, which is very popular at present, for the first time. Several scholars said that they found statistically significant differences in analyzing Japanese work conducted at that time. +In another study, Furukawa compared the distribution of blood types among two ethnic groups: the Formosans in Taiwan and the Ainu of Hokkaidō. His motivation for the study appears to have come from a political incident: After the Japanese occupation of Taiwan following Japan's invasion of China in 1895, the inhabitants tenaciously resisted their occupiers. Insurgencies in 1930 and 1931 resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Japanese settlers. +The purpose of Furukawa's studies was to "penetrate the essence of the racial traits of the Taiwanese, who recently revolted and behaved so cruelly." Based on a finding that 41.2% of Taiwanese samples had type O blood, Furukawa assumed that the Taiwanese rebelliousness was genetic. His reasoning was supported by the fact that among the Ainu, whose temperament was characterized as submissive, only 23.8% is type O. In conclusion, Furukawa suggested that the Japanese should increase intermarriage with the Taiwanese to reduce the number of Taiwanese with type O blood. + +=== Masahiko Nomi === + +Interest in the theory was revived in the 1970s with a book by Masahiko Nomi, a journalist with no medical background (he graduated from the engineering department of the University of Tokyo). Few Japanese psychologists criticized him at that time, so he continued to demonstrate statistically significant data in various fields and published several books with these results. Later after his death in 1981, Masahiko Nomi's work was said to be largely uncontrolled and anecdotal, and the methodology of his conclusions was unclear. Because of this, he was heavily criticized by the Japanese psychological community, although his books remain popular. His son, Toshitaka Nomi, continued to promote the theory with a series of books and by running the Institute of Blood Type Humanics. He later established the Human Science ABO Center for further research and publication in 2004. + +== Background and criticism == + +=== Criticism === +Kengo Nawata, a social psychologist, studied blood type correlations in a survey of 68 personality traits given to over 10,000 people from Japan and the US. His statistical analysis found that less than 0.3% of the total variance in personality was explained by blood type. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c2338d30a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Blood type personality theory" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:32.145274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Controversial statistically significant data === +However, some academic researchers have shown several statistically significant data in Japan and Korea. Akira Sakamoto and Kenji Yamazaki, Japanese social psychologists, analyzed 32,347 samples of annual opinion polls from 1978 through 1988. These results indicated that Japanese blood-typical stereotypes influenced their self-reported personalities – like a self-fulfilling prophecy. +Cosy Muto and Masahiro Nagashima et al. (Nagasaki University) conducted a supplementary survey of Yamazaki and Sakamoto in 2011. They demonstrated that significant and the same difference in personalities between blood-types by using the same database as Samamoto and Yamazaki used. In the 1990s, the difference due to blood types was stabilized and variances became smaller. Then in the 2000s, the difference was statistically significant, too. However, the effect magnitude was extremely small, despite 'significance' in the statistical sense. +Another Japanese social psychologist, Shigeyuki Yamaoka (Shotoku University), announced results of his questionnaires, which were conducted in 1999 (1,300 subjects) and 2006 (1,362 subjects), In both cases, the subjects were university students, and only subjects with enough knowledge of and belief in the "blood-type diagnosis" showed meaningful differences. He concluded that these differences must be the influence of mass media, especially TV programs. Yamaoka later examined 6,660 samples from 1999 through 2009 in total and found the same result. +On the other hand, some believe that the statistically meaningful differences according to the blood types are not explained only by beliefs, nor that they are a self-fulfilling prophecy. In Japan, the penetration rate of blood-typical personality traits was investigated. Yoriko Watanabe, a psychologist at Hokkaido University, chose "well-known" traits and found most traits were known to no more than half of Japanese people (subjects were university students). A Japanese writer, Masayuki Kanazawa, analyzed these blood-typical traits in combination with data from Yamaoka (1999) that used the same items from Watanabe's penetration survey. If blood-typical differences are caused by penetration (or their self-recognition), the rate of differences of a trait is proportional to the rate of its penetration. However, Kanazawa was not able to discover any association with blood-type differences and penetration rates. This result raises doubt about the role of beliefs and self-fulfilling prophecy. +Most reports that demonstrated statistical correlation attribute differences to a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, no study directly proved the existence of "self-fulfillment". Therefore, the opinions of researchers are varied at present: + +Whether there is a statistical correlation or not; +Whether any statistical correlations are superficial, being caused by subjects' self-fulfilling prophecy, or if they are truly caused by the blood type. + +=== Blood-type personality and the five-factor model === +The five-factor model tests were carried out in several countries, including Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, after the year 2000. These tests were intended to digitize self-ratings of the "big five" personality traits. It was expected that differences in self-reported personalities (a self-fulfilling prophecy) would be detected from the subject who believed in blood-typical stereotypes. As a result, researchers found no meaningful statistical difference. +So Ho Cho, a Korean psychologist (Yonsei University), and the others carried out a questionnaire about blood-typical items to subjects and discovered statistical differences as expected. However, the difference was not found when the five-factor model for big five personality traits was administered to the same subjects. Another Korean researcher Sohn (Yonsei University) re-analyzed Cho's data. He found that several independent items of the big five personality test detected differences according to each blood-typical stereotype. However, these differences became extinct in the process of plural items being gathered to five factors (big five). If these results are correct, the five-factor model test cannot detect differences between the blood types – if such a causal link did indeed exist. +In 2014, a Korean matchmaking company 듀오 Duo conducted a research survey examined 3,000 couples and found that blood type had no significant impact on the possibility of a couple getting married. +In 2017, a meta-analysis of studies, using the Big Five personality test, involving 260,861 subjects found that six genes affected human personality. However, the coefficient of determination was as low as 0.04%. This is usually considered to be an error. + +=== Studies of blood distribution in various fields === +In order to avoid the influence of "contamination by knowledge", a Japanese psychologist group published a series of studies, but no significant differences were found except for Japanese prime ministers. Later, it was reported that significant differences were found not only for prime ministers, but also for foreign ministers, education ministers, professional baseball hitters, and soccer players in Japan. + +=== Brain waves and light topography === +Kim and Yi (Seoul University of Venture & Information) measured the brain waves of 4,636 adults. They reported that type O people were most stress-resistant. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..49631c2f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "Blood type personality theory" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:32.145274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Popularity == +In Japan, blood types are often used in women's magazines to determine relationship compatibility with potential or current partners. Blood type horoscopes are featured in morning television shows and daily newspapers. The blood types of celebrities are often listed in their infoboxes on Japanese Wikipedia. The four books of a series that describe people's character by blood type each ranked third, fourth, fifth, and ninth on a list of best-selling books in Japan in 2008. +One survey showed that at least two-thirds of respondents from Chinese-speaking East Asian countries and regions believe in an association between blood types and personality. +In a Japanese survey, more than half of Japanese respondents stated they were fond of talking about personalities based on blood types. The research also stated that people in Japan like blood-typical personality diagnoses, believe there is a relationship between blood type and personality, and feel its traits apply to themselves to a certain degree. Two other surveys showed similar results. +Although there is no proven correlation between blood type and personality, many matchmaking services use it. In this way, it is similar to the use of astrological signs, which are also popular in Japan. Asking one's blood type is common in Japan, and people are often surprised when a non-Japanese person does not know their blood type. +It is common among anime and manga authors to mention their characters' blood types and to give their characters blood types to match their personalities. Some video game characters also have known blood types. Some video game series also have blood type as a customisable option in their creation modes. +The Reconstruction Minister Ryu Matsumoto had to resign after abrasive comments towards the governors of Iwate and Miyagi. Afterwards, he partially blamed his behavior on his blood type, saying "My blood is type B, which means I can be irritable and impetuous, and my intentions don't always come across." +Blood types are important in South Korea as well. The Korean webcomic A Simple Thinking About Blood Type depicts stereotypes of each blood type and has been adapted as a short anime series in Japan as Ketsuekigata-kun! in 2013 and 2015. + +== Discrimination == +Blood type harassment, called bura-hara (wasei-eigo: a portmanteau of blood and harassment), has been blamed for bullying of children in playgrounds, loss of job opportunities, and the end of relationships. +Discrimination based on blood type has been reported in Japan and Korea. Examples include questions about blood types during job interviews despite government warnings against this, children being split up at school according to their blood type, a national softball team customizing training to fit each player's blood type, and companies giving work assignments according to employees' blood type. +However, these examples are contested and deemed apocryphal. Two counter-arguments are usually cited. Firstly, there have been no trials related to blood-type discrimination thus far. Secondly, most Japanese people do not think blood types determine their personalities, but rather affect them to some degree. + +== See also == +Barnum effect +Blood type diet +Astrological signs—a similar framework popular in Western culture, using the positions of stars on a person's birthday to predict their personality. + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Constantine, Peter. What's Your Type?: How Blood Types Are the Keys to Unlocking Your Personality. 1997. Plume, ISBN 0-452-27802-3. +Jun Kim, Beom; et al. (2007). "Blood-type Distribution". Physica A. 373 (1): 533–540. Bibcode:2007PhyA..373..533K. doi:10.1016/j.physa.2006.05.027. +Miller, Laura (1977). "People Types: Personality Classification in Japanese Women's Magazines". The Journal of Popular Culture. 11 (2): 436–452. +Nawata, Kengo (2014). "No relationship between blood type and personality: Evidence from large-scale surveys in Japan and the US". The Japanese Journal of Psychology. 85 (2): 148–156. doi:10.4992/jjpsy.85.13016. PMID 25016835. +Nomi, Toshitaka, and Alexander Besher, You Are Your Blood Type: The Biochemical Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Your Personality. New York: Pocket Books, 1988. ISBN 0-671-63342-2. +Sakamoto, A.; Yamazaki, K. (2004). "Blood-typical personality stereotypes and self-fulfilling prophecy: A natural experiment with time-series data of 1978–1988" (PDF). Progress in Asian Social Psychology. 4: 239–262. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2014-08-12. + +== External links == +Blood type and the five factors of personality in Asia +Japanese Blood Types +Human Science ABO Center +Website of Peter J. D'Adamo \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..930b21f72 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Bloodletting" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the deliberate withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluids were regarded as "humors" that had to remain in proper balance to maintain health. It was the most common medical practice performed by surgeons from antiquity until the late 19th century, a span of over 2,000 years. In Europe, the practice continued to be relatively common until the end of the 19th century. The practice has been abandoned by modern-style medicine for all except a few very specific medical conditions. In the beginning of the 19th century, studies had begun to show the harmful effects of bloodletting. +The modern term phlebotomy refers to the drawing of blood for laboratory analysis or blood transfusion. Therapeutic phlebotomy refers to the drawing of a unit of blood in specific cases like hemochromatosis, polycythemia vera, porphyria cutanea tarda, etc., to reduce the number of red blood cells. The traditional medical practice of bloodletting is considered a pseudoscience, though the method is still commonly used in forms of alternative medicine. + +== In the ancient world == + +Passages from the Ebers Papyrus may indicate that bloodletting by scarification was an accepted practice in Ancient Egypt. +Egyptian burials have been reported to contain bloodletting instruments. +According to some accounts, the Egyptians based the idea on their observations of the hippopotamus, confusing its red secretions with blood and believing that it scratched itself to relieve distress. +In Greece, bloodletting was in use in the 5th century BC during the lifetime of Hippocrates, who mentions this practice but generally relied on dietary techniques. Erasistratus, however, theorized that many diseases were caused by plethoras, or overabundances, in the blood and advised that these plethoras be treated, initially, by exercise, sweating, reduced food intake, and vomiting. But his student Herophilus supported bloodletting. A contemporary Greek physician, Archagathus, one of the first to practice in Rome, also believed in the value of bloodletting. +"Bleeding" a patient to health was modeled on the process of menstruation. Hippocrates believed that menstruation functioned to "purge women of bad humors". During the Roman Empire, the Greek physician Galen, who subscribed to the teachings of Hippocrates, advocated physician-initiated bloodletting. +The popularity of bloodletting in the classical Mediterranean world was reinforced by the ideas of Galen, after he discovered that not only veins but also arteries were filled with blood, not air as was commonly believed at the time. There were two key concepts in his system of bloodletting. The first was that blood was created and then used up; it did not circulate, and so it could "stagnate" in the extremities. The second was that humoral balance was the basis of illness or health, the four humors being blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile, relating to the four Greek classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire respectively. Galen believed that blood was the dominant humor and the one in most need of control. In order to balance the humors, a physician would either remove "excess" blood (plethora) from the patient or give them an emetic to induce vomiting, or a diuretic to induce urination. +Galen created a complex system of how much blood should be removed based on the patient's age, constitution, the season, the weather and the place. "Do-it-yourself" bleeding instructions following these systems were developed. Symptoms of plethora were believed to include fever, apoplexy, and headache. The blood to be let was of a specific nature determined by the disease: either arterial or venous, and distant or close to the area of the body affected. He linked different blood vessels with different organs, according to their supposed drainage. For example, the vein in the right hand would be let for liver problems and the vein in the left hand for problems with the spleen. The more severe the disease, the more blood would be let. Fevers required copious amounts of bloodletting. + +== Middle Ages == + +The Talmud recommended a specific day of the week and days of the month for bloodletting in the Shabbat tractate. During medieval times bleeding charts were common, showing specific bleeding sites on the body in alignment with the planets and zodiacs. Islamic medical authors also advised bloodletting, particularly for fevers. It was practised according to seasons and certain phases of the Moon in the lunar calendar. The practice was probably passed by the Greeks with the translation of ancient texts to Arabic and is different than bloodletting by cupping mentioned in the traditions of Muhammad. When Muslim theories became known in the Latin-speaking countries of Europe, bloodletting became more widespread. Together with cautery, it was central to Arabic surgery; the key texts Kitab al-Qanun and especially Al-Tasrif li-man 'ajaza 'an al-ta'lif both recommended it. It was also known in Ayurvedic medicine, described in the Susruta Samhita. + +== Use in the 1600s through the 19th century == +Bloodletting became a main technique of heroic medicine, a traumatic and destructive collection of medical practices that emerged in the 18th century. +Even after the humoral system fell into disuse, the practice was continued by surgeons and barber-surgeons. Though the bloodletting was often recommended by physicians, it was carried out by barbers. This led to the distinction between physicians and surgeons. The red-and-white-striped pole of the barbershop, still in use today, is derived from this practice: the red symbolizes blood while the white symbolizes the bandages. Bloodletting was used to "treat" a wide range of diseases, becoming a standard treatment for almost every ailment, and was practiced prophylactically as well as therapeutically. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0bef2c200 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Bloodletting" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A number of different methods were employed. The most common was phlebotomy, or venesection (often called "breathing a vein"), in which blood was drawn from one or more of the larger external veins, such as those in the forearm or neck. In arteriotomy, an artery was punctured, although generally only in the temples. In scarification (not to be confused with scarification, a method of body modification), the "superficial" vessels were attacked, often using a syringe, a spring-loaded lancet, or a glass cup that contained heated air, producing a vacuum within (see fire cupping). There was also a specific bloodletting tool called a scarificator, used primarily in 19th century medicine. It has a spring-loaded mechanism with gears that snaps the blades out through slits in the front cover and back in, in a circular motion. The case is cast brass, and the mechanism and blades steel. One knife bar gear has slipped teeth, turning the blades in a different direction than those on the other bars. The last photo and the diagram show the depth adjustment bar at the back and sides. +Leeches could also be used. The withdrawal of so much blood as to induce syncope (fainting) was considered beneficial, and many sessions would only end when the patient began to swoon. +William Harvey disproved the basis of the practice in 1628, and the introduction of scientific medicine, la méthode numérique, allowed Pierre Charles Alexandre Louis to demonstrate that phlebotomy was entirely ineffective in the treatment of pneumonia and various fevers in the 1830s. Nevertheless, in 1838, a lecturer at the Royal College of Physicians would still state that "blood-letting is a remedy which, when judiciously employed, it is hardly possible to estimate too highly", and Louis was dogged by the sanguinary Broussais, who could recommend leeches fifty at a time. Some physicians resisted Louis' work because they "were not prepared to discard therapies 'validated by both tradition and their own experience on account of somebody else's numbers'." +During this era, bloodletting was used to treat almost every disease. One British medical text recommended bloodletting for acne, asthma, cancer, cholera, coma, convulsions, diabetes, epilepsy, gangrene, gout, herpes, indigestion, insanity, jaundice, leprosy, ophthalmia, plague, pneumonia, scurvy, smallpox, stroke, tetanus, tuberculosis, and for some one hundred other diseases. Bloodletting was even used to treat most forms of hemorrhaging such as nosebleed, excessive menstruation, or hemorrhoidal bleeding. Before surgery or at the onset of childbirth, blood was removed to prevent inflammation. Before amputation, it was customary to remove a quantity of blood equal to the amount believed to circulate in the limb that was to be removed. +There were also theories that bloodletting would cure "heartsickness" and "heartbreak". A French physician, Jacques Ferrand wrote a book in 1623 on the uses of bloodletting to cure a broken heart. He recommended bloodletting to the point of heart failure (literal). +Leeches became especially popular in the early 19th century. In the 1830s, the French imported about 40 million leeches a year for medical purposes, and in the next decade, England imported 6 million leeches a year from France alone. Through the early decades of the century, hundreds of millions of leeches were used by physicians throughout Europe. + +One typical course of medical treatment began the morning of 13 July 1824. A French sergeant was stabbed through the chest while engaged in single combat; within minutes, he fainted from loss of blood. Arriving at the local hospital he was immediately bled twenty ounces (570 ml) "to prevent inflammation". During the night he was bled another 24 ounces (680 ml). Early the next morning, the chief surgeon bled the patient another 10 ounces (285 ml); during the next 14 hours, he was bled five more times. Medical attendants thus intentionally removed more than half of the patient's normal blood supply—in addition to the initial blood loss which caused the sergeant to faint. Bleedings continued over the next several days. By 29 July, the wound had become inflamed. The physician applied 32 leeches to the most sensitive part of the wound. Over the next three days, there were more bleedings and a total of 40 more leeches. The sergeant recovered and was discharged on 3 October. His physician wrote that "by the large quantity of blood lost, amounting to 170 ounces [nearly eleven pints] (4.8 liters), besides that drawn by the application of leeches [perhaps another two pints] (1.1 liters), the life of the patient was preserved". By nineteenth-century standards, thirteen pints of blood taken over the space of a month was a large but not an exceptional quantity. The medical literature of the period contains many similar accounts—some successful, some not. +Bloodletting was also popular in the young United States of America, where Benjamin Rush (a signatory of the Declaration of Independence) saw the state of the arteries as the key to disease, recommending levels of bloodletting that were high even for the time. George Washington asked to be bled heavily after he developed a throat infection from weather exposure. Within a ten-hour period, a total of 124–126 ounces (3.75 liters) of blood was withdrawn prior to his death from a throat infection in 1799. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7bd86982f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Bloodletting" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +One reason for the continued popularity of bloodletting (and purging) was that, while anatomical knowledge, surgical and diagnostic skills increased tremendously in Europe from the 17th century, the key to curing disease remained elusive, and the underlying belief was that it was better to give any treatment than nothing at all. The psychological benefit of bloodletting to the patient (a placebo effect) may sometimes have outweighed the physiological problems it caused. Bloodletting slowly lost favour during the 19th century, after French physician Dr. Pierre Louis conducted an experiment in which he studied the effect of bloodletting on pneumonia patients. A number of other ineffective or harmful treatments were available as placebos—mesmerism, various processes involving the new technology of electricity, many potions, tonics, and elixirs. Yet, bloodletting persisted during the 19th century partly because it was readily available to people of any socioeconomic status. +Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English write that the popularity of bloodletting and heroic medicine in general was because of a need to justify medical billing. Traditional healing techniques had been mostly practiced by women within a non-commercial family or village setting. As male doctors suppressed these techniques, they found it difficult to quantify various "amounts" of healing to charge for, and difficult to convince patients to pay for it. Because bloodletting seemed active and dramatic, it helped convince patients the doctor had something tangible to sell. + +== Controversy and use into the 20th century == +Bloodletting gradually declined in popularity over the course of the 19th century, becoming rather uncommon in most places, before its validity was thoroughly debated. In the medical community of Edinburgh, bloodletting was abandoned in practice before it was challenged in theory, a contradiction highlighted by physician-physiologist John Hughes Bennett. Authorities such as Austin Flint I, Hiram Corson, and William Osler became prominent supporters of bloodletting in the 1880s and onwards, disputing Bennett's premise that bloodletting had fallen into disuse because it did not work. These advocates framed bloodletting as an orthodox medical practice, to be used in spite of its general unpopularity. Some physicians considered bloodletting useful for a more limited range of purposes, such as to "clear out" infected or weakened blood or its ability to "cause hæmorrhages to cease"—as evidenced in a call for a "fair trial for blood-letting as a remedy" in 1871. +Some researchers used statistical methods for evaluating treatment effectiveness to discourage bloodletting. But at the same time, publications by Philip Pye-Smith and others defended bloodletting on scientific grounds. +Bloodletting persisted into the 20th century and was recommended in the 1923 edition of the textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine. The textbook was originally written by Sir William Osler and continued to be published in new editions under new authors following Osler's death in 1919. +Bloodletting was once thought to reduce inflammation, boost immunity, and improve circulation by aiding in the detoxification of the blood circulating throughout the body. Over time, however, bloodletting's harmful impacts made the practice a less preferable form of medicine. Not only was bloodletting generally ineffective, it also commonly led to significant blood loss. High loss of blood made patients highly susceptible to infection/sepsis or the formation of a hematoma. Additionally, bloodletting also caused anemia, leading the patient to feel weak, tired, or even go unconscious. The harmful effects did not stop there; in severe cases, bloodletting had the potential to cause deadly hypovolemic shock. As the medical world advanced, these deadly effects made the practice of bloodletting fade in popularity. + +== Therapeutic phlebotomy == +Therapeutic phlebotomy is used today in the treatment of a few diseases, including hemochromatosis, sickle cell disease, porphyria cutanea tarda, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and polycythemia. It is practiced by specifically trained practitioners in hospitals using modern techniques and a relatively safe procedure that depletes iron stores in the body. In most cases, phlebotomy now refers to the removal of small quantities of blood for diagnostic purposes and is an important procedure in the US. According to an academic article posted in the Journal of Infusion Nursing with data published in 2010, the primary use of phlebotomy is to take blood that would be reinfused back into a person (blood donation). However, in the case of hemochromatosis, bloodletting (by venipuncture) has become the mainstay treatment option. Therapeutic phlebotomy is a cost effective way to remove excess iron in blood for patients that have hemochromatosis. + +== Cross-cultural bloodletting == +Therapeutic uses of bloodletting were reported in 60 distinct cultures/ethnic groups in the HRAF database, present in all inhabited continents. Bloodletting has also been reported in 15 of the 60 cultures in the probability sample files (PSF) list. The PSF is a subset of eHRAF data that includes only one culture from each of 60 macro-culture areas around the world. The prevalence of bloodletting in PSF controls for pseudo-replication linked to common ancestry, suggesting that bloodletting has independently emerged many times. Bloodletting is varied in its practices cross-culturally, for example, in native Alaskan culture bloodletting was practiced for different indications, using different tools, on different body areas, by different people, and it was explained by different medical theories. +According to Helena Miton et al.'s analysis of the HRAF database and other sources, there are several cross-cultural patterns in bloodletting. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f22fa0b29 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Bloodletting" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:33.324303+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Bloodletting is not self-administered. Out of 14 cultures in which the bloodletting practitioner was mentioned, the practitioner was always a third party. 13 out of 14 of the cultures had practitioners with roles related to medicine, while one culture had a practitioner whose role was not related to medicine. +The idea of bloodletting removing "bad blood" that needs to be taken out was common, and was explicitly mentioned in 10 out of 14 cultures studied with detailed descriptions of bloodletting. +Bloodletting is not thought to be effective against illness caused supernaturally by humans (e.g., witchcraft). This is surprising, because in most cultures witchcraft and sorcery can be blamed for ailments. But out of 14 cultures with detailed bloodletting descriptions, there was no evidence of bloodletting being used to cure witchcraft-related ailments, while bloodletting was recorded as a cure for ailments of other origins. The Azande culture has been recorded to believe that bloodletting does not work to cure human-related witchcraft ailments. +Bloodletting is usually administered directly to the affected area, e.g. if the patient has a headache, a cut is made on the forehead. Out of 14 cultures with information on the localization of bloodletting, 11 at least sometimes removed blood from the affected area, while 3 specifically removed blood from a different area from the area in pain. Europe is the only continent with more instances of non-colocalized than colocalized bloodletting. +In a transmission chain experiment done on people living in the US through Amazon Mechanical Turk, stories about bloodletting in a non-affected area were much more likely to transition into stories about bloodletting being administered near the area in pain than vice versa. This suggests that colocalized bloodletting could be a cultural attractor and is more likely to be culturally transmitted, even among people in the US who are likely more familiar with non-colocalized bloodletting. +Bloodletting as a concept is thought to be a cultural attractor, or an intrinsically attractive / culturally transmissible concept. This could explain bloodletting's independent cross-cultural emergence and common cross-cultural traits. + +== See also == + +== References == + +== Books cited == +Carter, K. Codell; Barbara R. Carter (2005). Childbed fever. A scientific biography of Ignaz Semmelweis. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-0467-7. +Carter, K. Codell (2012). The Decline of Therapeutic Bloodletting and the Collapse of Traditional Medicine. New Brunswick & London: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-4604-2. +Kang, Lydia; Nate Pederson (2017). Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything. Workman Publishing Company. + +== Further reading == +McGrew, Roderick. Encyclopedia of Medical History (1985), brief history pp. 32–34 + +== External links == + +The History and Progression of Bloodletting +Medical Antiques: Scarification and Bleeding +Pictures of antique bloodletting instruments +PBS's Red Gold: The Story of Blood Archived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine +Huge collection of antique bloodletting instruments +"Breathing a Vein" phisick.com 14 Nov 2011 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..78aa100e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,244 @@ +--- +title: "Blue Monday (date)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:34.512242+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Blue Monday is a day in January (typically the third Monday of the month) which is said by UK travel agency Sky Travel to be the most depressing day of the year. It takes into account weather conditions and thus only applies to the Northern Hemisphere temperate zones. The day was given its name by former Cardiff University health psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2005. Arnall is a member of The British Psychological Society (BPS). +Some have dismissed the idea as pseudoscience. +Mental health advocacy groups, including the Samaritans and Mind, have used Blue Monday to facilitate talk about mental health. + + +== Date == +The date is generally reported as falling on the third Monday in January, but also on the second or fourth Monday. The first such date declared was 24 January in 2005 as part of a Sky Travel press release. + + +== Calculation == +The Blue Monday formula is expressed as: + + + + + + + + [ + W + + + ( + D + − + d + ) + ] + × + + T + + Q + + + + + M + × + + N + + a + + + + + + + + {\displaystyle {\frac {[W+(D-d)]\times T^{Q}}{M\times N_{a}}}} + + +Where: + + + + + W + + + {\displaystyle W} + + = Weather/Light exposure + + + + + D + − + d + + + {\displaystyle D-d} + + = Debt minus ability to pay + + + + + T + + + {\displaystyle T} + + = Time since Christmas + + + + + Q + + + {\displaystyle Q} + + = Failed quit attempts (New Year's resolutions) + + + + + M + + + {\displaystyle M} + + = Motivational levels + + + + + + N + + a + + + + + {\displaystyle N_{a}} + + = Need to take action +The 2005 press release and a 2009 press release: + + + + + + + + [ + W + + + ( + D + − + d + ) + ] + × + + T + + Q + + + + + M + × + + N + + a + + + + + + + + {\displaystyle {\frac {[W+(D-d)]\times T^{Q}}{M\times N_{a}}}} + + +where W = weather, D = debt, d = monthly salary, T = time since Christmas, Q = time since the failure of new year's resolutions, M = low motivational levels, and Na = the feeling of a need to take action. +One relationship used by Arnall in 2006 was: + + + + + + + + ( + C + × + R + × + Z + Z + ) + + + ( + ( + T + t + + + D + ) + × + S + t + ) + + + + + + ( + P + × + P + r + ) + > + 400 + + + {\displaystyle {\frac {(C\times R\times ZZ)}{((Tt+D)\times St)}}+(P\times Pr)>400} + + +where Tt = travel time; D = delays; C = time spent on cultural activities; R = time spent relaxing; ZZ = time spent sleeping; St = time spent in a state of stress; P = time spent packing; Pr = time spent in preparation. +British science writer Ben Goldacre has observed that Arnall's equations "fail even to make mathematical sense on their own terms", pointing out that under the 2006 equation, packing for ten hours and preparing for 40 will always guarantee a good holiday, and that "you can have an infinitely good weekend by staying at home and cutting your travel time to zero". Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist who has worked in the Psychology department of Cardiff University, described the work as "farcical" with "nonsensical measurements", in 2013. +In 2016, Arnall claimed to have attempted to "overturn" his "theory" by visiting the Canary Islands; his claim was publicised by the Canary Islands Tourism Board which resulted in the Stop Blue Monday campaign receiving a gold award in London in 2017 for the Best International Campaign in 2016. + + +== History == +This date was published in a press release under the name of Cliff Arnall, who was at the time a Research Associate in Psychology with University Hospital Wales (UHW), Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and psychology tutor and psychologist at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, a Further Education centre attached to Cardiff University. The Guardian columnist Ben Goldacre reported that the press release was delivered substantially pre-written to a number of academics via public relations agency Porter Novelli, along with an offer of money to those who offered to put their names to it. A statement later printed in The Guardian sought to distance leaders of Cardiff University from Arnall: "Cardiff University has asked us to point out that Cliff Arnall … was a former part-time tutor at the university but left in February." +Variations of the story have been repeatedly reused by other companies in press releases, with 2014 seeing Blue Monday invoked by legal firms and retailers of bottled water and alcoholic drinks. Some versions of the story purport to analyse trends in social media posts to calculate the date. +In 2018, Arnall told a reporter at the Independent newspaper that it was "never his intention to make the day sound negative", but rather "to inspire people to take action and make bold life decisions". It was also reported that he was working with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays, having "made it his mission to challenge some of the negative news associated with January and to debunk the melancholic mind-set of 'Blue Monday'". + + +== Happiest day == +Arnall also says, in a press release commissioned by Wall's ice cream, that he has calculated the happiest day of the year – in 2005, 24 June, in 2006, 23 June, in 2008, 20 June and in 2010, 18 June. So far, this date has fallen close to Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere (June 21 to 24). + + +== See also == +National Hugging Day which occurs the same week + + +== References == + + +== External links == +BBC pages referencing Blue Monday: 2005; 2009; 2012 +Tulloch, Rosalind (20 January 2020). "Blue Monday is bad and you shouldn't feel bad about ignoring it". PosAbility Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9ca31e71a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Body memory" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:35.721939+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Body memory (BM) is a hypothesis that the body itself is capable of storing memories, as opposed to only the brain. While experiments have demonstrated the possibility of cellular memory, there are currently no known means by which tissues other than the brain would be capable of storing memories. +Modern usage of BM tends to frame it exclusively in the context of traumatic memory and ways in which the body responds to recall of a memory. In this regard, it has become relevant in treatment for PTSD. + +== Overview == +Peter Levine calls BM implicit memory or more specifically procedural memory, things that the body is capable of doing automatically and not in one's consciousness. He clarifies 3 types of BM and frames his work in terms of traumatic memory consequence and resolution: + +Learned motor actions - Action patterns that can be continuously modified over time by higher brain regions. +Emergency response - Hardwired instinctual behaviors (i.e., fight or flight response, etc...). +Attraction or repulsion - We are attracted to sources of nourishment and growth and repulsed from sources of injury or toxicity. +Nicola Diamond elaborates on the opinion of philosopher Merleau-Ponty and asserts that BM is formed by doing. Whether practicing a bodily activity or forming a reaction to a traumatic memory. +Edward Casey speaks of BM as, "memory intrinsic to the body, how we remember by and through the body", rather than what is remembered about the body. +Thomas Fuchs defines 6 different types of BM: procedural, situational, intercorporeal, incorporative, pain, and traumatic memory. He notes that they are not strictly separable from one another but "derived from different dimensions of bodily experience. Michelle Summa further refines this definition as an implicit memory. A pre-thematic, operative consciousness of the past expressed through the body. +Antonio Damasio calls these reactions to memories somatic markers or emotions that are expressed primarily as physical feelings. +These memories are often associated with phantom pain in a part or parts of the body – the body appearing to remember the past trauma. The idea of body memory is a belief frequently associated with the idea of repressed memories, in which memories of incest or sexual abuse can be retained and recovered through physical sensations. It may also be associated with phantom limb sensation but this is less common. + +=== Skepticism === +In 1993, Susan E. Smith, presented a paper relating the idea of "Survivor Psychology" at a false memory syndrome conference, stated about BM that, "body memories are thought to literally be emotional, kinesthetic, or chemical recordings stored at the cellular level and retrievable by returning to or recreating the chemical, emotional, or kinesthetic conditions under which the memory recordings are filed. She went on in the abstract of the paper, "one of the most commonly used theories to support the ideology of repressed memories or incest and sexual abuse amnesia is body memories." and "The belief in these pseudoscientific concepts appears to be related to scientific illiteracy, gullibility, and a lack of critical thinking skills and reasoning abilities in both the mental health community and in society at large" +A 2017 systematic review of cross-disciplinary research in body memory found that the available data neither largely support or refute the claim that memories are stored outside of the brain and more research is needed. +In the Encyclopedia of Phenomenology Embree notes that, "To posit body memory is to open up a Pandora's Box", and links the idea to physical associations of memory rather than as a memory stored in a bodily manner. + +== Cellular memory == +Cellular memory (CM) is a parallel hypothesis to BM positing that memories can be stored outside the brain in all cells. The idea that non-brain tissues can have memories is believed by some who have received organ transplants, though this is considered impossible. The author said the stories are intriguing though and may lead to some serious scientific investigation in the future. In his book TransplantNation Douglas Vincent suggests that atypical newfound memories, thoughts, emotions and preferences after an organ transplant are more suggestive of immunosuppressant drugs and the stress of surgery on perception than of legitimate memory transference. In other words, "as imaginary as a bad trip on LSD or other psychotropic drug." +Cellular memory refers to the ability of cells to retain information about past states, exposures, or events and adapt their responses accordingly. This concept underpins various physiological and pathological processes, often mediated by hormonal pathways, feedback loops, and epigenetic mechanisms. The following are key examples illustrating the scientific basis of cellular memory. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6e8140eee --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Body memory" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:35.721939+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Stress and emotional memory === +The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, through the release of glucocorticoids like cortisol, plays a pivotal role in stress and emotional memory. Cortisol enhances the consolidation of emotionally charged memories by modulating hippocampal activity, yet it can impair memory retrieval. This dual effect is supported by research showing that glucocorticoids improve consolidation of long-term memory, particularly for emotionally valenced information, while impairing retrieval processes. Dysregulation of this pathway is implicated in stress-related disorders such as PTSD, where the over-consolidation of fear-based memories occurs. Studies have demonstrated that glucocorticoids facilitate memory encoding but may compromise the retrieval of information, creating a dynamic interplay between memory formation and stress responses. +Recent research has further elucidated how chronic stress shapes neural networks. Prolonged exposure to high cortisol levels can reduce hippocampal volume and inhibit neurogenesis, weakening the brain's capacity to form new memories while reinforcing maladaptive ones. Those same studies have shown that chronic exposure to elevated cortisol levels, whether through stress or medical conditions, can lead to morphological changes in the hippocampus, suppress neuronal proliferation, and reduce hippocampal volume. +The dynamic interplay between memory formation and stress responses is evident in the research demonstrating that glucocorticoids facilitate memory encoding but may compromise the retrieval of information. This relationship is thought to follow an inverted U-shaped curve, with optimal memory performance at moderate levels of cortisol and impairment at both low and high levels. The differential activation of mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) at varying cortisol concentrations may explain this complex relationship between stress hormones and memory processes. +Furthermore, the impact of glucocorticoids on memory is time-dependent and context-specific. While acute elevations in cortisol can enhance the consolidation of new memories, including extinction memories, chronic exposure to high cortisol levels may lead to detrimental effects on cognitive function. This has important implications for the treatment of fear-related disorders, as glucocorticoid-based interventions may facilitate fear extinction by reducing the retrieval of aversive memories and enhancing the consolidation of extinction memories. + +=== Metabolic memory and nutritional states === +Nutritional and metabolic states are encoded in cellular memory through hormonal and transcriptional mechanisms, including glucose-induced transcriptional hysteresis and thyroid hormone regulation. Prolonged hyperglycemia can induce lasting epigenetic changes in glucose-regulated pathways, contributing to long-term complications of diabetes, such as vascular damage and cognitive decline. This phenomenon, known as "metabolic memory," involves persistent alterations in gene expression and cellular function even after normalization of glucose levels. +Glucose-induced transcriptional hysteresis plays a significant role in this process. Studies have demonstrated that exposure to elevated glucose levels leads to a positive feedback loop, resulting in persistent expression of genes that promote glycolysis and inhibit alternative metabolic pathways. +Similarly, during caloric deficits, the body adapts by lowering the basal metabolic rate and "remembering" prior energy-deprived states through alterations in leptin, ghrelin, and thyroid hormone signaling. These adaptive responses are examples of metabolic memory and highlight how previous nutritional environments shape cellular behavior. +The concept of "memory" in hormonal states is indeed critical for maintaining metabolic homeostasis, but it can also lead to maladaptive outcomes in certain conditions. Chronic high glucose levels have been shown to alter epigenetic markers, leading to persistent vascular inflammation and oxidative stress. Transient hyperglycemia can induce long-lasting activating epigenetic changes in the promoter of the nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) subunit p65 in aortic endothelial cells. These changes persist for at least 6 days of subsequent normal glycemia, resulting in increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes such as monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1). +The establishment of these epigenetic changes may precede cardiovascular complications and help predict vascular lesions in diabetic patients. Importantly, these epigenetic marks may be transmitted across several generations, increasing the individual risk of disease. +The concept of metabolic memory extends beyond glucose regulation. Nutritional and metabolic states are encoded in cellular memory through various hormonal and transcriptional mechanisms. These mechanisms form a complex network that governs metabolic memory and can emerge as novel targets for both detection and intervention of metabolic diseases. + +=== Reproductive and developmental programming === +Hormonal fluctuations during critical developmental periods, such as puberty or pregnancy, create lasting imprints on cellular and systemic physiology. These hormonal effects influence cognitive functions, secondary sexual characteristics, and susceptibility to hormone-sensitive disorders. +Early-life estrogen exposure has been associated with long-term changes in brain plasticity and memory capacity, contributing to gender differences in neuropsychiatric conditions. Estrogen plays a crucial role in brain development, particularly in determining central gender dimorphism. During puberty and other developmental stages, estrogen-induced synaptic plasticity is evident, affecting neurotransmitter synthesis, release, and metabolism. +Estrogen's effects on the central nervous system are multifaceted, involving both genomic and non-genomic mechanisms. These actions protect against a wide range of neurotoxic insults and influence electrical excitability, synaptic function, and morphological features. Clinical evidence shows that estrogen withdrawal during the climacteric period leads to modifications in mood, behavior, and cognition, while estrogen administration can improve cognitive efficiency in post-menopausal women. +Emerging studies indeed reveal that testosterone levels during puberty influence neural development, affecting synaptic pruning and myelination in the prefrontal cortex. These changes have long-term implications for decision-making, risk assessment, and emotional regulation. During adolescence, high testosterone levels are associated with increased anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) involvement in emotion control. +Elevated glucocorticoids during maternal stress have been shown to alter fetal epigenetic markers. Maternal adversity during pregnancy, including stress, anxiety, and depression, is associated with increased maternal and fetal glucocorticoid concentrations, which can lead to long-term physiological and pathophysiological outcomes in offspring. Studies have found a significant correlation between psychosocial maternal stress and offspring methylation at a specific CpG site in the exon 1F of the human glucocorticoid receptor gene NR3C1, which may predispose offspring to mood disorders and metabolic dysregulation. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dccdd496b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Body memory" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:35.721939+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Flatworms === +Biologists at Tufts University have been able to train flatworms despite the loss of the brain and head. This may show memory stored in other parts of the body in some animals. A worm reduced to 1/279th of the original can be regrown within a few weeks and be trained much quicker to head towards light and open space for food, an unnatural behavior for a flatworm. With each head removed training times appear reduced. This may just be a sign of epigenetics showing the appearance of memory. +However, in the 1950s and 1960s James McConnell flatworm experiments measured how long it took to learn a maze. McConnell trained some to move around a maze and then chopped them up and fed them to untrained worms. The untrained group learned faster compared to a control that had not been fed trained worms. McConnell believed the experiment indicated cellular memory. The training involved stressing the worms with electric shock. This kind of stress releases persistent hormones and shows no evidence for memory transfer. Similar experiments with mice being trained and being fed to untrained mice showed improved learning. It was not a memory that was transferred but hormone enriched tissue. + +=== Current usage and research === + +In epigenetics there are various mechanisms for cells to pass on "memories" of stressors to their progeny. Strategies include Msn2 nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling, changes in chromatin, partitioning of anti-stress factors, and damaged macromolecules between mother and daughter cells. +In adaptive immunity there is a functional CM that enables the immune system to learn to react to pathogens through mechanisms such as cytoxic memory mediation in bone marrow, innate immune memory in stromal cells, fungal mediation of innate and inherited immunological response, and T and B-cell immune training. In this regard CM is essential for vaccine and immunity research. + +== References == + +== External links == +Cellular memory hints at the origins of intelligence, Nature, dated 23 January 2008 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4e0eaf37f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 1/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Bogdanov affair was a controversy in the early 2000s over the legitimacy of the PhD degrees in theoretical physics obtained at the University of Burgundy by French twins Igor and Grichka Bogdanov in 2002 and 1999, respectively. The papers were published in reputable scientific journals, and were alleged by their authors to present a new theory describing what occurred before and at the Big Bang. +The controversy began in 2002, with an allegation that the twins, popular in France for hosting science-themed TV shows, had obtained PhDs with nonsensical work. Rumors spread on Usenet newsgroups that their work was a deliberate hoax intended to target weaknesses in the peer review system that physics journals use to select papers for publication. While the Bogdanov brothers continued to defend the legitimacy of their work, the debate over whether it represented a contribution to physics spread from Usenet to many other internet forums, eventually receiving coverage in the mainstream media. A French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) internal report later concluded that their theses had no scientific value. +The incident prompted criticism of the Bogdanovs' approach to science popularization, led to a number of lawsuits, and provoked reflection among physicists as to how and why the peer review system can fail. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7d627ef23 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 2/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Origin == + The Bogdanov brothers were born in 1949 in the small village of Saint-Lary, in the Gascony region of southwest France. The brothers each studied applied mathematics in Paris, but then began careers in television, hosting several popular programs on science and science fiction. The first of these, Temps X (Time X), ran from 1979 to 1989. +In 1991, the Bogdanovs published their book Dieu et la Science (God and Science), drawn from interviews with Catholic philosopher Jean Guitton, which became a French bestseller. This book provoked a dispute of its own when University of Virginia astronomy professor Trinh Xuan Thuan accused the Bogdanovs of plagiarizing his 1988 book The Secret Melody: And Man Created the Universe. After a legal battle in France, during which a judge initially ruled in Thuan's favour, Thuan and the Bogdanovs settled out of court, and the Bogdanovs later denied all wrongdoing. Thuan suggests that the plagiarism suit pressed the brothers to obtain doctorates as fast as possible, since (according to Thuan) the back cover of the book claimed that the Bogdanovs held doctorates when they did not. In 1993, the brothers began work toward doctorates, first working under the mathematical physicist Moshé Flato of the University of Burgundy. Flato died in 1998, and his colleague Daniel Sternheimer (of CNRS) took over the job of supervising the Bogdanovs. According to Sternheimer, the twins viewed themselves as "the Einstein brothers" and had a propensity to voice vague, "impressionistic" statements; he considered guiding their efforts "like teaching My Fair Lady to speak with an Oxford accent." As he said to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Sternheimer did not consider himself an expert in all the topics Grichka Bogdanov included in his thesis, but judged that those portions within his specialty were PhD-quality work. +Grichka Bogdanov was given a PhD by the University of Burgundy (Dijon) in 1999, though this doctorate is sometimes erroneously described as having been granted by the École Polytechnique. He originally applied for a degree in physics, but was instead given one in mathematics, and was first required to significantly rewrite his thesis, de-emphasizing the physics content. Around the same time, Igor Bogdanov failed the defense of his thesis. His advisors subsequently agreed to allow him to obtain a doctorate if he could publish three peer-reviewed journal articles. In 2002, after publishing the requisite articles, Igor was given a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Burgundy. Both of the brothers received the lowest passing grade of "honorable", which is seldom given, as Daniel Sternheimer told The New York Times science reporter Dennis Overbye. In justifying the conferring of doctoral degrees to the Bogdanovs, Sternheimer told the Times, "These guys worked for 10 years without pay. They have the right to have their work recognized with a diploma, which is nothing much these days." +In 2001 and 2002, the brothers published five papers in peer-reviewed physics journals, including Annals of Physics and Classical and Quantum Gravity. The controversy over the Bogdanovs' work began on October 22, 2002, with an email sent by University of Tours physicist Max Niedermaier to University of Pittsburgh physicist Ezra T. Newman. Niedermaier suggested that the Bogdanovs' PhD theses and papers were "spoof[s]", created by throwing together instances of theoretical-physics jargon, including terminology from string theory: "The abstracts are delightfully meaningless combinations of buzzwords ... which apparently have been taken seriously." Copies of the email reached American mathematical physicist John Baez, and on 23 October he created a discussion thread about the Bogdanovs' work on the Usenet newsgroup sci.physics.research, titled "Physics bitten by reverse Alan Sokal hoax?" Baez was comparing the Bogdanovs' publications to the 1996 Sokal affair, in which physicist Alan Sokal successfully submitted an intentionally nonsensical paper to a cultural studies journal in order to criticize that field's lax standards for discussing science. The Bogdanovs quickly became a popular discussion topic, with most respondents agreeing that the papers were flawed. The story spread in public media, prompting Niedermaier to offer an apology to the Bogdanovs, admitting that he had not read the papers firsthand. The Bogdanovs' background in entertainment lent some plausibility to the idea that they were attempting a deliberate hoax, but Igor Bogdanov quickly denied the accusation. +The Bogdanov brothers themselves participated in the online discussions, sometimes using pseudonyms or represented by friends acting as proxies. They used these methods to defend their work and sometimes to insult their critics, among them the Nobel Prize recipient Georges Charpak. +In October 2002, the Bogdanovs released an email containing apparently supportive statements by Laurent Freidel, then a visiting professor at the Perimeter Institute. Soon after, Freidel denied writing any such remarks, telling the press that he had forwarded a message containing that text to a friend. The Bogdanovs then attributed the quoted passages to Freidel, who said, "I'm very upset about that because I have received e-mail from people in the community asking me why I've defended the Bogdanov brothers. When your name is used without your consent, it's a violation." +At the start of the controversy in the moderated group sci.physics.research, Igor Bogdanov denied that their published papers were a hoax, but when asked precise questions from physicists Steve Carlip and John Baez regarding mathematical details in the papers, failed to convince any other participants that these papers had any real scientific value. The New York Times reporter George Johnson described reading through the debate as "like watching someone trying to nail Jell-O to a wall", for the Bogdanovs had "developed their own private language, one that impinges on the vocabulary of science only at the edges." + +== Media reports and comments from scientists == +The online discussion was quickly followed by media attention. The Register reported on the dispute on November 1, 2002, and stories in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Nature, The New York Times, and other publications appeared soon after. These news stories included commentary by physicists. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e397e79d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 3/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Thesis readers === +One of the scientists who approved Igor Bogdanov's thesis, Roman Jackiw of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke to The New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye. Overbye wrote that Jackiw was intrigued by the thesis, although it contained many points he did not understand. Jackiw defended the thesis:All these were ideas that could possibly make sense. It showed some originality and some familiarity with the jargon. That's all I ask. +In contrast, Ignatios Antoniadis (of the École Polytechnique), who approved Grichka Bogdanov's thesis, later reversed his judgment of it. Antoniadis told Le Monde, + +I had given a favorable opinion for Grichka's defense, based on a rapid and indulgent reading of the thesis text. Alas, I was completely mistaken. The scientific language was just an appearance behind which hid incompetence and ignorance of even basic physics. + +=== Pre- and post-publication official commentary on the journal articles === +In May 2001, the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity (CQG) reviewed an article authored by Igor and Grichka Bogdanov, titled "Topological theory of the initial singularity of spacetime". One of the referees' reports stated that the article was "Sound, original, and of interest. With revisions I expect the paper to be suitable for publication." The paper was accepted by the journal seven months later. +However, after the publication of the article and the publicity surrounding the controversy, mathematician Greg Kuperberg posted to Usenet a statement written by the journal's senior publisher, Andrew Wray, and its co-editor, Hermann Nicolai. The statement read, in part, + +Regrettably, despite the best efforts, the refereeing process cannot be 100% effective. Thus the paper ... made it through the review process even though, in retrospect, it does not meet the standards expected of articles in this journal... The paper was discussed extensively at the annual Editorial Board meeting ... and there was general agreement that it should not have been published. Since then several steps have been taken to further improve the peer review process in order to improve the quality assessment on articles submitted to the journal and reduce the likelihood that this could happen again. +The paper in question was, however, not officially withdrawn by the journal. Later, the editor-in-chief of the journal issued a slightly different statement on behalf of the Institute of Physics, which owns the journal, in which he insisted on the fact that their usual peer-review procedures had been followed, but no longer commented on the value of the paper. Moreover, Die Zeit quoted Nicolai as saying that had the paper reached his desk, he would have immediately rejected it. +In 2001, the Czechoslovak Journal of Physics accepted an article written by Igor Bogdanov, entitled "Topological Origin of Inertia". The referee's report concluded: "In my opinion the results of the paper can be considered as original ones. I recommend the paper for publication but in a revised form." The following year, the Chinese Journal of Physics published Igor Bogdanov's "The KMS state of spacetime at the Planck scale". The report stated that "the viewpoint presented in this paper can be interesting as a possible approach of the Planck scale physics." Some corrections were requested. +Not all review evaluations were positive. Eli Hawkins, acting as a referee on behalf of the Journal of Physics A, suggested rejecting one of the Bogdanovs' papers: "It is difficult to describe what is wrong in Section 4, since almost nothing is right. [...] It would take up too much space to enumerate all the mistakes: indeed it is difficult to say where one error ends and the next begins. In conclusion, I would not recommend that this paper be published in this, or any, journal." + +=== Online criticism of the papers === + +After the start of the Usenet discussion, most comments were critical of the Bogdanovs' work. For example, John C. Baez stated that the Bogdanov papers are "a mishmash of superficially plausible sentences containing the right buzzwords in approximately the right order. There is no logic or cohesion in what they write." Jacques Distler voiced a similar opinion, proclaiming "The [Bogdanovs'] papers consist of buzzwords from various fields of mathematical physics, string theory and quantum gravity, strung together into syntactically correct, but semantically meaningless prose." +Others compared the quality of the Bogdanov papers with that seen over a wider arena. "The Bogdanoffs' work is significantly more incoherent than just about anything else being published", wrote Peter Woit. He continued, "But the increasingly low standard of coherence in the whole field is what allowed them to think they were doing something sensible and to get it published." Woit later devoted a chapter of his book Not Even Wrong (2006) to the Bogdanov affair. +Participants in the discussions were particularly unconvinced by a statement in the "Topological origin of inertia" paper that "whatever the orientation, the plane of oscillation of Foucault's pendulum is necessarily aligned with the initial singularity marking the origin of physical space." In addition, the paper claimed, the Foucault pendulum experiment "cannot be explained satisfactorily in either classical or relativistic mechanics". The physicists commenting on Usenet found these claims and subsequent attempts at their explanation peculiar, since the trajectory of a Foucault pendulum—a standard museum piece—is accurately predicted by classical mechanics. The Bogdanovs explained that these claims would only be clear in the context of topological field theory. Baez and Russell Blackadar attempted to determine the meaning of the "plane of oscillation" statement; after the Bogdanovs issued some elaborations, Baez concluded that it was a complicated way of rephrasing the following: + +Since the big bang happened everywhere, no matter which way a pendulum swings, the plane in which it swings can be said to "intersect the big bang". +However, Baez pointed out, this statement does not in fact concern the Big Bang, and is entirely equivalent to the following: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..41e3360a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 4/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +No matter which way a pendulum swings, there is some point on the plane in which it swings. +Yet this rephrasing is itself equivalent to the following statement: Any plane contains a point. If this was the essence of the statement, Baez noted, it cannot be very useful in "explaining the origin of inertia". +Urs Schreiber, then a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hamburg, noted that the mention of the Foucault pendulum was at odds with the papers' general tone, since they generally relied upon more "modern terminology". (According to George Johnson, the Foucault pendulum is "an icon of French science that would belong in any good Gallic spoof.") Schreiber identified five central ideas in the Bogdanovs' work—"'result' A" through "'result' E"—which are expressed in the jargon of statistical mechanics, topological field theory and cosmology. One bit of jargon, the Hagedorn temperature, comes from string theory, but as Schreiber notes, the paper does not use this concept in any detail; moreover, since the paper is manifestly not a string theory treatise, "considering the role the Hagedorn temperature plays in string cosmology, this is bordering on self-parody." Schreiber concludes that the fourth "result" (that the spacetime metric "at the initial singularity" must be Riemannian) contradicts the initial assumption of their argument (an FRW cosmology with pseudo-Riemannian metric). The fifth and last "result", Schreiber notes, is an attempt to resolve this contradiction by "invok[ing] quantum mechanics". The Bogdanovs themselves described Schreiber's summary as "very accurate"; for more on this point, see below. Schreiber concluded, + +Just to make sure: I do not think that any of the above is valid reasoning. I am writing this just to point out what I think are the central 'ideas' the authors had when writing their articles and how this led them to their conclusions. +Eli Hawkins of Pennsylvania State University voiced a similar concern about "The KMS state of spacetime at the Planck scale". + +The main result of this paper is that this thermodynamic equilibrium should be a KMS state. This almost goes without saying; for a quantum system, the KMS condition is just the concrete definition of thermodynamic equilibrium. The hard part is identifying the quantum system to which the condition should be applied, which is not done in this paper. +Both Baez and, later, Peter Woit noted that content was largely repeated from one Bogdanov paper to another. + +Damien Calaque of the Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, criticized Grichka Bogdanov's unpublished preprint "Construction of cocycle bicrossproducts by twisting". In Calaque's estimation, the results presented in the preprint did not have sufficient novelty and interest to merit an independent journal article, and moreover the principal theorem was, in its current formulation, false: Grichka Bogdanov's construction yields a bialgebra which is not necessarily a Hopf algebra, the latter being a type of mathematical object which must satisfy additional conditions. +Eventually, the controversy attracted mainstream media attention, opening new avenues for physicists' comments to be disseminated. Le Monde quoted Alain Connes, recipient of the 1982 Fields Medal, as saying, "I didn't need long to convince myself that they're talking about things that they haven't mastered." The New York Times reported that the physicists David Gross, Carlo Rovelli and Lee Smolin considered the Bogdanov papers nonsensical. Nobel laureate Georges Charpak later stated on a French talk show that the Bogdanovs' presence in the scientific community was "nonexistent". +The most positive comments about the papers themselves came from string theorist Luboš Motl: + +...Some of the papers of the Bogdanoff brothers are really painful and clearly silly ... But the most famous paper about the solution of the initial singularity is a bit different; it is more sophisticated. +...it does not surprise me much that Roman Jackiw said that the paper satisfied everything he expects from an acceptable paper—the knowledge of the jargon and some degree of original ideas. (And be sure that Jackiw, Kounnas, and Majid were not the only ones with this kind of a conclusion.) + +...Technically, their paper connects too many things. It would be too good if all these ideas and (correct) formulae were necessary for a justification of a working solution to the initial singularity problem. But if one accepts that the papers about these difficult questions don't have to be just a well-defined science but maybe also a bit of inspiring art, the brothers have done a pretty good job, I think. And I want to know the answers to many questions that are opened in their paper. +Motl's measured support for "Topological field theory of the initial singularity of spacetime", however, stands in stark contrast to Robert Oeckl's official MathSciNet review, which states that the paper is "rife with nonsensical or meaningless statements and suffers from a serious lack of coherence," follows up with several examples to illustrate his point, and concludes that the paper "falls short of scientific standards and appears to have no meaningful content." An official report from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), which became public in 2010, concluded that the paper "ne peut en aucune façon être qualifié de contribution scientifique" ("cannot in any way be considered a scientific contribution"). The CNRS report summarized the Bogdanovs' theses thusly: "Ces thèses n’ont pas de valeur scientifique. […] Rarement aura-t-on vu un travail creux habillé avec une telle sophistication" ("These theses have no scientific value. [...] Rarely have we seen a hollow work dressed with such sophistication"). + +== Aftermath == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5ef4bc019 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 5/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Claims of pseudonymous activity === +One episode after the heyday of the affair involved the participation of an unidentified "Professor Yang". Using an e-mail address at the domain th-phys.edu.hk, an individual publishing under this name wrote to a number of individuals and on the Internet to defend the Bogdanov papers. This individual wrote to physicists John Baez, Jacques Distler and Peter Woit; to The New York Times journalist Dennis Overbye; and on numerous physics blogs and forums, signing his name "Professor L. Yang—Theoretical Physics Laboratory, International Institute of Mathematical Physics—HKU/Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong." It is the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology which is located in Clear Water Bay, not Hong Kong University (HKU), whose main campus is located in the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong Island. +The Bogdanovs have claimed that the "domain name 'th-phys.edu.hk' was owned by Hong Kong University." This was not confirmed officially by HKU and no Prof. Yang existed on the roster of the HKU physics department; nor did the university have an "International Institute of Mathematical Physics". +Suspicions were consequently raised that Professor L. Yang was actually a pseudonym of the Bogdanovs. However, Igor Bogdanov has maintained that Professor Yang is a real mathematical physicist with expertise in KMS theory, a friend of his, and that he was posting anonymously from Igor's apartment. + +=== Rayons X and Avant Le Big Bang === + +In 2002, the Bogdanovs launched a new weekly TV show Rayons X (X Rays) on French public channel France 2. In August 2004, they presented a 90-minute special cosmology program in which they introduced their theory among other cosmological scenarios. The French mainstream media, in both the press and on the Internet, covered the renewed controversy to some extent; media outlets that reported upon it include Acrimed and Ciel et Espace. + +In 2004, the Bogdanovs published a commercially successful popular science book, Avant Le Big Bang (Before the Big Bang), based on a simplified version of their theses, where they also presented their point of view about the affair. Both the book and the Bogdanovs' television shows have been criticized for elementary scientific and mathematical inaccuracies. Critics cite examples from Avant Le Big Bang including a statement that the "golden number" φ (phi) is transcendental, an assumption that the limit of a decreasing sequence is always zero, and that the expansion of the Universe implies that the planets of the Solar System have grown farther apart. +In October 2004, a journalist from Ciel et Espace interviewed Shahn Majid of Queen Mary, University of London about his report on Grichka Bogdanov's thesis. Majid said that the French version of his report on Grichka's thesis was "an unauthorized translation partially invented by the Bogdanovs." In one sentence, the English word "interesting" was translated as the French "important". A "draft [mathematical] construction" became "la première construction [mathématique]" ("the first [mathematical] construction"). Elsewhere, an added word demonstrated, according to Majid, that "Bogdanov does not understand his own draft results." Majid also described more than ten other modifications of meaning, each one biased towards "surestimation outrancière"—"outrageous over-estimation". Majid said that his original report described a "very weak" student who nevertheless demonstrated "an impressive amount of determination to obtain a doctorate." Later, Majid claimed in a Usenet post that, in an addendum to Avant Le Big Bang, Grichka intentionally misquoted Majid's opinion on the way this interview had been transcribed. + +Additionally, in the same addendum, a critical analysis of their work made by Urs Schreiber, and affirmed by the Bogdanovs as "very accurate", was included with the exception of the concluding remark "Just to make sure: I do not think that any of the above is valid reasoning", thus inverting the meaning from criticism into ostensible support. Moreover, a comment by physicist Peter Woit written as, "It's certainly possible that you have some new worthwhile results on quantum groups", was translated as "Il est tout à fait certain que vous avez obtenu des résultats nouveaux et utiles dans les groupes quantiques" ("It is completely certain that you have obtained new and useful results on quantum groups") and published by the Bogdanovs in the addendum of their book. + +=== Disputes on French and English Wikipedias === +At the beginning of 2004, Igor Bogdanov began to post on French Usenet physics groups and Internet forums, continuing the pattern of behavior seen on sci.physics.research. A controversy began on the French Wikipedia when Igor Bogdanov and his supporters began to edit that encyclopedia's article on the brothers, prompting the creation of a new article dedicated to the debate (Polémique autour des travaux des frères Bogdanov—"Debate surrounding the work of the Bogdanov brothers"). The dispute then spread to the English Wikipedia. In November 2005, this led the Arbitration Committee, a dispute resolution panel that acts as the project's court of last resort, to ban anyone deemed to be a participant in the external dispute from editing the English Wikipedia's article on the Bogdanov Affair. A number of English Wikipedia users, including Igor Bogdanov himself, were explicitly named in this ban. In 2006, Baez wrote on his website that for some time the Bogdanovs and "a large crowd of sock puppets" had been attempting to rewrite the English Wikipedia article on the controversy "to make it less embarrassing to them". "Nobody seems to be fooled", he added. + +=== Lawsuits === +In December 2004, the Bogdanovs sued Ciel et Espace for defamation over the publication of a critical article entitled "The Mystification of the Bogdanovs". In September 2006, the case was dismissed after the Bogdanovs missed court deadlines; they were ordered to pay 2,500 euros to the magazine's publisher to cover its legal costs. There was never a substantive ruling on whether the Bogdanovs had been defamed. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0ff6aab2a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 6/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Alain Riazuelo, an astrophysicist at the Institut d'astrophysique de Paris, participated in many of the online discussions of the Bogdanovs' work. He posted an unpublished version of Grichka Bogdanov's PhD thesis on his personal website, along with his critical analysis. Bogdanov subsequently described this version as "dating from 1991 and too unfinished to be made public". Rather than suing Riazuelo for defamation, Bogdanov filed a criminal complaint of copyright (droit d'auteur) violation against him in May 2011. The police detained and interrogated Riazuelo. He came to trial and was convicted in March 2012. A fine of 2,000 euros the court imposed was suspended, and only one euro of damages was awarded. But in passing judgement the court stated that the scientist had "lacked prudence", given "the fame of the plaintiff". +The verdict outraged many scientists, who felt that the police and courts should have no say in a discussion of the scientific merits of a piece of work. In April 2012, a group of 170 scientists published an open letter titled L'affaire Bogdanoff: Liberté, Science et Justice, Des scientifiques revendiquent leur droit au blâme (The Bogdanov Affair: Liberty, Science and Justice, scientists claim their right of critique). +In 2014, the Bogdanovs sued the weekly magazine Marianne for defamation, on account of reporting the magazine had published in 2010 which had brought the CNRS report to light. The weekly was eventually ordered to pay 64,000 euros in damages, a quantity less than the Bogdanovs had originally demanded (in excess of 800,000 euros each). The Bogdanovs also sued the CNRS for 1.2 million euros in damages, claiming that the CNRS report had "porté atteinte à leur honneur, à leur réputation et à leur crédit" ("undermined their honor, reputation and credit") and calling the report committee a "Stasi scientifique", but a tribunal ruled against them in 2015 and ordered them to pay 2,000 euros. + +=== Megatrend University === +In 2005, the Bogdanovs became professors at Megatrend University in Belgrade where they were appointed Chairs of Cosmology and said to direct the Megatrend Laboratory of Cosmology. Mića Jovanović, the rector and owner of Megatrend University, wrote a preface for the Serbian edition of Avant le Big Bang. Jovanović later became embroiled in controversy and resigned his post when it was revealed that he had not obtained a PhD at the London School of Economics as he had claimed. This scandal, combined with the presence of the Bogdanovs, contributed to an atmosphere of controversy surrounding Megatrend. + +=== L'équation Bogdanov === +In 2008, Presses de la Renaissance published L'équation Bogdanov: le secret de l'origine de l'univers? (The Bogdanov Equation: The Secret of the Origin of the Universe?), officially written in English by Luboš Motl and translated into French. A review in Science et Vie found that the book was light on detail and never actually said what the "Bogdanov equation" is: "Et arrivé à la conclusion, on n'est même plus très certain qu'elle existe réellement" ("Arriving at the conclusion, one is no longer even very certain that it really exists"). + +== Reflections upon the peer-review system == +During the heyday of this affair, some media coverage cast a negative light on theoretical physics, stating or at least strongly implying that it has become impossible to distinguish a valid paper from a hoax. Overbye's article in The New York Times voiced this opinion, for example, as did Declan Butler's piece in Nature. Posters on blogs and Usenet used the affair to criticize the present status of string theory; for the same reason, Peter Woit devoted a chapter of Not Even Wrong, a book emphatically critical of string theory, to the affair. On the other hand, George Johnson's report in The New York Times concludes that physicists have generally decided the papers are "probably just the result of fuzzy thinking, bad writing and journal referees more comfortable with correcting typos than challenging thoughts." String theorist Aaron Bergman riposted in a review of Not Even Wrong that Woit's conclusion + +is undermined by a number of important elisions in the telling of the story, the most important of which is that the writings of the Bogdanovs, to the extent that one can make sense of them, have almost nothing to do with string theory. ... I first learned of the relevant papers in a posting on the internet by Dr. John Baez. Having found a copy of one of the relevant papers available online, I posted that "the referee clearly didn't even glance at it." While the papers were full of rather abstruse prose about a wide variety of technical areas, it was easy to identify outright nonsense in the areas about which I had some expertise. ... A pair of non-string theorists were able to get nonsensical papers generally not about string theory published in journals not generally used by string theorists. This is surely an indictment of something, but its relevance to string theory is marginal at best. +Jacques Distler argued that the tone of the media coverage had more to do with journalistic practices than with physics. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..af6bfae89 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +--- +title: "Bogdanov affair" +chunk: 7/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:36.990206+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The much-anticipated New York Times article on the Bogdanov scandal has appeared. Alas, it suffers from the usual journalistic conceit that a proper newspaper article must cover a "controversy". There must be two sides to the controversy, and the reporter's job is to elicit quotes from both parties and present them side-by-side. Almost inevitably, this "balanced" approach sheds no light on the matter, and leaves the reader shaking his head, "There they go again..." +Distler also suggested that the fact that the Bogdanovs had not uploaded their papers to the arXiv prior to publication, as was standard practice by that time, meant that the physics community must have paid vanishingly little attention to those papers before the hoax rumors broke. +The affair prompted many comments about the possible shortcomings of the referral system for published articles, and also on the criteria for acceptance of a PhD thesis. Frank Wilczek, who edited Annals of Physics (and who would later share the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), told the press that the scandal motivated him to correct the journal's slipping standards, partly by assigning more reviewing duties to the editorial board. +Prior to the controversy, the reports on the Bogdanov theses and most of the journal referees' reports spoke favorably of their work, describing it as original and containing interesting ideas. This has been the basis of concerns raised about the efficacy of the peer-review system that the scientific community and academia use to determine the merit of submitted manuscripts for publication; one concern is that over-worked and unpaid referees may not be able to thoroughly judge the value of a paper in the little time they can afford to spend on it. Regarding the Bogdanov publications, physicist Steve Carlip remarked: + +Referees are volunteers, who as a whole put in a great deal of work for no credit, no money, and little or no recognition, for the good of the community. Sometimes a referee makes a mistake. Sometimes two referees make mistakes at the same time. +I'm a little surprised that anyone is surprised at this. Surely you've seen bad papers published in good journals before this! ... referees give opinions; the real peer review begins after a paper is published. +Similarly, Richard Monastersky, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, observed, "There is one way...for physicists to measure the importance of the Bogdanovs' work. If researchers find merit in the twins' ideas, those thoughts will echo in the references of scientific papers for years to come." Before the controversy over their work arose, the scientific community had shown practically no interest in the Bogdanovs' papers; indeed, according to Stony Brook physics professor Jacobus Verbaarschot, who served on Igor Bogdanov's dissertation committee, without the hoax rumors "probably no one would have ever known about their articles." As of October 2018, the Bogdanovs' most recent paper was "Thermal Equilibrium and KMS Condition at the Planck Scale", which was submitted to the Chinese Annals of Mathematics in 2001 and appeared in 2003. That journal ceased publication in 2005. One retrospective commented, + +Up to 2007 the databanks mention a total of six citations for the Bogdanovs' publications. Four of them are citations among themselves and only two are by other physicists. + +== Sokal affair comparison == +Several sources have referred to the Bogdanov affair as a "reverse Sokal" hoax, drawing a comparison with the Sokal affair, where the physicist Alan Sokal published a deliberately fraudulent and indeed nonsensical article in the humanities journal Social Text. Sokal's original aim had been to test the effects of the intellectual trend he called, "for want of a better term, postmodernism". Worried by what he considered a "more-or-less explicit rejection of the rationalist tradition of the Enlightenment", Sokal decided to perform an experiment which he later cheerfully admitted was both unorthodox and uncontrolled, provoking a maelstrom of reactions which, to his surprise, received coverage in Le Monde and even the front page of The New York Times. The physicist John Baez compared the two events in his October 2002 post to the sci.physics.research newsgroup. Sociologist of science Harry Collins noted that all of the early reports of the incident made reference to the Sokal affair, and he speculated that without Sokal's precedent bringing the idea of hoax publications to mind, the Bogdanov papers would have sunk into the general obscurity of non-influential scientific writing. +Igor and Grichka Bogdanov have and had vigorously insisted upon the validity of their work, while in contrast, Sokal was an outsider to the field in which he was publishing—a physicist, publishing in a humanities journal—and promptly issued a statement himself that his paper was a deliberate hoax. Replying on sci.physics.research, Sokal referred readers to his follow-up essay, in which he notes "the mere fact of publication of my parody" only proved that the editors of one particular journal—and a "rather marginal" one at that—had applied a lax intellectual standard. (According to The New York Times, Sokal was "almost disappointed" that the Bogdanovs had not attempted a hoax after his own style. "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander", he said.) Baez, who made a comparison between the two affairs, later retracted, saying that the brothers "have lost too much face for [withdrawing the work as a hoax] to be a plausible course of action". +In a letter to The New York Times, Cornell physics professor Paul Ginsparg wrote that the contrast between the cases was plainly evident: "here, the authors were evidently aiming to be credentialed by the intellectual prestige of the discipline rather than trying to puncture any intellectual pretension." He added that the fact some journals and scientific institutions have low or variable standards is "hardly a revelation". The observation was later confirmed by studies showing that high-prestige journals struggle to reach average reliability. + +== See also == +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== External links == +Mathematical Center of Riemannian Cosmology – Igor Bogdanov's website +Initial discussion +Physics bitten by reverse Alan Sokal hoax? +Theses and papers +Scientific publications by Igor and Grichka Bogdanov +(in French) Grichka Bogdanov's PhD thesis +(in French) Igor Bogdanov's PhD thesis +Critical websites +John Baez's discussion of the Bogdanov affair +Rapport des Sections 01 et 02 du Comité du CNRS sur Deux Thèses de Doctorat Archived 2019-07-23 at the Wayback Machine archived by Libération +«Pot-Pourri» from Igor & Grichka Bogdanov's Before the Big Bang Archived 2005-11-25 at the Wayback Machine by Jean-Pierre Messager +A small journey in the Bogdanoff universe Archived 2016-04-10 at the Wayback Machine by Alain Riazuelo \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-setting-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-setting-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..99df7b7ca --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-setting-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Bone-setting" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone-setting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:38.201225+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Bone-setting is a type of a folk medicine in which practitioners engage in joint manipulation, such as reducing joint dislocations and resetting bone fractures. The practice dates back thousands of years, has appeared throughout the globe, and predates formal training in accepted modern medical procedures. Before the advent of chiropractors, osteopaths, and physical therapists, bone-setters were the main providers of this type of treatment. + + +== History == +The practice of joint manipulation and treating fractures dates back to ancient times and has roots in most countries. The earliest known medical text, the Edwin Smith papyrus of 1552 BC, describes the Ancient Egyptian treatment of bone-related injuries. These early bone-setters would treat fractures with wooden splints wrapped in bandages or make a cast around the injury out of a plaster-like mixture. It is unknown whether they performed amputations. +In the 16th century, monks and nuns with some knowledge of medicine became healers and bone-setters after the dissolution of monasteries in the British Isles. However, many bone-setters were non-religious, and most were self-taught. Their skills were then passed on from generation to generation, creating families of bone-setters. Notable families include the Taylor family of Whitworth, the Thomas family of Anglesey and the Matthew family of the Midlands, which practiced for more than 200 years. +With the advancement of modern medicine beginning in the 18th century, bone-setters began to be recognised for their efficiency in treatment, but did not receive the praise or status that physicians did. Some of these self-taught healers were considered legitimate, while others were perceived as "charlatans" or "quacks". In Great Britain, one of the most famous was the bone-setter Sally Mapp (d. 1737). Known as "Crazy Sally", she learned her skill from her father and was known for her arm strength and ability to reset almost any bone. Though she lacked the medical education of physicians, she successfully treated dislocated shoulders and knees, among other treatments, at the Grecian Coffee House in London and in the town of Epsom. In the United States, the "Bone-setter" Sweet family carried the skill for generations, with Charles Sweet being one of the most famous bone-setters in all of New England. In Italy, Regina Dal Cin, a bone-setter who learned the skill from her mother, is considered to be an expert in the reconstruction of the congenital and antiquated dislocations of the femur. +Bone-setters treated most of the population, including Royal families when court physicians were inadequate or inefficient. +The Apothecaries Act 1815 in Great Britain called for surgeons to take courses similar to physicians, a move that would raise the status of surgeons to be more in line with that of the elite physician. This allowed some bone-setters to transition into the medical profession and encouraged interest in bone and joint surgery. As a result, surgical instruments and tools for bone-related injuries were developed. + + +== 21st century == +In some developing countries, traditional bone-setters are popular and can be the only address for treatment of bone-related injuries. Most often, it will be the case that there is a shortage of orthopedic doctors and surgeons in the country, and so the two practitioners coexist in the same setting. In parts of South America, Asia and Africa, traditional bone-setters treat musculoskeletal injuries in general, not just fractures and dislocations. Traditional bone-setters are also known to offer cheaper services and prompt treatment. +In Japan, bone-setting is known as sekkotsu. In India, practitioners are known as haad vaidyas. In China, it is known as die-da, and is practiced by martial artists. In Bulgaria, they are called Chakrukchia or Чакръкчия in Cyrillic. In Portugal it is known as endireita. + + +== Manipulative surgery == +In a 1932 book on the subject, A. S. Blundell Bankart defined manipulative surgery as "the art and practice of moving joints for therapeutic purposes". In an address delivered to the Royal Society of Medicine in 1923, R. C. Elmslie described the "use of manipulative methods in surgery" as having grown in recent years. He said that "formerly such practitioners were called 'bone-setters'". A book review in Nature in 1934 said that manipulative surgery was "almost a monopoly of the bone-setter". + + +== See also == +Chiropractic, a form of alternative medicine which treats mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system +Osteopathy, a system of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience-0.md index c37cd75ce..e16d3a43d 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourgeois_pseudoscience" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:03:54.843376+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:39.413064+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..44a068fd0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Brain-Washing (book)" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:40.558555+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics is a Red Scare, black propaganda book, first published by the Church of Scientology in 1955 about brainwashing. The text falsely claims to be a synthesis of existing, actual brainwashing manuals circulating in the Soviet Union. Several different versions were distributed with somewhat different contents. Its actual author is unclear; it is widely believed to have been authored by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, though radical rightist activist Kenneth Goff claimed to be its compiler and some believe he was the author. +In this text, many of the practices Scientology opposes (psychiatry teaching, brain surgery, electroshock, income tax) are described as communist-led conspiracies, and its technical content is limited to suggesting more of these practices on behalf of the Soviet Union. The text also describes the Church of Scientology as the greatest threat to communism. +There are some differences in the various versions of the text in circulation. The Church of Scientology withdrew it from publication several months later; it continued to be distributed, largely by far-right groups, based on the version distributed by Goff. + +== Background and publication == +The text claims to be a synthesis of various existing manuals of the utilization of psychiatry as a means of social control, which it claimed actually circulated in the Soviet Union through Lavrentiy Beria, the chief of the USSR secret police. This is not true and this source book does not exist. The text is a relative copy of the 1953, best-selling, non-fiction book Brain-washing in Red China by journalist Edward Hunter. +In late 1955, the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International published the booklet in an emergency basis; their edition was 64 pages, entitled Brain-Washing: A Synthesis of the Russian Textbook on Psychopolitics. Hubbard tried to present the Federal Bureau of Investigation with a copy, but the Bureau expressed skepticism about the document's authenticity, writing that: + +the authenticity of this booklet seems to be of a doubtful nature since it lacks documentation of source material and communist words and phrases. Also, there are no quotations from well-known communist works as normally would be used in a synthesis of communist writings. In addition, the author himself admits that he cannot vouch for the authenticity of this booklet. +Hubbard sent the material to the FBI, and one unidentified FBI agent gave this review: "[He] appears mental." When the FBI ignored him, Hubbard wrote again stating that Soviet agents had, on three occasions, attempted to hire him to work against the United States, and were upset about his refusal, and that one agent specifically attacked him using electroshock as a weapon. Hunter called the book a hoax, while the evaluator at the Operations Coordinating Board of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's National Security Council thought that "if the booklet is a fake, the author or authors know so much about brainwashing techniques that I would consider them experts, superior to any that I have met to date." +Hubbard withdrew all circulation of the manual in January 1956 and asked for all copies to be returned to the Church of Scientology. +The radical rightist Christian Identity minister Kenneth Goff began distributing the manual at some point, though it is unclear when; he claimed that he had started distributing it privately in 1955, before Hubbard's publication. It is unclear what connection he had to Hubbard; they used the same publisher, E.E. Manney. While Hubbard had distributed a copy to the FBI, Goff went even further: he distributed copies to congressmen and politicians, alleging that the Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act was a Communist conspiracy, nicknaming the legislation the "Siberia Bill." This drew attention to the manual. Goff alleged that the purpose of the Alaska bill was to create "a prison camp under the guise of mental health for everyone who raises their voice against Communism and the hidden government operating in our nation." +Selections of the book were read into the Congressional Record, under the title of "Murder of Human Minds," in which Goff decried the book, but also stated that its methods allowed "unlimited sexual opportunities... over the bodies and minds of helpless patients," and that anyone could purchase a copy for $1 directly from Goff himself. This version became far more popular than Hubbard's and the Church of Scientology even went on to distribute Goff's version. + +== Authorship == + +=== L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology === +Hubbard claimed that he had not written the book, but merely compiled it from these alleged sources. He falsely claimed an entirely unrelated book was actually the original. The manual contains numerous terms typical of Hubbard's style and past writings. +L. Ron Hubbard Jr., estranged son of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, stated: "Dad wrote every word of it. Barbara, Bryan, and my wife typed the manuscript off his dictation." Hubbard's former editor, John Sanborn, agreed with Hubbard Jr.'s testimony. +In 1963, the Australian Board of Inquiry regarded the book as written by Hubbard, something that neither Hubbard nor the Church of Scientology's HASI Hubbard Association of Scientologists International refuted at the time. +According to Massimo Introvigne, critics of Scientology attribute the Brainwashing manual to Hubbard because of the claim that it was later used to practice actual brainwashing in the church. Hubbard, who was strongly opposed to psychiatry, denounced brainwashing in some of his writing. + +=== Kenneth Goff === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..069ff4cbe --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Brain-Washing (book)" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-Washing_(book)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:40.558555+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Some, including Morris Kominsky, suggest that the author was Kenneth Goff. Goff, a former Communist who later became a radical antisemite, authored numerous tracts on a variety of topics. He claimed that he had been "conditioned" into communism by Soviet forces, and some of his works prior to the publication of the manual dealt with brainwashing as a theme. Goff personally claimed that he was the original compiler of the book, but had not authored the material. After Goff died, far-right activist Gordon Mohr, who knew Goff, denied that Hubbard wrote it and instead credited it to Goff. +Several versions of the book list Goff as the author, while a number of publishers avoid the difficulty of authorship by listing the author as "anonymous." However, none of the versions attributed to him are dated and there is no evidence they predate the Scientology publication. +Kominsky claimed that Goff wrote it. Introvigne doubted that it had been written by Goff, calling the material far different than his style, which he called "quite unpolished" and lacking familiarity with psychological jargon. Introvigne concluded that "there is more evidence, and good arguments, for a Hubbard rather than a Goff authorship". + +== Content == +There are some differences in the various versions of the text in circulation. + +=== Church of Scientology version === + +The Brain-Washing book is a generalist text, that abstractly discusses power, violence, coercion, and means of social control. Beria allegedly describes the following as Communist subversive activities directed from Moscow: the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, psychology professors, child labor laws, psychiatric wards, psychedelic drugs (of note: LSD, peyote, mescaline), brain surgery, electric shock therapy, and the 1909 Income Tax Law of the United States. +An example of this generalized style can be found in chapter 6, where a relatively uninformed technique of control is described as... + +"As an example of this, we find an individual refusing to obey and being struck. His refusal to obey is now less vociferous. He is struck again, and his resistance is lessened once more. He is hammered and pounded again and again, until, at length, his only thought is direct and implicit obedience to that person from whom the force has emanated." +According to the journalist Tony Ortega, the primary thesis of the work was "how to use psychiatry and psychology to carry out a communist takeover of the West," with critics and active communists calling it a "crude and laughable forgery," and Edward Hunter, author of Brainwashing In China, "described it as a fictional and inferior version of his own [book]." +In addition, the Church of Scientology is listed as the greatest enemy to Communism: "[The communist] operative should also spare no expense in smashing out of existence, by whatever means, any actual healing group, such as... Church of Scientology." The Church of Scientology is mentioned 5 times, but the Catholic Church is only mentioned 2 times. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which was the dominant religious belief in the Soviet Union at the time, is not mentioned at all. It also lists Christian Science as a target of this claimed plot by psychiatry. + +=== Goff's version === +The version distributed with Goff listed as the author is somewhat different in content. Unlike Hubbard's version it names the Pentecostalism as among the enemies of communism and mentioned the "Siberia Bill". Goff's version had a different introduction. + +=== Other versions === +For years after both Goff and Hubbard ceased distributing it, far-right groups kept it in print. These versions were largely based on Goff's version, but also added other items and new sections. Timothy McVeigh had read and recommended a pamphlet, Operation Vampire Killer 2000, that quoted Goff's version of the manual at length; the pamphlet claims Goff was the author and falsely claimed that he had been killed for writing it. + +== See also == +Bibliography of Scientology +Scientology controversies +Red Scare +Black propaganda +The Protocols of the Elders of Zion + +== Notes == + +== References == + +=== Sources === +"The Brainwashing manual: Timeline". xenu-directory.net. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2009. (includes scanned images of many primary documents relating to the book, such as an FBI report on it, and some of Mr Hubbard's correspondence regarding it) + +== External links == +The Brainwashing Manual (archived from apfn.org) +The Brainwashing Manual at The Online Books Page +Ambry, Brian. "Brainwashing Manual Parallels in Scientology". Archived from the original on May 15, 2023 – via Penn State University College of Information Sciences and Technology. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainspotting-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainspotting-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3fe357af3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainspotting-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Brainspotting" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainspotting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:41.731435+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Brainspotting is a psychotherapy approach developed in 2003 that aims to help individuals process psychological trauma and other distress by maintaining specific eye positions believed to be linked to unprocessed experiences. The evidence base for brainspotting is limited; small pilot and comparative studies suggest possible benefits, but its theoretical foundations have not been empirically validated. Several psychologists characterize brainspotting as a pseudoscience or fringe medicine, though some consider it to be an emerging therapy. + + +== History == +Therapist David Grand indicates he developed brainspotting in 2003 after working with 9/11 survivors and other patients. David Grand was previously trained in psychoanalysis in the 1980s and EMDR in 1993. He combined EMDR, psychoanalysis, and somatic experiencing into a modality he titled “Natural Flow EMDR,” which became the precursor for brainspotting. + + +== Technique == +Grand states that the motto of brainspotting is, “Where you look affects how you feel”. He has hypothesized that allowing one’s gaze to be focused on a specific external location will maintain the brain’s focus on an internal location where traumatic memories are stored, which would promote processing of these memories. Grand believes that influencing the visual field will influence neurological and psychological processes. Currently, no such evidence exists to support this hypothesis, though Grand and his colleague believe that the midbrain is involved. Other researchers argue that such conceptualizations do not accurately reflect how memory functions in the brain. +Brainspotting sessions involve focusing on a presenting problem, rating feelings of distress, focusing on bodily sensations, following guided eye gazes, and practicing focused mindfulness. +There are several variations of brainspotting that may include bilateral stimulation via audio recordings called “BioLateral”, wearing goggles that block vision in one eye, or allowing clients to guide therapists on how to direct their gaze. + + +== Effects and efficacy == +There is very little quality evidence of efficacy or effectiveness of brainspotting. Although originally designed to treat PTSD, Grand claims that it can also be used to treat anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and ADHD. However, no evidence is cited for these claims. One single-subject case study reported that a patient with PTSD experienced lower levels of PTSD and depression symptoms after brainspotting sessions compared to before the session. Another study compared, via within-subjects design, the effects of a single 40-minute session of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), brainspotting, Body Scan Meditation, and placebo condition in the processing of distressing memories reported by a non-clinical sample of adult participants (psychologists and medical doctors attending a four-year specialization in Systemic Psychotherapy at an Italian Institute of Family Therapy). The authors of the study found that EMDR and BSP appeared to be comparable in terms of efficacy in reducing healthy participants’ subjective disturbance connected with distressing memories and were more effective than placebo. +Although at least 6000 clinicians have been trained in brainspotting, there is no quality evidence of its efficacy and it instead relies on anecdotal claims. Existing studies have been critiqued due to being solely authored by brainspotting’s originators and collaborators, indicating potential bias. Published articles that indicate or hypothesize its efficacy have small sample sizes, utilize non-clinical populations, or are published in journals that are not peer-reviewed. The American Psychological Association does not list brainspotting as a recommended intervention for PTSD under its clinical practice guidelines for mental health professionals. + + +== See also == +Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing +Treatments for PTSD +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-0.md index 4633f4efd..cf776fae9 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:08.670415+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-1.md index e36d2fd39..88ac4b602 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:08.670415+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-2.md index c13f1cc43..97150dcb3 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:08.670415+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-3.md index a73b8a0e5..88fab17f6 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-3.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power-3.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 4/4 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brilliant_Light_Power" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:08.670415+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:42.960234+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..df2698c9c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Burzynski Clinic" +chunk: 1/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Burzynski Clinic is a clinic selling an unproven cancer treatment, which has been characterized as harmful quackery. It was founded in 1976 and is located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. It offers a form of chemotherapy originally called "antineoplaston therapy" devised by the clinic's founder Stanislaw Burzynski in the 1970s. Antineoplaston is Burzynski's term for a group of urine-derived peptides, peptide derivatives, and mixtures. There is no accepted scientific evidence of benefit from antineoplaston combinations for various diseases, and the Clinic's claimed successes have not been replicated by independent researchers. The therapy has been rebranded in various ways over the years to mirror fashions in medicine, for example as a kind of "immunotherapy". The therapy is administered through the ruse of running a large numbers of clinical trials, which long-time Burzynski lawyer Richard Jaffe described as "a joke". +The clinic has been the focus of criticism primarily due to the way its antineoplaston therapy is promoted, the costs for people with cancer participating in trials of antineoplastons and problems with the way these trials are run. Legal cases have been brought as a result of the sale of the therapy without regulatory approval. +Burzynski is also the president and founder of a pharmaceutical company, the Burzynski Research Institute, which manufactures his antineoplaston drugs. + +== Stanislaw Burzynski == + +Stanislaw Rajmund Burzynski was born in 1943. In 1967, Burzynski graduated from the Medical Academy in Lublin, Poland. In 1968, he received another degree. Burzynski claims this degree was a Ph.D. in biochemistry, but cancer researcher Saul Green found evidence indicating he received a D.Msc. (Doctor of Medical Science) after a one-year project and passage of a test. +Burzynski moved to the United States in 1970 and worked at Baylor College of Medicine until 1977. That year, he established the Burzynski Research Laboratory, where he began administering so-called antineoplaston therapy. Initially, the protocol was administered to 21 patients, but it was later offered more widely as an "experimental" therapy. This opened him up to "charges of unethical conduct and to the suspicion he had become a merchant of false hope", which led to several instances of media controversy. +Burzynski incorporated his pharmaceutical company, the Burzynski Research Institute, in 1984. Reviewers of his scientific papers have disputed the design of the trials and scientific validity of the published results. +In February 2017, following lengthy hearings, the Texas Medical Board recommended Burzynski's medical license be revoked, with the revocation suspended, and a fine of $360,000 for billing irregularities and other violations. +Burzynski was married to Barbara Burzynski, also a physician, until her death in 2021. They had three children, including Gregory Burzynski, a physician. Both Gregory and Barbara became board members of the Burzynski Research Institute and worked at the Burzynski Clinic. + +== Antineoplaston therapy == +Antineoplaston is a name coined by Burzynski for a group of peptides, peptide derivatives, and mixtures that he uses as an alternative cancer treatment. The word is derived from neoplasm. A Reuters fact-check concluded that "Online claims that the drugs are a cancer 'cure' and that any of them has been FDA-approved, are misleading." +Although the therapy is promoted as natural and benign, it is in reality a form of chemotherapy with harmful side effects including severe neurotoxicity. +Though Burzynski first injected patients with his peptides in 1977, antineoplastons have never been approved for general use. The compounds are not licensed as drugs but are instead sold and administered as part of clinical trials at the Burzynski Clinic and the Burzynski Research Institute. +Burzynski stated that he began investigating the use of antineoplastons after detecting what he considered significant differences in the presence of peptides between the blood of cancer patients and a control group. He first identified antineoplastons from human blood. Since similar peptides had been isolated from urine, early batches of Burzynski's treatment were isolated from urine. Burzynski has since produced the compounds synthetically. +The first active peptide fraction identified was called antineoplaston A-10 (3-phenylacetylamino-2,6-piperidinedione). From A-10, antineoplaston AS2-1 was derived – a 4:1 mixture of phenylacetic acid and phenylacetylglutamine. The Burzynski Clinic website states that the active ingredient of antineoplaston A10-I is phenylacetylglutamine. +Since 2011, the clinic has marketed itself as offering "personalized gene-targeted cancer therapy", which has stirred further controversy. David Gorski argues that the concept of "personalised cancer therapy" is "more of a marketing term than a scientifically meaningful description". According to Gorski, a research oncologist, it appears unlikely that the Burzynski clinic would indeed be able to actually personalise gene-targeting therapies, i.e., "identify who would benefit from specific targeted therapies simply from blood tests," as Burzynski claims, since there are no proven methods to achieve this. Consequently, many reject Burzynski's claim of offering personalized medicine, because in reality his patients are administered untested combinations of various approved and unapproved medications, without a sound rationale for a given combination and without "any concern for potential adverse reactions". +As of 2023 the Clinic refreshed the branding of its offering to include the word "immunotherapy" in an attempt to leverage the popular excitement around cancer immunotherapy. The treatment however remains the same, using antineoplastons. + +=== Clinical trials === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bcdb351e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Burzynski Clinic" +chunk: 2/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +According to the National Cancer Institute, as of August 2019, "no phase III randomized, controlled trials of antineoplastons as a treatment for cancer have been conducted. Publications have taken the form of case reports, phase I clinical trials, toxicity studies, and phase II clinical trials", and "for the most part, these publications have been authored by the developer of the therapy, Dr. Burzynski, in conjunction with his associates at the Burzynski Clinic. Although these studies often report remissions, other investigators have not been successful in duplicating these results." +From 1991 to 1995, the NCI initiated multiple phase II trials of antineoplastons. In 1995, after over $1 million had been spent on these trials, they were stopped due to fundamental conflicts between NCI investigators and Burzynski and his employees, notably around Burzynski's insistence on approving all protocols in the NCI trial. +Since the mid-1990s, Burzynski registered some sixty clinical trials of antineoplastons and, in December 2010, a Phase III trial that did not open for patient recruitment. The results of these trials are seldom published in reputable journals, and the few that have been do not confirm the worth of the clinic's treatments. The aim of registering so many trials, according to the 2008 book of long-time Burzynski lawyer Richard Jaffe, was to allow for treating any cancer Burzynski might want to treat. +The largest trial Burzynski registered was called CAN-1 and aimed to cover all clinic patients at that time. Jaffe wrote that CAN-1 was "a joke" of a clinical trial and explained the legal maneuvering: + +The CAN-1 protocol had almost two hundred patients in it and there were at least a dozen different types of cancers being treated. And since all the patients were already on treatment, there could not be any possibility of meaningful data coming out of the so-called clinical trial. It was all an artifice, a vehicle we and the FDA created to legally give the patients Burzynski's treatment. The FDA wanted all of Burzynski's patients to be on an IND [Investigational New Drug (IND) Application], so that's what we did. +All trials were paused (no new patients allowed) following a 2013 FDA inspection which found (for the third consecutive time) significant issues with his Institutional Review Board, and, according to reporting published in November 2013, substantial issues with the conduct of both the clinic and Burzynski as principal investigator. + +=== Efficacy === +Although Burzynski and his associates claim success in the use of antineoplaston combinations for the treatment of various diseases, and some of the clinic's patients say they have been helped, there is no clinical evidence of the efficacy of these methods. The consensus among the professional community, as represented by the American Cancer Society and Cancer Research UK is that antineoplaston therapy is unproven, and the overall probability of the treatment turning out to be as claimed is low due to lack of credible mechanisms and the poor state of research after more than 35 years of investigation. Antineoplaston treatments have significant known side effects including severe neurotoxicity. Hypernatremia is also a significant risk given the high levels of sodium in antineoplaston infusions. +Independent scientists have been unable to reproduce the positive results reported in Burzynski's studies: NCI observed that researchers other than Burzynski and his associates have not been successful in duplicating his results, and Cancer Research UK states that "available scientific evidence does not support claims that antineoplaston therapy is effective in treating or preventing cancer." +There is no convincing evidence from randomized controlled trials in the scientific literature that antineoplastons are useful treatments of cancer, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved these products for the treatment of any disease. The American Cancer Society has stated since 1983 that there is no evidence that antineoplastons have any beneficial effects on cancer and recommended that people not buy these products since there could be serious health consequences. A 2004 medical review described antineoplaston treatment as a "disproven therapy". +In 1998, three oncologists were enlisted by the weekly Washington newsletter The Cancer Letter to conduct independent reviews of Burzynski's clinical trial research on antineoplastons. They concluded that the studies were poorly designed, not interpretable, and "so flawed that it cannot be determined whether it really works". One of them characterized the research as "scientific nonsense". In addition to questioning Burzynski's research methods, the oncologists found significant and possibly life-threatening toxicity in some patients treated with antineoplastons. +In 2018 an article in The Lancet Oncology said "This quackery has continued for 40 years and caused serious harm to desperate patients. Enough is enough!". + +=== Cost === +According to the American Cancer Society, "Treatment can cost from $7,000 to $9,500 per month or more, depending on the type of treatment, number of consultations, and the need for surgery to implant a catheter for drug delivery. Available information suggests that health insurance plans often do not reimburse costs linked to this treatment." As of March 2015, the Burzynski Clinic required patients to provide a deposit before treatment starts, and their website informed patients that "Since we are classified as 'out of network' we are unable to accept Medicare, Medicaid and any HMO insurance." +Recent criticism has focused on the use of crowdfunding to raise the costs of quack treatments, including specifically hundreds of thousands of dollars in the case of the Burzynski Clinic. + +== Legal issues == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..26c79f768 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,14 @@ +--- +title: "Burzynski Clinic" +chunk: 3/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== FDA warnings === +In 1978, FDA representatives warned Burzynski that he was violating federal law because he was not administering antineoplastons in the context of a clinical trial. In 1981, FDA wrote in a letter, "the FDA advises persons who inquire about Burzynski's alleged cure that we do not believe the drug is fit for administration to humans and that there is no reason to believe Dr. Burzynski has discovered an effective cure for cancer." +In 1996, Burzynski's use and advertising of antineoplastons as an unapproved cancer therapy were deemed to be unlawful by the U.S. FDA and the Texas Attorney General, and limits on the sale and advertising of the treatment were imposed as a result. +In 2009, the FDA issued a warning letter to the Burzynski Research Institute, stating that an investigation had determined the Burzynski Institutional Review Board (IRB) "did not adhere to the applicable statutory requirements and FDA regulations governing the protection of human subjects." It identified a number of specific findings, among them that the IRB had approved research without ensuring risk to patients was minimized, had failed to prepare required written procedures or retain required documentation, and had failed to conduct required continuing reviews for studies, among others. The institute was given fifteen days to identify the steps it would take to prevent future violations. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a70b33d4c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Burzynski Clinic" +chunk: 4/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Another warning issued in October 2012 notes that the Burzynski Clinic is advertising investigational drugs as being "safe and effective", noting: Promotion of an investigational new drug is prohibited under FDA regulations at 21 CFR 312.7(a), which states, "A sponsor or investigator, or any person acting on behalf of a sponsor or investigator, shall not represent in a promotional context that an investigational new drug is safe or effective for the purposes for which it is under investigation or otherwise promote the drug. This provision is not intended to restrict the full exchange of scientific information concerning the drug, including dissemination of scientific findings in scientific or lay media. Rather, its intent is to restrict promotional claims of safety or effectiveness of the drug for a use for which it is under investigation and to preclude commercialization of the drug before it is approved for commercial distribution."The websites, including the posted press releases and embedded videos, contain claims such as the following that promote Antineoplastons as safe and/or effective for the purposes for which they are being investigated or otherwise promote the drugs. [...] Since Antineoplastons are investigational new drugs, the products' indication(s), warnings, precautions, adverse reactions, and dosage and administration have not been established and are unknown at this time. Promoting Antineoplastons as safe and effective for the purposes for which they are under investigation, by making representations such as those noted above, is in violation of 21 CFR 312.7(a). +The letter requires cessation of non-compliant promotional activities, including the use of testimonials and promotional interviews with Burzynski himself. +In June 2012, antineoplaston trials were paused following the death of a child patient. In January and February 2013, the FDA inspected Burzynski and his IRB in Houston. In December 2013, the FDA issued its findings in warning letters to Burzynski, expressing "concerns about subject safety and data integrity, as well as concerns about the adequacy of safeguards in place at your site to protect patients...." +In November 2013 the FDA released the observational notes from an inspection of Burzynski as a principal investigator that took place between January and March 2013. Among the findings were "[failure] to comply with protocol requirements related to the primary outcome, therapeutic response [...], for 67% of study subjects reviewed during the inspection", admitting patients who failed to meet inclusion criteria, failing to stop treatment when patients had severe toxic reactions to antineoplastons, and failure to report all adverse events. Further, the FDA told Burzynski, "You failed to protect the rights, safety, and welfare of subjects under your care. Forty-eight (48) subjects experienced 102 investigational overdoses between January 1, 2005 and February 22, 2013 [...] There is no documentation to show that you have implemented corrective actions during this time period to ensure the safety and welfare of subjects." The FDA also observed that Burzynski had denied patients informed consent by not informing them of extra costs that they might incur during treatment and that he could not account for his stock of the investigational drug. Lastly, the FDA observed: "Your [...] tumor measurements initially recorded on worksheets at baseline and on-study treatment [...] studies for all study subjects were destroyed and are not available for FDA inspectional review", meaning that there was no way for the FDA to verify either initial tumor sizes or effects that the antineoplastons may have had. +In Burzynski's written response to the 2013 FDA investigation, he states that the investigators '"complied with all criteria for evaluation of response and made accurate assessments for tumor response."' +In December 2013, the FDA issued two warning letters, one to the Burzynski Institutional Review Board and one to Burzynski, the subjects of the investigations in February. The FDA found that Burzynski and the IRB had largely failed to address the concerns identified in the initial observation reports. The letter to Burzynski noted serious problems with medical files with respect to 6-year-old Josia Cotto, a young brain tumor patient who died while being treated by Burzynski with the sodium-rich antineoplastons and whose death apparently initiated the investigation. USA Today reported that Cotto's blood sodium was measured before his death at "a level that is typically fatal", but the Burzynski Clinic claimed that the measurement was erroneous. +On March 23, 2014, USA Today reported that the FDA had decided to permit "a handful" of cancer patients to receive Burzynski's treatment provided that the patients did not receive the treatment directly from him. +David Gorski wrote in 2014 that over four decades the FDA and state medical boards have been unable to shut down Burzynkski's business selling unproven treatments – "these organizations are supposed to protect the public from practitioners like Burzynski, but all too often they fail at their charges, in this case spectacularly." +The Burzynski Clinic has also made use of expanded access petitions, also known as compassionate use exemptions. According to an investigative report by STAT News published in August 2016, the clinic has benefited by politicians who lobbied the FDA to allow Burzynski to sell antineoplastons to families of patients with terminal diagnoses. According to FDA documents obtained by STAT, "From 2011 to 2016, 37 members of Congress wrote to the FDA about Burzynski. [...] Most of the lawmakers asked the agency to grant constituents 'compassionate use exemptions' so that they could try his unapproved drugs, or to allow his clinical trials to proceed." According to Burzynski, "interventions by lawmakers were helpful." According to STAT, critics state that "the congressional advocacy risks giving the terminally ill and their families a false sense of hope, while also conferring a measure of legitimacy on him that many believe he does not deserve." +However, FDA expanded access petitions were not always granted. Burzynski attempted to avoid FDA oversight by recruiting patients under Texas's "Right to try" law, which was passed in 2015. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..37283b0ee --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Burzynski Clinic" +chunk: 5/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Texas Medical Board === +In December 2010, the use of chemotherapeutic agents by the clinic has been characterized as "random" and their use of unapproved combinations "with no known benefits but clear harms" by the Texas Medical Board, which regulates and licenses physicians in the state of Texas, led to a case against Burzynski by that board. Burzynski was acquitted because he had not personally written the prescriptions. +In July 2014, the board filed a 202-page complaint against Burzynski to the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings. The complaint addressed allegations by the Board including misleading patients into paying exorbitant charges, misrepresenting unlicensed persons to patients as licensed medical doctors, and misleading patients into accepting care from providers without significant education or training related to cancer treatment. Citing examples of problems with 29 patients, which were listed in the document, the board said that "unapproved combinations of highly toxic chemotherapy" were prescribed "in ways that caused harm to several patients." In July 2015, Burzynski's counsel, Richard Jaffe, withdrew from the case citing a potential conflict of interest, a result of Jaffe's pursuing actions against Burzynski in bankruptcy court. With the addition of replacement counsel, the hearing was set to begin in November 2015. +In November 2015, the Texas Medical Board took Burzynski to court in Houston, Texas. Burzynski was accused of bait-and-switch tactics, improperly charging patients, not informing patients that he owns the pharmacy they were required to use to fill their medications, and of off-label prescribing of drugs. Burzynski's former attorney Richard Jaffe has filed suit in Federal Court claiming unpaid legal fees of over $250,000. Burzynski through his current attorney denied all charges. +On March 3, 2017, the Texas Medical Board sanctioned Burzynski, placing him on probation and fining him $40,000. After being sanctioned for over 130 violations, he was allowed to keep his medical license and to continue to practice. Staff recommendations had been more punitive. Probation terms included additional medical training, disclosure of the Board's ruling to patients and medical facilities, and monitoring of his patient records. + +=== Lawsuits === +In 1983, a federal court issued an injunction against Burzynski, barring him from shipping antineoplastons in interstate commerce without FDA approval. Burzynski continued to use antineoplastons and was charged with 75 federal counts of mail fraud and violations of federal drug laws. In 1994, a 20-day trial resulted in the dismissal of the 34 counts of mail fraud. On the other 41 counts, the jury deadlocked, failing to come to a verdict. In a separate administrative proceeding, the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners charged Burzynski with violations of Texas state law relating to his use of antineoplastons. An administrative law judge ruled that Burzynski violated a section of the Texas Health and Safety Code dealing with prescriptions for unapproved drugs. The Texas Court of Appeals ultimately upheld this determination in a 1996 decision. +In 1994, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that Burzynski had defrauded a health insurance fund into reimbursing about $90,000 for antineoplaston treatment. The appeals court ruled that Burzynski "may not trick the plaintiff into paying for an unlawful, unapproved drug." +In 1998, a federal judge ordered that Burzynski repay an insurance company over $200,000 he charged six patients for his unapproved treatments. The judge concluded that Burzynski was "unjustly enriched" by the insurance payments, but that the violations did not rise to fraud or misrepresentation. +In 1998, the parents of a 10-year-old girl with brain cancer sued Burzynski for fraud, saying he had misled them about the efficacy of his treatments. The girl, Christina Bedient, died of cancer after being treated with antineoplastons in 1996. Burzynski settled the suit by refunding some of the family's expenses. +In December 2010, the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners filed a multi-count complaint in the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings against Burzynski for failure to meet state medical standards. In November 2012, a Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings administrative law judge ruled that Burzynski was not vicariously liable under Texas administrative law for the actions of staff at the clinic. +In January 2012, Lola Quinlan, an elderly, stage IV cancer patient, sued Burzynski for using false and misleading tactics to "swindle her out of $100,000". She also sued his companies, The Burzynski Clinic, the Burzynski Research Institute, and Southern Family Pharmacy, in Harris County Court. She sued for negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, deceptive trade and conspiracy. The case was dismissed after Quinlan died. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3e8eb217f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Burzynski Clinic" +chunk: 6/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burzynski_Clinic" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:44.243805+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Legal threats to online critics === +In November 2011, a music writer and editor for the British newspaper The Observer sought help raising £200,000 to have his 4-year-old niece, who was diagnosed with glioma, treated at the Burzynski Clinic. Several bloggers reported other cases of patients who had spent similar amounts of money on the treatment, and had died, and challenged the validity of Burzynski's treatments. Marc Stephens, identifying himself as a representative of the Burzynski Clinic, sent emails accusing them of libel and demanding that coverage of Burzynski be removed from their sites. One of the bloggers who received threatening e-mails from Stephens was Rhys Morgan, a 17-year-old sixth-form student from Cardiff, Wales, at the time, previously noted for exposing the Miracle Mineral Supplement. Another was Andy Lewis, a skeptic and publisher of the Quackometer blog. +Following the publicity fallout resulting from the legal threats made by Stephens against the bloggers, the Burzynski Clinic issued a press release on November 29, 2011, confirming that the Clinic had hired Stephens "to provide web optimization services and to attempt to stop the dissemination of false and inaccurate information concerning Dr. Burzynski and the Clinic", apologizing for comments made by Stephens to bloggers and for the posting of personal information, and announcing that Stephens "no longer has a professional relationship with the Burzynski Clinic." +The story, including the threats against the bloggers, was covered by the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal). The chief clinician at Cancer Research UK expressed his concern at the treatment offered, and Andy Lewis of Quackometer and science writer Simon Singh, who had previously been sued by the British Chiropractic Association, said that English libel law harms public discussion of science and medicine, and thus public health. +In an article in Skeptical Inquirer published in March 2014, skeptic Robert Blaskiewicz chronicled the activities by skeptics to investigate and challenge Burzynski's claim of cancer treatments. He claimed aggressive actions by Burzynski's supporters toward the critics, including contacting their employers, lodging complaints to state licensing boards and defamation. Blaskiewicz pointedly indicated that, although Burzynski had dismissed Marc Stephens, his clinic has not retracted the warnings of the possibility of lawsuits against critics, that it is "a threat that hangs over all of these activists every day". + +== Media and commentary == +In 2010, Eric Merola, an art director of television commercials, released a film titled Burzynski: Cancer is Serious Business, that promotes the Clinic's claims and describes Burzynski's use of antineoplastons and his legal clashes with government agencies and regulators. In March 2013, Merola released a follow-up movie to Cancer is Serious Business. The Village Voice commented that the first movie "violates every basic rule of ethical filmmaking" and that by interviewing only Burzynski's supporters, the film's producer "is either unusually credulous, or doesn't understand the difference between a documentary and an advertisement". Variety described the film as having the qualities of a "paranoid conspiracy theory" and likened it to the National Enquirer, adding that the film's explanatory diagrams are "simplistic to the point of idiocy". The Variety review concluded that "despite its infotainment look, Burzynski ultimately proves convincing." +In April 2013, Burzynski received the Pigasus Award, which is bestowed each April Fool's Day by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) to "honor the five worst offenders who are intentionally or unintentionally peddling harmful paranormal and pseudoscientific nonsense." The Foundation cited as the basis for the award the high cost of antineoplaston treatments, the lack of controlled trials demonstrating efficacy, the lack of FDA approval on the treatments, the lack of published final results of any single clinical trial, and the existence of FDA warning letters concerning research method safety and possible rules violations impacting patient safety. +In June 2013, the BBC's Panorama explored Burzynski in a documentary titled Curing cancer or 'selling hope' to the vulnerable? and argued "Burzynski exploits a legal loophole" by treating patients with antineoplastons "as part of a clinical trial, so the drug does not need a licence" for twenty years. The clinic complained to the Office of Communications (Ofcom) about the documentary, but the complaint was not upheld. +In November 2013, an investigative report in USA Today by Liz Szabo accused Burzynski of selling "false hope to families" for years. In an interview with Reporting on Health, Szabo said that her interest in reporting on Burzynski was sparked when she emailed him with questions asking for a response to a book critical of him, and received a legal warning letter from his attorneys in reply. +In August 2015, Burzynski was listed by the Houston Press as number 8 on a list of The 10 Most Embarrassing Houstonians accusing him of being "Truly an embarrassment to such a medical city where some of the best cancer medicine in the world is performed." + +== See also == +Clinica 0-19 +Hallwang Clinic +List of unproven and disproven cancer treatments +Oasis of Hope Hospital +Ty Bollinger + +== References == + +== Further reading == +"John Najarian, Transplant Surgeon/Stanislaw Burzynski, Cancer Researcher". DASH.Harvard.edu. Harvard DASH. Retrieved 7 September 2020. +Gorski D (14 March 2013). "Burzynski: Cancer Is A Serious Business, Part 2: Like the first Burzynski movie, only more so?". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved 9 March 2015. + +== External links == +Burzynski Clinic \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..11a4fc828 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,61 @@ +--- +title: "Buteyko method" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buteyko_method" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:45.441681+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Buteyko method or Buteyko breathing technique is a practice used to help regulate breathing, primarily as a treatment for asthma and other respiratory conditions. +Buteyko asserts that numerous medical conditions, including asthma, are caused or exacerbated by chronically increased respiratory rate or hyperventilation. The method aims to correct hyperventilation and encourage shallower, slower breathing. Treatments include a series of reduced-breathing exercises that focus on nasal-breathing, breath-holding and relaxation. + +Advocates of the Buteyko method claim that it can alleviate symptoms and reliance on medication for patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and chronic hyperventilation. The medical community questions these claims, given limited and inadequate evidence supporting the theory and efficacy of the method. + + +== History == +The Buteyko method was originally developed in the 1950s by physiologist Konstantin Buteyko in the Soviet Union. +The first official study into the effectiveness of the Buteyko method on asthma was undertaken in 1968 at the Leningrad Institute of Pulmonology. The second, held at the First Moscow Institute of Pediatric Diseases in April 1980, eventually led to the head of the ministry of health to issue an order (No 591) for the implementation of the Buteyko method in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Later, this method was introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the United States, where it has received increasing exposure. Anecdotal reports of life-changing improvements attributed to the Buteyko method abound on the Internet and in books. +The Buteyko method is one of a number of breathing retraining methods in use for treating lung diseases, including conventional techniques such as physiotherapist-led breathing exercises as well as alternative medicine techniques such as yoga. +In 2019, the popular Indonesian singer Andien posted images of herself, her husband and their two-year-old son with tape over their mouths on social media. The pictures prompted discussion and interest in the Buteyko method. + + +== Method == +The Buteyko method emphasizes the role of carbon dioxide and hyperventilation in respiratory diseases as well as overall health. It is known that hyperventilation can lead to low carbon dioxide levels in the blood (or hypocapnea), which can subsequently lead to disturbances of the acid-base balance in the blood and lower tissue oxygen levels. Advocates of this method assert that the effects of chronic hyperventilation have wider effects than is commonly accepted. These effects include widespread spasms of the muscle in the airways (bronchospasm), disturbance of cell energy production via the Krebs cycle, as well as disturbance of numerous vital homeostatic chemical reactions in the body. The Buteyko method purports to retrain the body's breathing pattern to correct for the presumed chronic hyperventilation and hypocapnia, thereby treating or curing the body of these medical problems. +The Buteyko method is not widely supported in the medical community, in part due to the lack of research supporting the theory that hyperventilation and hypocapnia causes disease, with one review noting the absence of convincing evidence to indicate that trying to change asthmatics' carbon dioxide level is either "desirable or achievable." Some studies that looked to corroborate the theory sought evidence such as by measuring the carbon dioxide levels in practitioners of Buteyko but failed to find conclusive support, leading some to propose alternate theoretical pathways for this method to improve symptoms. +Although variations exist among teachers of the technique in different countries, the main objective is "normalization" of breathing and the three core principles of Buteyko remain the same: nasal breathing, reduced breathing, and relaxation. + + +=== Nasal breathing === +The Buteyko method emphasizes the importance of nasal breathing, which protects the airways by humidifying, warming, and cleaning the air entering the lungs. Many asthmatics have problems sleeping at night, and this is thought by Buteyko practitioners to be linked with poor posture and/or mouth breathing. By keeping the nose clear and encouraging nasal breathing during the day, night-time symptoms can also improve. Strictly nasal breathing during physical exercise is another key element of the Buteyko method. + + +=== Reduced breathing exercises === +The core Buteyko exercises involve breath control: consciously reducing breathing volume. Many teachers refer to Buteyko as 'breathing retraining' and compare the method to learning to ride a bicycle. They say that after adequate practice time, the techniques become instinctive and the exercises are gradually phased out as the condition improves. +Buteyko uses a measurement called the control pause (CP), the amount of time between breaths that an individual can comfortably hold breath. According to Buteyko teachers, people with asthma who regularly practice Buteyko breathing will notice an increase in CP and decrease in pulse rate that corresponds to decreased asthma symptoms. + + +=== Relaxation === +Buteyko practice emphasizes relaxation to counter asthma attacks. The first feeling of an asthma attack is unsettling and can result in a short period of rapid breathing. Buteyko method claims that by controlling this initial over-breathing phase, asthmatics can prevent a "vicious circle of over-breathing" from developing and spiraling into an asthma attack. + + +== Medical evidence == +Advocates of the Buteyko method claim that it can treat a wide range of other diseases and symptoms (numbering up to 150), including diabetes. However, studies into the effectiveness of Buteyko have focused almost exclusively on asthma with a small amount of research on sleep apnea. Some members of the medical community have been skeptical of the efficacy of Buteyko due to the often "exaggerated and unsubstantiated claims" earlier made by Buteyko practitioners. +There are few high quality studies such as randomized controlled trials looking at the efficacy of treating asthma with "breathing retraining" methods in general, which include the Buteyko method, yoga training and other relaxation techniques. Many of the studies that have evaluated breathing retraining have significant methodological flaws, including small sample sizes, possible patient selection bias as well as heterogeneity in design that makes coming to a firm conclusion difficult. These studies are also hampered by the difficulty in proper blinding and placebo control which could introduce more bias into these studies. +In 2015 the Australian Government's Department of Health published the results of a review of alternative therapies that sought to determine if any were suitable for being covered by health insurance; the Buteyko method was one of 17 therapies evaluated for which no clear evidence of effectiveness was found. A 2020 Cochrane review has found that breathing exercises may have some positive impact on quality of life, hyperventilation symptoms and lung function (moderate to very low certainty). A 2014 British clinical guideline said that for adults the Buteyko method could improve some asthma symptoms and quality of life, but that it had little impact on lung function. + + +== See also == +Hypoventilation training +Intermittent hypoxic training +Papworth method +Wim Hof + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Vladimir K. Buteyko and Marina M. Buteyko. The Buteyko theory about a key role of breathing for human health: scientific introduction to the Buteyko therapy for experts. Voronezh : Buteyko Co Ltd, 2005. 100p. Rus. / Eng. +ISBN 5-88563-072-0 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-0.md index f7c018eb8..076e278c8 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-1.md index ae6ae5f42..91fa2e0a3 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-10.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-10.md index e3a6910f2..3f6b42fba 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-10.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-10.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 11/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-11.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-11.md index b9195eb6c..b7b73722c 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-11.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-11.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 12/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-12.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-12.md index 76c512293..f3b15b3a3 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-12.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-12.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 13/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-13.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-13.md index c45c4fa83..f5d2089f6 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-13.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-13.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 14/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-14.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-14.md index f3e386b0d..cbc33c3ab 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-14.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-14.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 15/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-15.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-15.md index 88ba85ce2..fa3a37466 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-15.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-15.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 16/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-16.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-16.md index 89a213317..68aecd97f 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-16.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-16.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 17/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-17.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-17.md index d10b5ef1c..aaa4675ba 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-17.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-17.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 18/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-2.md index 761629a03..1df855e96 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-3.md index 091dd202c..fe4834558 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-3.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-3.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 4/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-4.md index 9d18d6150..9cc094309 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-4.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-4.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 5/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-5.md index 17f4de8e2..6e40d6562 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-5.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-5.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 6/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-6.md index bca93321a..513a1eaf2 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-6.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-6.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 7/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-7.md index abbf501e1..7b7cbf418 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-7.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-7.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 8/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-8.md index b631f8151..9ffe4bc0f 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-8.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-8.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 9/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-9.md index 551caa29f..af00551fe 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-9.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation-9.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 10/18 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:10.992341+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:13.113344+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory-0.md index d60a250a1..58dc8f0ee 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_drought_manipulation_conspiracy_theory" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:54.764477+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:46.683248+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_urine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_urine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a0d34a124 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_urine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +title: "Camel urine" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_urine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:47.855252+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Camel urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in a camel's anatomy. Urine from camels has been used in medicine for centuries, being a part of Bedouin, ayurvedic, and Islamic Prophetic medicine. According to the World Health Organization, the use of camel urine as a medicine lacks scientific evidence. After the spread of MERS-CoV infections, the WHO urged people to refrain from drinking "raw camel milk or camel urine or eating meat that has not been properly cooked". + + +== Composition == +Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup. +The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camels' kidneys have a 1:4 cortex to medulla ratio. Thus, the medullary part of a camel's kidney occupies twice as much area as a cow's kidney. Secondly, the camel's renal corpuscles have a smaller diameter, which reduces surface area for filtration. These two major anatomical characteristics enable camels to conserve water and limit the volume of urine in extreme desert conditions. +Each kidney of an Arabian camel has a capacity of around 0.86 litres and can produce urine with high chloride concentrations. Like the horse, the dromedary has no gall bladder, an organ that requires water to function. Consequently, bile flows constantly. Most food is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine. Any remaining liquids and roughage move into the large intestine. + + +== Ayurveda == +In the Caraka-Samhita, camel urine is mentioned as being slightly bitter. It recommends it as a remedy for hiccups, cough, and hemorrhoids. However, in the Yogacandrika, camel urine is referred to as having a remedial effect on various abdominal ailments. Furthermore, camel urine is prescribed for alleviating inflammation or +edema, as per the Kāśyapa Samhitā. + + +== Islamic prophetic medicine == + +A hadith in Book 4 (Ablution) of al-Bukhari's collection narrated by Anas ibn Malik was used to promote the consumption of Arabian camel urine as a medicine. The climate of Medina did not suit some people, so Muhammad ordered them to follow his shepherd and drink his camel's milk and urine (as a medicine). So they followed the shepherd and drank the camel's milk and urine till their bodies became healthy. The authentic hadith also states "Some people of ‘Ukl or ‘Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them ... So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of Milch camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). ... So they went as directed and after they became healthy". Bukhari also narrated an otherwise identical version of this Hadith, without the mention of "urine". The event has also been recorded in Sahih Muslim, History of the Prophets and Kings and Kitāb aṭ-ṭabaqāt al-kabīr. +Indian Islamic scholar Mohammad Najeeb Qasmi notes various theories proposed by Hanafi and Shaafi’e scholars for a canonical understanding of the implications. This book refers to topical application of milch camel urine as the actual word of the saying has the word Azmadu which means to apply a layer of something. However, Bachtiar Nasir, an Islamic scholar, advocated for and defended the consumption of camel urine, claiming the mixture of camel urine and milk has medicinal benefits. +In Middle Eastern societies, camel urine is consumed as medicine, but some see its use as najis—ritually unclean according to Islam Law. However, in the Arabian Peninsula, bottled camel urine is still sold and consumed as prophetic medicine. + + +== Medieval times == +Avicenna in The Canon of Medicine noted that a mixture of camel milk and urine can be beneficial for some diseases such as dropsy and jaundice. + + +== Usage and research == +In Yemen, camel urine is consumed and used for treating ailments, though it has been widely denounced. Some salons are said to use it as a treatment for hair loss. The camel urine from a virgin camel is priced at twenty dollars per liter, with herders saying that it has curative powers. It is traditionally mixed with milk. +Certain preclinical studies have claimed that camel urine possesses various therapeutic advantages, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer properties, and potential cardiovascular benefits. For example, in 2012, a study conducted at the Department of Molecular Oncology of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, and published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, found that camel urine contains anti-cancerous agents that are cytotoxic against various, but not all, human cancer cell lines in vitro. +A study published on the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal found that camel urine showed no clinical benefits in cancer patients, with two of the participants developing brucellosis. Given the lack of scientific evidence supporting the use of camel urine as a traditional medicine, it is advisable to discontinue its promotion. +In 2017, a joint study by King Faisal University and the University of Hong Kong found that experimental infections of dromedaries with MERS-CoV did not show any evidence of virus in the urine. Therefore, the camel urine is an unlikely source of virus transmission to humans. + + +== See also == +Dromedary +Zoonosis + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_hypersensitivity-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_hypersensitivity-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..567cb56f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_hypersensitivity-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Candida hypersensitivity" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_hypersensitivity" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:49.029802+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Candida hypersensitivity is a pseudoscientific syndrome promoted by William G. Crook, M.D. It is spuriously claimed that chronic yeast infections are responsible for many common disorders and non-specific symptoms including fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dizziness, muscle and joint pain, asthma, and others. + + +== Background == +Candida albicans is a fungus that colonizes a large majority of the population (meaning it is present in the body but not causing an infection or any problems). Under certain conditions, however, it can cause an infection. The most common manifestations are thrush (a superficial Candida infection in the mouth) and vaginitis, also commonly referred to as a yeast infection. Several Candida species can also cause a serious infection known as invasive candidiasis, which can be systemic if blood borne (candidaemia). This is almost always restricted to those with compromised immune systems, such as patients undergoing chemotherapy or with advanced AIDS, or undergoing medical treatments. + + +== Symptoms == +After reading publications by C. Orian Truss, M.D., Crook proposed the idea that a condition he termed systemic candidiasis, or Candida hypersensitivity, was responsible for a long list of common conditions and non-specific symptoms including fatigue, asthma, psoriasis, sexual dysfunction, and many others. The list of symptoms is similar to that of multiple chemical sensitivity. Many patients presenting with symptoms of environmental sensitivity claim to suffer from multiple "fashionable" syndromes. + + +== Criticism == +By 2005, scientists were taking note of "a large pseudoscientific cult" that had developed around the topic of yeast infections, with claims that up to one in three people were affected by yeast-related illnesses including Candida hypersensitivity. + + +== Legal action == +Some practitioners of alternative medicine have promoted dietary supplements as supposed cures for this non-existent illness, rendering themselves liable to prosecution. In 1990, alternative health vendor Nature's Way signed a FTC consent agreement not to misrepresent in advertising any self-diagnostic test concerning yeast conditions or to make any unsubstantiated representation concerning any food or supplement's ability to control yeast conditions, with a fine of US$30,000 payable to the National Institutes of Health for research in genuine candidiasis. + + +== See also == +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carctol-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carctol-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9a082eadc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carctol-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Carctol" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carctol" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:50.214923+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Carctol is an ineffective cancer treatment made by mixing eight Indian herbs. First promoted in 1968 by Nandlal Tiwari, it gained widespread popularity in United Kingdom. +Carctol has been aggressively marketed as being able to treat cancer and reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy. However, there is no medical evidence that it has any benefits whatsoever for people with cancer. + + +== Background == +Carctol is a herbal dietary supplement marketed with claims it is based on traditional ayurvedic medicine. It is made from Hemidesmus indicus, Tribulus terrestris, Piper cubeba, Ammani vesicatoria, Lepidium sativum, Blepharis edulis, Smilax china, and Rheum australe (syn. R. emodi). +It was In 2009, Edzard Ernst wrote that it was still promoted in the United Kingdom; public relations companies hired by its sellers had garnered it wide coverage on the web and, according to the British Medical Journal, in the media generally. + + +== Criticism == +Edzard Ernst has noted a complete absence of any form of scientific evidence to assert that carctol is any beneficial to cancer patients. A few studies about the chemical composition of carctol along with inconclusive surveys of patients who used it were noted to be published in non-peer reviewed journals. +Cancer Research UK say of carctol, "available scientific evidence does not support its use for the treatment of cancer in humans". +Harriet A. Hall includes carctol among the biologically-based remedies promoted by naturopaths. Hall laments that frauds and quacks persistently try to take advantage of the vulnerability of cancer patients. + + +== See also == +List of ineffective cancer treatments +Naturopathy + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d81b07e37 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +title: "Carnivore diet" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_diet" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:52.701527+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The carnivore diet (also called a zero carb diet) is a high-protein fad diet in which only animal products such as meat, dairy and eggs are consumed. The carnivore diet is associated with pseudoscientific health claims. The diet lacks dietary fiber, can lead to deficiencies of vitamins, and can increase the risk of chronic diseases. The lion diet is a highly restrictive form of the carnivore diet, in which only beef is eaten. A recent fad inspired by the carnivore diet is the animal-based diet in which fruit, honey and raw dairy are added. + + +== History == +The idea of an exclusive meat diet can be traced to the German writer Bernard Moncriff, author of The Philosophy of the Stomach: Or, An Exclusively Animal Diet in 1856, who spent a year living on only beef and milk. In the 1870s, Italian physician Arnaldo Cantani prescribed his diabetic patients an exclusive animal-based diet. In the 1880s an American, James H. Salisbury, advocated a meat diet consisting of 2 to 4 pounds of lean beef and 3 to 5 pints of hot water daily for 4 to 12 weeks. It became known as the meat and hot water diet, or Salisbury diet. +In 2018, the carnivore diet was promoted on social media by former orthopaedic surgeon Shawn Baker, who wrote the book The Carnivore Diet. Jordan Peterson and his daughter Mikhaila were also vocal adherents of this diet. Peterson and his daughter follow a strict type of carnivore diet termed the lion diet, in which only beef, salt, and water are consumed. The 'lion diet' became a viral fad on TikTok. +In April 2023, skeptic and neurologist Steven Novella described the carnivore diet as the latest fad diet to have achieved popularity. Because of its high cost Novella described the diet as one for "select elites", adding what he said was a further unsavory aspect to its harmful and pseudoscientific basis. The carnivore diet advertised by meat influencers on social media platforms has been described as a fringe movement. +Another position within the carnivore community has been labelled carnivore traditionalism which argues that "It's not the cow, it's the how". Carnivore traditionalism defends livestock raised through "regenerative" methods and encourages the consumption of vast amounts of eggs and grass-fed beef from small traditional farms in opposition to industrial livestock production. +Because of its restrictive nature, some carnivore diet advocates have since switched to an animal-based diet that allows limited plant foods. The animal-based diet popularized by Paul Saladino in 2024 is based on red meat but allows fruit, honey and raw dairy. Raw Egg Nationalist, a far-right influencer, has promoted a raw food version of the animal-based diet. + + +== Diet == +People following a carnivore diet consume high-protein animal-based products, such as beef, pork, poultry, and seafood. Some may eat dairy products and eggs. All fruits, legumes, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds are strictly excluded. +The carnivore diet is often confused with Inuit cuisine. Primary differences include a high proportion of organs in the Inuit diet, high seafood content, and consumption of raw meat, all of which are not typical for the fad carnivore diet. Inuit cuisine is also not exclusively composed of animal products, as the Inuit would consume plant products they acquired from gathering. + + +== Health concerns == +There is no clinical evidence that the carnivore diet provides any health benefits. Dietitians dismiss the carnivore diet as an extreme fad diet, which has attracted criticism from dietitians and physicians as being potentially dangerous to health (see Meat § Health effects). +It also raises levels of LDL cholesterol, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Carnivore diets exclude fruits and vegetables which supply micronutrients. They are also low in dietary fiber, possibly causing constipation. A carnivore diet high in red meat increases the risks of colon cancer and gout. The high protein intake of a carnivore diet can lead to impaired kidney function. + + +== Environmental impact == +Criticism also derives from concerns about greenhouse gas emissions associated with large-scale livestock farming required to produce meats commercially, and the potential for such emissions to worsen climate change (see environmental impact of meat production). + + +== See also == +Carnivore +Lectin-free diet +Monotrophic diet +Paleo diet + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_race-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_race-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..235f61b23 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_race-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ +--- +title: "Caspian race" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:53.947156+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Caspian race was a supposed sub-race of the Caucasian race in the context of a now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races which was developed originally by Europeans in support of colonialism. The term was used by M. G. Abdushelishvili (1979) as constituting a branch of the Mediterranean race or Irano-Afghan race. In Soviet-era anthropology, the term was used to include Tats and Azerbaijanis. +The Caspian race was said to be prevalent among the Azerbaijanis, Kumyks and Tsakhurs. +Genrietta Leonidovna Khit said that as a form of racial admixture the Caspian subtype was represented among Turkmens and Talyshs. + + +== Notes == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ad95979e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:55.185842+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis is a pseudo-scientific claim that there have been recent, geologically rapid shifts in the axis of rotation of Earth, causing calamities such as floods and tectonic events or relatively rapid climate changes. +There is evidence of precession and changes in axial tilt, but this change is on much longer time-scales and does not involve relative motion of the spin axis with respect to the planet. However, in what is known as true polar wander, the Earth rotates with respect to a fixed spin axis. Research shows that during the last 200 million years a total true polar wander of some 30° has occurred, but that no rapid shifts in Earth's geographic axial pole were found during this period. A characteristic rate of true polar wander is 1° or less per million years. Between approximately 790 and 810 million years ago, when the supercontinent Rodinia existed, two geologically rapid phases of true polar wander may have occurred. In each of these, the magnetic poles of Earth shifted by approximately 55° due to a large shift in the crust. + +== Definition and clarification == +The geographic poles are defined by the points on the surface of Earth that are intersected by the axis of rotation. The pole shift hypothesis describes a change in location of these poles with respect to the underlying surface – a phenomenon distinct from the changes in axial orientation with respect to the plane of the ecliptic that are caused by precession and nutation, and is an amplified event of a true polar wander. Geologically, a surface shift separate from a planetary shift, enabled by earth's molten core. +Pole shift hypotheses are not connected with plate tectonics, the well-accepted geological theory that Earth's surface consists of solid plates which shift over a viscous, or semifluid asthenosphere; nor with continental drift, the corollary to plate tectonics which maintains that locations of the continents have moved slowly over the surface of Earth, resulting in the gradual emerging and breakup of continents and oceans over hundreds of millions of years. +Pole shift hypotheses are not the same as geomagnetic reversal, the occasional reversal of Earth's magnetic field (effectively switching the north and south magnetic poles). + +== Speculative history == +In popular literature, many conjectures have been suggested involving very rapid polar shift. A slow shift in the poles would display the most minor alterations and no destruction. A more dramatic view assumes more rapid changes, with dramatic alterations of geography and localized areas of destruction due to earthquakes and tsunamis. + +=== Early proponents === +An early mention of a shifting of Earth's axis can be found in an 1872 article entitled "Chronologie historique des Mexicains" by Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, a specialist in Mesoamerican codices who interpreted ancient Mexican myths as evidence for four periods of global cataclysms that had begun around 10,500 BCE. +In the 1930s and 40s, American Edgar Cayce's prophecies predicted cataclysms he called "Earth changes"; Ruth Montgomery would later cite Cayce's prophecies to support her polar shift theories. +In 1948, Hugh Auchincloss Brown, an electrical engineer, advanced a hypothesis of catastrophic pole shift. Brown also argued that accumulation of ice at the poles caused recurring tipping of the axis, identifying cycles of approximately seven millennia. +In his pseudo-scientific 1950 work Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky postulated that the planet Venus emerged from Jupiter as a comet. During two proposed near-approaches in about 1450 BCE, he suggested that the direction of Earth's rotation was changed radically, then reverted to its original direction on the next pass. This disruption supposedly caused earthquakes, tsunamis, and the parting of the Red Sea. Further, he said near misses by Mars between 776 and 687 BCE also caused Earth's axis to change back and forth by ten degrees. Velikovsky cited historical records in support of his work, although his studies were generally ridiculed by the scientific community. + +=== Recent conjectures === +Several authors have offered pseudoscientific arguments for the hypothesis, including journalist and New Age enthusiast Ruth Shick Montgomery. Skeptics counter that these works combine speculation, the work of psychics, and modern folklore, while largely avoiding any effort at basic science by trying to disprove their own hypothesis. + +== Earth crustal displacement hypothesis == +Charles Hapgood is now perhaps the best remembered early proponent of the hypothesis that some climate changes and ice ages could be explained by large sudden shifts of the geographic poles. In his books The Earth's Shifting Crust (1958) (which includes a foreword by Albert Einstein) and Path of the Pole (1970), Hapgood speculated that accumulated polar ice mass destabilizes Earth's rotation, causing crustal displacement but not disturbing Earth's axial orientation. Hapgood argued that shifts (of no more than 40 degrees) occurred about every 5,000 years, interrupting 20,000- to 30,000-year periods of polar stability. He cited recent North Pole locations in Hudson Bay (60°N, 73°W), the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Norway (72°N, 10°E) and the Yukon (63°N, 135°W). However, in his subsequent work The Path of the Pole, Hapgood conceded Einstein's point that the weight of the polar ice is insufficient to cause polar shift. Instead, Hapgood argued that causative forces must be located below the surface. Hapgood encouraged Canadian librarian Rand Flem-Ath to pursue scientific evidence backing Hapgood's claims. Flem-Ath published the results of this work in 1995 in When the Sky Fell co-written with his wife Rose. + +=== In popular culture === +The idea of earth crust displacement is featured in 2012, a 2009 film based on the 2012 phenomenon. +"Survive (2024)" is a French post-apocalyptic film directed by Frédéric Jardin. The plot revolves around a sudden cataclysm caused by a magnetic field shift, which causes land and ocean to switch places. + +== Scientific research == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..980123bea --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:55.185842+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +While there are reputable studies showing that true polar wander has occurred at various times in the past, the rates are much smaller (1° per million years or slower) than predicted by the pole shift hypothesis (up to 1° per thousand years). Analysis of the evidence does not lend credence to Hapgood's hypothesized rapid displacement of layers of Earth. +Data indicates that the geographical poles have not deviated by more than about 5° over the last 130 million years, contradicting the hypothesis of a cataclysmic polar wander event. +More rapid past possible occurrences of true polar wander have been measured: from 790 to 810 million years ago, true polar wander of approximately 55° may have occurred twice. + +== See also == +Dzhanibekov effect +Large low-shear-velocity provinces +Low-velocity zone +Ultra low velocity zone +Inner core super-rotation +Intermediate axis theorem +Global catastrophic risk +Earth Changes +North Magnetic Pole +South Magnetic Pole +Tollmann's bolide hypothesis +The Nibiru cataclysm, another pseudoscientific hypothesis that has often been suggested as a cause for cataclysmic pole shifts + +== References == + +== External links == +Alleged "Evidence" of Earth Crustal Displacement (Pole Shift)Analysis of specific evidence used to argue for geologically recent Pole Shift +Fingerprints of the Gods (1995) by Graham Hancock, an analysis of arguments made for a Late Pleistocene Pole Shift, based on the ideas of Rand Flem-Ath by Heinrich, Paul V. "The Wild Side of Geoarchaeology Page". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 28 July 2013. +"The Day the Earth Fell Over" at LiveScience +Charting Imaginary Worlds: Pole Shifts, Ice Sheets, and Ancient Sea Kings +Minds in Ablation Part Five Addendum: Living in Imaginary Worlds More about interpreting ancient maps and ideas of Charles Hapgood. +The Kerplop! Theory: Acme Instant Ice-Sheet Kit (Some Assembly Required) +Mason, Betsy (30 August 2006). "Earth's Poles May Have Wandered". ScienceNOW. Archived from the original on 2013-01-17. +"How to Escape Nibiru", podcast by Brian Dunning \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..579f42db4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Caucasian race" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Caucasian race (also Caucasoid, Europid, or Europoid) is an obsolete racial classification of humans based on a now-disproven theory of biological race. The Caucasian race was historically regarded as a biological taxon which, depending on which of the historical race classifications was being used, usually included ancient and modern populations from Europe, Western Asia, North Africa, South Asia, and some parts of Central Asia and the Horn of Africa. +Introduced in the 1780s by members of the Göttingen school of history, the term denoted one of three purported major races of humans (those three being Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid). In biological anthropology, Caucasoid has been used as an umbrella term for phenotypically similar groups from these different regions, with a focus on skeletal anatomy, and especially cranial morphology, without regard to skin tone. Ancient and modern "Caucasoid" populations were thus not exclusively "white", but ranged in complexion from white-skinned to dark brown. +Since the second half of the 20th century, physical anthropologists have switched from a typological understanding of human biological diversity towards a genomic and population-based perspective, and have tended to understand race as a social classification of humans based on phenotype and ancestry as well as cultural factors, as the concept is also understood in the social sciences. +In the United States, the root term Caucasian is still in use as a synonym for people considered "white" or of European, Middle Eastern, or North African ancestry as defined by the United States census. Currently, its continued usage as a racial descriptor has been criticized. The term also sees usage in other English-speaking countries like Australia. + +== History of the concept == + +=== Caucasus as the origin of humanity and the peak of beauty === +In the eighteenth century, the prevalent view among European scholars was that the human species had its origin in the region of the Caucasus Mountains. This view was based upon the Caucasus being the location for the purported landing point of Noah's Ark – from whom the Bible states that humanity is descended – and the location for the suffering of Prometheus, who in Hesiod's myth had crafted humankind from clay. +In addition, the most beautiful humans were reputed by Europeans to be the stereotypical "Circassian beauties" and the Georgians; both Georgia and Circassia are in the Caucasus region. The "Circassian beauty" stereotype had its roots in the Middle Ages, while the reputation for the attractiveness of the Georgian people was developed by early modern travellers to the region such as Jean Chardin. + +=== Göttingen school of history === + +The term Caucasian as a racial category was introduced in the 1780s by members of the Göttingen school of history – notably Christoph Meiners in 1785 and Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1795. It had originally referred in a narrow sense to the native inhabitants of the Caucasus region. +In his The Outline of History of Mankind (1785), the German philosopher Christoph Meiners first used the concept of a "Caucasian" (Kaukasisch) race in its wider racial sense. As a supporter of the polygenist theory of human origins, he subscribed to a "binary [greater] racial scheme" of superior Caucasians and inferior Mongoloids in which he did not include Jews as Caucasians and to whom he ascribed a "permanently degenerate nature". Using a "bundle of notions" led to creations of purported subraces on a continental and state basis with implied decreased respective scientific weight. Meiners' term was given wider circulation in the 1790s by many people. Other members of the Göttingen school of history would make the addition of Negroids. + +It was Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a colleague of Meiners', who later came to be considered one of the founders of the discipline of anthropology, who gave the term a wider audience, by grounding it in the new methods of craniometry and Linnean taxonomy. Blumenbach did not credit Meiners with his taxonomy, although his justification clearly points to Meiners' aesthetic viewpoint of Caucasus origins. In contrast to Meiners, however, Blumenbach was a monogenist—he considered all humans to have a shared origin and to be a single species. Blumenbach, like Meiners, did rank his Caucasian grouping higher than other groups in terms of mental faculties or potential for achievement despite pointing out that the transition from one race to another is so gradual that the distinctions between the races presented by him are "very arbitrary". Alongside the anthropologist Georges Cuvier, Blumenbach classified the Caucasian race by cranial measurements and bone morphology in addition to skin pigmentation. He ultimately imagined that the Caucasian race encompassed all of the ancient and most of the modern native populations of Europe, the aboriginal inhabitants of West Asia (including the Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arabs), the autochthones of Northern Africa (Berbers, Egyptians, Abyssinians and neighboring groups), the Indians, and the ancient Guanches. This usage later grew into the widely used color terminology for race, contrasting with the terms Negroid, Mongoloid, and Australoid. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..51df43e49 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Caucasian race" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Carleton Coon === +There was never consensus among the proponents of the "Caucasoid race" concept regarding how it would be delineated from other groups such as the proposed Mongoloid race. Carleton S. Coon (1939) included the populations native to all of Central and Northern Asia, including the Ainu people, under the Caucasoid label. Many scientists maintained the racial categorizations of color established by Meiners' and Blumenbach's works, along with many other early steps of anthropology, well into the 20th century as they were increasingly used to justify political policies such as segregation and immigration restrictions. For example, Thomas Henry Huxley (1870) classified all populations of Asian nations as Mongoloid. Lothrop Stoddard (1920) in turn classified as "brown" most of the populations of the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Central Asia and South Asia. He counted as "white" only European peoples and their descendants, as well as a few populations in areas adjacent to or opposite southern Europe, in parts of Anatolia and parts of the Rif and Atlas mountains. +In 1939, Coon claimed that the Caucasian race had originated through admixture between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens of the "Mediterranean type" which he considered to be distinct from Caucasians, rather than a subtype of it as others had done. While Blumenbach had erroneously thought that light skin color was ancestral to all humans and the dark skin of southern populations was due to sun, Coon thought that Caucasians had lost their original pigmentation as they moved North. Coon used the term "Caucasoid" and "White race" synonymously. +In 1962, Coon published The Origin of Races, wherein he proposed a polygenist view, that human races had evolved separately from local varieties of Homo erectus. He divided humans into five main races and claimed that each evolved in parallel but at different rates, so that some races had reached higher levels of evolution than others. He claimed that the Caucasoid race had evolved 200,000 years prior to the "Congoid race", and hence represented a higher evolutionary stage. +Coon also claimed that Caucasoid traits emerged prior to the Cro-Magnons, and were present in the Skhul and Qafzeh hominins. However, these fossils and the Predmost specimen were held to be Neanderthaloid derivatives because they possessed short cervical vertebrae, lower and narrower pelves, and had some Neanderthal skull traits. Coon further asserted that the Caucasoid race was of dual origin, consisting of early dolichocephalic (e.g. Galley Hill, Combe-Capelle, Téviec) and Neolithic Mediterranean Homo sapiens (e.g. Muge, Long Barrow, Corded), as well as Neanderthal-influenced brachycephalic Homo sapiens dating to the Mesolithic and Neolithic (e.g. Afalou, Hvellinge, Fjelkinge). +Coon's theories on race were much disputed in his lifetime, and are considered pseudoscientific in modern anthropology. + +=== Disproof by modern genetics === +The fact that there are no sharp distinctions between the supposed racial groups had been observed by Blumenbach and later by Charles Darwin. +With the availability of new data due to the development of modern genetics, the concept of races in a biological sense has become untenable. Problems of the concept include: It "is not useful or necessary in research", scientists are not able to agree on the definition of a certain proposed race, and they do not even agree on the number of races, with some proponents of the concept suggesting 300 or even more "races". Also, data are not reconcilable with the concept of a treelike evolution nor with the concept of "biologically discrete, isolated, or static" populations. + +=== Current scientific consensus === + +After discussing various criteria used in biology to define subspecies or races, Alan R. Templeton concludes in 2016: "[T]he answer to the question whether races exist in humans is clear and unambiguous: no." + +== Classification == +In the 19th century Meyers Konversations-Lexikon (1885–1890), Caucasoid was one of the three great races of humankind, alongside Mongoloid and Negroid. The taxon was taken to consist of a number of subtypes. The Caucasoid peoples were usually divided into three groups on ethnolinguistic grounds, termed Aryan (Indo-European), Semitic (Semitic languages), and Hamitic (Hamitic languages i.e. Berber-Cushitic-Egyptian). +19th century classifications of the peoples of India were initially uncertain if the Dravidians and the Sinhalese were Caucasoid or a separate Dravida race, but by and in the 20th century, anthropologists predominantly declared Dravidians to be Caucasoid. +Historically, the racial classification of the Turkic peoples was sometimes given as "Turanid". Turanid racial type or "minor race", subtype of the Europid (Caucasian) race with Mongoloid admixtures, situated at the boundary of the distribution of the Mongoloid and Europid "great races". +There was no universal consensus of the validity of the "Caucasoid" grouping within those who attempted to categorize human variation. Thomas Henry Huxley in 1870 wrote that the "absurd denomination of 'Caucasian'" was in fact a conflation of his Xanthochroi (Nordic) and Melanochroi (Mediterranean) types. + +=== Skull and teeth === +Drawing from Petrus Camper's theory of facial angle, Blumenbach and Cuvier classified races, through their skull collections based on their cranial features and anthropometric measurements. Caucasoid traits were recognised as: thin nasal aperture ("nose narrow"), a small mouth, facial angle of 100–90°, and orthognathism, exemplified by what Blumenbach saw in most ancient Greek crania and statues. Later anthropologists of the 19th and early 20th century such as James Cowles Prichard, Charles Pickering, Broca, Paul Topinard, Samuel George Morton, Oscar Peschel, Charles Gabriel Seligman, Robert Bennett Bean, William Zebina Ripley, Alfred Cort Haddon and Roland Dixon came to recognize other Caucasoid morphological features, such as prominent supraorbital ridges and a sharp nasal sill. Many anthropologists in the 20th century used the term "Caucasoid" in their literature, such as William Clouser Boyd, Reginald Ruggles Gates, Carleton S. Coon, Sonia Mary Cole, Alice Mossie Brues and Grover Krantz replacing the earlier term "Caucasian" as it had fallen out of usage. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dae703be6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Caucasian race" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Subraces === +The postulated subraces vary depending on the author, including but not limited to Mediterranean, Atlantid, Nordic, East Baltic, Alpine, Dinaric, Turanid, Armenoid, Iranid, Indid, Arabid, and Hamitic. Some authors also proposed a Pamirid race (or Pamir-Fergana race) in Central Asia, named after the Pamir range and the Fergana valley. +H.G. Wells argued that across Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, a Caucasian physical stock existed. He divided this racial element into two main groups: a shorter and darker Mediterranean or Iberian race and a taller and lighter Nordic race. Wells asserted that Semitic and Hamitic populations were mainly of Mediterranean type, and Aryan populations were originally of Nordic type. He regarded the Basques as descendants of early Mediterranean peoples, who inhabited western Europe before the arrival of Aryan Celts from the direction of central Europe. +The "Northcaucasian race" is a sub-race proposed by Carleton S. Coon (1930). It comprises the native populations of the North Caucasus, the Balkars, Karachays and Vainakh (Chechens and Ingushs). +An introduction to anthropology, published in 1953, gives a more complex classification scheme: + +"Archaic Caucasoid Races": Ainu people in Japan, Australoid race, Dravidian peoples, and Vedda +"Primary Caucasoid Races": Alpine race, Armenoid race, Mediterranean race, and Nordic race +"Secondary or Derived Caucasoid Races": Dinaric race, East Baltic race, and Polynesian race + +== Usage in the United States and Australia == + +Besides its use in anthropology and related fields, the term "Caucasian" has often been used in the United States in a different, social context to describe a group commonly called "white people". "White" also appears as a self-reporting entry in the U.S. Census. Naturalization as a United States citizen was restricted to "free white persons" by the Naturalization Act of 1790, and later extended to other resident populations by the Naturalization Act of 1870, Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The Supreme Court in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) decided that Asian Indians were ineligible for citizenship because, though deemed "Caucasian" anthropologically, they were not white like European descendants since most laypeople did not consider them to be "white" people. This represented a change from the Supreme Court's earlier opinion in Ozawa v. United States, in which it had expressly approved of two lower court cases holding "high caste Hindus" to be "free white persons" within the meaning of the naturalization act. Government lawyers later recognized that the Supreme Court had "withdrawn" this approval in Thind. In 1946, the U.S. Congress passed a new law establishing a small immigration quota for Indians, which also permitted them to become citizens. Major changes to immigration law, however, only later came in 1965, when many earlier racial restrictions on immigration were lifted. This resulted in confusion about whether American Hispanics are included as "white", as the term Hispanic originally applied to Spanish heritage but has since expanded to include all people with origins in Spanish speaking countries. In other countries, the term Hispanic is rarely used. +The United States National Library of Medicine often used the term "Caucasian" as a race in the past. However, it later discontinued such usage in favor of the more narrow geographical term European, which traditionally only applied to a subset of Caucasoids. +In Australia, the federal and state police forces continue to use the descriptor Caucasian, along with Aboriginal, Asian, and other as of March 2025. + +== See also == +Anthropometry +Leucism +Race (human categorization) +Race and ethnicity in the United States Census +Race and genetics + +== Notes == + +== References == + +=== Bibliography === +Camberg, Kim (December 13, 2005). "Long-term tensions behind Sydney riots". BBC News. Retrieved March 3, 2007. +Figal, Sara Eigen (April 15, 2010). Heredity, Race, and the Birth of the Modern. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-89161-9. +Leroi, Armand Marie (March 14, 2005). "A Family Tree in Every Gene". The New York Times. p. A23. +Lewontin, Richard (2005). "Confusions About Human Races". Race and Genomics, Social Sciences Research Council. Archived from the original on May 4, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2006. +Painter, Nell Irvin (November 7–8, 2003). Collective Degradation: Slavery and the Construction of Race: Why White People Are Called 'Caucasian'? (PDF). Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Gilder Lehrman Center International Conference at Yale University. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2006. +Risch N, Burchard E, Ziv E, Tang H (July 2002). "Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease". Genome Biol. 3 (7): comment2007.2001–12. doi:10.1186/gb-2002-3-7-comment2007. PMC 139378. PMID 12184798. +Rosenberg NA, Pritchard JK, Weber JL, et al. (December 2002). "Genetic structure of human populations". Science. 298 (5602): 2381–85. Bibcode:2002Sci...298.2381R. doi:10.1126/science.1078311. PMID 12493913. S2CID 8127224. +Rosenberg NA, Mahajan S, Ramachandran S, Zhao C, Pritchard JK, Feldman MW (December 2005). "Clines, Clusters, and the Effect of Study Design on the Inference of Human Population Structure". PLOS Genet. 1 (6): e70. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0010070. PMC 1310579. PMID 16355252. +Templeton, Alan R. (September 1998). "Human races: A genetic and evolutionary perspective". American Anthropologist. 100 (3): 632–50. Bibcode:1998AAnth.100..632T. doi:10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.632. JSTOR 682042. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fc16a8480 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Caucasian race" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:56.351278+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Literature === +Augstein, HF (1999). "From the Land of the Bible to the Caucasus and Beyond". In Harris, Bernard; Ernst, Waltraud (eds.). Race, Science and Medicine, 1700–1960. New York: Routledge. pp. 58–79. ISBN 978-0-415-18152-5. +Baum, Bruce (2006). The rise and fall of the Caucasian race: a political history of racial identity. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-9892-8. +Blumenbach, Johann Friedrich (1775) On the Natural Varieties of Mankind – the book that introduced the concept +Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca (2000). Genes, Peoples and Languages. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9486-5. +Gould, Stephen Jay (1981). The Mismeasure of Man. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-01489-1. – a history of the pseudoscience of race, skull measurements, and IQ inheritability +Guthrie, Paul (1999). The Making of the Whiteman: From the Original Man to the Whiteman. Chicago: Research Associates School Times. ISBN 978-0-948390-49-4. +Piazza, Alberto; Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca & Menozzi, Paolo (1996). The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02905-4. – a major reference of modern population genetics +Stoddard, Theodore Lothrop (1924). Racial Realities in Europe. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. +Wolf, Eric R. & Cole, John N. (1999). The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21681-5. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..40845f71f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +title: "Charlatan" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:57.508219+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. One example of a charlatan appears in the Canterbury Tales story "The Pardoner's Tale," with the Pardoner who tricks sinners into buying fake religious relics. Synonyms for charlatan include shyster, quack, or faker. Quack is a reference to quackery or the practice of dubious medicine, including the sale of snake oil, or a person who does not have medical training who purports to provide medical services. + + +== Etymology == +The English word comes from French charlatan, a seller of medicines who might advertise his presence with music and an outdoor stage show. The best known of the Parisian charlatans was Tabarin, whose skits and farces – which were influenced by commedia dell'arte – inspired the 17th century playwright Molière. The word is also similar to Spanish charlatán, an indiscreetly talkative person, a chatterbox. Etymologists trace charlatan ultimately from Italian, either from ciarlare, to chatter or prattle; or Cerretano, a resident of Cerreto, a village in Umbria, known for its quacks in the 16th century, or a mixture of both. + + +== Usage == + +A distinction is drawn between the charlatan and other kinds of confidence tricksters. The charlatan is usually a salesperson of a certain service or product, who has no personal relationship with his "marks" (customers or clients), and avoids elaborate hoaxes or roleplaying con-games. Rather, the person called a charlatan is being accused of resorting to quackery, pseudoscience, or other knowingly employed bogus means of impressing people in order to swindle victims by selling them worthless nostrums and similar goods or services that will not deliver on the promises made for them. One example of a charlatan is a 19th-century medicine show operator, who has long since left town by the time the people who bought his "snake oil" or similarly named "cure-all" tonic realize that it was a scam. A misdirection by a charlatan is a confuddle, a dropper is a leader of a group of conmen, and hangmen are conmen that present false checks. A gaff means to trick or con and a mugu is a victim of a rigged game. +In reported spiritual communications, a charlatan is a person who fakes evidence that a spirit is "making contact" with the medium and seekers. Notable people who have successfully debunked the claims of purported supernatural mediums include magician/scientific skeptic James Randi, Brazilian writer Monteiro Lobato and magician Harry Houdini. + + +== Infamous individuals == +Albert Abrams, the advocate of radionics and other similar electrical quackery who was active in the early twentieth century. +Amy Bock, a 19th-20th century New Zealand con artist who began by committing a series of petty scams, such as taking watches for "repair" and then claiming to have lost them, making purchases under her employer or acquaintance's name without permission, and claiming to sell tickets to concerts or events--and eventually became notorious for defrauding families and individuals on a larger scale, through cross-dressing, presenting as a wealthy man, and courting and marrying a wealthy young woman in an elaborate scheme to gain money and evade debts. +John R. Brinkley, the "goat-gland doctor" who implanted goat glands as a means of curing male impotence, helped pioneer both American and Mexican radio broadcasting, and twice ran unsuccessfully for governor of Kansas. +Alfredo Bowman, who claimed to cure all disease with herbs and a unique vegan, alkaline diet. +Alessandro Cagliostro, (real name Giuseppe Balsamo) who claimed to be a count. +Mary Carleton, a 17th-century English socialite and fraudster, written about by her contemporary Samuel Pepys, who used a number of false identities, particularly that of a supposed "German princess," to marry and defraud upper-class men. +Billie Sol Estes, a famous 20th-century Texas conman. +Elizabeth Holmes, 21st century conwoman who defrauded investors and misled US government regulators by falsely claiming her health technology company, Theranos, had invented a new blood-testing method. +Gustavus Katterfelto, an 18th-century Prussian conjurer who used a solar microscope which he claimed could detect disease. +Ivar Kreuger, the Swedish "Match King", who ran a worldwide Ponzi scheme in the 1920s. +Bernie Madoff, a 20th-century American stockbroker who ran the world's largest Ponzi scheme, defrauding investors out of $18 billion. +Elisha Perkins, an 18th-century American inventor of his own quack therapy that utilized "tractors". +John Henry Pinkard, 19th-20th century Roanoke, Virginia, businessman and purveyor of quack medicines. +Charles Ponzi, 19th-20th century Italian scammer for whom the "Ponzi scheme" is named, a scam that relies on a pyramid of investors who contribute money to a fraudulent programme, typically where money from later investors is used to pay unusually high returns to earlier investors, thus allowing and promoting the growth of the scheme. +Peter Popoff, exposed in 1986 by magician James Randi +Gert Postel, a 20th-century German fraud who feigned experience in the field of psychiatry and became a senior physician, despite having no training. +Grigori Rasputin, a 19th-20th century self-proclaimed holy man and healer who gained considerable influence on the family of Tsar Nicholas II and was involved in the political turmoil on the brink of the Russian Revolution. +Kevin Trudeau, convicted of fraud, larceny, and contempt of court. + + +== See also == +Cerreto di Spoleto +Confidence trick +Fraud +Impostor +Poseur +Pseudoscience +Quackery + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Brock, Pope. (2009). Charlatan: The Fraudulent Life of John Brinkley. Phoenix. ISBN 978-0753825716 +Humbertclaude, Éric. Récréations de Hultazob Paris: L'Harmattan 2010, ISBN 978-2-296-12546-9 (sur Melech August Hultazob, médecin-charlatan des Lumières Allemandes assassiné en 1743) +Riordan, Timothy B. (2009). Prince of Quacks: The Notorious Life of Dr. Francis Tumblety, Charlatan and Jack the Ripper Suspect. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786444335 +Porter, Roy. (2003). Quacks: Fakers and Charlatans in Medicine. NPI Media Group. ISBN 978-0752425900 +Stratmann, Linda. (2010). Fraudsters and Charlatans: A Peek at some of History's Greatest Rogues. The History Press. ISBN 978-0752457109 + + +== External links == + The dictionary definition of charlatan at Wiktionary \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-0.md index 8f5d5b242..50fe0e8ff 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:10:19.960091+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:58.736438+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-1.md index 9a1835cdd..b509e9245 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:10:19.960091+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:58.736438+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-2.md index 50775b898..a8d21b40a 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:10:19.960091+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:58.736438+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..94c61de09 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Chinese herbology" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Chinese herbology (traditional Chinese: 中藥學; simplified Chinese: 中药学; pinyin: zhōngyào xué) is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that the most obvious reason why it has not delivered many cures is that the majority of its treatments have no logical mechanism of action. +The term herbology is misleading in the sense that, while plant elements are by far the most commonly used substances, animal, human, and mineral products are also used, some of which are poisonous. In the Huangdi Neijing they are referred to as 毒藥 (pinyin: dúyào) which means "poison-medicine". Paul U. Unschuld points out that this is similar etymology to the Greek pharmakon and so he uses the term pharmaceutic. Thus, the term medicinal (instead of herb) is usually preferred as a translation for 藥 (pinyin: yào). +Research into the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal therapy is of poor quality and often tainted by bias, with little or no rigorous evidence of efficacy. There are concerns over a number of potentially toxic Chinese herbs, including Aristolochia which is thought to cause cancer. + +== History == + +The practice of Chinese herbal medicine stretches back for millennia. The earliest written record of prescriptions is the manuscript Recipes for 52 Ailments (五十二病方, Wǔshí'èr Bìngfāng), discovered in the Mawangdui tombs, which were sealed in 168 BCE. +Later tradition credits the legendary figure Shénnóng (神農, lit. "Divine Farmer") as the founder of Chinese herbology. He is said to have lived around 2800 BCE and to have tasted hundreds of herbs to ascertain their medicinal value. The first and most important herbal classic attributed to him is the Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng (神農本草經, Shennong's Materia Medica). While the original text has been lost, it was transcribed and preserved in later commentaries. Modern scholarly research suggests that the text was compiled in the late Western Han period, likely around the first century BCE, and was not written by a single author. The Běn Cǎo Jīng classifies 365 substances, including plants, animals, and minerals into three categories: + +"Superior" (上品, shàng pǐn): herbs considered safe for long-term consumption to maintain health, with few to no side effects. +"Medium" (中品, zhōng pǐn): substances with some therapeutic action that may have mild toxicity depending on the dosage. +"Inferior" (下品, xià pǐn): substances taken for specific illnesses, often for shorter periods, as they are considered to have a higher potential for toxicity. +The next pivotal work was the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and Miscellaneous Illnesses (傷寒雜病論, Shānghán Zábìng Lùn), compiled by Zhang Zhongjing near the end of the Han dynasty (c. 196–220 CE). It is the first medical text that organized therapeutic principles around the diagnosis of symptom patterns (zheng, 證), and it combined Yinyang and Five Phases theory with specific herbal prescriptions. After passing through numerous changes, the original work now circulates as two separate books: the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders and the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Casket, which were edited separately in the eleventh century during the Song dynasty. +Succeeding generations augmented these works, as in the Yaoxing Lun (藥性論; 药性论; 'Treatise on the Nature of Medicinal Herbs'), a 7th-century Tang dynasty Chinese treatise on herbal medicine. +There was a shift in emphasis in treatment over several centuries. A section of the Huangdi Neijing Suwen including Chapter 74 was added by Wang Bing in his 765 edition. In which it says: 主病之謂君, 佐君之謂臣, 應臣之謂使, 非上下三品之謂也. "The ruler of the disease is called the Sovereign, the aid to the Sovereign is called the Minister, the one that complies with the Minister is called the Envoy (Assistant), this is not a distinction between the three ranks of superior and inferior." The last part is interpreted as stating that these three rulers are not the three classes of Shénnóng mentioned previously. This chapter in particular outlines a more forceful approach. Later on Zhang Zihe (a.k.a. Zhang Cong-zhen, 1156–1228) is credited with founding the 'Attacking School' which criticized the overuse of tonics. +Arguably the most important of these later works is the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu, 本草綱目) compiled during the Ming dynasty by Li Shizhen, which is still used today for consultation and reference. +The use of Chinese herbs was popular during the medieval age in western Asian and Islamic countries. They were traded through the Silk Road from the East to the West. Cinnamon, ginger, rhubarb, nutmeg and cubeb are mentioned as Chinese herbs by medieval Islamic medical scholars Such as Rhazes (854–925 CE), Haly Abbas (930–994 CE) and Avicenna (980–1037 CE). There were also multiple similarities between the clinical uses of these herbs in Chinese and Islamic medicine. + +== Raw materials == +There are roughly 13,000 medicinals used in China and over 100,000 medicinal recipes recorded in the ancient literature. Plant elements and extracts are by far the most common elements used. In the classic Handbook of Traditional Drugs from 1941, 517 drugs were listed – out of these, only 45 were animal parts, and 30 were minerals. For many plants used as medicinals, detailed instructions have been handed down not only regarding the locations and areas where they grow best, but also regarding the best timing of planting and harvesting them. +Some animal parts used as medicinals can be considered rather strange such as cows' gallstones. +Furthermore, the classic materia medica Bencao Gangmu describes the use of 35 traditional Chinese medicines derived from the human body, including bones, fingernail, hairs, dandruff, earwax, impurities on the teeth, feces, urine, sweat, and organs, but most are no longer in use. + +== Preparation == + +=== Decoction === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e537adf05 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,75 @@ +--- +title: "Chinese herbology" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Typically, one batch of medicinals is prepared as a decoction of about 9 to 18 substances. Some of these are considered as main herbs, some as ancillary herbs; within the ancillary herbs, up to three categories can be distinguished. Some ingredients are added to cancel out toxicity or side-effects of the main ingredients; on top of that, some medicinals require the use of other substances as catalysts. + +=== Chinese patent medicine === + +Chinese patent medicine (中成藥; 中成药; zhōngchéng yào) is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. They are standardized herbal formulas. From ancient times, pills were formed by combining several herbs and other ingredients, which were dried and ground into a powder. They were then mixed with a binder and formed into pills by hand. The binder was traditionally honey. Modern teapills, however, are extracted in stainless steel extractors to create either a water decoction or water-alcohol decoction, depending on the herbs used. They are extracted at a low temperature (below 100 °C (212 °F)) to preserve essential ingredients. The extracted liquid is then further condensed, and some raw herb powder from one of the herbal ingredients is mixed in to form a herbal dough. This dough is then machine cut into tiny pieces, a small amount of excipients are added for a smooth and consistent exterior, and they are spun into pills. +These medicines are not patented in the traditional sense of the word. No one has exclusive rights to the formula. Instead, "patent" refers to the standardization of the formula. In China, all Chinese patent medicines of the same name will have the same proportions of ingredients, and manufactured in accordance with the PRC Pharmacopoeia, which is mandated by law. However, in western countries there may be variations in the proportions of ingredients in patent medicines of the same name, and even different ingredients altogether. +Several producers of Chinese herbal medicines are pursuing FDA clinical trials to market their products as drugs in U.S. and European markets. + +=== Chinese herbal extracts === +Chinese herbal extracts are herbal decoctions that have been condensed into a granular or powdered form. Herbal extracts, similar to patent medicines, are easier and more convenient for patients to take. The industry extraction standard is 5:1, meaning for every five pounds of raw materials, one pound of herbal extract is derived. + +== Categorization == +There are several different methods to classify traditional Chinese medicinals: + +The Four Natures (四氣; 四气; sìqì) +The Five Flavors (五味; wǔwèi) +The meridians (經絡; 经络; jīngluò) +The specific function. + +=== Four Natures === +The Four Natures are: hot (熱; 热), warm (溫; 温), cool (涼), cold (寒) or neutral (平). Hot and warm herbs are used to treat cold diseases, while cool and cold herbs are used to treat hot diseases. + +=== Five Flavors === + +The Five Flavors, sometimes also translated as Five Tastes, are: acrid/pungent (辛), sweet (甘), bitter (苦), sour (酸), and salty (鹹; 咸). Substances may also have more than one flavor, or none (i.e., a bland (淡) flavor). Each of the Five Flavors corresponds to one of the zàng organs, which in turn corresponds to one of the Five Phases: A flavor implies certain properties and presumed therapeutic "actions" of a substance: saltiness "drains downward and softens hard masses"; sweetness is "supplementing, harmonizing, and moistening"; pungent substances are thought to induce sweat and act on qi and blood; sourness tends to be astringent (澀; 涩) in nature; bitterness "drains heat, purges the bowels, and eliminates dampness". + +=== Specific function === +These categories mainly include: + +exterior-releasing or exterior-resolving +heat-clearing +downward-draining or precipitating +wind-damp-dispelling +dampness-transforming +promoting the movement of water and percolating dampness or dampness-percolating +interior-warming +qi-regulating or qi-rectifying +dispersing food accumulation or food-dispersing +worm-expelling +stopping bleeding or blood-stanching +quickening the Blood and dispelling stasis or blood-quickening or blood-moving. +transforming phlegm, stopping coughing and calming wheezing or phlegm-transforming and cough- and panting-suppressing +Spirit-quieting or Shen-calming. +calming the Liver and expelling wind or liver-calming and wind-extinguishing +orifice-opening +supplementing or tonifying: this includes qi-supplementing, blood-nourishing, yin-enriching, and yang-fortifying +astriction-promoting or securing and astringing +vomiting-inducing +substances for external application + +== Nomenclature == +Many herbs earn their names from their unique physical appearance. Examples of such names include Niu Xi (Radix cyathulae seu achyranthis), 'cow's knees,' which has big joints that might look like cow knees; Bai Mu Er (Fructificatio tremellae fuciformis), 'white wood ear', which is white and resembles an ear; Gou Ji (Rhizoma cibotii), 'dog spine,' which resembles the spine of a dog. + +=== Color === +Color is not only a valuable means of identifying herbs, but in many cases also provides information about the therapeutic attributes of the herb. For example, yellow herbs are referred to as huang (yellow) or jin (gold). Huang Bai (Cortex Phellodendri) means 'yellow fir", and Jin Yin Hua (Flos Lonicerae) has the label 'golden silver flower." + +=== Smell and taste === +Unique flavors define specific names for some substances. Gan means 'sweet,' so Gan Cao (Radix glycyrrhizae) is 'sweet herb,' an adequate description for the licorice root. Ku means 'bitter', thus Ku Shen (Sophorae flavescentis) translates as 'bitter herb.' + +=== Geographic location === +The locations or provinces in which herbs are grown often figure into herb names. For example, Bei Sha Shen (Radix glehniae) is grown and harvested in northern China, whereas Nan Sha Shen (Radix adenophorae) originated in southern China. And the Chinese words for north and south are respectively bei and nan. +Chuan Bei Mu (Bulbus fritillariae cirrhosae) and Chuan Niu Xi (Radix cyathulae) are both found in Sichuan province, as the character chuan indicates in their names. + +=== Function === +Some herbs, like Fang Feng (Radix Saposhnikoviae), literally 'prevent wind,' preventing or treating wind-related illnesses. Xu Duan (Radix Dipsaci), literally 'restore the broken,' treating torn soft tissues and broken bones. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7e97ff474 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Chinese herbology" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Country of origin === +Many herbs indigenous to other countries have been incorporated into the Chinese materia medica. Xi Yang Shen (Radix panacis quinquefolii), imported from North American crops, translates as 'western ginseng,' while Dong Yang Shen (Radix ginseng Japonica), grown in and imported from North Asian countries, is 'eastern ginseng.' + +== Toxicity == +From the earliest records regarding the use of medicinals to today, the toxicity of certain substances has been described in all Chinese materia medica. Since TCM has become more popular in the Western world, there are increasing concerns about the potential toxicity of many traditional Chinese medicinals including plants, animal parts and minerals. For most medicinals, efficacy and toxicity testing are based on traditional knowledge rather than laboratory analysis. The toxicity in some cases could be confirmed by modern research (i.e., in scorpion); in some cases it could not (i.e., in Curculigo). Further, ingredients may have different names in different locales or in historical texts, and different preparations may have similar names for the same reason, which can create inconsistencies and confusion in the creation of medicinals, with the possible danger of poisoning. Edzard Ernst "concluded that adverse effects of herbal medicines are an important albeit neglected subject in dermatology, which deserves further systematic investigation." Research suggests that the toxic heavy metals and undeclared drugs found in Chinese herbal medicines might be a serious health issue. +Substances known to be potentially dangerous include aconite, secretions from the Asiatic toad, powdered centipede, the Chinese beetle (Mylabris phalerata, Ban mao), and certain fungi. There are health problems associated with Aristolochia. Toxic effects are also frequent with Aconitum. To avoid its toxic adverse effects Xanthium sibiricum must be processed. Hepatotoxicity has been reported with products containing Reynoutria multiflora (synonym Polygonum multiflorum), glycyrrhizin, Senecio and Symphytum. The evidence suggests that hepatotoxic herbs also include Dictamnus dasycarpus, Astragalus membranaceus, and Paeonia lactiflora; although there is no evidence that they cause liver damage. Contrary to popular belief, Ganoderma lucidum mushroom extract, as an adjuvant for cancer immunotherapy, appears to have the potential for toxicity. +Also, adulteration of some herbal medicine preparations with conventional drugs which may cause serious adverse effects, such as corticosteroids, phenylbutazone, phenytoin, and glibenclamide, has been reported. +However, many adverse reactions are due to misuse or abuse of Chinese medicine. For example, the misuse of the dietary supplement Ephedra (containing ephedrine) can lead to adverse events including gastrointestinal problems as well as sudden death from cardiomyopathy. Products adulterated with pharmaceuticals for weight loss or erectile dysfunction are one of the main concerns. Chinese herbal medicine has been a major cause of acute liver failure in China. +Most Chinese herbs are safe but some have shown not to be. Reports have shown products being contaminated with drugs, toxins, or false reporting of ingredients. Some herbs used in TCM may also react with drugs, have side effects, or be dangerous to people with certain medical conditions. + +== Efficacy == + +Only a few trials exist that are considered to have adequate methodology by scientific standards. Proof of effectiveness is poorly documented or absent. A 2016 Cochrane review found "insufficient evidence that Chinese Herbal Medicines were any more or less effective than placebo or hormonal therapy" for the relief of menopause related symptoms. A 2012 Cochrane review found no difference in decreased mortality for SARS patients when Chinese herbs were used alongside Western medicine versus Western medicine exclusively. A 2010 Cochrane review found there is not enough robust evidence to support the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine herbs to stop the bleeding from haemorrhoids. A 2008 Cochrane review found promising evidence for the use of Chinese herbal medicine in relieving painful menstruation, compared to conventional medicine such as NSAIDs and the oral contraceptive pill, but the findings are of low methodological quality. A 2012 Cochrane review found weak evidence suggesting that some Chinese medicinal herbs have a similar effect at preventing and treating influenza as antiviral medication. Due to the poor quality of these medical studies, there is insufficient evidence to support or dismiss the use of Chinese medicinal herbs for the treatment of influenza. There is a need for larger and higher quality randomized clinical trials to determine how effective Chinese herbal medicine is for treating people with influenza. A 2005 Cochrane review found that although the evidence was weak for the use of any single herb, there was low-quality evidence that some Chinese medicinal herbs may be effective for the treatment of acute pancreatitis. + +== Ecological impacts == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ea813ae08 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Chinese herbology" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The traditional practice of using now-endangered species is controversial within TCM. Modern Materia Medicas such as Bensky, Clavey and Stoger's comprehensive Chinese herbal text discuss substances derived from endangered species in an appendix, emphasizing alternatives. +Parts of endangered species used as TCM drugs include tiger bones and rhinoceros horn. Poachers supply the black market with such substances, and the black market in rhinoceros horn, for example, has reduced the world's rhino population by more than 90 percent over the past 40 years. Concerns have also arisen over the use of turtle plastron and seahorses. +TCM recognizes bear bile as a medicinal. In 1988, the Chinese Ministry of Health started controlling bile production, which previously used bears killed before winter. Now bears are fitted with a sort of permanent catheter, which is more profitable than killing the bears. More than 12,000 asiatic black bears are held in "bear farms", where they suffer cruel conditions while being held in tiny cages. The catheter leads through a permanent hole in the abdomen directly to the gall bladder, which can cause severe pain. +Increased international attention has mostly stopped the use of bile outside of China; gallbladders from butchered cattle (牛胆; 牛膽; niú dǎn) are recommended as a substitute for this ingredient. +Collecting American ginseng to assist the Asian traditional medicine trade has made ginseng the most harvested wild plant in North America for the last two centuries, which eventually led to a listing on CITES Appendix II. +Chinese medicinal plant materials (CMPMs) release chemicals that attracts the Drugstore beetle, leading to the accumulation of this pest and further infestation and damage to these plants. + +== Herbs in use == + +Chinese herbology is a pseudoscientific practice with potentially unreliable product quality, safety hazards or misleading health advice. There are regulatory bodies, such as China GMP (Good Manufacturing Process) of herbal products. There is a lack of high-quality scientific research on herbology practices and product effectiveness for anti-disease activity. In the herbal sources listed below, there is little or no evidence for efficacy or proof of safety across consumer age groups and disease conditions for which they are intended. +There are over 300 herbs in common use. Some of the most commonly used herbs are Ginseng (人参; 人參; rénshēn), wolfberry (枸杞子; gǒuqǐzǐ), dong quai (Angelica sinensis, 当归; 當歸; dāngguī), astragalus (黄耆; 黃耆; huángqí), atractylodes (白术; 白朮; báizhú), bupleurum (柴胡; cháihú), cinnamon (cinnamon twigs (桂枝; guìzhī) and cinnamon bark (肉桂; ròuguì)), coptis (黄连; 黃連; huánglián), ginger (姜; 薑; jiāng), hoelen (茯苓; fúlíng), licorice (甘草; gāncǎo), ephedra sinica (麻黄; 麻黃; máhuáng), peony (white: 白芍; báisháo and reddish: 赤芍; chìsháo), rehmannia (地黄; 地黃; dìhuáng), rhubarb (大黄; 大黃; dàhuáng), and salvia (丹参; 丹參; dānshēn). + +== 50 fundamental herbs == +In Chinese herbology, there are 50 "fundamental" herbs, as given in the reference text, although these herbs are not universally recognized as such in other texts. The herbs are: + +== Other Chinese herbs == +In addition to the above, many other Chinese herbs and other substances are in common use, and these include: + +== Herbal Formulas == + +=== Types of Formulas === +Traditional Chinese herbs are used either standalone, or in a grouping, jointly with other herbs. When several herbs are used together, this amalgamation is called a 'herbal formula'. +There are, generally speaking, three types of herbal formulas used in TCM: +1. Classic Formulas – these are formulas which TCM practitioners believe have withstood the test of time over the centuries, and are mentioned in classical texts, such as the Shanghan Lun. +2. Patent Formulas – these are either classic formulas, or newer commonly used formulas created in recent decades. The patent formulas stand out in that their usage is common enough, that they are frequently mass-produced by large companies, in China, the United States, and elsewhere. +3. Custom-Made Formulas – these formulas are composed by a TCM Practitioner, to match the specific diagnosis and medical condition of a patient. These formulas are often partially based on the older, classic formulas. + +=== Formula Hierarchy === +The prescription of TCM formulas, is based on 4-tier system of hierarchy. The 4-tiers are: Jun (君), Chen (臣), Zuo (佐) and Shi (使). These four tiers are often translated as: Sovereign, Minister, Assistant, Courier; or Monarch, Minister, Assistant, Envoy (also: 'Guide'). + +This feudal-like hierarchy denotes the power and role of each herb in a given formula. The Jun is the herb which is usually of the highest relative dosage, and leads the main action of the formula. In the majority of formulas, there is only one Jun (Monarch) herb. Sometimes, a formula may feature 2-3 Jun herbs, or lack a dominant Jun herb altogether. The Chen support the Jun in its actions, and provide additional uses for the medical purpose of the formula. The Zuo assist the Jun and Chen, but are given at a much lower dosage (relative to themselves), to deemphasize their influence, for various reasons. The Shi's main role is to help guide the formula to the correct bodily areas or organ systems inside of which it is meant to act. The Shi are also sometimes used "to harmonize the properties of other herbs in the formula". +Most herbs can serve as either Jun (Monarch), Chen (Minister) or Zuo (Assistant) – the first three tiers in the herbal hierarchy. But only certain herbs, are considered fit to serve as Shi. This is because only some herbs are believed to have the ability, to guide other herbs into a given bodily area or organ system. + +=== Matching and contrasting herbs === +Within TCM formulas, there are also strict rules about which herbs pair well together (Dui Yao), and which are either contradictory, incompatible, or may cause a reaction amongst themselves, or with Western Medicine Drugs. For example: Gan Cao (Licorice) is incompatible with the herbs Yuan hua, Jing Da Ji, Hai Zao and Gan Sui. It may also alter the therapeutic effects of corticosteroids. + +== Notable people == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d7374eed7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Chinese herbology" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_herbology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:01.077830+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Ji Desheng (1898–1981), Chinese herbalist from Nantong. +Li Ching-Yuen (died 1933), Chinese herbalist, martial artist and tactical advisor. +Aw Chu Kin (died 1908), Burmese Chinese herbalist, inventor of Tiger Balm. +Ing Hay (1862–1952), migrated to the United States in 1887 and practiced traditional Chinese medicine in Oregon. + +== See also == + +== References == + +Chen, John K.; Chen, Tina T. (2004). Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. Art of Medicine Press. ISBN 0-9740635-0-9. Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2012-02-09. +Chen, John K.; Chen, Tina T. (2009). Pocket Atlas of Chinese Medicine. Art of Medicine Press. ISBN 978-0-9740635-7-7. Archived from the original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2012-02-09. +Ergil, M.; et al. (2009). Pocket Atlas of Chinese Medicine. Thieme. ISBN 978-3-13-141611-7. +Foster, S.; Yue, C. (1992). Herbal emissaries: bringing Chinese herbs to the West. Healing Arts Press. ISBN 978-0-89281-349-0. +Kiessler, Malte (2005). Traditionelle Chinesische Innere Medizin (in German). Elsevier, Urban & Fischer. ISBN 978-3-437-57220-3. +Goldschmidt, Asaf (2009). The Evolution of Chinese Medicine: Song Dynasty, 960-1200. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-42655-8. +Sivin, Nathan (1987). Traditional Medicine in Contemporary China. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan. ISBN 978-0-89264-074-4. +Unschuld, Paul U. (1985). Medicine in China: A History of Ideas. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05023-5. +Xu, L.; Wang, W. (2002). Chinese materia medica: combinations and applications (1st ed.). Donica Publishing. ISBN 978-1-901149-02-9. + +== External links == + Quotations related to Traditional Chinese medicine at Wikiquote \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b1e73110e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Chromotherapy" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:02.227433+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Chromotherapy, sometimes called color therapy, colorology or cromatherapy, is a pseudoscientific form of alternative medicine which proposes certain diseases can be treated by exposure to certain colors. Its practice is considered to be quackery. Chromotherapists claim to be able to use light in the form of color to balance "energy" lacking from a person's body, whether it be on physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental levels. For example, they thought that shining a colored light on a person would cure constipation. Historically, chromotherapy has been associated with mysticism and occultism. +Color therapy is unrelated to photomedicine, such as phototherapy and blood irradiation therapy, which are scientifically accepted medical treatments for a number of conditions, as well as being unrelated to photobiology, which is the scientific study of the effects of light on living organisms. + +== History == +Avicenna (980–1037), seeing color as of vital importance both in diagnosis and in treatment, discussed chromotherapy in The Canon of Medicine. He wrote that "color is an observable symptom of disease" and also developed a chart that related color to the temperature and physical condition of the body. His view was that red moved the blood, blue or white cooled it, and yellow reduced muscular pain and inflammation. +Pioneer of photography Robert Hunt performed experiments on the effects of different wavelengths of light on the germination and growth of plants, detailed in his 1844 book Researches on Light. Apparently influenced by this work, from 1860 Augustus Pleasonton started to conduct original experiments, and in 1876 published the book The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Color of the Sky, detailing how the color blue can improve the growth of crops and livestock and can help heal diseases in humans. This led to the birth of modern chromotherapy, influencing contemporary scientists Dr. Seth Pancoast and Edwin Dwight Babbitt to conduct experiments and publish Blue and Red Light; or, Light and Its Rays as Medicine (1877) and The Principles of Light and Color (1878), respectively. +Pancoast's book has been described by historians as a confusing mix of color therapy, mysticism, and occultism. He held a lifelong interest in the Kabbalah and was a founding member of the Theosophical Society. Pancoast believed that God is light and "the one universal pathological agent" that could cure disease. He would expose medications to colored light before administering them to a patient and also utilized sun-baths fitted with colored panes of glass. Throughout the 19th century, "color healers" claimed colored glass filters could treat many diseases, including constipation and meningitis. In Germany in the late 1890s, Georg von Langsdorff promoted Babbitt's ideas and mixed color therapy with psychometry and spiritualism. +The Buddhist monk Bhante Dharmawara was a notable advocate of color therapy who promoted the use of green, blue, and yellow for health. Other notable advocates include Anthroposophist Theo Gimbel, who authored many books on the subject and founded the Hygeia Institute for Colour Therapy in 1968. + +=== Dinshah P. Ghadiali === +In 1933, Indian scientist Dinshah P. Ghadiali published The Spectro Chromemetry Encyclopaedia, a work on color therapy. Ghadiali claimed to have discovered why and how the different colored rays have various therapeutic effects on organisms. He believed that colors represent chemical potencies in higher octaves of vibration, and for each organism and system of the body, there is a particular color that stimulates and another that inhibits the work of that organ or system. He also thought that, by knowing the action of the different colors upon the different organs and systems of the body, one can apply the correct color that will tend to balance the action of any organ or system that has become abnormal in its function or condition. The American Medical Association published refutations of Ghadiali's color therapy claims. In 1958, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) facilitated a permanent injunction against Ghadiali's Visible Spectrum Research Institute. +Ghadiali's son, Darius Dinshah, and grandson Ryan, continue to provide information about color therapy via his Dinshah Health Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing non-pharmaceutical home color therapy, and his book Let There Be Light. + +== Conceptual basis == + +Practitioners of ayurvedic medicine believe the body has seven "chakras", which some claim are 'spiritual centers', and are thought to be located along the spine. New Age thought associates each of the chakras with a single color of the visible light spectrum, along with a function and organ or bodily system. According to this view, the chakras can become imbalanced and result in physical and mental diseases, but application of the appropriate color can allegedly correct such imbalances. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0bfccfb0b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Chromotherapy" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromotherapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:02.227433+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Scientific rejection == +Chromotherapy is a popular pseudoscience. Its practice is regarded by health experts and historians as a form of quackery. +According to a book published by the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that alternative uses of light or color therapy are effective in treating cancer or other illnesses". Regarding Dinshah Ghadiali's work, science writer Martin Gardner had described him as "perhaps the greatest quack of them all". According to Gardner, photographs of Ghadiali at work in his laboratory are "indistinguishable from stills of a grade D movie about a mad scientist". +Historian Deborah Ascher Barnstone has noted that chromotherapy is "distinct from scientifically verified light treatments such as neonatal jaundice treatment. As, unlike chromotherapy, the light used in such therapies, whether scientifically proven or not, was not always colored, their particulars are not relevant in this context." +Photobiology, the term for the scientific study of the effects of light on living tissue, has sometimes been used instead of the term chromotherapy in an effort to distance it from its roots in Victorian mysticism and to strip it of its associations with symbolism and magic. Light therapy is a specific treatment approach using high intensity light to treat specific sleep, skin, and mood disorders. +A review of the existing research on chromotherapy found that there is no evidence to support a causal link between specific colors to health outcomes, there is not enough evidence to support a causal link between specific colors and emotional or mental states, and there is no research to suggest there exists one-to-one relationships between specific colors and emotions. +Chromotherapy has been accused of oversimplifying psychological responses to colors, making sweeping statements based on myths or beliefs that lack empirical support. Guidelines for chromotherapy lack consistency and appear to be subjective judgements that have inconclusive and nonspecific applicability in healthcare systems. While twelve colors have been reported as beneficial for health and well-being, a rigorous definition of each of these colors has yet to be provided, making it impossible to know if all color therapists are using the same wavelengths for these colors. +More recently, concern regarding the theory has questioned the risks associated with the emergence of light-emitting diode (LED) based lamps that have been created for use in chromotherapy. These lamps are classified as low risk for exposure and do not require any warnings to accompany the products. However, certain chromotherapy procedures require the individual to place the lamps near their eyes, which is not the recommended use for these lights and may alter the exposure duration to a level that can cause risk of retinal damage. With no consensus or regulation regarding how these products are to be used and whether eyewear is required, this treatment puts participants at risk for serious eye damage. + +== See also == +Colorpuncture +List of ineffective cancer treatments +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Edwin Dwight Babbitt. (1886). The Principles of Light and Color. East Orange, New Jersey. +Martin Gardner. (1957). Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-20394-8 + +== External links == +Color+Therapy at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..97c1b545c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 1/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Church of Scientology was started in 1953 by L. Ron Hubbard to promote and practice his Scientology theories and techniques. The term 'Church of Scientology' (abbreviated 'the Church') does not refer to any one corporate entity, but instead serves as a collective label for a network of privately‑held organizations, unified under the direction of its leader David Miscavige who serves as the central authority. Most of the top-level management divisions are located at 6331 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California, or the building's side entrance 1710 Ivar Avenue. The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is officially the "mother church" responsible for guiding the other public-facing Scientology centers, which are called "orgs". Management and advanced orgs are staffed exclusively by members of the Sea Org, which is a strict organization for the most dedicated core of Scientologists. +The Church has been the subject of a number of controversies. While in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religious, a charitable, or a tax-exempt organization, it has also been described as a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business in government inquiries, media investigative reports, superior court judgements and parliamentary debates. + +== History == + +In 1950, L. Ron Hubbard established organizations to manage activities related to his invention of Dianetics; the organizations went bankrupt and Hubbard moved to Arizona where he started Scientology. In 1952, Hubbard established the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), a secular organization, and in 1953 the first Church of Scientology organization was incorporated in Camden, New Jersey. The HAS was dissolved and the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI), a religious fellowship, was established to be the managing umbrella organization over all other organizations. In late 1954, Hubbard made the official announcement that Scientology was a religion. In 1954, the first Church of Scientology was incorporated in California, which in 1956 was renamed to the Church of Scientology of California. That organization was to become the 'mother church' over hundreds of smaller churches and missions of Scientology until 1981 when that status was passed to the Church of Scientology International. +Hubbard had official control of the organizations until 1966 when he publicly resigned, though he continued to give orders to executives, secretly running the organizations. Although Hubbard maintained no formal position within Scientology's management structure, he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations, often using code names and code words to obscure his involvement. When some of the top ranking staff, including Hubbard's wife, were indicted for infiltrating the US government in their actions of Operation Snow White, Hubbard went into deep hiding though continued to manage control over the organizations but this time through intermediaries—predominantly Pat Broeker and David Miscavige. +After the convictions in United States v. Hubbard, there was a flurry of activity creating new corporations in the early 1980s to avoid further government scrutiny and to limit and compartmentalize liabilities. The Guardian's Office was replaced with the Office of Special Affairs; Religious Technology Center (RTC) was created, and numerous other corporations sprang up during this period, which acquired the name "corporate sort out" (CSO). The idea was to "create a legally defensible structure that would give Hubbard and the Commodore's Messenger Organization full legal control over Scientology while at the same time insulating both Hubbard and the CMO from any legal liability for running the organizations of Scientology by lying about the level of control they really had." +In 1986, after the death of L. Ron Hubbard, Pat and Annie Broeker presented documents from Hubbard showing they had been promoted to "Loyal Officers" and were named as Hubbard's successors in managing the Sea Org. However, a year later David Miscavige had wrested power from the Broekers and became the leader of the Scientology organization. + +== Hierarchy of organizations == +The Church of Scientology network operates as a multinational conglomerate of companies with personnel, executives, organizational charts, chains of command, policies and orders: + +Today, what we call "Scientology" is in reality a remarkably complex network of ostensibly independent but clearly interconnected corporate entities. ... with a centralized bureaucracy and hierarchical structure. ... [Religious Technology Center] is the most powerful executive organization within the Scientology empire, and its current chairman, David Miscavige, is widely recognized as the effective head of the church. +The main types of organizations within the Scientology network are: + +Service organizations are the public-facing organizations +Management organizations +Publishing and media organizations +Dissemination organizations such as marketing and outreach. + +== Service organizations == + +Church of Scientology organizations that are public-facing are called "service orgs". The two main types of services offered to the public are auditing and auditor training. Auditing is the 'counseling', and training teaches how to audit. The levels of auditing and training are charted and described on The Bridge to Total Freedom. All service organizations are separate corporate entities, are licensed as franchises, and pay a percentage of their gross revenues to International Management. By 2011, the Church was claiming over 700 centers in 65 countries. Hubbard's image and writing are prominent in service orgs, and each maintains a corporate-style office set aside for Hubbard's reincarnation, with a plaque on the desk bearing his name, and a pad of paper with a pen for him to continue writing. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7a4534642 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 2/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Missions of Scientology +Missions are the smallest service organizations, and they operate as independent franchises. They are owned by a "mission holder" and licensed to operate by Scientology Missions International which receives 10% tithes and supervises them. Missions offer beginning services to newcomers to Scientology, then push their clients to higher level service orgs, for which they earn a commission. Missions are not financially supported by the central organization, and must purchase a Mission Starter Package, which in 2011 cost $35,000 (equivalent to $63,600 in 2025), and purchase all subsequent material from the main organization. +Scientology Life Improvement Centers and Dianetics Centers +These centers are operated by a local Church of Scientology and are small "store front" locations with the purpose of selling books and offering very basic services to get people interested in Scientology. + +Central org, Class V org +This organization is what most people think of as "a Church of Scientology". It offers a full range of auditing and auditor training services up to the level of Clear on The Bridge to Total Freedom. They were called Class V orgs because the auditor training level up to Clear was called the "Class V auditor course". +Ideal org +An Ideal Org is a special class of Class V org where a new large building has been acquired, renovated, and outfitted to David Miscavige's "ideal org" standards. + +Saint Hill org and Advanced org +A Saint Hill org is a type of service org which trains up through the Class VI course—the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Named after Saint Hill Manor. An Advanced org offers the advanced levels above Clear, including the OT levels I through V. Several organizations operate the function of a Saint Hill org coupled with an Advanced org in a single corporation, such as: East Grinstead, United Kingdom; Copenhagen, Denmark; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Sydney, Australia. Los Angeles, California has a separate Saint Hill org and an Advanced org. +Flag Service Org (FSO) +Also known as "Flag". Located in the Clearwater, Florida campus, audits specialty rundowns such as the Super Power Rundown and the L's rundowns. It is also the chief training organization for Class V org staff to train for their posts (these students are called "outer org trainees"). FSO also operates an Advanced org which offers the OT levels VI and VII, and trains Sea Org staff for the confidential upper levels to audit and supervise others on OT levels V-VIII. + +Flag Ship Service Org (FSSO) +The name of the service org that operates aboard the Freewinds ship in the Caribbean. It offers the OT level VIII. + +== Management organizations == + +All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the Sea Org — which is not a corporation — consisting of the most dedicated core of Scientologists. David Miscavige is described as the highest-ranking Sea Org officer. +The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is officially the "mother church", and is responsible for guiding the other Scientology centers. +The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is the organization that owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard. +There are numerous other management organizations, including the Commodore's Messenger Organization, Watchdog Committee, Continental Liaison Offices, and the organizations that manage the dissemination and outreach activities. +In the 1950s and 1960s, management was operated from the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI), and from 1966 until the 1980s it was the Church of Scientology of California (CSC). + +=== Sea Org === + +=== Religious Technology Center (RTC) === + +The highest authority in the Church of Scientology network is Religious Technology Center (RTC). The RTC claims to only be the "holder of Scientology and Dianetics trademarks", but is in fact the main Scientology executive organization. RTC chairman David Miscavige is widely seen as the effective head of Scientology. +Religious Technology Center is the organization at the top of the Scientology hierarchy. RTC was established in 1982, and controls the Dianetics and Scientology trademarks. In 1987, David Miscavige took over control of RTC and is the head of RTC; officially Chairman of the Board, or COB. RTC employs lawyers and has pursued individuals and groups who have legally attacked Scientology or who are deemed to be a legal threat to Scientology. This has included breakaway Scientologists who practice Scientology outside the central organization, and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations. + +=== Scientology Missions International === + +Scientology Missions International is the management organization over the mission network. Missions are small Scientology organizations which recruit new people and deliver basic services and auditing. These were the feeder organizations which sent people into the main Scientology orgs. Previously called franchises and running semi-autonomously under the wing of the Guardian's Office, they were considered "Scientology's life blood" until David Miscavige and his International Finance Police gutted the network in the early 1980s. Missions were operated by a mission holder who paid 10% license fees to the Church of Scientology but kept the bulk of their income to themselves. +The new policy was that missions paid a higher percentage to the new Scientology Missions International (SMI), established 1981, and anyone who objected was declared suppressive and their bank accounts seized. Hundreds of mission holders lost or closed their missions and in 1983 there were just forty missions left in the US. Until the 1990s, few people opened new missions and the push was directed towards celebrities to open missions: Kirstie Alley opened a mission in Wichita, Kansas in 1995, Isaac Hayes and Lisa Marie Presley opened one in Memphis in 1997, and Jenna Elfman opened one in San Francisco in 2001. According to the Church of Scientology, by 2002 there were 197 missions in the US, and by 2008 there were internationally 3,200 missions across 129 countries. +(Note: A Sea Org missionaire is a person with a job completely unrelated to the mission network.) + +== Publishing and media organizations == + +=== Golden Era Productions === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..10f683022 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,65 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 3/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Golden Era Productions is a 500+ acre property in California also known as Gold Base, occupied by the Church of Scientology since 1979. It is where they make Scientology films, reproduce audio recordings of Hubbard's lectures, and assemble E-meters. + +=== Scientology Media Productions and Scientology Network === + +In 2011, the Church of Scientology purchased KCET-TV's studio facilities. After five years of renovations and upgrades, the 4.5-acre property was reopened in 2016 as "Scientology Media Productions". The facilities included "three soundstages, postproduction tools, control rooms, music studios, mixing rooms, art departments, scene shops, radio booths, screening rooms, a magazine production space, a live-events hub" and 136,000 square feet of space. In 2018, they launched the Scientology Network. + +=== Bridge Publications and New Era Publications === + +Bridge Publications, Inc. (incorporated 1981 in California) is the publisher for Scientology books and magazines in the United States, and New Era Publications International, Aps is the publisher in Europe. +Former publishing organizations include Distribution Center Inc. (Maryland 1955), Publications Organization United States (California 1971), and Scientology Publications Limited (UK 1991). +As of 2023, the print and distribution center for Bridge Publications is located at 5600 E Olympic Blvd, Commerce, California, occupies 185,000 square feet, and prints the organization's magazines and other Scientology materials. The center's press has the capacity to print 55,000 pages per hour. The warehousing and shipping department is fully automated, with the capability of handling half a million items per week. +There are several imprints across the entire Scientology network which are printed at the main print center, including Effective Education Publishing, Freedom Publishing, and Galaxy Press. + +=== Author Services Inc. and Galaxy Press === + +Author Services Inc. (ASI) represents the literary, theatrical and musical works of L. Ron Hubbard. It is wholly owned by Church of Spiritual Technology. Author Services runs the contests Writers of the Future and Illustrators of the Future. Galaxy Press is an imprint of Author Services, spun off from Bridge Publications in 2002. Author Services and Galaxy Press are located at 7051 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA. + +== Dissemination organizations == + +There are many independently chartered organizations and groups which are staffed by Scientologists, and pay license fees for the use of Scientology technology and trademarks under the control of Scientology management. In some cases, these organizations do not publicize their affiliation with Scientology and operate as front groups. + +=== Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) === + +Founded in 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is an umbrella organization that administers six of Scientology's social programs: + +Applied Scholastics, educational programs based on Hubbard's "Study Tech". +Criminon prisoner rehabilitation programs. +International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, which has a particular interest in religious freedom. +Narconon drug rehabilitation centers. +The Way to Happiness Foundation, dedicated to disseminating Hubbard's non-religious moral code. +Youth for Human Rights International, the youth branch of The Way to Happiness. + +=== Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) === + +The Citizens Commission on Human Rights is an anti-psychiatry lobby organization whose stated mission is to "eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health." It operates the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death exhibit which is open to the public in CCHR's building on Sunset Boulevard. It has been described by critics as a Scientology front group. + +=== Volunteer Ministers === + +The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Volunteer Ministers travel to the scenes of major disasters to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by Hubbard entitled The Way to Happiness, and engaging in a method said to calm panicked or injured individuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist". Accounts of the Volunteer Ministers' effectiveness have been mixed, and touch assists are not supported by scientific evidence. + +=== World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) === + +Many other Scientologist-run businesses and organizations belong to the umbrella organization World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which licenses the use of Hubbard's management doctrines, and circulates directories of WISE-affiliated businesses. WISE requires those who wish to become Hubbard management consults to complete training in Hubbard's administrative systems; this training can be undertaken at any Church of Scientology, or at one of the campuses of the Hubbard College of Administration, which offers an Associate of Applied Science Degree: + +One of the best-known WISE-affiliated businesses is Sterling Management Systems, which offers Hubbard's management "technology" to professionals such as dentists and chiropractors. +Another well-known WISE-affiliated business is e.Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California. e.Republic publications include Government Technology and Converge magazines. The Center for Digital Government is a division of e.Republic that was founded in 1999. +Internet ISP EarthLink was founded by Scientologists Sky Dayton and Reed Slatkin as a Scientology enterprise. The company now distances itself from the views of its founder, who moved on to become CEO of Helio (wireless carrier), formerly known as SK-EarthLink. + +=== Front groups === + +== Bases and campuses == + +The church owns a staggering array of properties, from a college on 55 acres in England to a luxury cruise ship. The church often buys historic buildings and refurbishes them in grand fashion. —St. Petersburg Times, 2009 + +=== Saint Hill, England === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..73360a023 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 4/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw its worldwide development from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor, a Georgian manor house near the Sussex town of East Grinstead. During Hubbard's years at Saint Hill, he traveled extensively, providing lectures and training in Australia, South Africa in the United States, and developing materials that would eventually become Scientology's "core systematic theology and praxis". While in Saint Hill, Hubbard worked with a staff of nineteen and urged others to join. On September 14, 1959, he wrote: "Here, on half a hundred acres of lovely grounds in a mansion where we have not yet found all the bedrooms, we are handling the problems of administration and service for the world of Scientology. We are not very many here and as the sun never sets on Scientology we are very busy thetans." +The most important achievement of the Saint Hill period was Hubbard's execution of the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course (SHBC). It was delivered by Hubbard from March 1951 to December 1966 and, within the Church of Scientology, is considered the best training course for budding "auditors" in the organization. Scientology groups called "Saint Hill Organizations" located in Los Angeles, Clearwater (Florida), Copenhagen and Sydney still teach this course. +This became the worldwide headquarters of Scientology through the 1960s and 1970s. Hubbard declared Saint Hill to be the organization by which all other organizations would be measured, and he issued a general order (still followed today) for all organizations around the world to expand and reach "Saint Hill size". The Church of Scientology has announced that the next two levels of Scientology teaching, OT IX and X, will be released and made available to the organization's members when all the major organizations in the world have reached Saint Hill size. + +=== Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida === + +The "worldwide spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is known as Flag Land Base, located in Clearwater, Florida. It is operated by Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc., a Florida corporation. +The organization was founded in 1975 when a Scientology-founded group called "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" purchased the Fort Harrison Hotel for $2.3 million. Because the reported tenant was the "United Churches of Florida" the citizens and City Council of Clearwater did not realize that the building's owners were actually the Church of Scientology until after the building's purchase. Clearwater citizens' groups, headed by Mayor Gabriel Cazares, rallied strongly against Scientology establishing a base in the city (repeatedly referring to the organization as a cult), but Flag Base was established nonetheless. +In the years since its foundation, the Flag Land Base has expanded as the Church of Scientology has gradually purchased large amounts of additional property in the downtown and waterfront Clearwater area. Scientology's largest project in Clearwater has been the construction of a high-rise complex called the "Super Power Building", or Flag Building, which "is the centerpiece of a 160-million construction campaign." +The Church of Scientology's CST chairman of the board, David Miscavige, led the opening and dedication of the 377,000-square-foot Flag Building on November 17, 2013. The multi-million cathedral is the new spiritual headquarters of Scientology. The fifth and sixth floor contain the "Super Power Program", which includes specially designed machines that Scientologists believe allow users to develop new abilities and experience enlightenment. The building also includes a dining facility, course rooms, offices and small rooms for "auditing" purposes. + +=== PAC Base and Hollywood, California === + +Los Angeles, California has the largest concentration of Scientologists and Scientology-related organizations in the world, with the Church of Scientology's most visible presence being in the Hollywood district of the city. The organization owns a former hospital on Fountain Avenue which houses Scientology's West Coast headquarters, the Pacific Area Command Base – often referred to as "PAC Base" or "Big Blue", after its blue paint job. Adjacent buildings include headquarters of several internal Scientology divisions, including the American Saint Hill Organization, the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, and the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles. All these organizations are integrated within the corporation Church of Scientology Western United States. The Church of Scientology successfully campaigned to have the city of Los Angeles rename one block of a street running through their complex "L. Ron Hubbard Way". The street has been paved in brick. +Scientology's Celebrity Center International is located on Franklin Avenue, while the Association for Better Living and Education, Author Services, the Test Center, and the official headquarters of the Church of Scientology International (in the Hollywood Guaranty Building) are all located on Hollywood Boulevard. The ground floor of the Guaranty Building also features the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition, a museum detailing his life that is open to the general public. The Celebrity Centre was acquired by the organization as the Chateau Elysee in 1973, built to accommodate members in the arts, sports and government. + +=== Gold Base, Riverside County, California === + +The headquarters of Religious Technology Center, the entity that oversees Scientology operations worldwide, is located in unincorporated Riverside County, California, near the city of San Jacinto. The facility, known as Gold Base or "Int", is owned by Golden Era Productions and is the home of Scientology's media production studio, Golden Era Studios. Several Scientology executives, including David Miscavige, live and work at the base. Therefore, Gold Base is Scientology's international administrative headquarters. +The Church of Scientology bought the former Gilman Hot Springs resort, which had been popular with Hollywood figures, in 1978; the resort became Gold Base. The facilities are surrounded by floodlights and video observation cameras, and the compound is protected by razor wire. + +=== Trementina Base, New Mexico === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ee9154be0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 5/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico, for the purpose of storing their archiving project: engraving Hubbard's writings on stainless steel tablets and encasing them in titanium capsules underground. An aerial photograph showing the base's enormous Church of Spiritual Technology symbols on the ground caused media interest and a local TV station broke the story in November 2005. According to a report in The Washington Post, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story. + +== Finances == + +In 2008, the Church of Scientology and its large network of corporations, nonprofits and other legal entities were estimated to bring in around 500 million US dollars in annual revenue. According to 2011 tax documents, the Church of Scientology International and Church of Spiritual Technology in the US had a combined $1.7 billion in assets. Scientologists can attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions for a set range of "fixed donations"; however, membership without courses or auditing is possible. According to a sociological report entitled "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear", progression between levels above "clear" status cost $15,760.03 in 1980 (equivalent to $61,583 in 2025). Scientologists can reduce their costs by co-auditing with another student. +Critics say it is improper to fix a donation for religious service; therefore the activity is non-religious. Scientology points out many classes, exercises and counseling may also be traded for "in kind" or performed cooperatively by students for no cost, and members of its most devoted orders can make use of services without any donations bar that of their time. A central tenet of Scientology is its doctrine of exchange, which dictates that each time a person receives something, he or she must give something back. By doing so, a Scientologist maintains "inflow" and "outflow", avoiding spiritual decline. + +== Ideal Orgs == +Starting in 2003 Miscavige began pressuring local Churches of Scientology to purchase larger facilities to use as Scientology centers which would be renovated to become "Ideal Orgs". The theory was "If you build it they will come." This push has included the acquisition of many historic buildings, a plan which professor of religious studies Hugh Urban believes has been pursued to imbue the Church with historical significance and distract from its controversies. For renovations of these buildings, the Church of Scientology has relied heavily on manual labor from Sea Org members in the organization's Rehabilitation Project Force. As of 2018, the Church of Scientology claims it had purchased 70 buildings and opened 60 Ideal Orgs around the globe. +With its membership numbers dwindling, Scientology's ideal org campaign has been called "a real estate scam", a "money-making scam", and "Scientology's principle cash cow". Scientologists were heavily pressured during lengthy fundraising sessions to donate all their money and even open new credit lines to help fund the several million dollar building purchases. This resulted in less money to spend on normal services like training and auditing, so the new orgs became desolate. Staff pay, which is dependent upon weekly org income, was often reduced to a few dollars a week. A 2010 survey of former Scientologists by former Church of Scientology executive Mike Rinder found that the most cited reason for leaving the Church was the unrelenting pressure to donate to programs such as the Ideal Org program. +Some of the buildings purchased for Ideal Orgs remained vacant and unrenovated for years. For example, in the UK, delayed Ideal Orgs included Birmingham (purchased in 2007 and finally opened in 2017), Gateshead (purchased 2007), Manchester (purchased 2006), and Plymouth (purchased 2009). The delays prompted calls from locals for a compulsory purchase of the historically significant buildings, which had remained largely vacant and undeveloped since their purchase. + +== Membership statistics == + +== Celebrities == + +In order to facilitate the continued expansion of Scientology, the organization has made efforts to win allies in the form of powerful or respected people. Scientology has had a written program governing celebrity recruitment since at least 1955, when L. Ron Hubbard created "Project Celebrity", offering rewards to Scientologists who recruited targeted celebrities, and another church document pointed to the importance of "using Scientology celebrities to mold the opinions of their publics." According to Robert Vaughn Young, "one of my jobs was to get celebrities active, to convince them to hustle and promote Scientology." The Church of Scientology operates Celebrity Centres for the use of artists, politicians, leaders of industry, sports figures, and other prominent individuals. + +== Controversy == + +Though it has attained some credibility as a religion in many countries, Scientology has also been described as both a cult and a commercial enterprise. Some of the organization's actions also brought scrutiny from the press and law enforcement. For example, it has been noted to engage in harassment and abuse of civil courts to silence its critics, by identifying as fair game people it perceives as its enemies. +In 1979, several Scientology members were convicted for their involvement in the organization's Operation Snow White, the largest theft of government documents in U.S. history. Scientologists were also convicted of fraud, manslaughter and tampering with witnesses in French cases, malicious libel against lawyer Casey Hill and espionage in Canada. +In his book World Religions in America, religious scholar Jacob Neusner states that Scientology's "high level of visibility" may be perceived as "threatening to established social institutions". The film Going Clear, based on the book by the same name, also documents controversies surrounding the organization and its treatment of former members. +Criticism has also come from within the Church. Marty Rathbun, the former inspector general of the Religious Technology, has spoken out against church activities. He has called for a "Scientology Reformation" to eliminate corruption and bring back the original teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e25f776ae --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 6/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Classification === +From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by an organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on September 10, 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The Church of Scientology was incorporated in California on February 18, 1954, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring the organization's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. Controversy followed the organization in those years, but its growth continued in the 1960s. New facilities were formed in Paris (1959), Denmark (1968), Sweden (1969), and Germany (1970). In the 1970s the religion spread through Europe: in Austria (1971), Holland (1972), Italy (1978), and Switzerland (1978). Centers of Scientology were in 52 countries by the time the 80s came in and grew to 74 by 1992. +The organization sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, at which time the organization paid $12.5 million to the IRS—greatly less than IRS had initially demanded—and the IRS recognized the organization as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached. Scientology cites its tax exemption as proof the United States government accepts it as a religion. In January 2009, removal of the tax exemption was rated as number 9 in items for the incoming Barack Obama administration to investigate, as determined in an internet poll run by the presidential transition team soliciting public input for the incoming administration. The U.S. State Department has criticized Western European nations for discrimination against Scientologists in its published annual International Religious Freedom report, based on the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. +In some countries, such as Israel, Scientology is treated legally as a commercial enterprise, and not as a religion or charitable organization. In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for the 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. Unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard) is a registered trademark. Religious Technology Center, the owner of the trademarks and copyrights, takes a hard line on people and groups who attempt to use it in ways unaffiliated with the Church of Scientology (see Scientology and the legal system). + +=== Illegal activities === + +L. Ron Hubbard appointed Mary Sue Hubbard to take control of certain aspects of legal protection for the organization in 1968, and the Office of The Guardian was created with its head office situated at Saint Hill Manor. Under The Guardian's Office (later renamed the Office of Special Affairs or OSA), organization members and contracted staff later organized and committed one of the largest penetrations of United States federal agencies ever perpetrated by an organization not affiliated with a foreign government (that is, one such as the KGB). This operation was named Operation Snow White by Hubbard. In the trial which followed the discovery of these activities the prosecution described their actions as such: + +The crime committed by these defendants is of a breadth and scope previously unheard of. No building, office, desk, or file was safe from their snooping and prying. No individual or organization was free from their despicable conspiratorial minds. The tools of their trade were miniature transmitters, lock picks, secret codes, forged credentials and any other device they found necessary to carry out their conspiratorial schemes. +The organization has also in the past made use of aggressive tactics in addressing those it sees as trying to suppress them, known as Suppressive Persons (SPs) first outlined by Hubbard as part of a policy called fair game. It was under this policy that Paulette Cooper was targeted for having authored The Scandal of Scientology, a 1970 exposé book about the organization and its founder. This action was known as Operation Freakout. Using blank paper known to have been handled by Cooper, Scientologists forged bomb threats in her name. When fingerprints on them matched hers, the Justice Department began prosecution, which could have sent Cooper to prison for a lengthy term. The organization's plan was discovered at the same time as its Operation Snow White actions were revealed. All charges against Cooper were dismissed, though she had spent more than $20,000 on legal fees for her defense. +In 1979, several executives of the organization were convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. Federal Court. +On January 22, 2013, attorneys for the organization, as well as some of its members, reacted toward the CNN News Group for its airing of a story covering the release of a book published by a former member, entitled 'Going Clear', published earlier the same year. CNN News Group then chose to publish the reactionary correspondence, with confidential information redacted, on its web site. +According to a 1990 Los Angeles Times article, in the 1980s the Los Angeles branch largely switched from using the organization's members in harassment campaigns to using private investigators, including former and current Los Angeles police officers. The reason seemed to be that this gave the organization a layer of protection. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f6d379094 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 7/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Scientology organization has continued to aggressively target people it deems suppressive. In 1998, regarding its announcement that it had hired a private investigator to look into the background of a Boston Herald writer who had written a series on the organization, Robert W. Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, said, "No one I know goes so far as to hire outsiders to harass or try to get intimidating data on critics. Scientology is the only crowd that does that." It has apparently continued as recently as 2010. In 2007, when BBC journalist John Sweeney was making Scientology and Me, an investigative report about the organization, he was subjected to harassment: In LA, the moment our hire car left the airport we realised we were being followed by two cars. In our hotel a weird stranger spent every breakfast listening to us. Sweeney subsequently made a follow-up documentary, The Secrets of Scientology, in 2010 during which he was followed and filmed on multiple occasions and one of his interviewees was followed back to his home. +The Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a decision upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013. + +=== Members' health and safety === + +The deaths of some Scientologists have brought attention to the organization, both due to the circumstances of their demises and their relationship with Scientology being a factor. In 1995, Lisa McPherson was involved in a minor automobile accident while driving on a Clearwater street. Following the collision, she exited her vehicle, stripped naked and showed further signs of mental instability, as noted by a nearby ambulance crew that subsequently transported her to a nearby hospital. Hospital staff decided that she had not been injured in the accident, but recommended keeping her overnight for observation. Following intervention by fellow Scientologists, McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital and checked herself out against medical advice after a short evaluation. +She was taken to the Fort Harrison Hotel, a Scientology retreat, to receive a treatment sanctioned by the organization called Introspection Rundown. She had previously received the Introspection Rundown in June of that year. She was locked in a room for 17 days, where she died. Her appearance after death was that of someone who had been denied water and food for quite some time, being both underweight and severely dehydrated. Additionally, her skin was covered with over one hundred insect bites, presumably from cockroaches. The state of Florida pursued criminal charges against the Church of Scientology. The organization has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and now makes members sign a waiver before Introspection Rundown specifically stating that they (or anyone on their behalf) will not bring any legal action against the organization over injury or death. +These charges attracted press coverage and sparked lawsuits. Eight years later, Elli Perkins, another adherent to Scientology's beliefs regarding psychiatry, was stabbed to death by her mentally disturbed son. Though Elli Perkins's son had begun to show symptoms of schizophrenia as early as 2001, the Perkins family chose not to seek psychiatric help for him and opted instead for alternative remedies sanctioned by Scientology. The death of Elli Perkins at the hands of a disturbed family member, one whose disease could have been treated by methods and medications banned by Scientology, again raised questions in the media about the organization's methods. +In addition, the organization has been implicated in kidnapping members who have recently left the organization. In 2007, Martine Boublil was kidnapped and held for several weeks against her will in Sardinia by four Scientologists. She was found on January 22, 2008, clothed only in a shirt. The room she was imprisoned in contained refuse and an insect infested mattress. +On Friday March 28, 2008, Kaja Bordevich Ballo, daughter of Olav Gunnar Ballo, Norwegian parliament member and vice president of the Norwegian Odelsting, took a Church of Scientology personality test while studying in Nice. Her friends and co-inhabitants claim she was in good spirits and showed no signs of a mental breakdown, but the report from the organization said she was "depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony". A few hours later she committed suicide by jumping from her balcony at her dorm room leaving a note telling her family she was sorry for not "being good for anything". The incident has brought forward heavy criticism of the organization from friends, family and prominent Norwegian politicians. Inga Marte Thorkildsen, parliament member, went as far as to say "Everything points to the Scientology cult having played a direct role in making Kaja choose to take her own life". + +=== Dissemination and recruiting practices === + +Members of the public entering a Scientology center or mission are offered a "free personality test" called the Oxford Capacity Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research into three test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of skepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device" and called its scientific value "negligible". +Further recruitment practices — called dissemination in Scientology – include information booths, flyers and advertisement for free seminars and Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contacts, sales of books, and acting classes. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f63c79ef8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Church of Scientology" +chunk: 8/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:03.439690+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Legal waivers === +Working with lawyer Bill Drescher, we drafted and implemented one-sided agreements that everyone who partakes in scientology services is required to sign—forfeiting the right to sue and any rights to access the records of scientology services, and even giving scientology authorization to hold the signee against their will should they have a psychotic episode so they can participate in the Introspection Rundown. +Due to previous litigation against the Church of Scientology, and particularly the civil and criminal cases surrounding the death of Lisa McPherson, COS drafted several contracts, releases and waivers which all individuals must sign in order to start any service with COS, no matter how small or introductory. They must be signed again before any major service, and new contracts signed for each Scientology corporate entity the individual visits. One particular waiver—called the "Lisa Clause" by critics of Scientology—states that a member will not seek any psychiatric treatment, and gives permission for the Church of Scientology to detain any member suspected of a psychotic break or other serious mental breakdown. Such detention is to provide the Introspection Rundown, a procedure where an individual is kept isolated from everyone, with no communication. This controversial procedure was considered to be the cause of McPherson's death and, in order to prevent future lawsuits, the Church of Scientology compiled these one-sided contracts. The contracts also prohibit the individual from obtaining any copies of records related to them while granting COS the exclusive right to retain the documents. Individuals waive the right to sue COS in a court of law, and instead they must use Scientology's version of an arbitration (which L. Ron Hubbard never wrote about). + +== Licensing == +The Church of Scientology denies the legitimacy of any splinter groups and factions outside the official organization, and has tried to prevent independent Scientologists from using officially trademarked Scientology materials. Independent Scientologists, also known collectively as the "Free Zone" are referred to as squirrels within the organization. They are also classified by the Church of Scientology as suppressive persons ("SPs")—opponents or enemies of Scientology. Hubbard himself stated in Ron's Journal '67 "That there were only seven or eight Suppressive Persons on the planet". +In 2010, an exception to the rule was made specifically for the Nation of Islam, which is the only officially sanctioned external Dianetics organization and the first official non-Scientology Dianetics org since 1953. Minister Louis Farrakhan publicly announced his embracement of Dianetics, and has been actively promoting Dianetics, while stating he has not become a Scientologist. He has courted a relationship with the Church of Scientology, and materials and certifications are still required to be purchased from the organization, and are not independently produced. + +== See also == +List of Scientology organizations – Current and past corporations of Scientology conglomerate +New religious movement – Religious community or spiritual group of modern origin +Scientology front groups – Organizations pretending to be not-Scientology +Scientology officials – Staff hierarchy, practices, personnel of Scientology network + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Lamont, Stewart (1986). Religion Inc.: The Church of Scientology. London: Harrap. ISBN 0-245-54334-1. OCLC 23079677. + +== External links == + +Official website +Church of Scientology companies grouped at OpenCorporates +Satellite Image of the Gold Base \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..985f082e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Clairvoyance" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:04.683720+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Clairvoyance (; from French clair 'clear' and voyance 'vision') is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ('one who sees clearly'). +Claims for the existence of paranormal and psychic abilities such as clairvoyance have not been supported by scientific evidence. Parapsychology explores this possibility, but the existence of the paranormal is not accepted by the scientific community. The scientific community widely considers parapsychology, including the study of clairvoyance, a pseudoscience. + +== Usage == +Pertaining to the ability of clear-sightedness, clairvoyance refers to the paranormal ability to see persons and events that are distant in time or space. It can be divided into roughly three classes: precognition, the ability to perceive or predict future events, retrocognition, the ability to see past events, and remote viewing, the perception of contemporary events happening outside the range of normal perception. +The English connotations of seeing through time are not always present in concepts of clairvoyance in other languages. The French usage, for example, has more emphasis on spatial connotations and arises from the Latin etymology of clear-seeing/clear vision. + +== In history and religion == +Throughout history, there have been numerous places and times in which people have claimed themselves, or others, to be clairvoyant. In several religions, stories of certain individuals being able to see things far removed from their immediate sensory perception are commonplace, especially within pagan religions where oracles were used. Prophecy often involved some degree of clairvoyance, especially when future events were predicted. This ability is sometimes attributed to a higher power rather than the person performing it. + +=== Christianity === +A number of Christian saints were said to be able to see or know things that were far removed from their immediate sensory perception as a kind of gift from God, including Charbel Makhlouf, Padre Pio, Magdalena Gornik and Anne Catherine Emmerich in Catholicism and Gabriel Urgebadze, Paisios Eznepidis and John Maximovitch in Eastern Orthodoxy. Jesus in the Gospels is also recorded as being able to know things far removed from his immediate human perception. Some Christians today also share the same claim. + +=== Jainism === + +In Jainism, clairvoyance is regarded as one of the five kinds of knowledge. The beings of hell and heaven (devas) are said to possess clairvoyance by birth. According to Jain text Sarvārthasiddhi, "this kind of knowledge has been called avadhi as it ascertains matter in downward range or knows objects within limits". + +=== In China === +The Chinese term for clairvoyance and clairvoyant is qianliyan (literally, "thousand-mile eyes"). The origin of this usage is Qianliyan, a Daoist guardian deity often depicted as a statute guarding Mazu temples in East Asia. Qianliyan's sight ability carried over to Buddhist representations, symbolizing divine faculties of seeing. + +=== Anthroposophy === +Rudolf Steiner, famous as a clairvoyant himself, claimed that it is easy for a clairvoyant to confuse their own emotional and spiritual being with the objective spiritual world. + +== Parapsychology == + +=== Early research === +The earliest record of somnambulist clairvoyance is credited to the Marquis de Puységur, a follower of Franz Mesmer, who in 1784 was treating a local dull-witted peasant named Victor Race. During treatment, Race reportedly went into a trance and underwent a personality change, becoming fluent and articulate, and giving diagnosis and prescription for his own disease as well as those of others. Clairvoyance was a reported ability of some mediums during the spiritualist period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and psychics of many descriptions have claimed clairvoyant ability up to the present day. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..489f5ae6f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Clairvoyance" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:04.683720+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Early researchers of clairvoyance included William Gregory, Gustav Pagenstecher, and Rudolf Tischner. Clairvoyance experiments were reported in 1884 by Charles Richet. Playing cards were enclosed in envelopes and a subject under hypnosis attempted to identify them. The subject was reported to have been successful in a series of 133 trials but the results dropped to chance level when performed before a group of scientists in Cambridge. J. M. Peirce and E. C. Pickering reported a similar experiment in which they tested 36 subjects over 23,384 trials. They did not find above chance scores. +Ivor Lloyd Tuckett (1911) and Joseph McCabe (1920) analyzed early cases of clairvoyance and concluded they were best explained by coincidence or fraud. In 1919, the magician P. T. Selbit staged a séance at his flat in Bloomsbury. The spiritualist Arthur Conan Doyle attended and declared the clairvoyance manifestations genuine. +A significant development in clairvoyance research came when J. B. Rhine, a parapsychologist at Duke University, introduced a standard methodology, with a standard statistical approach to analyzing data, as part of his research into extrasensory perception. A number of psychological departments attempted and failed to repeat Rhine's experiments. At Princeton University, W. S. Cox (1936) produced 25,064 trials with 132 subjects in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded: "There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the 'average man' or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group. The discrepancy between these results and those obtained by Rhine is due either to uncontrollable factors in experimental procedure or to the difference in the subjects." Four other psychological departments failed to replicate Rhine's results. It was revealed that Rhine's experiments contained methodological flaws and procedural errors. +Eileen Garrett was tested by Rhine at Duke University in 1933 with Zener cards. Certain symbols were placed on the cards and sealed in an envelope, and she was asked to guess their contents. She performed poorly and later criticized the tests by claiming the cards lacked a psychic energy called "energy stimulus" and that she could not perform clairvoyance on command. The parapsychologist Samuel Soal and his colleagues tested Garrett in May 1937. Most of the experiments were carried out in the Psychological Laboratory at the University College London. A total of over 12,000 guesses were recorded but Garrett failed to produce above chance level. Soal wrote: "In the case of Mrs. Eileen Garrett we fail to find the slightest confirmation of Dr. J. B. Rhine's remarkable claims relating to her alleged powers of extra-sensory perception. Not only did she fail when I took charge of the experiments, but she failed equally when four other carefully trained experimenters took my place." + +=== Remote viewing === +Remote viewing, also known as remote sensing, remote perception, telesthesia and travelling clairvoyance, is the alleged paranormal ability to perceive a remote or hidden target without support of the senses. +A well-known recent study of remote viewing is the US government-funded project at the Stanford Research Institute from the 1970s through the mid-1990s. In 1972, Harold E. Puthoff and Russell Targ initiated a series of human subject studies to determine whether participants (the viewers or percipients) could reliably identify and accurately describe salient features of remote locations (targets). In the early studies, a human sender was typically present at the remote location as part of the experiment protocol. A three-step process was used. First, target conditions to be experienced by the senders were randomly selected. Second, in the viewing step, participants were asked to verbally express or sketch their impressions of the remote scene. Third, these descriptions were matched by separate judges, as closely as possible, with the intended targets. The term remote viewing was coined to describe this overall process. The first paper by Puthoff and Targ on remote viewing was published in Nature in March 1974; in it, the team reported some degree of remote viewing success. After the publication of these findings, other attempts to replicate the experiments were carried out with remotely linked groups using computer conferencing. +The psychologists David Marks and Richard Kammann attempted to replicate Targ and Puthoff's remote viewing experiments at the Stanford Research Institute. In a series of 35 studies, they could not do so, so they investigated the original experiments' procedure. Marks and Kammann discovered that the notes given to the judges in Targ and Puthoff's experiments contained clues as to which order they were carried out, such as referring to yesterday's two targets, or the date of the session at the top of the page. They concluded that these clues explained the experiment's high hit rates. Marks achieved 100% accuracy without visiting any of the sites but by using cues. James Randi has written that controlled tests by several other researchers, eliminating several sources of cuing and extraneous evidence present in the original tests, produced negative results. Students were also able to solve Puthoff and Targ's locations from the clues inadvertently included in the transcripts. +In 1980, Charles Tart claimed that a rejudging of the transcripts from one of Targ and Puthoff's experiments revealed an above-chance result. Targ and Puthoff again refused to provide copies of the transcripts, and they were not made available for study until July 1985, when it was discovered they still contained sensory cues. Marks and Christopher Scott (1986) wrote: "considering the importance for the remote viewing hypothesis of adequate cue removal, Tart's failure to perform this basic task seems beyond comprehension. As previously concluded, remote viewing has not been demonstrated in the experiments conducted by Puthoff and Targ, only the repeated failure of the investigators to remove sensory cues." +In 1982, Robert G. Jahn, then Dean of the School of Engineering at Princeton University, wrote a comprehensive review of psychic phenomena from an engineering perspective. His paper included numerous references to remote viewing studies at the time. Statistical flaws in his work have been proposed by others in the parapsychological community and the general scientific community. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..80426ab0f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Clairvoyance" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clairvoyance" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:04.683720+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Scientific reception == +According to scientific research, clairvoyance is generally explained as the result of confirmation bias, expectancy bias, fraud, hallucination, self-delusion, sensory leakage, subjective validation, wishful thinking or failures to appreciate the base rate of chance occurrences and not as a paranormal power. Parapsychology is generally regarded by the scientific community as a pseudoscience. In 1988, the US National Research Council concluded "The committee finds no scientific justification from research conducted over a period of 130 years, for the existence of parapsychological phenomena." +Skeptics say that if clairvoyance were a reality, it would have become abundantly clear. They also contend that those who believe in paranormal phenomena do so for merely psychological reasons. According to David G. Myers (Psychology, 8th ed.): + +The search for a valid and reliable test of clairvoyance has resulted in thousands of experiments. One controlled procedure has invited 'senders' to telepathically transmit one of four visual images to 'receivers' deprived of sensation in a nearby chamber (Bem & Honorton, 1994). The result? A reported 32 percent accurate response rate, surpassing the chance rate of 25 percent. But follow-up studies have (depending on who was summarizing the results) failed to replicate the phenomenon or produced mixed results (Bem & others, 2001; Milton & Wiseman, 2002; Storm, 2000, 2003).One skeptic, magician James Randi, had a longstanding offer of U.S. $1 million—"to anyone who proves a genuine psychic power under proper observing conditions" (Randi, 1999). French, Australian, and Indian groups have parallel offers of up to 200,000 euros to anyone with demonstrable paranormal abilities (CFI, 2003). Large as these sums are, the scientific seal of approval would be worth far more to anyone whose claims could be authenticated. To refute those who say there is no ESP, one need only produce a single person who can demonstrate a single, reproducible ESP phenomenon. So far, no such person has emerged. Randi's offer has been publicized for three decades and dozens of people have been tested, sometimes under the scrutiny of an independent panel of judges. Still, nothing. "People's desire to believe in the paranormal is stronger than all the evidence that it does not exist." Susan Blackmore, "Blackmore's first law", 2004. +Clairvoyance is considered a hallucination by mainstream psychiatry. + +== In popular culture == +In the 1979 novel The Dead Zone by Stephen King, the protagonist Johnny Smith gains the ability of clairvoyance working through simple touch after awakening from a coma that has lasted nearly five years. +Chinese pop culture depictions of clairvoyance include Second Brother, one of the protagonists in Calabash Brothers, a popular animated series by Shanghai Animation Film Studio in the 1980s. +The Chinese term for clairvoyance, qianliyan, appears in various machine vision and remote video products, such as China Mobile's Qianliyan product line and QLYBOT's robot products. + +== See also == + +== References == + +== Bibliography == +Jain, S. A. (1992). Reality. Jwalamalini Trust. Not in Copyright. Alt URL + +== Further reading == + +== External links == + +Springer Psychic: "A Study in 'Clairvoyance'" – Joe Nickell +"Debunking the Sixth Sense" – Science Daily +"Clairvoyance" – The Skeptic's Dictionary \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_and_Environmentally_Safe_Advanced_Reactor-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_and_Environmentally_Safe_Advanced_Reactor-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e77f96627 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_and_Environmentally_Safe_Advanced_Reactor-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +title: "Clean and Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_and_Environmentally_Safe_Advanced_Reactor" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:05.813522+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Clean and Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor (CAESAR) is a nuclear reactor concept created by Claudio Filippone, the former Director of the Center for Advanced Energy Concepts at the University of Maryland, College Park and CEO of HoloGens LLC. The concept's key element is the use of steam as a moderator, making it a type of reduced moderation water reactor. Because the density of steam may be controlled very precisely, Filippone claims it can be used to fine-tune neutron fluxes to ensure that neutrons are moving with an optimal energy profile to split 23892U nuclei – in other words, cause fission. +There seems to be some discrepancy between "media overview" material and technical details: + +"assembly containing only U-238 (or natural uranium, or nuclear waste) and positioned near an existing nuclear reactor acting as the "jump starter" of CAESAR." +this suggests that U-238 is the raw material used to breed fissile Pu-239 that is used in the core like any fast-neutron breeder reactor concept. However the neutronic (and burnup) simulation CAESAR is nowhere near other fast-breeder concepts or what is required in 2024. +The CAESAR reactor design exploits the fact that the fission products and daughter isotopes produced via nuclear reactions also decay to produce additional delayed neutrons. Filippone claims that unlike light water-cooled fission reactors, where fission occurring in enriched 235U fuel rods moderated by liquid-water coolant ultimately creates a Maxwellian thermal neutron flux profile, the neutron energy profile from delayed neutrons varies widely. In a conventional reactor, he theorizes, the moderator slows these neutrons down so that they cannot contribute to the 238U reaction; 238U has a comparatively large cross-section for neutrons at high energies. +Filippone maintains that when steam is used as the moderator, the average neutron energy is increased from that of a liquid water-moderated reactor such that the delayed neutrons persist until they hit another nucleus. The resulting extremely high neutron economy, he claims, will make it possible to maintain a self-sustaining reaction in fuel rods of pure 238U, once the reactor has been started by enriched fuel. +Skeptics +, however point out that it is generally believed that a controlled, sustained chain reaction is not possible with 238U. Starting in the 1930s Physicists have used the Six factor formula and its derivative Four factor formula to calculate the behavior of nuclear chain reactions inside a mass of fissile material. Based on these calculations even an infinitely large mass of pure U-238 (or even natural Uranium) is incapable of sustaining a chain reaction with only its own neutron production, so coupling the gas-cooled fast-spectrum core with a moderated outer slow-neutron section is required, or alternatively some level of fissile enrichment is required. It can undergo fission when impacted by an energetic neutron with over 1 MeV of kinetic energy. But the high-energy neutrons produced by 238U fission (after quickly losing energy by inelastic scattering), are not, themselves, sufficient to induce enough successive fissions in 238U to create a critical system (one in which the number of neutrons created by fission is equal to the number absorbed). Instead, bombarding 238U with neutrons below the 1 MeV fission threshold causes it to absorb them without fissioning (becoming 239U) and decay by beta emission to 239Pu (which is itself fissile). The energy of delayed neutrons is so low that contribution to 238U fission is almost 0.0000, requiring some fissile material to keep the reactor safely under prompt criticality: (e.g. 235U in natural uranium and preferably also some moderator, possibly outside the extra-fast core). +The maximum ratio of 238U fission is limited by the neutron physics to less than 100%, but greater than 40%, which allows even a relatively low conversion ratio of 0.6 to breed its own fuel (without uranium enrichment or Pu produced elsewhere). Conversion ratio of 0.6 is achievable in practice (actually achieved even with light-water reactor designs that waste a lot of neutrons in Boron, that has better alternatives). + + +== See also == +Nuclear fission +Nuclear reactor physics +Nuclear power +Nuclear power plant +Future energy development +Energy amplifier +Nuclear waste +Supercritical water reactor + + +== References == + + +== External links == +The Clean And Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor (CAESAR) Project +Hail, Caesar Economist article +Putting Nuclear Waste to Work Popular Mechanics article from 1998 describing a related reactor design (NPTRE) proposed by Dr. Filippone. +A Second Caesar to Change the Course of History? Article from University of Maryland newsletter. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbuster-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbuster-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5c2891407 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbuster-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Cloudbuster" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudbuster" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:06.989895+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A cloudbuster is a device designed by Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), which Reich claimed could produce rain by manipulating what he called "orgone energy" present in the atmosphere. +The cloudbuster was intended to be used in a way similar to a lightning rod: focusing it on a location in the sky and grounding it in some material that was presumed to absorb orgone—such as a body of water—would draw the orgone energy out of the atmosphere, causing the formation of clouds and rain. Reich conducted dozens of experiments with the cloudbuster, calling the research "Cosmic orgone engineering". +There have been no verified instances of a cloudbuster actually working and producing noticeable weather change, such as causing rain. Orgone therapy is seen as pseudoscience. +A modern reinvention of cloudbuster is being sold under names of chembuster, orgone cannon or akasha pillar. It is marketed as a countermeasure against chemtrails (conspiracy theory relating to aircraft condensation trails). + + +== Construction == +A cloudbuster consists of an array of parallel hollow copper tubes which are connected at the rear to a series of flexible copper hoses which are equal or slightly smaller in diameter to the parallel tubes. Alternatively, the rear of the tubes are joined to a single large diameter pipe and flexible copper hose. The open end of these hoses are placed in water, which Reich believed to be a natural orgone absorber. The pipes can be aimed into areas of the sky to purportedly draw energy to the ground like a lightning rod. +The remains of one of Reich's cloudbusters can be found in Rangeley, Maine at the Orgone Energy Observatory in the Reich Museum. + + +== In popular culture == +Wilhelm Reich's cloudbuster at Orgonon can be seen in Dušan Makavejev's 1971 film W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism. +The cloudbuster was the inspiration for the 1985 song "Cloudbusting" by British singer/songwriter Kate Bush. The song describes Reich's arrest and incarceration through the eyes of his son, Peter, who later wrote the memoir A Book of Dreams (1973). A cloudbuster, bearing only a superficial resemblance to the genuine article, was designed and built for the video. The video, intended by Bush to be a short narrative film rather than a traditional music video, was conceived by Terry Gilliam and Kate Bush, and directed by Julian Doyle. +The video stars actor Donald Sutherland as Reich and Bush as his son, Peter. +Some chemtrail conspiracy theory believers have built cloudbusters, which are then pointed at the sky in an attempt to clear it of chemtrails. + + +== See also == +Climate engineering +Cloud seeding - a process for dispersing substances into existing clouds to affect precipitation patterns +Negative air ionization therapy +Rainmaking + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b333aae69 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: "Colon cleansing" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:08.244186+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Colon cleansing, also known as colon therapy, colon hydrotherapy, a colonic, or colonic irrigation, encompasses a number of alternative medical therapies claimed to remove toxins from the colon and intestinal tract by removing accumulations of feces. Colon cleansing in this context should not be confused with an enema which introduces fluid into the colon, often under mainstream medical supervision, for a limited number of purposes including severe constipation and medical imaging. +Some forms of colon hydrotherapy use tubes to inject water, sometimes mixed with herbs or other liquids, into the colon via the rectum using special equipment. Oral cleaning regimes use dietary fiber, herbs, dietary supplements, or laxatives. Those who practice colon cleansing believe in autointoxication, that accumulations of putrefied feces line the walls of the large intestine and that these accumulations harbor parasites or pathogenic gut flora, causing nonspecific symptoms and general ill health. +Autointoxication, a term coined in 1884 by the French physician Charles Jacques Bouchard, is a hypothesis based on medical beliefs of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks and was discredited in the early 20th century. Nonetheless, during the 2000s Internet marketing and infomercials of oral supplements supposedly for colon cleansing increased. +There is no scientific evidence for the alleged benefits of colon cleansing. Certain enema preparations have been associated with heart attacks and electrolyte imbalances, and improperly prepared or used equipment can cause infection or damage to the bowel. Frequent colon cleansing can lead to dependence on enemas to defecate and some herbs may reduce the effectiveness of, or increase the risks associated with the use of, prescription medications. + + +== Effectiveness and risks == +The symptoms that are attributed to autointoxication—headache, fatigue, loss of appetite and irritability—may be caused by mechanical distention within the bowel, such as irritable bowel syndrome, rather than toxins from putrefying food. The benefits anecdotally attributed to colon cleansing are vague, and the claims made by manufacturers and practitioners are based on a flawed understanding of the body. There is little evidence of actual benefit to the procedure, and no evidence that it can alleviate the symptoms that are attributed to the theories of colon cleansing. +As the colon normally expels waste, colon cleansing is generally unneeded. Colonic irrigation can disrupt the bowel's normal flora, and, if done frequently, can result in electrolyte depletion with dehydration. Rare but severe adverse events have been rectal perforation, as well as amoebic infection, from poorly sterilised equipment. Others claim that colon cleansing may impede the colon's shedding of dead cells. +Excessive use of enemas has also been associated with heart problems, such as heart failure, as well as heart attacks related to electrolyte imbalances when performed as a coffee enema. Frequent enemas or other colon-cleansing tools may lead to dependence and inability to defecate without assistance, as well as potential withdrawal symptoms. Herbs taken orally may modulate the absorption or the activity of prescription medications. +Medical doctor Harriet Hall writes that "The colon cleanses itself... The idea that its walls are coated with years-old hamburger residue is preposterous". +According to the American Cancer Society, "Available scientific evidence does not support claims that colon therapy is effective in treating cancer or any other disease". + + +== Colon hydrotherapy == +Colonic irrigation, also known as colon hydrotherapy, colonic hydrotherapy, or a "colonic", is a treatment "to wash out the contents of the large bowel by means of copious enemas using water or other medication." +During a cleansing enema, liquid is introduced into the colon and retained for five to fifteen minutes. During a colonic, liquid is introduced into the colon and then it is flushed out, and this is repeated until the entire colon is cleared. +Colonic irrigation has been described as an "unwise" procedure as it carries the risk of serious harm and has no proven benefit. + + +=== Regulation === +In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the production of equipment used in colon hydrotherapy but does not regulate its use, or the supplements used in oral colon-cleansing regimens. Manufacturer claims do not require verification or supporting evidence. The contents of the products are also not verified or tested. The FDA has issued several letters warning manufacturers and suppliers of colon hydrotherapy equipment about making false claims of effectiveness, safety issues, and quality control violations. + + +== History == +The concept of autointoxication, the idea that food enters the intestine and rots, provides a rationale for colon cleansing. The ancient Egyptians believed that toxins formed as a result of decomposition within the intestines, and moved from there into the circulatory system, causing fever and the development of pus. The Ancient Greeks adopted and expanded the idea, applying their belief in the four humours. In the 19th century, studies in biochemistry and microbiology seemed to support the autointoxication hypothesis, and mainstream physicians promoted the idea. +Daly notes that, historically, "purging was one of the few procedures that a physician could perform with visible, often impressive results and without immediate or obvious dangers". +Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845–1916) became the strongest supporter of the idea of colon cleansing; he thought that toxins could shorten the lifespan. Over time, the concept broadened to autointoxication, which supposes that the body cannot fully dispose of its waste products and toxins, which then accumulate in the intestine. In some cases, the concept led to radical surgeries to remove the colon for unrelated symptoms. +Autointoxication enjoyed some favor in the medical community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but clinicians discarded it as advances in science failed to support its claims. +A 1919 paper entitled "Origin of the so-called auto-intoxication symptom" in the Journal of the American Medical Association marked the beginning of the rejection of the autointoxication hypothesis by the medical community. +Despite a lack of scientific support, autointoxication persists in the public imagination. In the 1990s, the practice of colon cleansing experienced a resurgence in the alternative-medical community, supported by testimonials and anecdotal evidence and promoted by manufacturers of colon-cleansing products. + + +== See also == +Mucoid plaque +Whole bowel irrigation + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorpuncture-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorpuncture-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..04a2bdc2f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorpuncture-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Colorpuncture" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorpuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:09.451408+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Colorpuncture, cromopuncture, or color light acupuncture, is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice based on "mystical or supernatural" beliefs which asserts that colored lights can be used to stimulate acupuncture points to promote healing and better health. It is a form of chromotherapy or color therapy. There is no known anatomical or histological basis for the existence of acupuncture points or meridians, and there is no scientific support for the efficacy of colorpuncture. + + +== Background == +Colorpuncture was developed in the 1980s by German naturopath and acupuncturist Peter Mandel, who named it esogetic colorpuncture. "Esogetic" is a term coined by Mandel to refer to the "merger of esoteric wisdom of life with the energetic principles of life's processes". +Mandel cited Fritz-Albert Popp, who claimed that the body's cells communicate with each other through a steady stream of photons. This is not a scientifically recognized method of cell communication. Using Kirlian photography, Mandel concluded that the acupuncture meridians absorb and disseminate colored light within the body. +Colorpuncture is based on the idea that illness and pain occur when an individual has strayed off his or her "life path". For example, a treatment might be intended to release an emotional blockage to heal a nervous system condition, allowing patients to devote themselves to their individual spiritual purpose. Three of the six factors (called molecules) represent the subtle energies: the chakras, the formative field, and the converter model. The other three factors describe the physical reality: the body systems, the coordination system, and the transmitter relays. + + +== Treatment == +Colorpuncture employs seven basic colors. In general, the warm colors - red, orange, and yellow - are believed to add energy, while the cool colors - green, blue, and violet - decrease energy. Mandel also claims that warm and cool colors, when used together, balance yin and yang energy flows. +A small handheld instrument resembling a torch (flashlight) with a colored quartz rod is used. The tip is placed directly onto acupoints or held a short distance above. Unlike acupuncture, the skin is not broken. Colorpuncture sessions last 10 to 90 minutes. Colorpuncturists claim to diagnose through the use of Kirlian photography. + + +== Reception == +Jack Raso writing in the Skeptical Inquirer included colorpuncture in a list of "mystical or supernaturalistic" therapies. Harriet Hall points out there is no supporting research for colorpuncture and explains how color can be used for diagnosis rather than treatment. +A review of research studies conducted in Europe to evaluate the efficacy of colorpuncture concluded that the approach lacked a research base to be considered anything but a pilot or preliminary research stage. Quackwatch lists it as a questionable treatment, and research on colorpuncture has failed to demonstrate a consistent effect. +The Spanish Government's health reference has ruled it a "pseudotherapy." + + +== See also == +Chromotherapy +Pseudoscience +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4c87d461c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Conscientiology" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:10.629810+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Conscientiology is a dissident movement from Spiritism, of a pseudoscientific nature, founded by Brazilian physician and medium Waldo Vieira. It proposes the integral study of consciousness, advocating for belief in parapsychic phenomena – such as out-of-body experiences – and in the seriality of life through reincarnation. According to this perspective, consciousness (also called ego, soul, or spirit) is said to have an independent existence that transcends biological life. +Self-described as an "unconventional science," Conscientiology adopts the so-called "consciential paradigm," which values subjective approaches and personal experimentation over traditional scientific methodology. The movement emerged from Projectiology, a more applied subfield, and both share the same paradigm, often being treated as parts of a single system in their literature. +Conscientiology employs a series of scientistic neologisms, such as "ressoma" (reactivation of the soma/physical body) as a replacement for the term "reincarnation". Although some of the scarce scientific literature classifies it as a religious phenomenon – situated within the context of the New Age or post-traditional religiosities – and identifies its scientistic discourse as a continuation of Allan Kardec's theodicy, its adherents reject any religious connotation, presenting it strictly as a study and research proposal. + + +== Beliefs and practices == +Conscientiology posits the existence of multiple lives, energies, and extra-physical dimensions, as well as the reality of out-of-body experiences and the evolutionary process through successive reincarnations. Its proponents claim that such concepts are not based on religious dogmas, but on alleged empirical verification obtained through personal investigation and experimentation. +In contrast to Kardecist Spiritism, which emphasizes evolution through charity and earthly atonement, Conscientiology advocates evolution through the acquisition of "cons" – the minimum unit of conscious lucidity. Its founder, Waldo Vieira, classified individuals on an evolutionary scale ranging from "pre-serenões" (less developed) to "serenões" (the highest level), encompassing dozens of intermediate categories. +Adherents adopt the so-called "principle of disbelief," summarized in the motto "Do not believe in anything, experience and draw your own conclusions." This principle reflects the valorization of a form of subjective empiricism – sometimes called "para-empiricism" – which distinguishes Conscientiology's proposal from religious traditions based on faith or authority. +Conscientiology shares with other New Age parasciences the belief in bioenergy control, the development of paranormal abilities, and the induction of consciousness projections through mental techniques. Its followers believe that anyone can learn to interact with consciousnesses from other dimensions and that leaving the body occurs naturally during deep sleep. Waldo Vieira exercised charismatic leadership until his death (or "dessoma," in the group's jargon), being recognized for his mediumistic gifts and his striking image – always dressed in white with a long white beard – which he himself claimed was a strategy to reinforce his presence and be remembered. + + +=== Tenepes === +The neologism was coined by Waldo Vieira in 1966. Tenepes (an acronym for tarefa energética pessoal or "personal energetic task"), also known among Spiritists as passe para o escuro or sessão do eu sozinho ("session of the self alone"), is an assistantial technique consisting of the transmission of spiritual bioenergies for supportive purposes. The technique is individual, scheduled on a daily basis by the human being, aided and supported by extra-physical helpers (disembodied spiritual assistants, spirit guides) while in a waking state. It is directed toward living or deceased consciousnesses (those in the spiritual plane, termed extra-physical) who are ill or in need, intangible and invisible to ordinary human sight, or to projected individuals—whether near or far—who are likewise needy or unwell. +The practitioner of tenepes is called a tenepessista. This is an individual who commits for the remainder of their intraphysical life to maintain this daily practice. The tenepessista conducts their energetic sessions anonymously, in solitude, in an isolated, enclosed, silent, and dark location, without physical witnesses. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correactology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correactology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..31f868929 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correactology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Correactology" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correactology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:11.814379+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Correactology is a system of alternative medicine based on the unsubstantiated claim that "regulating the density of cells" in the body improves a wide range of ailments. An offshoot of chiropractics, the treatment was developed in Sudbury (Ontario) in 2002 by brothers Michael and Allan Lapointe. It has been branded a pseudoscience by critics and the sole training program in the subject has been taken to court by former students. +During correactology treatments, the practitioners hold their hands over patients, snap their fingers, and apply a light touch to the person's skin. Allan Lapointe claims they are first looking for "areas of resistance in the eight segments of cells, indicating areas of pathological or anatomical dysfunction." The practitioner then allegedly uses his hands to change the behaviour of proteins present in human cells, to improve wellness and reduce pain: "We cause a cascading effect to change the behaviour of the proteins. When the proteins change, our behaviour changes because, of course, proteins control all." +Medical professionals have been questioning the practice as it becomes more widespread. The deputy editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal Matthew Stanbrook denounced the claims made by the practitioners: "That is pseudo-science that uses a scientific word that doesn't mean what density means. That makes absolutely no sense, to talk about the density of cells not being optimal. It makes even less sense to put forward the idea that through the manipulation involving touching, one could set the density of cells to an optimum level." McGill University's Office for Science and Society also identifies correactology as a pseudoscience. +While they have no formal medical training, the Lapointes say they are working on research showing their techniques are more effective than placebos. +Practitioners are present in a dozen clinics throughout Ontario, as well as one in Gatineau (Quebec). Correactology is a trademarked term by a corporation owned by the Lapointe brothers and run by their parents. The Ontario College of Chiropractors and the Ontario College of Physicians do not recognize the treatment. The Quebec College of Physicians is investigating the techniques and claims related to correactology. + + +== Collège Boréal programme and court case == +In 2016, the Collège Boréal signed a four-year agreement by which Sudbury's Correactology Health Care Center would offer a training programme for the college's students, for $50,000 per student. Boréal cancelled the agreement after two years, as three former students took the correactology center to court on charges of false statements, conspiracy, impediment to trade, and breach of contract. +The court proceedings showed that the students had to commit to giving 30 percent of their future earnings to the correactology center. The court rebuffed an attempt to dismiss the case by invoking the confidentiality clause of the training contract in July 2018. The court proceedings continue. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_urine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_urine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..18e540d24 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_urine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +--- +title: "Cow urine" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_urine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:14.224508+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Cow urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in cows. It has a sacred role in Zoroastrianism and Hinduism. +Urophagia, the consumption of urine, was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes; urine drinking is still practiced today. Cow urine is used as medicine in some places of India, Myanmar, and Nigeria. Proponents' claims about its curing diseases and cancer have no scientific backing. + + +== Hinduism == +Cow urine is considered sacred in Hinduism. Cow urine is used in the making of pancha-gavya, for use in Hindu rituals. The Mahabharata narrates a story about how Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, came to reside in cow dung. In the legend, Lakshmi asks cows to let her live in their bodies because they are pure and sinless. The cows refuse, describing her as unstable and fickle. Lakshmi begs them to accept her request, saying that others would ridicule her for being rejected by the cows, and agreeing to live in the most despised part of their body. The cows then allow her to live in their dung and urine. + + +== Usage == + + +=== Folk medicine === + +Consuming cow urine is used as folk medicine in some cultures. The purported medicinal benefits of cow urine lack scientific substantiation and rigorous empirical evidence. Claims suggesting that cow urine can cure various ailments or possess unique therapeutic properties are not supported by robust clinical trials or research. +Some Hindus claim that cow urine has a special significance as a medicinal drink. Among other usage, urine therapy is used for the medicinal purposes as a system of alternative medicine popularized by British naturopath John W. Armstrong in the early 20th century based on the metaphorical misreading of the Hebrew Biblical Proverb 5:15. His widely sold book inspired the writing of Manav mootra (Gujarati: Urine therapy; 1959) by Gandhian social reformer Raojibhai Manibhai Patel, and many later works, which often reference Shivambu Kalpa, a treatise on the pharmaceutical value of urine. However, according to medical anthropologist Joseph Alter, the practices of sivambu (drinking one's own urine) and amaroli recommended by modern Indian practitioners of urine therapy are closer to the ones propounded by Armstrong than traditional ayurveda or yoga, or even the practices described in Shivambu Kalpa. +Cow urine is also used in Myanmar and Nigeria as a folk medicine. In Nigeria, a concoction of leaves of tobacco, garlic and lemon basil juice, rock salt and cow urine is used in an attempt to treat convulsions in children. This has resulted in the death of several children from respiratory depression. + + +==== COVID-19 ==== +Cow urine and dung is believed by some in India to protect against COVID-19. There is however no scientific evidence that cow dung or urine improves immunity against COVID‐19, but consuming these products does increase the risk of animal-to-human disease transmission, such as E. coli and Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Exposure also increases the risk of fungal infections such as mucormycosis in those with COVID-19. +On 14 March 2020, a Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha hosted a cow urine drinking party with over 200 people in attendance to ward off COVID-19. This urine drinking party was held weeks after a leader from Assam, India told state lawmakers during an assembly that "cow urine and cow dung can be used to treat the coronavirus". Leaders from BJP had previously called for the use of cow urine as medicine and a cure for cancer. +In May 2021, two men in Manipur, India, Erendro Leichombam and Kishorechandra Wangkhem, were jailed for stating that cow dung and cow urine were not cures for COVID-19. They had criticized the BJP on Facebook for recommending cow dung and cow urine and were arrested under India's National Security Act. They were jailed for 45 days. In July 2021, the Supreme Court of India ordered that Leichombam be released, saying that the "continued detention of the petitioner would be a violation of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution." The Manipur High Court also ordered the release of Wangkhem after two months in jail, citing parity with the Supreme Court decision in Leichombam's case. + + +=== As a floor cleaner === +A floor-cleaning fluid called Gaunyle is marketed by an organisation called Holy Cow Foundation. Maneka Gandhi, Women and Child Development Minister, has proposed that Gaunyle be used instead of Phenyl in government offices. In May 2015, Rajendra Singh Rathore, Medical and Health Minister of Rajasthan, inaugurated a ₹40 million (US$420,000) cow urine refinery in Jalore. + + +=== In farming === + +Cow urine has been used as a fertilizer, such as jeevamrutha that adds cow dung, jaggery, pulse flour and rhizosphere soil to the mixture. + + +== See also == +Cattle in religion and mythology +Camel urine +Insect tea, from the droppings of insects used in Southeast Asia as the scientifically-unproven traditional medicine +Kopi luwak (civet coffee), expensive coffee from the partially digested coffee cherries from the dung of civet animal +Panchagavya, Sanskrit word for the five cow-derivatives +Prophetic medicine, drinking of camel urine by Mohammad as medicine +Alternative medicine +Alternative cancer treatments +Aqua omnium florum, use of water distilled from cow-dung as medicine in the Western World +Cow-hugging therapy +Stool transplant, from one person to other as therapy in modern medicine + + +== References == + + +== External links == + Media related to Cattle urine at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackpot_index-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackpot_index-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3d61747f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackpot_index-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +title: "Crackpot index" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crackpot_index" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:15.428235+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Crackpot Index is a number that rates scientific claims or the individuals that make them, in conjunction with a method for computing that number. It was proposed by John C. Baez in 1992, and updated in 1998. +While the index was created for its humorous value, the general concepts can be applied in other fields like risk management. + + +== Baez's crackpot index == +The method was initially proposed semi-seriously by mathematical physicist John C. Baez in 1992, and then revised in 1998. The index used responses to a list of 37 questions, each positive response contributing a point value ranging from 1 to 50; the computation is initialized with a value of −5. An earlier version only had 17 questions with point values for each ranging from 1 to 40. +Sample point assignments: + +1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false. +5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann" [sic]. +10 points for offering prize money to anyone who proves and/or finds any flaws in your theory. +20 points for every use of science fiction works or myths as if they were fact. +40 points for comparing those who argue against your ideas to Nazis, stormtroopers, or brownshirts. +50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no concrete testable predictions. +The New Scientist published a claim in 1992 that the creation of the index was "prompted by an especially striking +outburst from a retired mathematician insisting that TIME has INERTIA". +Baez later confirmed in a 1993 letter to New Scientist that he created the index. The index was later published in Skeptic magazine, with an editor's note saying "we know that outsiders to a field can make important contributions and even lead revolutions. But the chances of that happening are rather slim, especially when they meet many of the [Crackpot index] criteria". +Though the index was not proposed as a serious method, it nevertheless has become popular in Internet discussions of whether a claim or an individual is cranky, particularly in physics (e.g., at the Usenet newsgroup sci.physics), or in mathematics. +Chris Caldwell's Prime Pages has a version adapted to prime number research which is a field with many famous unsolved problems that are easy to understand for amateur mathematicians. + + +== Gruenberger's measure for crackpots == +An earlier crackpot index is Fred J. Gruenberger's "A Measure for Crackpots" published in December 1962 by the RAND Corporation. + + +== See also == +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + + +== References == + + +== External links == +The Crackpot Index. by John Baez. +The CRACKPOT Index: A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6f704f40f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +title: "Craniosacral therapy" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:16.624530+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel non-existent rhythmic movements of the skull's bones and supposedly adjust the immovable joints of the skull to achieve a therapeutic result. CST is a pseudoscience and its practice has been characterized as quackery. It is based on fundamental misconceptions about the anatomy and physiology of the human skull and is promoted as a cure-all for a variety of health conditions. +Medical research has found no significant evidence that either CST or cranial osteopathy confers any health benefit, and attempts to manipulate the bones of the skull can be harmful, particularly for children or infants. The basic assumptions of CST are not true, and practitioners produce conflicting and mutually exclusive diagnoses of the same patients. + + +== Effectiveness and safety == +Practitioners of CST claim it is effective in treating a wide range of conditions, sometimes claiming it is a cancer cure, or a cure-all. Practitioners particularly advocate the use of CST on children. The American Cancer Society cautions that CST should never be used on children under age two. Pediatricians have expressed concern at the harm CST can cause to children and infants. +There is no evidence that CST is of use for people with autism and its use is potentially harmful. As of 2018 at least two deaths had been reported resulting from CST spinal manipulation. In a small study, participants with head injuries suffered worsening symptoms as a result of CST. Additionally, if used as the sole treatment for serious health conditions, choosing CST can have serious adverse consequences; the American Cancer Society recommends those with cancer or chronic conditions should consult their doctor before starting any therapy consisting of manual manipulation. +According to the American Cancer Society, although CST may relieve the symptoms of stress or tension, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that craniosacral therapy helps in treating cancer or any other disease". Cranial osteopathy has received a similar assessment, with one 1990 paper finding there was no scientific basis for any of the practitioners' claims the paper examined. +The evidence base for CST is sparse and lacks a demonstrated biologically plausible mechanism. In the absence of rigorous, well-designed randomized controlled trials, it is a pseudoscience, and its practice quackery. Tests show that CST practitioners cannot in fact identify the purported craniosacral pulse, and different practitioners will get different results for the same patient. The idea of a craniosacral rhythm cannot be scientifically supported. + + +=== Systematic reviews === +In October 2012, Edzard Ernst conducted a systematic review of randomized clinical trials of craniosacral therapy. He concluded that "the notion that CST is associated with more than non-specific effects is not based on evidence from rigorous randomised clinical trials." Commenting specifically on this conclusion, Ernst wrote on his blog that he had chosen the wording as "a polite and scientific way of saying that CST is bogus." Ernst also remarked that the quality of five of the six trials he had reviewed was "deplorably poor," a sentiment that echoed an August 2012 review that noted the "moderate methodological quality of the included studies." +Ernst criticized a 2011 systematic review performed by Jakel and von Hauenschild for including observational studies and including studies with healthy volunteers. This review concluded that the evidence base surrounding craniosacral therapy and its efficacy was sparse and composed of studies with heterogeneous design. The authors of this review stated that currently available evidence was insufficient to draw conclusions. +A 2019 systematic review found limited evidence that CST may bring some relief for up to six months for people with chronic pain. However, the conclusions of this study were disputed by the Office for Science and Society at McGill University due to the poor methodological quality of the individual studies that made up the analysis. + + +=== Regulation === +Edzard Ernst wrote that in 2005 in the United Kingdom, a foundation of then-Prince Charles issued a booklet listing CST as one of several popular alternative therapies, but admitted that the therapy was unregulated and lacked either a defined training program or the oversight of a professional body. Ernst wrote that this makes the therapists practising CST "less regulated than publicans." + + +== History == +Cranial osteopathy, a forerunner of CST, was devised in the 1930s by William Garner Sutherland. While looking at a disarticulated skull, Sutherland was struck by the idea that the cranial sutures of the temporal bones where they meet the parietal bones were "beveled, like the gills of a fish, indicating articular mobility for a respiratory mechanism." +CST was invented by John Upledger, as an offshoot of cranial osteopathy. From 1975 to 1983, Upledger and neurophysiologist and histologist Ernest W. Retzlaff worked at Michigan State University as clinical researchers and professors. They assembled a research team to investigate the purported pulse and further study Sutherland's theory of cranial bone movement. Later, independent reviews of these studies concluded that they presented no good evidence for the effectiveness of craniosacral therapy or the existence of the proposed cranial bone movement. + + +== Conceptual basis == +Practitioners of both cranial osteopathy and CST assert that there are small, rhythmic motions of the cranial bones attributed to cerebrospinal fluid pressure or arterial pressure. The premise of CST is that palpation of the cranium can be used to detect this rhythmic movement of the cranial bones and selective pressures may be used to manipulate the cranial bones to achieve a therapeutic result. However, there is no evidence that the bones of the human skull can be moved by such manipulations. +The fundamental concepts of cranial osteopathy and CST are inconsistent with the human skull, brain, and spine's known anatomy and physiology. Edzard Ernst has written "to anyone understanding a bit of physiology, anatomy etc. [CST] looks like pure nonsense." +In common with many other varieties of alternative medicine, CST practitioners believe all illness is caused by energy or fluid blockages which can be released by physical manipulation. They believe that the bones of the skull move in a rhythmic pattern which they can detect and correct. +The therapist lightly palpates the patient's body, and focuses intently on the communicated movements. A practitioner's feeling of being in tune with a patient is described as entrainment. +Comparing CST to cranial osteopathy, Upledger wrote: "Dr. Sutherland's discovery regarding the flexibility of skull sutures led to the early research behind CranioSacral Therapy– and both approaches affect the cranium, sacrum and coccyx– the similarities end there." However, modern-day cranial osteopaths largely consider the two practices to be the same, but that cranial osteopathy has "been taught to non-osteopaths under the name CranialSacral therapy." + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Created_kind-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Created_kind-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6d0ee3905 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Created_kind-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +--- +title: "Created kind" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Created_kind" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:17.829620+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In creationism, a religious view based on a literal reading of the Book of Genesis and other biblical texts, created kinds are purported to be the original forms of life as they were created by God. They are also referred to in creationist literature as kinds, original kinds, Genesis kinds, and baramins (baramin is a neologism coined by combining the Hebrew words bará (בָּרָא‎, 'created') and min (מִין‎, 'kind')). +The idea is promulgated by Young Earth creationists and biblical literalists to support their belief in the literal truth of the Genesis creation narrative and the Genesis flood narrative during which, they contend, the ancestors of all land-based life on Earth were housed in Noah's Ark. Old Earth creationists also employ the concept, rejecting the idea of universal common descent while not necessarily accepting a literal interpretation of a global flood or a six-day creation in the last ten thousand years. Both groups accept that some lower-level microevolutionary change occurs within the biblically created kinds. +Creationists believe that not all creatures on Earth are genealogically related, and that living organisms were created by God in a finite number of discrete forms with genetic boundaries to prevent interbreeding. This viewpoint claims that the created kinds or baramins are genealogically discrete and are incapable of interbreeding and have no evolutionary (i.e., higher-level macroevolutionary) relationship to one another. + + +== Definitions == + +The concept of the "kind" originates from a literal reading of Genesis 1:12–24: + +And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind [...] And God created great whales and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind [...] And God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, and it was so. +There is some uncertainty about what exactly the Bible means when it talks of "kinds". Creationist Brian Nelson claimed "While the Bible allows that new varieties may have arisen since the creative days, it denies that any new species have arisen." However, Russell Mixter, another creationist writer, said that "One should not insist that "kind" means species. The word "kind" as used in the Bible may apply to any animal which may be distinguished in any way from another, or it may be applied to a large group of species distinguishable from another group [...] there is plenty of room for differences of opinion on what are the kinds of Genesis." +Frank Lewis Marsh coined the term baramin in his book Fundamental Biology (1941) and expanded on the concept in Evolution, Creation, and Science (c. 1944), in which he stated that the ability to hybridize and create viable offspring was a sufficient condition for being members of the same baramin. However, he said that it was not a necessary condition, acknowledging that observed speciation events among Drosophila fruitflies had been shown to cut off hybridization. +Marsh also originated "discontinuity systematics", the idea that there are boundaries between different animals that cannot be crossed with the consequence that there would be discontinuities in the history of life and limits to common ancestry. + + +== Baraminology == +In 1990, Kurt Wise introduced baraminology as an adaptation of Marsh's and Walter ReMine's ideas that was more in keeping with young Earth creationism. Wise advocated using the Bible as a source of systematic data. Baraminology and its associated concepts have been criticized by scientists and creationists for lacking formal structure. Consequently, in 2003 Wise and other creationists proposed a refined baramin concept in the hope of developing a broader creationist model of biology. +Alan Gishlick, reviewing the work of baraminologists in 2006, found it to be surprisingly rigorous and internally consistent, but concluded that the methods did not work. +Walter ReMine specified four groupings: holobaramins, monobaramins, apobaramins, and polybaramins. These are, respectively, all things of one kind; some things of the same kind; groups of kinds; and any mixed grouping of things. These groups correspond to the concepts of holophyly, monophyly, paraphyly, and polyphyly used in cladistics. + + +=== Methods === +Baraminology employs many of the same methods used in evolutionary systematics, including cladistics and Analysis of Pattern (ANOPA). However, instead of identifying continuity between groups of organisms based on shared similarities, baraminology uses these methods to search for morphological and genetic gaps between groups. Baraminologists have also developed their own creationist systematics software, known as BDIST, to measure distance between groups. + + +=== Criticism === +The methods of baraminology are not universally accepted among young-Earth creationists. Other creationists have criticized these methods as having the same problems as traditional cladistics, as well as for occasionally producing results that they feel contradict the Bible. +Baraminology has been heavily criticized for its lack of rigorous tests and post-study rejection of data to make it better fit the desired findings. By denying general common descent, it tends to produce inconsistent results that also conflict with evidence discovered by biology. Created kinds have been compared to other attempts at "alternate research" to produce artificial, pseudoscientific "evidence" that supports preconceived conclusions, similarly to how advocacy was done by the tobacco industry. The US National Academy of Sciences and numerous other scientific and scholarly organizations recognize creation science as pseudoscience. +Some techniques employed in Baraminology have been used to demonstrate evolution, thereby calling baraminological conclusions into question. + + +== See also == +Antediluvian +Creatio ex nihilo +Flood geology +Garden of Eden +Pre-Adamites + + +== Notes == + + +=== Explanatory notes === + + +=== Citations === + + +== External links == +The Definition of 'kinds' \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9b88cf801 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Creation Evidence Museum" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:19.029441+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Creation Evidence Museum of Texas, originally Creation Evidences Museum, is a creationist museum in Glen Rose in Somervell County in central Texas, United States. Founded in 1984 by Carl Baugh for the purpose of researching and displaying exhibits that support creationism, it portrays the Earth as six thousand years old and humans coexisting with non-avian dinosaurs, disputing that the Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old and non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 65.5 million years before human beings arose. + +== History and projects == +The Creation Evidence Museum was founded by Carl Baugh, a young Earth creationist, after he came to Glen Rose in 1982 to research claims of fossilized human footprints alongside dinosaur footprints in the limestone banks of the Paluxy River, near Dinosaur Valley State Park. He claims to have excavated 475 dinosaur footprints and 86 human footprints, which form the basis of the Creation Evidence Museum as well as other exhibits. Baugh, who does not have an accredited degree, remains the director and main speaker for CEM. +In 2001 Baugh and Creation Evidence Museum were featured on The Daily Show where Baugh likened human history to The Flintstones and the show poked fun at his claims about the hyperbaric biosphere, pterodactyl expeditions, and dinosaurs. +The Creation Evidence Museum sponsors continuing paleontological and archaeological excavations among other research projects, including a hunt for living pterodactyls in Papua New Guinea, and expeditions to Israel. Materials from the museum have been recommended by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, but the NCBCPS curriculum has been deemed "unfit for use in public school classrooms." +One of the museum's projects is a "hyperbaric biosphere", a chamber which the museum hopes will reproduce the atmospheric conditions that these creationists postulate for Earth before the Great Flood, and enable them to grow non-avian dinosaurs. Baugh says that these conditions made creatures live longer, and get larger, smarter and nicer. He claims that tests under these conditions have tripled the lifespan of fruit-flies, and detoxified copperhead snakes. A much larger version is under construction in the new building. +In 2008, a descendant of a family that provided many original Paluxy River dinosaur tracks in the 1930s claimed that her grandfather had faked many of them, including the Alvis Delk Cretaceous Footprint. Zana Douglas, the granddaughter of George Adams, explained that during the 1930s depression her grandfather and other residents of Glen Rose made money by making moonshine and selling "dinosaur fossils". The faux fossils brought $15 to $30 and when the supply ran low, they "just carved more, some with human footprints thrown in." +In 2015, Baugh said the museum was receiving 15,000 visitors annually. + +== Exhibits == +All of the creationist exhibits have been strongly criticized as incorrectly identified dinosaur prints, other fossils, or outright forgeries. The second floor balcony of the museum features prominently a 12 feet (3.7 m) high statue of Dallas Cowboys football coach Tom Landry. +Displays in the Creation Evidence Museum include: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..37cc00127 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Creation Evidence Museum" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Evidence_Museum" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:19.029441+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The "London Artifact", also known as the "London Hammer", an out-of-place artifact found in 1934 in London, Texas. This is a hammer "of recent American historical style" (18th or 19th century) found in a limestone concretion that has been claimed to be Ordovician period or Cretaceous rock. It was examined by scientists who concluded that the stone had not necessarily been part of the surrounding rock formation but could have formed around the hammer relatively recently: "The stone is real, and it looks impressive to someone unfamiliar with geological processes.... Minerals in solution can harden around an intrusive object dropped in a crack or simply left on the ground if the source rock (in this case, reportedly Ordovician) is chemically soluble." +The "Burdick Track", a human footprint in Cretaceous rock. Glen J. Kuban and geologist Gregg Wilkerson described anatomical errors in the "footprint", and remains of algae which indicate that it was carved into the bottom of a limestone slab, similar to other tracks that were carved in the Dinosaur Valley State Park area. +The "Fossilized Human Finger", a finger where tissues appear to have been replaced by Cretaceous stone. The stone was not found in situ and according to Mark Isaak "looks remarkably similar in size and shape to the cylindrical sandstone infillings of Ophiomoipha or Thalassmoides shrimp burrows commonly found in Cretaceous rocks. Although its general shape is fingerlike, it has none of the fine structure one would expect from a finger." +The "Meister Print", two trilobites in slate that appear to be crushed in a sandal print. The print is "questionable on several accounts" such as the shallowness of the print, spall patterns, striding sequence, and similarities to the Wheeler formation. "In short, the trilobites in the specimen are real enough, but the 'print' itself appears to be due solely to inorganic, geologic phenomena," according to Kuban. +The "Hand Print in Stone", allegedly a hand print in Cretaceous rock. Baugh has provided no evidence it was in situ in any Cretaceous bed, nor allowed experts to inspect it. Creationists have been critical of it too. +The "Alvis Delk Cretaceous Footprint", allegedly a human footprint partially overlapped by an Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur footprint, found when a slab supposedly taken from Glen Rose was later cleaned up. The footprint is presented as representing Homo bauanthropus, a species name coined by Baugh but not recognized by anyone else. Biologist PZ Myers described it as a blatant fake. The "human print has toes like tubes and a weirdly dug-in big toe", while "the dino print is even worse — it’s basically a three-pronged flat plate" with no resemblance to a real dinosaur footprint. Kuban described anatomical problems in detail. He notes that the slab was not documented in situ, and there are significant issues with CT scans claimed to authenticate the slab. Other creationists have not supported the claims, and one of those originally promoting the slab has removed the information from his website. +In 1982–1984, several scientists, including J.R. Cole, L.R. Godfrey, R.J. Hastings, and Steven Schafersman, examined Baugh's purported "mantracks" as well as others provided by creationists in Glen Rose. In the course of the examination "Baugh contradicted his own earlier reports of the locations of key discoveries" and many of the supposed prints "lacked characteristics of human footprints." After a three-year investigation of the tracks and Baugh's specimens, the scientists concluded there was no evidence for any of Baugh's claims or any "dinosaur-man tracks". + +== Criticism from creationists == +Young Earth creationist organizations such as Answers in Genesis and Creation Ministries International have criticized Baugh's claims saying he "muddied the water for many Christians ... People are being misled." Don Batten, of Creation Ministries International wrote: "Some Christians will try to use Baugh's 'evidences' in witnessing and get 'shot down' by someone who is scientifically literate. The ones witnessed to will thereafter be wary of all creation evidences and even more inclined to dismiss Christians as nut cases not worth listening to." Answers in Genesis lists the "Paluxy tracks" as arguments "we think creationists should NOT use" [emphasis in original]. The old Earth creationist organization Answers In Creation also reviewed Baugh's museum and concluded "the main artifacts they claim show a young earth reveal that they are deceptions, and in many cases, not even clever ones." +The "Burdick track" and "fossilized finger" were featured on the controversial NBC program The Mysterious Origins of Man, aired in 1996 and hosted by Charlton Heston. Creationist Ken Ham criticized the production in the February 1996 Answers in Genesis newsletter in a review titled "Hollywood's 'Moses' Undermines Genesis." Ham attacked Baugh's claims, saying, "According to leading creationist researchers, this evidence is open to much debate and needs much more intensive research. One wonders how much of the information in the program can really be trusted!" + +== See also == + +Creation Museum, museum in Northern Kentucky +Dinosaur Adventure Land, bankrupt theme park in Pensacola, Florida by Kent Hovind +Glen Rose dinosaur-human hoax +ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History +List of museums in North Texas +List of museums in Texas + +== References == + +== External links == +Creation Evidence Museum Online — official site. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a073a8c52 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 1/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Creation science or scientific creationism is a pseudoscientific form of young Earth creationism which claims to offer scientific arguments for certain literalist and inerrantist interpretations of the Bible. It is often presented without overt faith-based language, but instead relies on reinterpreting scientific results to argue that various myths in the Book of Genesis and other select biblical passages are scientifically valid. The most commonly advanced ideas of creation science include special creation based on the Genesis creation narrative and flood geology based on the Genesis flood narrative. Creationists also claim they can disprove or reexplain a variety of scientific facts, theories and paradigms of geology, cosmology, biological evolution, archaeology, history, and linguistics using creation science. Creation science was foundational to intelligent design. +The overwhelming consensus of the scientific community is that creation science fails to qualify as scientific because it lacks empirical support, supplies no testable hypotheses, and resolves to describe natural history in terms of scientifically untestable supernatural causes. Courts, most often in the United States where the question has been asked in the context of teaching the subject in public schools, have consistently ruled since the 1980s that creation science is a religious view rather than a scientific one. Historians, philosophers of science and skeptics have described creation science as a pseudoscientific attempt to map the Bible into scientific facts. Professional biologists have criticized creation science for being unscholarly, and even as a dishonest and misguided sham, with extremely harmful educational consequences. + +== Beliefs and activities == + +=== Religious basis === +Creation science is based largely upon chapters 1–11 of the Book of Genesis. These describe how God calls the world into existence through the power of speech ("And God said, Let there be light," etc.) in six days, calls all the animals and plants into existence, and molds the first man from clay and the first woman from a rib taken from the man's side; a worldwide flood destroys all life except for Noah and his family and representatives of the animals, and Noah becomes the ancestor of the 70 "nations" of the world; the nations live together until the incident of the Tower of Babel, when God disperses them and gives them their different languages. Creation science attempts to explain history and science within the span of Biblical chronology, which places the initial act of creation some six thousand years ago. + +=== Modern religious affiliations === +Most creation science proponents hold fundamentalist or Evangelical Christian beliefs in Biblical literalism or Biblical inerrancy, as opposed to the higher criticism supported by liberal Christianity in the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy. However, there are also examples of Islamic and Jewish scientific creationism that conform to the accounts of creation as recorded in their religious doctrines. +The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a history of support for creation science. This dates back to George McCready Price, an active Seventh-day Adventist who developed views of flood geology, which formed the basis of creation science. This work was continued by the Geoscience Research Institute, an official institute of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, located on its Loma Linda University campus in California. +Creation science is generally rejected by the Church of England as well as the Roman Catholic Church. The Pontifical Gregorian University has officially discussed intelligent design as a "cultural phenomenon" without scientific elements. The Church of England's official website cites Charles Darwin's local work assisting people in his religious parish. + +=== Views on science === + +Creation science rejects evolution and the common descent of all living things on Earth. Instead, it asserts that the field of evolutionary biology is itself pseudoscientific or even a religion. Creationists argue instead for a system called baraminology, which considers the living world to be descended from uniquely created kinds or "baramins." +Creation science incorporates the concept of catastrophism to reconcile current landforms and fossil distributions with Biblical interpretations, proposing the remains resulted from successive cataclysmic events, such as a worldwide flood and subsequent ice age. It rejects one of the fundamental principles of modern geology (and of modern science generally), uniformitarianism, which applies the same physical and geological laws observed on the Earth today to interpret the Earth's geological history. +Sometimes creationists attack other scientific concepts, like the Big Bang cosmological model or methods of scientific dating based upon radioactive decay. Young Earth creationists also reject current estimates of the age of the universe and the age of the Earth, arguing for creationist cosmologies with timescales much shorter than those determined by modern physical cosmology and geological science, typically less than 10,000 years. +The scientific community has overwhelmingly rejected the ideas put forth in creation science as lying outside the boundaries of a legitimate science. The foundational premises underlying scientific creationism disqualify it as a science because the answers to all inquiry therein are preordained to conform to Bible doctrine, and because that inquiry is constructed upon theories which are not empirically testable in nature. +Scientists also deem creation science's attacks against biological evolution to be without scientific merit. The views of the scientific community were accepted in two significant court decisions in the 1980s, which found the field of creation science to be a religious mode of inquiry, not a scientific one. + +== History == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fd388a274 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 2/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Creation science began in the 1960s, as a fundamentalist Christian effort in the United States to prove Biblical inerrancy and nullify the scientific evidence for evolution. It has since developed a sizable religious following in the United States, with creation science ministries branching worldwide. The main ideas in creation science are: the belief in creation ex nihilo (Latin: out of nothing); the conviction that the Earth was created within the last 6,000–10,000 years; the belief that humans and other life on Earth were created as distinct fixed "baraminological" kinds; and "flood geology" or the idea that fossils found in geological strata were deposited during a cataclysmic flood which completely covered the entire Earth. As a result, creationists also challenge the geologic and astrophysical measurements of the age of the Earth and the universe along with their origins, which creationists believe are irreconcilable with the account in the Book of Genesis. Creation science proponents often refer to the theory of evolution as "Darwinism" or as "Darwinian evolution." +The creation science texts and curricula that first emerged in the 1960s focused upon concepts derived from a literal interpretation of the Bible and were overtly religious in nature, most notably proposing Noah's flood in the Biblical Genesis account as an explanation for the geological and fossil record. These works attracted little notice beyond the schools and congregations of conservative fundamental and Evangelical Christians until the 1970s, when its followers challenged the teaching of evolution in the public schools and other venues in the United States, bringing it to the attention of the public-at-large and the scientific community. Many school boards and lawmakers were persuaded to include the teaching of creation science alongside evolution in the science curriculum. Creation science texts and curricula used in churches and Christian schools were revised to eliminate their Biblical and theological references, and less explicitly sectarian versions of creation science education were introduced in public schools in Louisiana, Arkansas, and other regions in the United States. +The 1982 ruling in McLean v. Arkansas found that creation science fails to meet the essential characteristics of science and that its chief intent is to advance a particular religious view. The teaching of creation science in public schools in the United States effectively ended in 1987 following the United States Supreme Court decision in Edwards v. Aguillard. The court affirmed that a statute requiring the teaching of creation science alongside evolution when evolution is taught in Louisiana public schools was unconstitutional because its sole true purpose was to advance a particular religious belief. +In response to this ruling, drafts of the creation science school textbook Of Pandas and People were edited to change references of creation to intelligent design before its publication in 1989. The intelligent design movement promoted this version. Requiring intelligent design to be taught in public school science classes was found to be unconstitutional in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District federal court case. + +=== Before 1960s === +The teaching of evolution was gradually introduced into more and more public high school textbooks in the United States after 1900, but in the aftermath of the First World War the growth of fundamentalist Christianity gave rise to a creationist opposition to such teaching. Legislation prohibiting the teaching of evolution was passed in certain regions, most notably Tennessee's Butler Act of 1925. +The Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 sparked national concern that the science education in public schools was outdated. In 1958, the United States passed National Defense Education Act which introduced new education guidelines for science instruction. With federal grant funding, the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) drafted new standards for the public schools' science textbooks which included the teaching of evolution. Almost half the nation's high schools were using textbooks based on the guidelines of the BSCS soon after they were published in 1963. +The Tennessee legislature did not repeal the Butler Act until 1967. +Creation science (dubbed "scientific creationism" at the time) emerged as an organized movement during the 1960s. It was strongly influenced by the earlier work of armchair geologist George McCready Price who wrote works such as Illogical Geology: The Weakest Point in the Evolution Theory (1906) and The New Geology (1923) to advance what he termed "new catastrophism" and dispute the current geological time frames and explanations of geologic history. Price was cited at the Scopes Trial of 1925, but his writings had no credence among geologists and other scientists. Price's "new catastrophism" was also disputed by most other creationists until its revival with the 1961 publication of The Genesis Flood by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris, a work which quickly became an important text on the issue to fundamentalist Christians and expanded the field of creation science beyond critiques of geology into biology and cosmology as well. Soon after its publication, a movement was underway to have the subject taught in United States' public schools. + +=== Court determinations === + +The various state laws prohibiting teaching of evolution were overturned in 1968 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Epperson v. Arkansas such laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. This ruling inspired a new creationist movement to promote laws requiring that schools give balanced treatment to creation science when evolution is taught. The 1981 Arkansas Act 590 was one such law that carefully detailed the principles of creation science that were to receive equal time in public schools alongside evolutionary principles. The act defined creation science as follows: +"'Creation-science' means the scientific evidences for creation and inferences from those evidences. Creation-science includes the scientific evidences and related inferences that indicate: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8a96305d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 3/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Sudden creation of the universe, and, in particular, life, from nothing; +The insufficiency of mutation and natural selection in bringing about development of all living kinds from a single organism; +Changes only with fixed limits of originally created kinds of plants and animals; +Separate ancestry for man and apes; +Explanation of the earth's geology by catastrophism, including the occurrence of worldwide flood; and +A relatively recent inception of the earth and living kinds." +This legislation was examined in McLean v. Arkansas, and the ruling handed down on January 5, 1982, concluded that creation-science as defined in the act "is simply not science". The judgement defined the following as essential characteristics of science: + +It is guided by natural law; +It has to be explanatory by reference to nature law; +It is testable against the empirical world; +Its conclusions are tentative, i.e., are not necessarily the final word; and +It is falsifiable. +The court ruled that creation science failed to meet these essential characteristics and identified specific reasons. After examining the key concepts from creation science, the court found: + +Sudden creation "from nothing" calls upon a supernatural intervention, not natural law, and is neither testable nor falsifiable +Objections in creation science that mutation and natural selection are insufficient to explain common origins was an incomplete negative generalization +'Kinds' are not scientific classifications, and creation science's claims of an outer limit to the evolutionary change possible of species are not explained scientifically or by natural law +The separate ancestry of man and apes is an assertion rather than a scientific explanation, and did not derive from any scientific fact or theory +Catastrophism, including its identification of the worldwide flood, failed as a science +"Relatively recent inception" was the product of religious readings and had no scientific meaning, and was neither the product of, nor explainable by, natural law; nor is it tentative +The court further noted that no recognized scientific journal had published any article espousing the creation science theory as described in the Arkansas law, and stated that the testimony presented by defense attributing the absence to censorship was not credible. +In its ruling, the court wrote that for any theory to qualify as scientific, the theory must be tentative, and open to revision or abandonment as new facts come to light. It wrote that any methodology which begins with an immutable conclusion that cannot be revised or rejected, regardless of the evidence, is not a scientific theory. The court found that creation science does not culminate in conclusions formed from scientific inquiry, but instead begins with the conclusion, one taken from a literal wording of the Book of Genesis, and seeks only scientific evidence to support it. +The law in Arkansas adopted the same two-model approach as that put forward by the Institute for Creation Research, one allowing only two possible explanations for the origins of life and existence of man, plants and animals: it was either the work of a creator or it was not. Scientific evidence that failed to support the theory of evolution was posed as necessarily scientific evidence in support of creationism, but in its judgment the court ruled this approach to be no more than a "contrived dualism which has not scientific factual basis or legitimate educational purpose." +The judge concluded that "Act 590 is a religious crusade, coupled with a desire to conceal this fact," and that it violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The decision was not appealed to a higher court, but had a powerful influence on subsequent rulings. Louisiana's 1982 Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act, authored by State Senator Bill P. Keith, judged in the 1987 United States Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard, and was handed a similar ruling. It found the law to require the balanced teaching of creation science with evolution had a particular religious purpose and was therefore unconstitutional. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4e64c9302 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 4/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Intelligent design splits off === +In 1984, The Mystery of Life's Origin was first published. It was co-authored by chemist and creationist Charles B. Thaxton with Walter L. Bradley and Roger L. Olsen, the foreword written by Dean H. Kenyon, and sponsored by the Christian-based Foundation for Thought and Ethics (FTE). The work presented scientific arguments against current theories of abiogenesis and offered a hypothesis of special creation instead. While the focus of creation science had until that time centered primarily on the criticism of the fossil evidence for evolution and validation of the creation myth of the Bible, this new work posed the question whether science reveals that even the simplest living systems were far too complex to have developed by natural, unguided processes. +Kenyon later co-wrote with creationist Percival Davis a book intended as a "scientific brief for creationism" to use as a supplement to public high school biology textbooks. Thaxton was enlisted as the book's editor, and the book received publishing support from the FTE. Prior to its release, the 1987 Supreme Court ruling in Edwards v. Aguillard barred the teaching of creation science and creationism in public school classrooms. The book, originally titled Biology and Creation but renamed Of Pandas and People, was released in 1989 and became the first published work to promote the anti-evolutionist design argument under the name intelligent design. The contents of the book later became a focus of evidence in the federal court case, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, when a group of parents filed suit to halt the teaching of intelligent design in Dover, Pennsylvania, public schools. School board officials there had attempted to include Of Pandas and People in their biology classrooms and testimony given during the trial revealed the book was originally written as a creationist text but following the adverse decision in the Supreme Court it underwent simple cosmetic editing to remove the explicit allusions to "creation" or "creator," and replace them instead with references to "design" or "designer." +By the mid-1990s, intelligent design had become a separate movement. The creation science movement is distinguished from the intelligent design movement, or neo-creationism, because most advocates of creation science accept scripture as a literal and inerrant historical account, and their primary goal is to corroborate the scriptural account through the use of science. In contrast, as a matter of principle, neo-creationism eschews references to scripture altogether in its polemics and stated goals (see Wedge strategy). By so doing, intelligent design proponents have attempted to succeed where creation science has failed in securing a place in public school science curricula. Carefully avoiding any reference to the identity of the intelligent designer as God in their public arguments, intelligent design proponents sought to reintroduce the creationist ideas into science classrooms while sidestepping the First Amendment's prohibition against religious infringement. However, the intelligent design curriculum was struck down as a violation of the Establishment Clause in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, the judge in the case ruled "that ID is nothing less than the progeny of creationism." +Today, creation science as an organized movement is primarily centered within the United States. Creation science organizations are also known in other countries, most notably Creation Ministries International which was founded (under the name Creation Science Foundation) in Australia. Proponents are usually aligned with a Christian denomination, primarily with those characterized as evangelical, conservative, or fundamentalist. While creationist movements also exist in Islam and Judaism, these movements do not use the phrase creation science to describe their beliefs. + +== Issues == +Creation science has its roots in the work of young Earth creationist George McCready Price disputing modern science's account of natural history, focusing particularly on geology and its concept of uniformitarianism, and his efforts instead to furnish an alternative empirical explanation of observable phenomena which was compatible with strict Biblical literalism. Price's work was later discovered by civil engineer Henry M. Morris, who is now considered to be the father of creation science. Morris and later creationists expanded the scope with attacks against the broad spectrum scientific findings that point to the antiquity of the Universe and common ancestry among species, including growing body of evidence from the fossil record, absolute dating techniques, and cosmogony. +The proponents of creation science often say that they are concerned with religious and moral questions as well as natural observations and predictive hypotheses. Many state that their opposition to scientific evolution is primarily based on religion. +The overwhelming majority of scientists are in agreement that the claims of science are necessarily limited to those that develop from natural observations and experiments which can be replicated and substantiated by other scientists, and that claims made by creation science do not meet those criteria. Duane Gish, a prominent creation science proponent, has similarly claimed, "We do not know how the creator created, what processes He used, for He used processes which are not now operating anywhere in the natural universe. This is why we refer to creation as special creation. We cannot discover by scientific investigation anything about the creative processes used by the Creator." But he also makes the same claim against science's evolutionary theory, maintaining that on the subject of origins, scientific evolution is a religious theory which cannot be validated by science. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e30ab95b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 5/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Metaphysical assumptions === +Creation science makes the a priori metaphysical assumption that there exists a creator of the life whose origin is being examined. Christian creation science holds that the description of creation is given in the Bible, that the Bible is inerrant in this description (and elsewhere), and therefore empirical scientific evidence must correspond with that description. Creationists also view the preclusion of all supernatural explanations within the sciences as a doctrinaire commitment to exclude the supreme being and miracles. They claim this to be the motivating factor in science's acceptance of Darwinism, a term used in creation science to refer to evolutionary biology which is also often used as a disparagement. Critics argue that creation science is religious rather than scientific because it stems from faith in a religious text rather than by the application of the scientific method. The United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has stated unequivocally, "Evolution pervades all biological phenomena. To ignore that it occurred or to classify it as a form of dogma is to deprive the student of the most fundamental organizational concept in the biological sciences. No other biological concept has been more extensively tested and more thoroughly corroborated than the evolutionary history of organisms." Anthropologist Eugenie Scott has noted further, "Religious opposition to evolution propels antievolutionism. Although antievolutionists pay lip service to supposed scientific problems with evolution, what motivates them to battle its teaching is apprehension over the implications of evolution for religion." +Creation science advocates argue that scientific theories of the origins of the Universe, Earth, and life are rooted in a priori presumptions of methodological naturalism and uniformitarianism, each of which they reject. In some areas of science such as chemistry, meteorology or medicine, creation science proponents do not necessarily challenge the application of naturalistic or uniformitarian assumptions, but instead single out those scientific theories they judge to be in conflict with their religious beliefs, and it is against those theories that they concentrate their efforts. + +=== Religious criticism === +Many mainstream Christian churches criticize creation science on theological grounds, asserting either that religious faith alone should be a sufficient basis for belief in the truth of creation, or that efforts to prove the Genesis account of creation on scientific grounds are inherently futile because reason is subordinate to faith and cannot thus be used to prove it. +Many Christian theologies, including Liberal Christianity, consider the Genesis creation narrative to be a poetic and allegorical work rather than a literal history, and many Christian churches—including the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, Anglican and the more liberal denominations of the Lutheran, Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian faiths—have either rejected creation science outright or are ambivalent to it. Belief in non-literal interpretations of Genesis is often cited as going back to Saint Augustine. +Theistic evolution and evolutionary creationism are theologies that reconcile belief in a creator with biological evolution. Each holds the view that there is a creator but that this creator has employed the natural force of evolution to unfold a divine plan. Religious representatives from faiths compatible with theistic evolution and evolutionary creationism have challenged the growing perception that belief in a creator is inconsistent with the acceptance of evolutionary theory. Spokespersons from the Catholic Church have specifically criticized biblical creationism for relying upon literal interpretations of biblical scripture as the basis for determining scientific fact. + +=== Scientific criticism === + +The National Academy of Sciences states that "the claims of creation science lack empirical support and cannot be meaningfully tested" and that "creation science is in fact not science and should not be presented as such in science classes." According to Joyce Arthur writing for Skeptic magazine, the "creation 'science' movement gains much of its strength through the use of distortion and scientifically unethical tactics" and "seriously misrepresents the theory of evolution." +Scientists have considered the hypotheses proposed by creation science and have rejected them because of a lack of evidence. Furthermore, the claims of creation science do not refer to natural causes and cannot be subject to meaningful tests, so they do not qualify as scientific hypotheses. In 1987, the United States Supreme Court ruled that creationism is religion, not science, and cannot be advocated in public school classrooms. Most mainline Christian denominations have concluded that the concept of evolution is not at odds with their descriptions of creation and human origins. +A summary of the objections to creation science by scientists follows: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..57330ea36 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 6/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Creation science is not falsifiable: An idea or hypothesis is generally not considered to be in the realm of science unless it can be potentially disproved with certain experiments, this is the concept of falsifiability in science. The act of creation as defined in creation science is not falsifiable because no testable bounds can be imposed on the creator. In creation science, the creator is defined as limitless, with the capacity to create (or not), through fiat alone, infinite universes, not just one, and endow each one with its own unique, unimaginable and incomparable character. It is impossible to disprove a claim when that claim as defined encompasses every conceivable contingency. +Creation science violates the principle of parsimony: Parsimony favours those explanations which rely on the fewest assumptions. Scientists prefer explanations that are consistent with known and supported facts and evidence and require the fewest assumptions to fill the remaining gaps. Many of the alternative claims made in creation science retreat from simpler scientific explanations and introduce more complications and conjecture into the equation. +Creation science is not, and cannot be, empirically or experimentally tested: Creationism posits supernatural causes which lie outside the realm of methodological naturalism and scientific experiment. Science can only test empirical, natural claims. +Creation science is not correctable, dynamic, tentative or progressive: Creation science adheres to a fixed and unchanging premise or "absolute truth," the "word of God," which is not open to change. Any evidence that runs contrary to that truth must be disregarded. In science, all claims are tentative, they are forever open to challenge, and must be discarded or adjusted when the weight of evidence demands it. +By invoking claims of "abrupt appearance" of species as a miraculous act, creation science is unsuited for the tools and methods demanded by science, and it cannot be considered scientific in the way that the term "science" is currently defined. Scientists and science writers commonly characterize creation science as a pseudoscience. + +=== Historical, philosophical, and sociological criticism === +Historically, the debate of whether creationism is compatible with science can be traced back to 1874, the year science historian John William Draper published his History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. In it Draper portrayed the entire history of scientific development as a war against religion. This presentation of history was propagated further by followers such as Andrew Dickson White in his two-volume A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). Their conclusions have been disputed. +In the United States, the principal focus of creation science advocates is on the government-supported public school systems, which are prohibited by the Establishment Clause from promoting specific religions. Historical communities have argued that Biblical translations contain many translation errors and errata, and therefore that the use of biblical literalism in creation science is self-contradictory. + +== Kinds of creation science == + +=== Biology === + +Creationist arguments in relation to biology center on an idea derived from Genesis that states that life was created by God, in a finite number of "created kinds," rather than through biological evolution from a common ancestor. Creationists contend that any observable speciation descends from these distinctly created kinds through inbreeding, deleterious mutations and other genetic mechanisms. Whereas evolutionary biologists and creationists share similar views of microevolution, creationists reject the fact that the process of macroevolution can explain common ancestry among organisms far beyond the level of common species. Creationists contend that there is no empirical evidence for new plant or animal species, and deny fossil evidence has ever been found documenting the process. +Popular arguments against evolution have changed since the publishing of Henry M. Morris' first book on the subject, Scientific Creationism (1974), but some consistent themes remain: that missing links or gaps in the fossil record are proof against evolution; that the increased complexity of organisms over time through evolution is not possible due to the law of increasing entropy; that it is impossible that the mechanism of natural selection could account for common ancestry; and that evolutionary theory is untestable. The origin of the human species is particularly hotly contested; the fossil remains of hominid ancestors are not considered by advocates of creation biology to be evidence for a speciation event involving Homo sapiens. Creationists also assert that early hominids, are either apes, or humans. +Richard Dawkins has explained evolution as "a theory of gradual, incremental change over millions of years, which starts with something very simple and works up along slow, gradual gradients to greater complexity," and described the existing fossil record as entirely consistent with that process. Biologists emphasize that transitional gaps between recovered fossils are to be expected, that the existence of any such gaps cannot be invoked to disprove evolution, and that instead the fossil evidence that could be used to disprove the theory would be those fossils which are found and which are entirely inconsistent with what can be predicted or anticipated by the evolutionary model. One example given by Dawkins was, "If there were a single hippo or rabbit in the Precambrian, that would completely blow evolution out of the water. None have ever been found." + +=== Geology === + +==== Flood geology ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..724f7aa2f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 7/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Flood geology is a concept based on the belief that most of Earth's geological record was formed by the Great Flood described in the story of Noah's Ark. Fossils and fossil fuels are believed to have formed from animal and plant matter which was buried rapidly during this flood, while submarine canyons are explained as having formed during a rapid runoff from the continents at the end of the flood. Sedimentary strata are also claimed to have been predominantly laid down during or after Noah's flood and orogeny. Flood geology is a variant of catastrophism and is contrasted with geological science in that it rejects standard geological principles such as uniformitarianism and radiometric dating. For example, the Creation Research Society argues that "uniformitarianism is wishful thinking." +Geologists conclude that no evidence for such a flood is observed in the preserved rock layers and moreover that such a flood is physically impossible, given the current layout of land masses. For instance, since Mount Everest currently is approximately 8.8 kilometres in elevation and the Earth's surface area is 510,065,600 km2, the volume of water required to cover Mount Everest to a depth of 15 cubits (6.8 m), as indicated by Genesis 7:20, would be 4.6 billion cubic kilometres. Measurements of the amount of precipitable water vapor in the atmosphere have yielded results indicating that condensing all water vapor in a column of atmosphere would produce liquid water with a depth ranging between zero and approximately 70mm, depending on the date and the location of the column. Nevertheless, there continue to be adherents to the belief in flood geology, and in recent years new creationist models have been introduced such as catastrophic plate tectonics and catastrophic orogeny. + +==== Radiometric dating ==== +Creationists point to flawed experiments they have performed, which they claim demonstrate that 1.5 billion years of nuclear decay took place over a short period of time, from which they infer that "billion-fold speed-ups of nuclear decay" have occurred, a massive violation of the principle that radioisotope decay rates are constant, a core principle underlying nuclear physics generally, and radiometric dating in particular. +The scientific community points to numerous flaws in the creationists' experiments, to the fact that their results have not been accepted for publication by any peer-reviewed scientific journal, and to the fact that the creationist scientists conducting them were untrained in experimental geochronology. They have also been criticised for widely publicising the results of their research as successful despite their own admission of insurmountable problems with their hypothesis. +The constancy of the decay rates of isotopes is well supported in science. Evidence for this constancy includes the correspondences of date estimates taken from different radioactive isotopes as well as correspondences with non-radiometric dating techniques such as dendrochronology, ice core dating, and historical records. Although scientists have noted slight increases in the decay rate for isotopes subject to extreme pressures, those differences were too small to significantly impact date estimates. The constancy of the decay rates is also governed by first principles in quantum mechanics, wherein any deviation in the rate would require a change in the fundamental constants. According to these principles, a change in the fundamental constants could not influence different elements uniformly, and a comparison between each of the elements' resulting unique chronological timescales would then give inconsistent time estimates. +In refutation of young Earth claims of inconstant decay rates affecting the reliability of radiometric dating, Roger C. Wiens, a physicist specializing in isotope dating states: + +There are only three quite technical instances where a half-life changes, and these do not affect the dating methods: +"Only one technical exception occurs under terrestrial conditions, and this is not for an isotope used for dating. ... The artificially-produced isotope, beryllium-7 has been shown to change by up to 1.5%, depending on its chemical environment. ... Heavier atoms are even less subject to these minute changes, so the dates of rocks made by electron-capture decays would only be off by at most a few hundredths of a percent." +"... Another case is material inside of stars, which is in a plasma state where electrons are not bound to atoms. In the extremely hot stellar environment, a completely different kind of decay can occur. 'Bound-state beta decay' occurs when the nucleus emits an electron into a bound electronic state close to the nucleus. ... All normal matter, such as everything on Earth, the Moon, meteorites, etc. has electrons in normal positions, so these instances never apply to rocks, or anything colder than several hundred thousand degrees." +"The last case also involves very fast-moving matter. It has been demonstrated by atomic clocks in very fast spacecraft. These atomic clocks slow down very slightly (only a second or so per year) as predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. No rocks in our solar system are going fast enough to make a noticeable change in their dates." + +==== Radiohaloes ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..408508ac4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,73 @@ +--- +title: "Creation science" +chunk: 8/8 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:20.205476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In the 1970s, young Earth creationist Robert V. Gentry proposed that radiohaloes in certain granites represented evidence for the Earth being created instantaneously rather than gradually. This idea has been criticized by physicists and geologists on many grounds including that the rocks Gentry studied were not primordial and that the radionuclides in question need not have been in the rocks initially. +Thomas A. Baillieul, a geologist and retired senior environmental scientist with the United States Department of Energy, disputed Gentry's claims in an article entitled, "'Polonium Haloes' Refuted: A Review of 'Radioactive Halos in a Radio-Chronological and Cosmological Perspective' by Robert V. Gentry." Baillieul noted that Gentry was a physicist with no background in geology and given the absence of this background, Gentry had misrepresented the geological context from which the specimens were collected. Additionally, he noted that Gentry relied on research from the beginning of the 20th century, long before radioisotopes were thoroughly understood; that his assumption that a polonium isotope caused the rings was speculative; and that Gentry falsely argued that the half-life of radioactive elements varies with time. Gentry claimed that Baillieul could not publish his criticisms in a reputable scientific journal, although some of Baillieul's criticisms rested on work previously published in reputable scientific journals. + +=== Astronomy and cosmology === + +==== Creationist cosmologies ==== +Several attempts have been made by creationists to construct a cosmology consistent with a young Universe rather than the standard cosmological age of the universe, based on the belief that Genesis describes the creation of the Universe as well as the Earth. The primary challenge for young-universe cosmologies is that the accepted distances in the Universe require millions or billions of years for light to travel to Earth (the "starlight problem"). An older creationist idea, proposed by creationist astronomer Barry Setterfield, is that the speed of light has decayed in the history of the Universe. More recently, creationist physicist Russell Humphreys has proposed a hypothesis called "white hole cosmology", asserting that the Universe expanded out of a white hole less than 10,000 years ago; claiming that the age of the universe is illusory and results from relativistic effects. Humphreys' cosmology is advocated by creationist organisations such as Answers in Genesis; however because its predictions conflict with current observations, it is not accepted by the scientific community. + +==== Planetology ==== + +Various claims are made by creationists concerning alleged evidence that the age of the Solar System is of the order of thousands of years, in contrast to the scientifically accepted age of 4.6 billion years. It is commonly argued that the number of comets in the Solar System is much higher than would be expected given its supposed age. Young Earth Creationists reject the existence of the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud. They also argue that the recession of the Moon from the Earth is incompatible with either the Moon or the Earth being billions of years old. These claims have been refuted by planetologists. +In response to increasing evidence suggesting that Mars once possessed a wetter climate, some creationists have proposed that the global flood affected not only the Earth but also Mars and other planets. People who support this claim include creationist astronomer Wayne Spencer and Russell Humphreys. +An ongoing problem for creationists is the presence of impact craters on nearly all Solar System objects, which is consistent with scientific explanations of solar system origins but creates insuperable problems for young Earth claims. Creationists Harold Slusher and Richard Mandock, along with Glenn Morton (who later repudiated this claim) asserted that impact craters on the Moon are subject to rock flow, and so cannot be more than a few thousand years old. While some creationist astronomers assert that different phases of meteoritic bombardment of the Solar System occurred during "creation week" and during the subsequent Great Flood, others regard this as unsupported by the evidence and call for further research. + +== Groups == + +=== Proponents === +Answers in Genesis +Creation Ministries International +Creation Research Society +Geoscience Research Institute +Institute for Creation Research + +=== Critics === +American Museum of Natural History +National Science Teachers Association +National Center for Science Education +No Answers in Genesis +National Academy of Sciences +Scientific American +The BioLogos Foundation +The Skeptic's Dictionary +Talk.reason +TalkOrigins Archive + +== See also == + +Conflict thesis +Denialism +Ken Ham +Kent Hovind +International Conference on Creationism +Natural theology +Omphalos hypothesis +Adnan Oktar +Jonathan Sarfati +Scientific skepticism + +== References == + +== Bibliography == + +== Further reading == + +=== Proponents === + +== External links == + +Notable creationist museums in the United States: + +Creation Evidence Museum, located in Glen Rose, Texas +Creation Museum, located in Petersburg, Kentucky +Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016). \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..919b90dfc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Critical positivity ratio" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:23.760203+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The critical positivity ratio (also known as the "Losada ratio" or the "Losada line") is a largely discredited concept in positive psychology positing an exact ratio of positive to negative emotions which distinguishes "flourishing" people from "languishing" people. The ratio was proposed by psychologists Barbara Fredrickson and Marcial Losada, who believed that they had identified an experimental measure of affect whose model-derived positive-to-negative ratio of 2.9013 defined a critical separation between flourishing and languishing individuals, as reported in their 2005 paper in American Psychologist. This concept of a critical positivity ratio was widely embraced by academic psychologists and the lay public; Fredrickson and Losada's paper had been cited more than 320 times by January 2014, and Fredrickson wrote a popular book expounding the concept of "the 3-to-1 ratio that will change your life". In it she wrote, "just as zero degrees Celsius is a special number in thermodynamics, the 3-to-1 positivity ratio may well be a magic number in human psychology." +The first consequential re-evaluation of the mathematical modeling behind the critical positivity ratio was published in 2008 by a group of Finnish researchers from the Systems Analysis Laboratory at Aalto University (Jukka Luoma, Raimo Hämäläinen, and Esa Saarinen). The authors noted that "only very limited explanations are given about the modeling process and the meaning and interpretation of its parameters... [so that] the reasoning behind the model equations remains unclear to the reader"; moreover, they noted that "the model also produces strange and previously unreported behavior under certain conditions... [so that] the predictive validity of the model also becomes problematic." Losada's 1999 modeling article was also critiqued by Andrés Navas in a French language publication, a note in the CNRS publication, Images des Mathématiques. Neither of these articles received broad attention at the times of their publication. +Later, but of critical importance, the Fredrickson and Losada work on modeling the positivity ratio aroused the skepticism of Nick Brown, a graduate student in applied positive psychology, who questioned whether such work could reliably make such broad claims, and perceived that the paper's mathematical claims underlying the critical positivity ratio were suspect. Brown contacted and ultimately collaborated with physics and maths professor Alan Sokal and psychology professor Harris Friedman on a re-analysis of the paper's data (hereafter the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal). They argued that Losada's earlier work on positive psychology and Fredrickson and Losada's 2005 critical positivity ratio paper contained "numerous fundamental conceptual and mathematical errors", errors of a magnitude that completely invalidated their claims. +Fredrickson wrote a response in which she conceded that the mathematical aspects of the critical positivity ratio were "questionable" and that she had "neither the expertise nor the insight" to defend them, but she maintained that the empirical evidence for the existence of a critical positivity ratio was solid. Brown, Sokal, and Friedman, the rebuttal authors, published their response to Fredrickson's "Update" the next year, maintaining that there was no evidence for a critical positivity ratio. Losada declined to respond to the criticism (indicating to the Chronicle of Higher Education that he was too busy running his consulting business). Hämäläinen and colleagues responded later, passing over the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal claim of failed criteria for use of differential equations in modeling, instead arguing that there were no fundamental errors in the mathematics itself, only problems related to the model's justification and interpretation. +A formal retraction for the mathematical modeling elements of the Losada and Fredrickson (2005) paper was issued by the journal, American Psychologist, concluding that both the specific critical positivity ratio of 2.9013 and its upper limit were invalid. The fact that the problems with the paper went unnoticed for years despite the widespread adulatory publicity surrounding the critical positivity ratio concept contributed to a perception of social psychology as a field lacking scientific soundness and rigorous critical thinking. Sokal later stated, "The main claim made by Fredrickson and Losada is so implausible on its face that some red flags ought to have been raised", as would only happen broadly in graduate student Brown's initiating the collaboration that resulted in the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal. + +== Background == +Building on research by Barbara Fredrickson suggesting that individuals with a higher ratio of positive to negative emotions tend to have more successful life outcomes, and on studies by Marcial Losada applying differential equations from fluid dynamics to human emotions, Fredrickson and Losada proposed as informative a ratio of positive to negative affect derived from nonlinear dynamics modelling (based on Lorenz systems), which appeared in 2005 in a paper in American Psychologist. The derived combination of expressions and default parameters led them to conclude that a critical ratio of positive to negative affect of exactly 2.9013 separated flourishing from languishing individuals, and to argue that the ideal positivity/negativity ratio lies between 2.9013 and an upper limit ratio of 11.6346. Hence, they claimed that their model predicted cut-off points for the minimum and maximum positivity ratios within which one should observe qualitative changes in an individual's level of flourishing, specifically, that those within this range of ratios would "flourish", and those outside would "languish". As of January 2014, the 2005 Fredrickson and Losada's paper had been cited more than 320 times in the psychology literature. + +== Criticism == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..43db42638 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Critical positivity ratio" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:23.760203+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Initially ignored questioning === +The first critical evaluation of the mathematical modeling behind the critical positivity ratio was published by a group of Finnish researchers—Luoma, Hämäläinen, and Saarinen of the Systems Analysis Laboratory at Aalto University—in 2008. The authors noted that "[o]nly very limited explanations are given about the modeling process and the meaning and interpretation of its parameters... [so that] the reasoning behind the model equations remains unclear to the reader"; moreover, they noted that "the model also produces strange and previously unreported behavior under certain conditions... [so that] the predictive validity of the model also becomes problematic." Not widely impactful at the time, Losada's earlier modeling article was also critiqued by Andrés Navas in a French language publication, a note in the CNRS publication, "Images des Mathématiques", which also failed to attract a wide readership. In their followup to Fredrickson's immediate response to the rebuttal, Brown, Sokal, and Friedman note as a footnote to their submission:After the publication of Brown et al. (2013), Andrés Navas kindly drew our attention to his article (Navas, 2011) in which a very similar (though briefer) critique of Losada (1999) was made. [This footnote was unfortunately omitted from the published version of this article, due to space limitations.] + +=== The Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal === +The Fredrickson and Losada work on modeling the positivity ratio aroused the skepticism of Nick Brown, a graduate student in applied positive psychology, who questioned whether such work could reliably make such broad claims, and perceived that the paper's mathematical claims were suspect. Brown contacted and ultimately collaborated with physics and maths professor Alan Sokal and psychology professor Friedman on a re-analysis of the paper's data. The result was a strong critique of the critical positivity ratio in its entirety by Brown, Sokal, and Friedman, that appeared in a 2013 article in American Psychologist, here referred to as the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal. These authors argued that Losada's conclusions in previous papers using modelling from fluid dynamics, and those in his paper co-authored with Fredrickson, were not only based on poorly reported experiments, but also that it was difficult to draw conclusions from Losada's previous cited studies because critical details were omitted, "interpretations of results [were] made with little or no justification", and that elementary errors were made in the application of differential equations. +Among the severe flaws claimed by Brown et al. in the positivity-ratio theory and its presentation were that: + +data used by Losada in several analyses do not meet basic criteria for the use of differential equations (such as the use of continuous variables that evolve smoothly and deterministically over time); +differential equations used by Losada to calculate the critical positivity ratio use parameters taken directly from Lorenz's simplified, illustrative, and arbitrary models for fluid dynamics, with Losada giving no rationale for his choice of parameters; +use of different arbitrary parameters would give different positivity ratios, and thus the precise values for the lower and upper critical ratios based on the arbitrary parameters, Fredrickson and Losada's 2.9013 to 11.6346 ratios, are meaningless; +the butterfly-like first figure provided by Fredrickson and Losada is not a model of the data taken from their human participants, but "the results of computer simulations of the Lorenz equations, nothing more"; and +based on the maths, even if precise positivity/negativity ratios could be derived, several "windows" of desirable and undesirable positivity/negativity ratios above a certain value should exist, rather than a simple range of ratios in which "flourishing" should occur. +With regard to these, and especially the last, the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal argues that it is likely that Fredrickson and Losada did not fully grasp the implications of applying nonlinear dynamics to their data. Brown, Sokal, and Friedman state that one can:only marvel at the astonishing coincidence that human emotions should turn out to be governed by exactly the same set of equations that were derived in a celebrated article several decades ago as a deliberately simplified model of convection in fluids, and whose solutions happen to have visually appealing properties. An alternative explanation – and, frankly, the one that appears most plausible to us – is that the entire process of "derivation" of the Lorenz equations has been contrived to demonstrate an imagined fit between some rather limited empirical data and the scientifically impressive world of nonlinear dynamics. They "urge future researchers to exercise caution in the use of advanced mathematical tools, such as nonlinear dynamics". + +== Responses to the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal == + +=== Fredrickson and Am. Psychol. retraction === +Fredrickson responded to the critique by agreeing that Losada's mathematical modelling was "questionable" and did not show that there are precise values of the ratio, but also arguing that the evidence for the benefits of a high positivity/negativity ratio is solid. Fredrickson noted that Losada declined to respond to the criticism. The American Psychologist proceeded to formally retract as invalid the mathematical modeling elements of Fredrickson and Losada's paper, including the specific critical positivity ratios of 2.9013 and its upper limit. + +=== Other respondents === + +In a follow-up to the 2013 papers—the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal, and the Fredrickson response—American Psychologist published further scholarly responses, mostly supportive, but some critical of at least some aspects of the rebuttal. The series of responses culminated in a further response to these from Brown, Sokal, and Friedman. C.A. Nickerson, an independent scholar formerly at the University of Colorado, Boulder, concurred with the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal conclusion of the lack of empirical evidence for a critical positivity ratio, and noted the necessity of distinguishing between within-person-across-time versus within-time-across-persons theories. Emeritus professor Raimo Hämäläinen and colleagues responded, passing over the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal claims of failed criteria for use of differential equations in modeling, instead arguing that there were no fundamental errors in the mathematics itself, only problems related to the model's justification and interpretation. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6b97d54eb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Critical positivity ratio" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_positivity_ratio" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:23.760203+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Follow-up from Brown, Sokal, and Friedman === +The original rebuttal authors were openly critical about Fredrickson's partial retraction, and American Psychologist published their response to it in 2014, where they emphatically argued that there was no evidence whatsoever, as of that date, for the existence of a critical positivity ratio (i.e., a tipping-point for positivity). In 2014, the rebuttal authors also responded to comments from others on their 2013 work, + +noting Nickerson's concurrence regarding the lack of empirical evidence for a critical positivity ratio, and lauding her distinction between the within-person and within-time types of theories, noting that "[b]oth types of theories are valuable... but... conceptually distinct and by no means equivalent" and that they believed that "this distinction deserves to be more widely discussed in the literature on research methods". +noting that Hämäläinen, Luoma, and Saarinen "concede our main point, namely the complete lack of justification for the use of the Lorenz equations in modeling the time evolution of human emotions", but confronting the "no clear mathematical errors" assertion, stating thatAmong the purely mathematical errors clearly noted... are Fredrickson and Losada's assertion that the r = 22 data (alleged to be characteristic of “medium-performance teams”) end up in a limit cycle... and their implicit claims concerning the absence of chaotic attraction at large values of r... But we are happy to agree with Hämäläinen et al. that the central flaws in Fredrickson and Losada (2005) and its predecessor articles are logical and conceptual, not narrowly mathematical. And they are, as we have demonstrated, overwhelming. +The original rebuttal authors conclude this salvo by lamenting that the "unbridled romanticism" of which humanist psychology has been accused has not been replaced with a rigorous evidence-based psychology—as Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi promised in their founding manifesto of positive psychology—rather, the widespread acceptance of the critical positivity ratio shows that positive psychology has betrayed this promise, stating that "the sin is now romantic scientism rather than pure romanticism is not, in our view, a great advance." + +== J. Humanist. Psychol. special issue, and other follow-up == + +As of January 2014, as Andrew Anthony notes from his preparation for his article in The Observer from that period, Fredrickson continued to maintain "on empirical grounds" that "tipping points [in relation to positive emotions and flourishing] are highly probable", as communicated to him via email. +In 2018, the Journal of Humanistic Psychology published a special issue focused on the aftermath to the rebuttal of the original Fredrickson and Losada article, where Harris L. Friedman and Nicholas J. L. Brown served as monitoring editors. +As of this date, the 2005 report of Fredrickson and Losada has been described as discredited. + +== Popular discussion == + +The concept of a critical positivity ratio advanced by Fredrickson and Losada in 2005 was embraced by the lay public. Prior to the appearance of the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal and the ensuing retraction, Fredrickson had written a popular book, Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3-to-1 Positivity Ratio that Will Change Your life. Andrew Anthony, writing for The Guardian in January 2014, noted that in it, Fredrickson had written, "Just as zero degrees Celsius is a special number in thermodynamics, the 3-to-1 positivity ratio may well be a magic number in human psychology." Anthony also noted that following the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal, Fredrickson has "removed the critical chapter that outlines Losada's input from further editions of Positivity", and that she has largely avoided engaging the popular press. +Reporting from a variety of sources, including The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Scientist, the fact that the problems with the critical positivity ratio paper and concept went unnoticed for years (despite widespread adulatory publicity) contributed to a public perception of social psychology being a field that lacks scientific soundness and rigorous critical thinking. Sokal would state that the paper's "main claim... is so implausible on its face that some red flags ought to have been raised", as would only happen broadly with graduate student Brown's initiating the collaboration that resulted in the Brown-Sokal-Friedman rebuttal. + +== References == + +== Further reading == + +=== Scholarly sources === +Losada, M. (1999). "The Complex Dynamics of High Performance Teams". Math. Comput. Model. 30 (9–10): 179–192. doi:10.1016/S0895-7177(99)00189-2. +Losada, M.; Heaphy, E. (2004). "The Role of Positivity and Connectivity in the Performance of Business Teams: A Nonlinear Dynamics Model" (PDF). Am. Behav. Sci. 47 (6): 740–765. doi:10.1177/0002764203260208. S2CID 54020643. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-02. Retrieved February 11, 2022. + +=== Popular sources === +Marlier, Didier (November 1, 2009). "Marcial Losada Explains his Research for our Blog Readers". EnablersNetwork.com. Retrieved February 11, 2022. +Bower, Bruce (August 12, 2013). "Ratio for a Good Life Exposed as 'Nonsense'". Sci. News. Retrieved 2013-08-15. 'What's shocking is not just that this piece of pseudomathematical nonsense received 322 scholarly citations and 164,000 web mentions, but that no one criticized it publicly for eight years, not even supposed experts in the field,' Sokal says. + +== External links == +July 28, 2013 blog post by independent science writer "Neuroskeptic", entitled "Positivity: Retract the Bathwater, Save the Baby". Archived August 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..53eb26630 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Crop circle" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A crop circle, crop formation, or corn circle is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal. The term was coined in the early 1980s. Crop circles have been described as all falling "within the range of the sort of thing done in hoaxes" by Taner Edis, professor of physics at Truman State University. +Although obscure natural causes or alien origins of crop circles are suggested by fringe theorists, there is no scientific evidence for such explanations, and all crop circles are consistent with human causation. In 1991, two hoaxers, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, took credit for having created over 200 crop circles throughout England in widely-reported interviews. The number of reports of crop circles increased substantially after interviews with them. In the United Kingdom, reported circles are not distributed randomly across the landscape, but appear near roads, areas of medium to dense population, and cultural heritage monuments, such as Stonehenge or Avebury. They usually appear overnight. Nearly half of all crop circles found in the UK in 2003 were located within a 15 km (9.3 mi) radius of the Avebury stone circles. +In contrast to crop circles or crop formations, archaeological remains can cause cropmarks in the fields in the shapes of circles and squares, but these do not appear overnight, and are always in the same places every year. + +== History == + +=== Before the 20th century === +A 1678 news pamphlet, The Mowing-Devil: or, Strange News Out of Hartfordshire, describes a crop whose stalks were cut rather than bent. (See folklore section.) +In 1686, an English naturalist, Robert Plot, reported on rings or arcs of mushrooms (see fairy rings) in The Natural History of Stafford-Shire, proposing air flows from the sky as a cause. In 1991, meteorologist Terence Meaden linked this report with modern crop circles, a claim that has been compared with those made by Erich von Däniken. +An 1880 letter to the editor of Nature by amateur scientist John Rand Capron describes how several circles of flattened crops in a field were formed under suspicious circumstances and possibly caused by "cyclonic wind action", stating "as viewed from a distance, circular spots ... they all presented much the same character, viz, a few standing stalks as a centre, some prostrate stalks with their heads arranged pretty evenly in a direction forming a circle round the centre, and outside there a circular wall of stalks which had not suffered". \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..54dbb0849 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Crop circle" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== 20th century === +In 1932, archaeologist E. C. Curwen observed four dark rings in a field at Stoughton Down near Chichester, but could examine only one: "a circle in which the barley was 'lodged' or beaten down, while the interior area was very slightly mounded up." +In Fortean Times, David Wood reported that in 1940 he made crop circles near Gloucestershire using ropes. +In 1963, Patrick Moore described a crater in a potato field in Wiltshire that he considered was probably caused by an unknown meteoric body. In nearby wheat fields, there were several circular and elliptical areas where the wheat had been flattened. There was evidence of "spiral flattening". He thought they could be caused by air currents from the impact, since they led towards the crater. Astronomer Hugh Ernest Butler observed similar craters and said they were likely caused by lightning strikes. +During the 1960s, there were many reports of UFO sightings and circular formations in swamp reeds and sugarcane fields in Tully, Queensland, Australia, and in Canada. For example, on 8 August 1967, three circles were found in a field in Duhamel, Alberta, Canada; Department of National Defence investigators concluded that it was artificial but couldn't say who made them or how. The most famous case is the 1966 Tully "saucer nest", when a farmer said he witnessed a saucer-shaped craft rise 9 or 12 m (30 or 40 ft) from a swamp and then fly away. On investigating he found a nearly circular area 10 m (32 ft) long by 8 m (25 ft) wide where the grass was flattened in clockwise curves to water level within the circle, and the reeds had been uprooted from the mud. The local police officer, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the University of Queensland concluded that it was most probably caused by natural causes, like a down draught, a willy-willy (dust devil), or a waterspout. In 1973, G.J. Odgers, Director of Public Relations, Department of Defence (Air Office), wrote to a journalist that the "saucer" was probably debris lifted by a willy-willy. +After the 1960s, there was a surge of UFOlogists in Wiltshire, and there were rumours of "saucer nests" appearing in the area, but they were never photographed. There are other pre-1970s reports of circular formations, especially in Australia and Canada, but they were always simple circles, which could have been caused by whirlwinds. +British pranksters Doug Bower and Dave Chorley reported they started creating crop circles in British cornfields in 1978, inspired by the Tully "saucer nest" case. +The first film to depict a geometric crop circle, in this case created by super-intelligent ants, was the 1974 science-fiction film Phase IV. The film has been cited as a possible inspiration or influence on the pranksters who started this phenomenon. +The majority of reports of crop circles have appeared and spread since the late 1970s as many circles began appearing throughout the English countryside. Around this time, researcher Colin Andrews began documenting the phenomenon, and in 1989 he co-authored Circular Evidence with Pat Delgado, a work that compiled reports and photographs of early formations. This phenomenon became widely known in the late 1980s, after the media started to report crop circles in Hampshire and Wiltshire. After Bower and Chorley gave interviews in 1991 about how they had made crop circles, circles started appearing all over the world. By 2001, approximately 10,000 crop circles have been reported internationally, from locations such as the former Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, the U.S., and Canada. Researchers have noted a correlation between crop circles, recent media coverage, and the absence of fencing and/or anti-trespassing legislation. +Although farmers expressed concern at the damage caused to their crops, local response to the appearance of crop circles was often enthusiastic, with locals taking advantage of the increase of tourism and visits from scientists, crop circle researchers, and individuals seeking spiritual experiences. The market for crop circle interest consequently generated bus or helicopter tours of circle sites, walking tours, T-shirts, and book sales. + +=== 21st century === +Since the start of the 21st century, crop formations have increased in size and complexity, with some featuring as many as 2,000 different shapes and some incorporating complex mathematical and scientific characteristics. +The researcher Jeremy Northcote found that crop circles in the UK in 2002 were not spread randomly across the landscape. They tended to appear near roads, areas of medium-to-dense population, and cultural heritage monuments such as Stonehenge or Avebury. He found that they always appeared in areas that were easy to access. This suggests strongly that these crop circles were more likely to be caused by intentional human action than by paranormal activity. Another strong indication of that theory was that inhabitants of the zone with the most circles had a historical tendency for making large-scale formations, including stone circles such as Stonehenge, earthen mounds such as Silbury Hill, long barrows such as West Kennet Long Barrow, and white horses in chalk hills. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..62a510afc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Crop circle" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Bower and Chorley == +In 1991, two self-professed pranksters, Doug Bower and Dave Chorley, made headlines by saying they had started the crop circle phenomenon in 1978, using simple tools consisting of a plank of wood, rope, and a baseball cap fitted with a loop of wire to help them walk in straight lines. To prove their case they made a circle in front of journalists; a "cereologist" (advocate of paranormal explanations of crop circles), Pat Delgado, examined the circle and declared it authentic before it was revealed that it was a hoax. +Inspired by Australian crop circle accounts from 1966, Bower and Chorley claimed to be responsible for all circles made prior to 1987, and for more than 200 crop circles in 1978–1991 (with 1,000 other circles not being made by them). Writing in Physics World, Richard Taylor of the University of Oregon said that "the pictographs they created inspired a second wave of crop artists. Far from fizzling out, crop circles have evolved into an international phenomenon, with hundreds of sophisticated pictographs now appearing annually around the globe." + +== Art and business == +After reports of simple circles in the 1970s, increasingly complex geometric designs have been created by anonymous artists, in some cases to attract tourists to an area. +Since the early 1990s, the UK arts collective Circlemakers, founded by Rod Dickinson and John Lundberg, and subsequently including Wil Russell and Rob Irving, has been creating crop circles in the UK and around the world as part of its art practice and also for commercial clients. +The Led Zeppelin Boxed Set that was released on 7 September 1990, along with the remasters of the first boxed set, as well as the second boxed set, all feature an image of a crop circle that appeared in East Field in Alton Barnes, Wiltshire. + +On the night of 11–12 July 1992, a crop-circle-making competition with a prize of £3,000 (funded in part by the Arthur Koestler Foundation) was held in Berkshire. The winning entry was produced by three Westland Helicopters engineers, using rope, PVC pipe, a plank, string, a telescopic device and two stepladders. According to Rupert Sheldrake, the competition was organised by him and John Michell and "co-sponsored by The Guardian and The Cerealogist". The prize money came from PM, a German magazine. Sheldrake wrote that "The experiment was conclusive. Humans could indeed make all the features of state-of-the-art crop formations at that time. Eleven of the twelve teams made more or less impressive formations that followed the set design." +In 2002, Discovery Channel commissioned five aeronautics and astronautics graduate students from MIT to create crop circles of their own, aiming to duplicate some of the features claimed to distinguish "real" crop circles from the known fakes such as those created by Bower and Chorley. The creation of the circle was recorded and used in the Discovery Channel documentary Crop Circles: Mysteries in the Fields. +In 2009, The Guardian reported that crop circle activity had been waning around Wiltshire, in part because makers preferred creating promotional crop circles for companies that paid well for their efforts. +A video sequence used in connection with the opening of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London showed two crop circles in the shape of the Olympic rings. Another Olympic crop circle was visible to passengers landing at nearby Heathrow Airport before and during the Games. +A 3 ha (7 acres) crop circle depicting the emblem of the Star Wars Rebel Alliance was created in California in December 2017 by a father and his 11-year-old son as a spaceport for X-wing fighters. + +== Legal implications == +In 1992, Gábor Takács and Róbert Dallos, both then aged 17, were the first people to face legal action after creating a crop circle. Takács and Dallos, of the St. Stephen Agricultural Technicum, a high school in Hungary specializing in agriculture, created a 36 m (118 ft) diameter crop circle in a wheat field near Székesfehérvár, 69 km (43 mi) southwest of Budapest, on 8 June 1992. In September, the pair appeared on Hungarian TV and exposed the circle as a hoax, showing photos of the field before and after the circle was made. As a result, Aranykalász Co., the owners of the land, sued the teens for 630,000 Ft (~$3,000 USD) in damages. The presiding judge ruled that the students were only responsible for the damage caused in the circle itself, amounting to about 6,000 Ft (~$30 USD), and that 99% of the damage to the crops was caused by the thousands of visitors who flocked to Székesfehérvár following the media's promotion of the circle. The fine was eventually paid by the TV show, as were the students' legal fees. +In 2000, Matthew Williams became the first man in the UK to be arrested for causing criminal damage after making a crop circle near Devizes. In November 2000, he was fined £100 plus £40 in costs. As of 2008, no one else has been successfully prosecuted in the UK for criminal damage caused by creating crop circles. + +== Creation == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fc7900516 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Crop circle" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Human origin === +The scientific consensus on crop circles is that they are constructed by human beings as hoaxes, advertising, or art. The most widely known method for a person or group to construct a crop formation is to tie one end of a rope to an anchor point and the other end to a board which is used to crush the plants. It is also possible to bend grass without breaking it, if it has recently rained—a method that was used to create crop circles in Hungary in 1992. Skeptics of the paranormal point out that all characteristics of crop circles are fully compatible with their being made by hoaxers. +Bower and Chorley confessed in 1991 to making the first crop circles in southern England. When some people refused to believe them, they deliberately added straight lines and squares to show that they could not have natural causes. In a copycat effect, increasingly complex circles started appearing in many countries around the world, including fractal figures. Physicists have suggested that the most complex formations might be made with the help of GPS and lasers. In 2009, a circle formation was made over the course of three consecutive nights and was apparently left unfinished, with some half-made circles. +The main criticism of alleged non-human creation of crop circles is that while evidence of these origins, besides eyewitness testimonies, is absent, many are definitely known to be the work of human pranksters, and others can be adequately explained as such. There have been cases in which researchers declared crop circles to be "the real thing", only to be confronted with the people who created the circle and documented the fraud, such as Bower and Chorley and tabloid Today hoaxing Pat Delgado, the Wessex Sceptics and Channel 4's Equinox hoaxing Terence Meaden, or a friend of a Canadian farmer hoaxing a field researcher of the Canadian Crop Circle Research Network. In his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan concludes that crop circles were created by Bower and Chorley and their copycats, and speculates that UFOlogists willingly ignore the evidence for hoaxing so they can keep believing in an extraterrestrial origin of the circles. Many others have demonstrated how complex crop circles can be created. Scientific American published an article by Matt Ridley, who started making crop circles in northern England in 1991. He wrote about how easy it is to develop techniques using simple tools that can easily fool later observers. He reported on "expert" sources such as The Wall Street Journal who had been easily fooled, and mused about why people want to believe supernatural explanations for phenomena that are not yet explained. Methods of creating a crop circle are now well documented on the Internet. +Some crop formations are paid for by companies who use them as advertising. Many crop circles show human symbols, like the heart and arrow symbol of love, and stereotyped alien faces. +Hoaxers have been caught in the process of making new circles, such as in 2004 in the Netherlands. + +=== Natural origins === + +==== Weather ==== +It has been suggested that crop circles may be the result of extraordinary meteorological phenomena ranging from freak tornadoes to ball lightning, but there is no evidence of any crop circle being created by any of these causes. +In 1880, an amateur scientist, John Rand Capron, wrote a letter to the editor of journal Nature about some circles in crops and blamed them on a recent storm, saying their shape was "suggestive of some cyclonic wind action". +In 1980, Terence Meaden, a meteorologist and physicist, proposed that the circles were caused by whirlwinds whose course was affected by southern England hills. As circles became more complex, Terence had to create increasingly complex theories, blaming an electromagneto-hydrodynamic "plasma vortex". The meteorological theory became popular, and it was even referenced in 1991 by physicist Stephen Hawking who said that, "Corn circles are either hoaxes or formed by vortex movement of air". The weather theory suffered a serious blow in 1991, but Hawking's point about hoaxes was supported when Bower and Chorley stated that they had been responsible for making all those circles. By the end of 1991 Meaden conceded that those circles that had complex designs were made by hoaxers. + +==== Animal activity ==== +In 2009, the attorney general for the island state of Tasmania stated that Australian wallabies had been found creating crop circles in fields of opium poppies, which are grown legally for medicinal use, after consuming some of the opiate-laden poppies and running in circles. + +=== Alternative explanations === +In science magazines from the 1980s and 1990s, for example Science Illustrated, one could read reports suggesting that the plants were bent by something that could be microwave radiation, rather than broken by physical impact. The magazines also contained serious reports of the absence of human influence and measurement of unusual radiation. Today, this is considered to be pseudoscience, while at the time it was subject of serious research. At that time, it was also more likely that an unknown factor was behind the incidents, not least seen in light of the fact that GPS was not available to the public. + +==== Paranormal ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4530bd65d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Crop circle" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crop_circle" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:24.899510+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Since becoming the focus of widespread media attention in the 1980s, crop circles have been the subject of speculation by various paranormal, ufological, and anomalistic investigators, ranging from proposals that they were created by bizarre meteorological phenomena to messages from extraterrestrial beings. There has also been speculation that crop circles have a relation to ley lines. +Some paranormal advocates think that crop circles are caused by ball lightning and that the patterns are so complex that they have to be controlled by some entity. Some proposed entities are Gaia asking to stop global warming and human pollution, God, supernatural beings (for example Indian devas), the collective minds of humanity through a proposed "quantum field", and extraterrestrial beings. +Responding to local beliefs that "extraterrestrial beings" in UFOs were responsible for crop circles appearing, the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) described crop circles as "man-made". Thomas Djamaluddin, research professor of astronomy and astrophysics at LAPAN stated, "We have come to agree that this 'thing' cannot be scientifically proven." Among others, paranormal enthusiasts, ufologists, and anomalistic investigators have offered hypothetical explanations that have been criticised as pseudoscientific by sceptical groups and scientists, including the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. No credible evidence of extraterrestrial origin has been presented. + +==== Changes to crops ==== +A small number of scientists (physicist Eltjo Haselhoff, the late biophysicist William Levengood) have claimed to observe differences between the crops inside the circles and outside them, citing this as evidence they were not man made. Levengood published papers in journal Physiologia Plantarum in 1994 and 1999. In his 1994 paper he found that certain deformities in the grain inside the circles were correlated to the position of the grain inside the circle. +In 1996, Joe Nickell objected that correlation is not causation, raising several objections to Levengood's methods and assumptions, and said, "Until his work is independently replicated by qualified scientists doing 'double-blind' studies and otherwise following stringent scientific protocols, there seems no need to take seriously the many dubious claims that Levengood makes, including his similar ones involving plants at alleged 'cattle mutilation' sites." Nickell also criticised Levengood for using circular logic, stating: "There is, in fact, no satisfactory evidence that a single 'genuine' (i.e., vortex-produced) crop-circle exists, so Levengood’s reasoning is circular: Although there are no guaranteed genuine formations on which to conduct research, the research supposedly proves the genuineness of the formations." +Advocates of non-human causes discount on-site evidence of human involvement as attempts to discredit the phenomena. When Ridley wrote negative articles in newspapers, he was accused of spreading "government disinformation" and of working for the UK military intelligence service MI5. Ridley responded by noting that many "cereologists" make good livings from selling books and providing high-priced personal tours through crop fields, and he claimed that they have vested interests in rejecting what is by far the most likely explanation for the circles. + +== Related art == +Patterns similar to crop circles can also be made in snow, by using skis, snow shoes or just walking with ordinary shoes. +Images can be made in forests by cutting trees, especially in areas with snow. Celebrating the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, a 360 m (390 yd) tall stylised image of an Olympic torch runner was made in a forest close to one of the arenas. + +== Folklore == + +Researchers of crop circles have linked modern crop circles to old folkloric tales to support the claim that they are not artificially produced. Crop circles are culture dependent: they appear mostly in developed and secularised Western countries where people are receptive to New Age beliefs, including Japan, but they do not appear at all in other zones, such as Muslim countries. +Fungi can cause circular areas of crop to die, probably the origin of tales of "fairie rings". Tales also mention balls of light many times but never in relation to crop circles. +A 17th-century English woodcut called the Mowing-Devil depicts the devil with a scythe mowing (cutting) a circular design in a field of oats. The pamphlet containing the image states that the farmer, disgusted at the wage demanded by his mower for his work, insisted that he would rather have "the devil himself" perform the task. Crop circle researcher Jim Schnabel does not consider this to be a historical precedent for crop circles because the stalks were cut down, not bent. The circular form indicated to the farmer that it had been caused by the devil. +In the 1948 German story Die zwölf Schwäne (The Twelve Swans), a farmer every morning finds a circular ring of flattened grain in his field. After several attempts, his son sees twelve princesses disguised as swans, who take off their disguises and dance in the field. Crop rings produced by fungi may have inspired such tales, since folklore considers that these rings are created by dancing wolves or fairies. + +== See also == + +== Explanatory notes == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Delgado, Pat & Andrews, Colin (1989). Circular Evidence. London: Guild. ISBN 978-0-933999-95-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) +Dunning, Brian (22 August 2007). "Skeptoid #62: Crop Circle Jerks". Skeptoid. +Glickman, Michael (2009). Crop Circles: The Bones of God. Frog Books. ISBN 978-1-58394-228-4. +Noyes, Ralph, ed. (1990). The Crop Circle Enigma: Grounding the Phenomenon in Science, Culture and Metaphysics. Bath: Gateway Books. ISBN 0-946551-66-9. +Schnabel, Jim (1993). Round in Circles: Physicists, Poltergeists, Pranksters, and the Secret History of the Cropwatchers. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-017952-6. +Taylor, Richard (2010). "The crop circle evolves". Nature. 465 (7299): 693. Bibcode:2010Natur.465..693T. doi:10.1038/465693a. +Taylor, Suzanne (2011). What On Earth? Inside the Crop Circle Mystery (DVD 81-minute feature). UBC. ASIN B00468JOFE. + +== External links == + +Robin, Jean-Baptiste (2012). Crop Circles for large orchestra. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. +"Temporary Temples". temporarytemples.co.uk. Website with pictures, since 1994, of crop circles in the UK. +The Beautiful World of Crop Circles. YouTube. 16 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-0.md index e2648b8cb..5f50e31ae 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:33:49.262143+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:26.108623+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-1.md index 2168c5e25..d78957c56 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:33:49.262143+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:26.108623+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-2.md index 75a796f8a..becf4188e 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/3 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryonics" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:33:49.262143+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:26.108623+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..63ad107c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Cryptozoology" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:27.350647+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, or the mokele-mbembe. Cryptozoologists refer to these entities as cryptids, a term coined by the subculture. Because it does not follow the scientific method, cryptozoology is considered a pseudoscience by mainstream science: it is a branch of neither zoology nor folklore studies. It was originally founded in the 1950s by zoologists Bernard Heuvelmans and Ivan T. Sanderson. +Scholars have noted that the subculture rejected mainstream approaches from an early date, and that adherents often express hostility to mainstream science. Scholars studying cryptozoologists and their influence (including cryptozoology's association with Young Earth creationism) noted parallels in cryptozoology and other pseudosciences such as ghost hunting and ufology, and highlighted uncritical media propagation of cryptozoologist claims. + +== Terminology, history, and approach == +As a field, cryptozoology originates from the works of Bernard Heuvelmans, a Belgian zoologist, and Ivan T. Sanderson, a Scottish zoologist. Notably, Heuvelmans published On the Track of Unknown Animals (French: Sur la piste des bêtes ignorées) in 1955, a landmark work among cryptozoologists that was followed by numerous other similar works. In addition, Sanderson published a series of books that contributed to the developing hallmarks of cryptozoology, including Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life (1961). Heuvelmans himself traced cryptozoology to the work of Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans, who theorized that a large unidentified species of seal was responsible for sea serpent reports. +Cryptozoology is 'the study of hidden animals' (from Ancient Greek: κρυπτός, kryptós "hidden, secret"; Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion "animal", and λόγος, logos, i.e. "knowledge, study"). The term dates from 1959 or before— Heuvelmans attributes the coinage of the term cryptozoology to Sanderson. Following cryptozoology, the term cryptid was coined in 1983 by cryptozoologist J. E. Wall in the summer issue of the International Society of Cryptozoology newsletter. According to Wall "[It has been] suggested that new terms be coined to replace sensational and often misleading terms like 'monster'. My suggestion is 'cryptid', meaning a living thing having the quality of being hidden or unknown ... describing those creatures which are (or may be) subjects of cryptozoological investigation." +The Oxford English Dictionary defines the noun cryptid as "an animal whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated; any animal of interest to a cryptozoologist". While used by most cryptozoologists, the term cryptid is not used by academic zoologists. In a textbook aimed at undergraduates, academics Caleb W. Lack and Jacques Rousseau note that the subculture's focus on what it deems to be "cryptids" is a pseudoscientific extension of older belief in monsters and other similar entities from the folkloric record, yet with a "new, more scientific-sounding name: cryptids". + +While biologists regularly identify new species, cryptozoologists often focus on creatures from the folkloric record. Most famously, these include the Loch Ness Monster, Champ, Bigfoot, the chupacabra, as well as other "imposing beasts that could be labeled as monsters". In their search for these entities, cryptozoologists may employ devices such as motion-sensitive cameras, night-vision equipment, and audio-recording equipment. While there have been attempts to codify cryptozoological approaches, unlike biologists, zoologists, botanists, and other academic disciplines, however, "there are no accepted, uniform, or successful methods for pursuing cryptids". Some scholars have identified precursors to modern cryptozoology in certain medieval approaches to the folkloric record, and the psychology behind the cryptozoology approach has been the subject of academic study. +Few cryptozoologists have a formal science education, and fewer still have a science background directly relevant to cryptozoology. Adherents often misrepresent the academic backgrounds of cryptozoologists. According to writer Daniel Loxton and paleontologist Donald Prothero, "[c]ryptozoologists have often promoted 'Professor Roy Mackal, PhD.' as one of their leading figures and one of the few with a legitimate doctorate in biology. What is rarely mentioned, however, is that he had no training that would qualify him to undertake competent research on exotic animals. This raises the specter of 'credential mongering', by which an individual or organization feints a person's graduate degree as proof of expertise, even though his or her training is not specifically relevant to the field under consideration." Besides Heuvelmans, Sanderson, and Mackal, other notable cryptozoologists with academic backgrounds include Grover Krantz, Karl Shuker, and Richard Greenwell. +In a 2025 interview with science writer Sharon Hill "Cryptids have become cutified" ... The reason why cryptids are seeing a resurgence are because of the Internet, for example, the Flatwoods monster is seen in over 33 video games, but the real reason according to Hill is because for a while cryptids were thought to be real animals that some people had assigned magical powers to, and with some investigation the hope was that the magic could be stripped away and they would discover a real, perhaps unknown animal. “One of the reasons why I think that fell apart completely was because the International Society of Cryptozoology fell apart completely, so there were no longer any gatekeepers as of the early 1990’s to say ‘a cryptid is these animals that we are studying because we think it’s got a zoological basis’, those people were gone ... they were quite old, they died and there was nobody there to take over that gatekeeping aspect although some people tried. ... Then you saw an explosion of amateurs in the 2000s ... they became researchers that connected via the Internet. Now they start making media they can publish themselves ... it started to hit a younger and younger generation ... who love these creatures ... now everything can be a cryptid.” +Historically, notable cryptozoologists have often identified instances featuring "irrefutable evidence" (such as Sanderson and Krantz), only for the evidence to be revealed as the product of a hoax. This may occur during a closer examination by experts or upon confession of the hoaxer. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..100c11145 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Cryptozoology" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:27.350647+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Expeditions === +Cryptozoologists have often led unsuccessful expeditions to find evidence of cryptids. Bigfoot researcher René Dahinden led searches into caves to find evidence of sasquatch, as early sasquatch legends claimed they lived in rocky areas. Despite the failure of these searches, he spent years trying to find proof of bigfoot. Lensgrave Adam Christoffer Knuth led an expedition into Lake Tele in the Congo to find the Mokele-mbembe in 2018. While the expedition was a failure, they discovered a new species of green algae. + +=== Young Earth creationism === +A subset of cryptozoology promotes the pseudoscience of Young Earth creationism, rejecting conventional science in favor of a literal Biblical interpretation and promoting concepts such as "living dinosaurs". Science writer Sharon Hill observes that the Young Earth creationist segment of cryptozoology is "well-funded and able to conduct expeditions with a goal of finding a living dinosaur that they think would invalidate evolution". +Anthropologist Jeb J. Card says that "[c]reationists have embraced cryptozoology and some cryptozoological expeditions are funded by and conducted by creationists hoping to disprove evolution." In a 2013 interview, paleontologist Donald Prothero notes an uptick in creationist cryptozoologists. He observes that "[p]eople who actively search for Loch Ness monsters or Mokele Mbembe do it entirely as creationist ministers. They think that if they found a dinosaur in the Congo it would overturn all of evolution. It wouldn't. It would just be a late-occurring dinosaur, but that's their mistaken notion of evolution." +Citing a 2013 exhibit at the Petersburg, Kentucky-based Creation Museum, which claimed that dragons were once biological creatures who walked the earth alongside humanity and is broadly dedicated to Young Earth creationism, religious studies academic Justin Mullis notes that "[c]ryptozoology has a long and curious history with Young Earth Creationism, with this new exhibit being just one of the most recent examples". +Academic Paul Thomas analyzes the influence and connections between cryptozoology in his 2020 study of the Creation Museum and the creationist theme park Ark Encounter. Thomas comments that, "while the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter are flirting with pseudoarchaeology, coquettishly whispering pseudoarchaeological rhetoric, they are each fully in bed with cryptozoology" and observes that "[y]oung-earth creationists and cryptozoologists make natural bed fellows. As with pseudoarchaeology, both young-earth creationists and cryptozoologists bristle at the rejection of mainstream secular science and lament a seeming conspiracy to prevent serious consideration of their claims." + +=== Lack of critical media coverage === +Media outlets have often uncritically disseminated information from cryptozoologist sources, including newspapers that repeat false claims made by cryptozoologists or television shows that feature cryptozoologists as monster hunters (such as the popular and purportedly nonfiction American television show MonsterQuest, which aired from 2007 to 2010). Media coverage of purported "cryptids" often fails to provide more likely explanations, further propagating claims made by cryptozoologists. + +== Reception and pseudoscience == +There is a broad consensus among academics that cryptozoology is a pseudoscience. The subculture is regularly criticized for reliance on anecdotal information and because in the course of investigating animals that most scientists believe are unlikely to have existed, cryptozoologists do not follow the scientific method. No academic course of study nor university degree program grants the status of cryptozoologist and the subculture is primarily the domain of individuals without training in the natural sciences. +Anthropologist Jeb J. Card summarizes cryptozoology in a survey of pseudoscience and pseudoarchaeology: + +Cryptozoology purports to be the study of previously unidentified animal species. At first glance, this would seem to differ little from zoology. New species are discovered by field and museum zoologists every year. Cryptozoologists cite these discoveries as justification of their search but often minimize or omit the fact that the discoverers do not identify as cryptozoologists and are academically trained zoologists working in an ecological paradigm rather than organizing expeditions to seek out supposed examples of unusual and large creatures. +Card notes that "cryptozoologists often show their disdain and even hatred for professional scientists, including those who enthusiastically participated in cryptozoology", which he traces back to Heuvelmans's early "rage against critics of cryptozoology". He finds parallels with cryptozoology and other pseudosciences, such as ghost hunting and ufology, and compares the approach of cryptozoologists to colonial big-game hunters, and to aspects of European imperialism. According to Card, "[m]ost cryptids are framed as the subject of indigenous legends typically collected in the heyday of comparative folklore, though such legends may be heavily modified or worse. Cryptozoology's complicated mix of sympathy, interest, and appropriation of indigenous culture (or non-indigenous construction of it) is also found in New Age circles and dubious "Indian burial grounds" and other legends [...] invoked in hauntings such as the "Amityville" hoax [...]". +In a 2011 foreword for The American Biology Teacher, then National Association of Biology Teachers president Dan Ward uses cryptozoology as an example of "technological pseudoscience" that may confuse students about the scientific method. Ward says that "Cryptozoology [...] is not valid science or even science at all. It is monster hunting." Historian of science Brian Regal includes an entry for cryptozoology in his Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia (2009). Regal says that "as an intellectual endeavor, cryptozoology has been studied as much as cryptozoologists have sought hidden animals". +In a 1992 issue of Folklore, folklorist Véronique Campion-Vincent says: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..16e46e814 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +--- +title: "Cryptozoology" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:27.350647+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Unexplained appearances of mystery animals are reported all over the world today. Beliefs in the existence of fabulous and supernatural animals are ubiquitous and timeless. In the continents discovered by Europe indigenous beliefs and tales have strongly influenced the perceptions of the conquered confronted by a new natural environment. In parallel with the growing importance of the scientific approach, these traditional mythical tales have been endowed with sometimes highly artificial precision and have given birth to contemporary legends solidly entrenched in their territories. The belief self-perpetuates today through multiple observations enhanced by the media and encouraged (largely with the aim of gain for touristic promotion) by the local population, often genuinely convinced of the reality of this profitable phenomenon." +Campion-Vincent says that "four currents can be distinguished in the study of mysterious animal appearances": "Forteans" ("compiler[s] of anomalies" such as via publications like the Fortean Times), "occultists" (which she describes as related to "Forteans"), "folklorists", and "cryptozoologists". Regarding cryptozoologists, Campion-Vincent says that "this movement seems to deserve the appellation of parascience, like parapsychology: the same corpus is reviewed; many scientists participate, but for those who have an official status of university professor or researcher, the participation is a private hobby". +In her Encyclopedia of American Folklore, academic Linda Watts says that "folklore concerning unreal animals or beings, sometimes called monsters, is a popular field of inquiry" and describes cryptozoology as an example of "American narrative traditions" that "feature many monsters". +In his analysis of cryptozoology, folklorist Peter Dendle says that "cryptozoology devotees consciously position themselves in defiance of mainstream science" and that: + +The psychological significance of cryptozoology in the modern world [...] serves to channel guilt over the decimation of species and destruction of the natural habitat; to recapture a sense of mysticism and danger in a world now perceived as fully charted and over-explored; and to articulate resentment of and defiance against a scientific community perceived as monopolising the pool of culturally acceptable beliefs. +In a paper published in 2013, Dendle refers to cryptozoologists as "contemporary monster hunters" that "keep alive a sense of wonder in a world that has been very thoroughly charted, mapped, and tracked, and that is largely available for close scrutiny on Google Earth and satellite imaging" and that "on the whole the devotion of substantial resources for this pursuit betrays a lack of awareness of the basis for scholarly consensus (largely ignoring, for instance, evidence of evolutionary biology and the fossil record)." +According to historian Mike Dash, few scientists doubt there are thousands of unknown animals, particularly invertebrates, awaiting discovery; however, cryptozoologists are largely uninterested in researching and cataloging newly discovered species of ants or beetles, instead focusing their efforts towards "more elusive" creatures that have often defied decades of work aimed at confirming their existence. +Paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson (1984) lists cryptozoology among examples of human gullibility, along with creationism: + +Humans are the most inventive, deceptive, and gullible of all animals. Only those characteristics can explain the belief of some humans in creationism, in the arrival of UFOs with extraterrestrial beings, or in some aspects of cryptozoology. [...] In several respects the discussion and practice of cryptozoology sometimes, although not invariably, has demonstrated both deception and gullibility. An example seems to merit the old Latin saying 'I believe because it is incredible,' although Tertullian, its author, applied it in a way more applicable to the present day creationists. +Paleontologist Donald Prothero (2007) cites cryptozoology as an example of pseudoscience and categorizes it, along with Holocaust denial and UFO abductions claims, as aspects of American culture that are "clearly baloney". +In Scientifical Americans: The Culture of Amateur Paranormal Researchers (2017), Hill surveys the field and discusses aspects of the subculture, noting internal attempts at creating more scientific approaches and the involvement of Young Earth creationists and a prevalence of hoaxes. She concludes that many cryptozoologists are "passionate and sincere in their belief that mystery animals exist. As such, they give deference to every report of a sighting, often without critical questioning. As with the ghost seekers, cryptozoologists are convinced that they will be the ones to solve the mystery and make history. With the lure of mystery and money undermining diligent and ethical research, the field of cryptozoology has serious credibility problems." + +== Organizations == +There have museumseveral organizations, of varying types, dedicated or related to cryptozoology. These include: + +International Fortean Organization – a network of professional Fortean researchers and writers based in the United States +International Society of Cryptozoology – an American organisation that existed from 1982 to 1998 +Kosmopoisk – a Russian organisation whose interests include cryptozoology and Ufology +The Centre for Fortean Zoology- an English organization centered around hunting for unknown animals + +== Museums and exhibitions == +The zoological and cryptozoological collection and archive of Bernard Heuvelmans is held at the Musée Cantonal de Zoologie in Lausanne and consists of around "1,000 books, 25,000 files, 25,000 photographs, correspondence, and artifacts". +In 2006, the Bates College Museum of Art held the "Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale" exhibition, which compared cryptozoological creatures with recently extinct animals like the thylacine and extant taxa like the coelacanth, once thought long extinct (living fossils). The following year, the American Museum of Natural History put on a mixed exhibition of imaginary and extinct animals, including the elephant bird Aepyornis maximus and the great ape Gigantopithecus blacki, under the name "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids". +In 2003, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman opened the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. The museum houses more than 3000 cryptozoology related artifacts. + +== Examples of cryptids == +Some of the most famous creatures considered to be cryptids include Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Yeti, the chupacabra, Mothman, and the Jersey Devil. Living populations of supposedly extinct animals are also often considered to be cryptids. The actual likelihood that these organisms continue to exist varies, but examples include the thylacine, the giant ground sloth, the megalodon, and the ivory-billed woodpecker. Many cryptids are also often theorized to be extinct species; for example, the Loch Ness Monster is often theorized to be an extant plesiosaur and the Mokele-mbembe is thought to be a sauropod dinosaur. There are thousands of local cryptid legends from around the world including the Loveland frog, the Mapinguari, the Fresno nightcrawler, the Skunk ape, the Burrunjor, the Great South Bay Giant Horseshoe Crab, the Inkanyamba, the Kasai Rex, the Ningen, and many more. + +== See also == +List of cryptids +Ethnozoology +Fearsome critters, fabulous beasts that were said to inhabit the timberlands of North America +Folk belief +List of cryptozoologists, a list of notable cryptozoologists +Scientific skepticism + +== References == + +== Sources == + +== External links == + + Media related to Cryptozoology at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5ec179a66 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,61 @@ +--- +title: "Crystal healing" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:28.600502+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific, alternative medicine practice that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as quartz, agate, amethyst or opal. Adherents of the practice claim that these have healing powers, but there is no scientific basis for this claim. Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform a body's aura. +Believers in crystal healing engage in various physical activities with crystals, typically involving holding, wearing, placing or meditating with the stones. While the practice is popular, it fosters commercial demand for crystals, which can result in environmental damage and exploitative child labor to mine the crystals. Some popular crystals used by believers such as shungite frequently contain heavy metals and present toxicity risks to those handling them for extended periods or ingesting substances which were in contact with the crystals. + + +== History == + + +=== Origins === +Ancient Egyptians used amulets, which they believed to possess magical properties. The amulet's shape, decoration, inscription, color, material or ritual performed with the amulet dictated its power. Amulets were worn or placed on the body, in the form of stones, piercings, rings, necklaces or other jewelry. The Egyptians used amulets to benefit their afterlife, often representing an Egyptian deity and its specific powers. Amulets were also placed on mummies or in between the mummy's bandages, with funerary pieces usually being larger than those worn by the living. In funeral practices, they also used headrest amulets, which were full-size headrests placed in tombs to protect the dead; they also symbolized the deceased rising and being revived, and the sun rising between two hills, which symbolized resurrection and rebirth. +The ancient Greeks assigned many properties to crystals. The word "crystal" is derived from the Greek word krýstallos, which translates to 'ice'. The ancient Greeks believed that clear quartz crystals were a water that had frozen to the point where it would remain in its solid form. + +Precious stones have been thought of as objects that can aid in healing—in a practice known as lapidary medicine—by various cultures. The Hopi Native Americans of Arizona use quartz crystals to assist in diagnosing illnesses. The alleged medicinal properties of precious stones, as well as other powers they were believed to hold, were collected in texts known as lapidaries. + + +== Contemporary use == + + +=== New Age === +In the English speaking world, crystal healing is heavily associated with the New Age spiritual movement: it is "the middle-class New Age healing activity par excellence" in the words of Stuart McLean. In contrast with other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), participants in crystal healing view the practice as "individuated", that is dependent on extreme personalization and creative expression. Practitioners of crystal healing purport that certain physical properties such as shape, color, and markings, determine the ailments that a stone can heal; lists of such links are published in commonly distributed texts. Paradoxically, practitioners also "hold the view that crystals have no intrinsic qualities but that, instead, their quality changes according to both" participants. After selecting the stones by color or their believed metaphysical qualities, they place them on parts of the body. Color selection and placement of stones are done according to concepts of grounding, chakras or energy grids. + + +=== Sales and industry === +Worldwide, retail sales of crystals were estimated to amount to more than US$1 billion per year in 2019. +India, China, Brazil, and Madagascar are the main producers of crystals. In Madagascar, one of the sources of crystals, most crystals are mined in unsafe, non-industrial or "homemade" mines, with parents and children working together to dig crystals from pits and tunnels they dig with shovels. The miners are usually paid between 17 and 23 cents per kilogram for rose quartz (≈ 8 - 11 cents per pound). The miner's income may be just 0.1% of the final retail price. Some people in the industry say that the low pay for miners is because customers in developed countries want low retail prices; others say that it is due to shops in developed countries wanting to be more profitable. + + +== Scientific evaluation == +There is no peer-reviewed scientific evidence that crystal healing has any effect; it is considered a pseudoscience. Alleged successes of crystal healing can be attributed to the placebo effect. Furthermore, there is no scientific basis for the concepts of chakras, being "blocked", energy grids requiring grounding or other such terms; they are widely understood to be religious or spiritual in nature. Energy, as a scientific term, is a very well-defined concept that is readily measurable and bears little resemblance to the esoteric concept of energy used by proponents of crystal healing. +In 1999, researchers French and Williams conducted a study to investigate the power of crystals compared with a placebo. Eighty volunteers were asked to meditate with either a quartz crystal or a placebo stone, which was indistinguishable from quartz. Many participants reported feeling typical "crystal effects"; however, this was irrespective of whether the crystals were real or a placebo. In 2001 Christopher French, head of the anomalistic psychology research unit at the University of London, and colleagues from Goldsmiths College outlined their study of crystal healing at the British Psychological Society Centenary Annual Conference, concluding, "There is no evidence that crystal healing works over and above a placebo effect." +Crystal healing effects could also be attributed to confirmation bias (which occurs when the believers want the practice to be true and see only things that back up that desire). +Crystal healing techniques are also practiced on animals, although some veterinary organizations, such as the British Veterinary Association, have warned that these methods are not scientifically proven and state that people should seek the advice of a vet before using alternative techniques. +Crystal healing proponents and 5G conspiracy theorists have falsely claimed that shungite may promote health by absorbing 5G radiation. + + +== See also == +Color healing +Energy medicine +Magnet therapy + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Lawrence E. Jerome. (1989). Crystal Power: The Ultimate Placebo Effect. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0-87975-514-0. + + +== External links == +Crystal Healing: Stone-cold Facts About Gemstone Treatments – LiveScience +Do You Know Where Your Healing Crystals Come From? at The New Republic +James Randi debunks Crystal Power \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8d440dbd4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Cupping therapy" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:29.899253+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Cupping therapy (or cup massage) is a pseudoscientific treatment method in which a local suction is created on the skin by using heated cups. As an alternative medicine practice, it is primarily used in Asia, but it is also used in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. There is no conclusive evidence supporting the claimed health benefits of cupping, and critics have characterized the practice as quackery. +Cupping practitioners attempt to use cupping therapy for a wide array of medical conditions including fevers, chronic low back pain, poor appetite, indigestion, high blood pressure, acne, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, anemia, stroke rehabilitation, nasal congestion, infertility, and menstrual period cramping. +Despite the numerous ailments for which practitioners claim cupping therapy is useful, there is insufficient evidence demonstrating any health benefits. Cupping is generally not harmful for most people. However, there are some risks of harm, especially from wet cupping and fire cupping. Bruising and skin discoloration are among the adverse effects of cupping and are sometimes mistaken for child abuse. In rare instances, the presence of these marks on children has led to legal action against parents who had their children receive cupping therapy. + +== History == + +The origin of cupping is unclear. Iranian traditional medicine uses wet-cupping practices, with the belief that cupping with scarification may eliminate scar tissue, and cupping without scarification would cleanse the body through the organs. +In ancient Greece, Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) used cupping for internal disease and structural problems, and Roman surgeons used it for bloodletting. The method was highly recommended by Islamic Prophet Muhammad and hence well-practiced by Muslim scientists who elaborated and developed the method further. Consequently, this method in its multiple forms spread into medicine throughout Asian and European civilizations. In China, the earliest use of cupping that is recorded is from the Taoist alchemist and herbalist Ge Hong (281–341 AD). Cupping was also mentioned in Maimonides' book on health and was used within the Eastern European Jewish community. William Osler recommended its use for pneumonia and acute myelitis in the early twentieth century. +The practice has been used in hospitals in China since the 1950s as a traditional Chinese medicine modality. + +== Scientific evaluation == +The American Cancer Society notes that "available scientific evidence does not support claims that cupping has any health benefits" and also that the treatment carries a small risk of burns. A review of literature in 2011 determined that "the effectiveness of cupping is currently not well-documented for most conditions", and that systematic reviews showing efficacy for the treatment of pain "were based mostly on poor quality primary studies." This was further supported by a review in 2014 which demonstrated that previous evidence supporting cupping has resulted from "unreasonable design and poor research quality". Subsequent systematic reviews have also identified poor research quality, inconsistent approaches to study blinding, and varying methodologies among studies. +There is a lack of evidence to support the use of cupping therapy for acne. Additionally, cupping is often practiced along with other acupuncture therapies and therefore cannot exclusively account for resultant positive benefits. Many reviews suggest there is insufficient scientific evidence to support the use of cupping techniques to combat relevant diseases and chronic pain. Cupping has been characterized as quackery. +The lack of apparent benefits of cupping treatments are discussed by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst in their 2008 book Trick or Treatment. +As a pseudoscientific detoxification ritual, proponents of cupping falsely claim that it can remove unspecified toxins from the body. Proponents also falsely claim that cupping "improves blood flow" to help sore muscles. James Hamblin notes that a bruise caused by cupping "is a blood clot, though, and clotted blood is definitionally not flowing." +Critics of alternative medicine have spoken out against cupping therapy. Harriet Hall and Mark Crislip have characterized cupping as "pseudoscience nonsense", "a celebrity fad", and "gibberish", and observed that there is no evidence that cupping works any better than a placebo. Pharmacologist David Colquhoun writes that cupping is "laughable... and utterly implausible." Practicing surgeon David Gorski observes that "it's all risk for no benefit. It has no place in modern medicine, or at least shouldn't." + +== Safety == +Cupping is generally considered safe for most people when performed by trained practitioners; however, it may not be suitable for everyone. +In 2016, the Cambodian Ministry of Health warned that cupping could be a health risk and particularly dangerous for people with high blood pressure or heart problems. According to the NCCIH "Cupping can cause side effects such as persistent skin discoloration, scars, burns, and infections, and may worsen eczema or psoriasis". +Cupping causes breaks in the capillaries (small blood vessels) in the papillary dermis layer of the skin, resulting in the appearance of petechiae and purpura. These marks are sometimes mistaken for signs of child abuse when cupping is performed on children. +Cupping therapy adverse events can be divided into local and systemic adverse events. The local adverse events may include scar formation, burns, linear bruising or streaks (wet cupping), skin ulcers, undesired darkening of the skin, panniculitis, erythema ab igne, induction of the Koebner phenomenon in susceptible individuals with psoriasis, and pain at the cupping site. A theoretical risk of infection exists but there are no reports of this as of 2012. +There are also issues with a lack of safety in cup massages as there is still a need to establish proper application protocols. + +== Claimed uses == +Cupping practitioners use cupping therapy for a wide array of medical conditions including fevers, pain, poor appetite, indigestion, high blood pressure, acne, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, anemia, stroke rehabilitation, nasal congestion, infertility, and dysmenorrhea. +There is low to moderate evidence that cupping can reduce pain associated with musculoskeletal pain and myofascial pain syndrome, although the benefits may be indistinguishable from those of a placebo. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e6ebc1fe2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +--- +title: "Cupping therapy" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupping_therapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:29.899253+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Claimed mechanism of action == +Proponents claim cupping has a therapeutic effect and removes unspecified "toxins", stagnant blood, or "vital energy" when used over acupuncture points with the goal of improving blood circulation. + +== Methods == +Modern suction devices are sometimes used instead of the traditional cups. +A cup massage is performed with medical cups, which have vacuum-sucking, thermochemical, and reflectory impact on the skin, hypoderm, muscles and nerves. +A cup massage lasts 10 to 20 minutes and is accompanied with the feeling of warmth. It can be slightly uncomfortable to the patient. +A cup massage can be performed on almost all areas of human body. Most often cup massage is used to massage back, chest, limbs, and even face. +While details vary between practitioners, societies, and cultures, the practice consists of drawing tissue into a cup placed on the targeted area by creating a partial vacuum – either by the heating and subsequent cooling of the air in the cup or via a mechanical pump. The cup is usually left in place for somewhere between five and fifteen minutes. +Cupping therapy types can be classified using four distinct methods of categorization. The first categorization system relates to "technical types" including dry, wet, massage, and flash cupping therapy. The second categorization relates to "the power of suction-related types" including light, medium, and strong cupping therapy. The third categorization relates to "the method of suction-related types" including fire, manual suction, and electrical suction cupping therapy. The fourth categorization relates to "materials inside cups" including herbal products, water, ozone, moxa, needle, and magnetic cupping therapy. +Further categories of cupping were developed later. The fifth relates to areas treated including facial, abdominal, female, male, and orthopedic cupping therapy. The sixth relates to "other cupping types" that include sports and aquatic cupping. + +=== Dry cupping === +Dry cupping involves the application of a heated cup on the skin of the back, chest, abdomen, or buttocks. The cooling of the air is then thought to create a suction effect. Bamboo and other materials are sometimes used as alternatives to glass cups. + +=== Fire cupping === + +Fire cupping involves soaking a cotton ball in almost pure alcohol. The cotton is clamped by a pair of forceps and lit via match or lighter, and, in one motion, placed into the cup and quickly removed, while the cup is placed on the skin. The fire heats the air in the cup which, after cooling reduces in volume creating a negative pressure inside the cup. The cup is then quickly placed onto the body and the negative pressure "sucks" the skin up. Massage oil may be applied to create a better seal as well as allow the cups to glide over muscle groups (e.g. trapezius, erectors, latissimus dorsi, etc.) in an act called "gliding cupping" or "sliding cupping". Dark circles may appear where the cups were placed because of capillary rupture under the skin. There are documented cases of burns caused by fire cupping. + +=== Wet cupping === +Wet cupping, also known as hijama (Arabic: حجامة, lit. 'sucking') or medicinal bleeding, is where blood is drawn by local suction from a small skin incision. +The first reported usages are found in the Islamic hadith, sayings attributed to or describing the actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Hadith from Muhammad al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Nishapuri and Ahmad ibn Hanbal support its recommendation and use by Muhammad. As a result, wet cupping has remained a popular remedy practiced in many parts of the Muslim world. +In Finland, wet cupping has been done since the 15th century, and it is done traditionally in saunas. The cups were made of cattle horns with a valve mechanism inside to create a partial vacuum by sucking the air out. Cupping is still practiced in Finland as part of relaxing and/or health regimens. +The points used in wet and dry cupping are varied and intended to correspond to areas of pain and blockage. Over the years treatment plans have been created but, due to their holistic nature, the points used may vary depending on the individual. + +=== Traditional Chinese medicine === + +In Chinese, cupping is known as "pulling-up jars" (Chinese: 拔罐; pinyin: báguàn). According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), cupping is done to dispel stagnation (stagnant blood and lymph), thereby improving qi flow, to treat respiratory diseases such as the common cold, pneumonia and bronchitis. Cupping is used on the back, neck, shoulder, and other musculoskeletal conditions. Its advocates claim it has other applications as well. Cupping is not advised, in TCM, over skin ulcers or to the abdominal or sacral regions of pregnant women. + +== Society and culture == +Cupping has gained publicity in modern times due to its use by American sport celebrities including National Football League player DeMarcus Ware, National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal, Olympians Alex Naddour, Natalie Coughlin, and Michael Phelps and tennis player Ben Shelton. Medical doctor Brad McKay wrote that Team USA was doing a great disservice to their fans who might "follow their lead", calling cupping an "ancient (but useless) traditional therapy." Steven Novella noted "It is unfortunate that elite athletics, including the Olympics, is such a hotbed for pseudoscience." +There is a description of cupping in George Orwell's essay "How the Poor Die", where he was surprised to find the antiquated practice applied to another patient in a Paris hospital. In the 1964 Hollywood film Zorba the Greek, cupping is depicted with the character Zorba, played by Anthony Quinn, performing it on the character played by Lila Kedrova. +The perceived benefits of cupping have often been perpetuated by celebrities and athletes who use these therapeutic interventions in their daily lives. Professional swimmer Michael Phelps received publicity during the 2016 Olympics for the purple bruises evident on his back resulting from cupping. He has been known to "do it before every meet he goes to to "speed up recovery". Celebrity endorsements such as these may bias individuals to feel benefits from the practice. + +== See also == +Bloodletting +Ear candling +Gua sha +List of ineffective cancer treatments +Moxibustion + +== References == + +== External links == +Dunning, Brian (April 23, 2013). "Skeptoid #359: Cupping for the Cure". Skeptoid. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..09471bf29 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Cymatics" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:32.201545+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Cymatics (from Ancient Greek: κῦμα, romanized: kŷma, lit. 'wave') is a subset of modal vibrational phenomena. The term was coined by Swiss physician Hans Jenny (1904–1972). Typically the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid. Different patterns emerge in the excitatory medium depending on the geometry of the plate and the driving frequency. +The apparatus employed can be simple, such as the Chinese spouting bowl, in which copper handles are rubbed and cause the copper bottom elements to vibrate. Other examples include the Chladni plate and the so-called cymascope. + +== History == +On July 8, 1680, Robert Hooke was able to see the nodal patterns associated with the modes of vibration of glass plates. Hooke ran a bow along the edge of a glass plate covered with flour, and saw the nodal patterns emerge. +The German musician and physicist Ernst Chladni noticed in the eighteenth century that the modes of vibration of a membrane or a plate can be observed by sprinkling the vibrating surface with a fine dust (e.g., lycopodium powder, flour or fine sand). The powder moves due to the vibration and accumulates progressively in points of the surface corresponding to the sound vibration. The points form a pattern of lines, known as "nodal lines of the vibration mode". The normal modes of vibration, and the pattern of nodal lines associated with each of these, are completely determined, for a surface with homogeneous mechanical characteristics, from the geometric shape of the surface and by the way in which the surface is constrained. +Experiments of this kind, similar to those carried out earlier by Galileo Galilei around 1630 and by Robert Hooke in 1680, were later perfected by Chladni, who introduced them systematically in 1787 in his book Entdeckungen über die Theorie des Klanges (Discoveries on the theory of sound). This provided an important contribution to the understanding of acoustic phenomena and the functioning of musical instruments. The figures thus obtained (with the aid of a violin bow that rubbed perpendicularly along the edge of smooth plates covered with fine sand) are still designated by the name of "Chladni figures". +Michael Faraday discovered that liquids in a bowl produce regular patterns when the bowl is vibrated, so-called Faraday waves. + +== Work of Hans Jenny == +In 1967 Hans Jenny, a student of the anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner, published the first of two volumes in German entitled Kymatic; the second was published posthumously in 1972.) He showed the evolution of harmonic images by subjecting inert substances to oscillating sound waves. His substantial body of work, based on rigorous scientific methodology, developed Chladni's experiments, highlighting intricate, organic, harmonic images that reflected many universal patterns found throughout nature and especially living organisms. Jenny spread powders, pastes, and liquids on a metal plate connected to an oscillator which could produce a broad spectrum of frequencies. The substances were organized into different structures characterized by geometric shapes typical of the frequency of the vibration emitted by the oscillator. According to Jenny, these structures, reminiscent of the mandala and other forms recurring in nature, would be a manifestation of an invisible force field of the vibrational energy that generated it. He was particularly impressed by an observation that imposing a vocalization in ancient Sanskrit of Om (regarded by Hindus and Buddhists as the sound of creation) the lycopodium powder formed a circle with a centre point, one of the ways in which Om had been represented. +In fact, for a plate of circular shape, resting in the centre (or the border, or at least in a set of points with central symmetry), the nodal vibration modes all have central symmetry, so the observation of Jenny is entirely consistent with well known mathematical properties. From the physical-mathematical standpoint, the form of the nodal patterns is predetermined by the shape of the body set in vibration or, in the case of acoustic waves in a gas, the shape of the cavity in which the gas is contained. The sound wave, therefore, does not influence at all the shape of the vibrating body or the shape of the nodal patterns. The only thing that changes due to the vibration is the arrangement of the sand. The image formed by the sand, in turn, is influenced by the frequency spectrum of the vibration only because each vibration mode is characterized by a specific frequency. Therefore, the spectrum of the signal that excites the vibration determines which patterns are actually nodally displayed. The physical phenomena involved in the formation of Chladni figures are best explained by classical physics. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6bc70aa72 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "Cymatics" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymatics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:32.201545+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Influences on art and music == +Devices for displaying nodal images have influenced visual arts and contemporary music. Artist Björk created projections of cymatics patterns by using bass frequencies on tour for her album Biophilia. +Hans Jenny's book on Chladni figures influenced Alvin Lucier and helped lead to Lucier's composition Queen of the South. Jenny's work was also followed up by Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) founder György Kepes at MIT. His work in this area included an acoustically vibrated piece of sheet metal in which small holes had been drilled in a grid. Small flames of gas burned through these holes and thermodynamic patterns were made visible by this setup. +In the mid-1980s, visual artist Ron Rocco, who also developed his work at CAVS, employed mirrors mounted to tiny servo motors, driven by the audio signal of a synthesizer and amplified by a tube amp to reflect the beam of a laser. This created light patterns which corresponded to the audio's frequency and amplitude. Using this beam to generate video feedback and computers to process the feedback signal, Rocco created his "Andro-media" series of installations. Rocco later formed a collaboration with musician David Hykes, who practiced a form of Mongolian overtone chanting with The Harmonic Choir, to generate cymatic images from a pool of liquid mercury, which functioned as a liquid mirror to modulate the beam of a Helium-Neon laser from the sound thus generated. Photographs of this work can be found in the Ars Electronica catalog of 1987. +Contemporary German photographer and philosopher Alexander Lauterwasser has brought cymatics into the 21st century using finely crafted crystal oscillators to resonate steel plates covered with fine sand and to vibrate small samples of water in Petri dishes. His first book, Water Sound Images, translated into English in 2006, features imagery of light reflecting off the surface of water set into motion by sound sources ranging from pure sine waves to music by Beethoven, Karlheinz Stockhausen, electroacoustic group Kymatik (who often record in ambisonic surround sound) and overtone singing. The resulting photographs of standing wave patterns are striking. Lauterwasser's book focused on creating detailed visual analogues of natural patterns ranging from the distribution of spots on a leopard to the geometric patterns found in plants and flowers, to the shapes of jellyfish and the intricate patterns found on the shell of a tortoise. +Composer Stuart Mitchell and his father T.J. Mitchell claimed that Rosslyn Chapel's carvings supposedly contain references to cymatics patterns. In 2005 they created a work called The Rosslyn Motet realised by attempting to match various Chladni patterns to 13 geometric symbols carved onto the faces of cubes emanating from 14 arches. +The musical group The Glitch Mob used cymatics to produce the music video "Becoming Harmonious (ft. Metal Mother)". +Influenced by yantra diagrams and cymatics, artist and fashion designer Mandali Mendrilla created a sculpture dress called "Kamadhenu" (Wish Tree Dress III) the pattern of which is based +on a Yantra diagram depicting goddess Kamadhenu. +Aphex Twin suggests learning more about cymatics in reference to 'master tuning of 440 Hz' in a conversation with synth-maker Tatsuya Takahashi. +Since 2010, the art collective Analema Group creates participatory performances in which cymatic patterns are produced digitally in real-time by the audience. +In 2014 musician Nigel Stanford produced "Cymatics", an instrumental and music video designed to demonstrate the visual aspects of cymatics. +In 2016 songwriter and former Arizona State Quarterback Samson Szakacsy brought a cymatics device he called "the Drawing Machine" on tour and had each set draw live to portray how music looks. +Contemporary American painter Jimmy O'Neal created his own cymascope, which he has used to produce various works of public art. One such painting is 511.95 Hz of wine, a large-scale mural based on the pattern created when tracing a finger around the rim of a nearly-empty wine glass. +In 2020 an official medal was issued by the Royal Dutch Mint to mark the 65th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest hosted by the city of Rotterdam . A 3D scanner was able to capture the cymatics shapes of a vibrating dish filled with water from the Maas river. To create the coin, all the historical winning songs from previous contests were mixed together and emitted through a speaker.video, +The logo and theme art for Eurovision 2022 is based on cymatics. +The main title sequence for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is inspired by cymatics. + +== Influences in engineering == +Inspired by periodic and symmetrical patterns at the air-liquid interface created by sound vibration, P. Chen and coworkers developed a method to engineer diverse structures from microscale materials using liquid-based templates. This liquid-based template can be dynamically reconfigured by tuning vibration frequency and acceleration. + +== See also == +Mechanical resonance +Megan Watts Hughes, inventor of the "eidophone" +Music visualization +Rayleigh's quotient in vibrations analysis +Strobe light +Vibration of plates +Visual music + +== References == + +== External links == +How to Make a Chladni Plate Experiment \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7eeab6970 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +--- +title: "DISC assessment" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:46.440148+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A DISC assessment is a pseudoscientific personality testing tool based on psychologist William Moulton Marston's DISC emotional and behavioural theory, first published in 1928. These assessments claim to improve job performance by categorizing individuals into four personality traits: dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance. +The scientific validity of the DISC assessment has not been demonstrated, and psychologists question its predictive validity. Despite this, the DISC assessment remains widely used in business, coaching and organizational development. + + +== History == +The DISC personality theory was first outlined in the book Emotions of Normal People, published in 1928, and written by Polygraph promoter William Moulton Marston, with likely contributions by Olive Byrne and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. +Marston never developed a formal assessment tool nor patented his work. As a result, multiple organizations have since interpreted and commercialized the DISC framework in different ways, leading to a variety of DISC-based assessments with differing formats, report styles, and levels of scientific validation. + + +== Types == +The first self-assessment based on Marston's DISC theory was created in 1956 by Walter Clarke, an industrial psychologist. In 1956, Clarke created the Activity Vector Analysis, a checklist of adjectives on which he asked people to indicate descriptions that were accurate about themselves. This self-assessment was intended to aid businesses in choosing qualified employees. John Geier later developed DiSC (lower case 'i' intentional). +Clarke and Peter Merenda published their findings on the new instrument in the January 1965 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology. However, instead of using a checklist, the "Self Description" test asks respondents to make a choice between two or more terms. "Self Description" was used by Geier to create the Personal Profile System in the 1970s. + + +== Uses == +The self-assessment tools are designed for use in personnel management in businesses. A DISC assessment claims to help identify workstyle preferences, determine how someone would interact with others, and provides insight on work habits. There is little to no evidence to support these claims. +Organizations often use the DISC assessment for various applications, including team building, leadership development, communication training, and conflict resolution. While it claims to provide valuable insights into individual and team dynamics, it is essential to interpret the results with caution and avoid oversimplifying complex human behaviour. +DISC has been used to help determine a course of action when dealing with problems as a leadership team by taking the various aspects of each DISC type into account when solving problems or assigning jobs. + + +=== Psychometric properties === +The DISC assessments have demonstrated no ability to predict job performance, as this is not part of their designed functionality. The assessment has high reliability, meaning that an individual will consistently get the same result over time. + + +==== Reliability ==== +A Russian pilot study found a coefficient of .89 for retesting after one week. +A research paper in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology found acceptable levels of internal consistency in a normative DISC assessment, but also indications that the DISCUS-dimensions were not psychometrically independent, and that the DISC data structure could better be explained as combinations of the Big-Five personality traits than as independent traits. + + +==== Validity ==== +Psychologist Wendell Williams has criticized the use of DISC in the employee recruitment process. In his criticism, Williams argues that a good job performance test should be well constructed, have test-retest reliability, have criterion validity for criteria of job performance, and incorporate the theory of job performance in the test's design. +A 2013 German study studied the validity and reliability of a DISC assessment, Persolog, to see if it was up to standards for the TBS-DTk the test assessment system of the Diagnostics and Test Board of the Federation of German Psychological Associations. The study found that it "largely" met the requirements in terms of reliability but not at all in terms of validity. + + +== Theory == + +The DISC theory describes personality through four central traits: + +Dominance: active use of force to overcome resistance in the environment +Inducement: use of charm in order to deal with obstacles +Submission: warm and voluntary acceptance of the need to fulfill a request +Compliance: fearful adjustment to a superior force. +Marston described the DISC characteristics in his 1928 book Emotions of Normal People, which he generated from emotions and behaviour of people in the general population. According to Marston, people illustrate their emotions using four behaviour types: Dominance, inducement, submission, and compliance. +He argued that these behavioural types came from people's sense of self and their interaction with the environment. He based the four types on two underlying dimensions that influenced people's emotional behaviour. The first dimension is whether a person views their environment as favourable or unfavourable. The second dimension is whether a person perceives themselves as having control or lack of control over their environment. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9b685fb58 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "DNA teleportation" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:52.216081+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +DNA teleportation is a pseudoscientific claim which suggests that DNA can produce electromagnetic signals (EMS) that are measurable when highly diluted in water. The claim suggests these signals can allegedly be recorded, transmitted electronically and re-emitted on another distant pure water sample, where the DNA can replicate through polymerase chain reaction, despite the absence of the original DNA in the new water sample. The idea was introduced by the Nobel laureate Luc Montagnier in 2009. It is similar in principle to water memory, a similar pseudoscientific claim popularised by Jacques Benveniste in 1988. +No independent research has been conducted to support the claim and to this day, there is no known or plausible scientific mechanism by which it might work. + +== Electromagnetic signals from DNA == + +=== Bacterial DNA === +In 2009, Montagnier and his collaborators published a paper titled "Electromagnetic signals are produced by aqueous nanostructures derived from bacterial DNA sequences" in which they reported that bacterial DNA can produce an electromagnetic signal (EMS) that is transferred through the cell culture medium. In a medium of T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell), they cultured bacterial DNA from Mycoplasma pirum and Escherichia coli. After filtering to remove all the bacteria, polymerase chain reaction was performed, which demonstrated the absence of remaining DNA. The solution was then incubated for two or three weeks, after which the presence of bacterial DNA was again detected. After serial dilution, they tested for electromagnetic radiation using a Fourier analysis technique developed by Jacques Benveniste and his team in 1996. They detected electromagnetic frequencies only at high dilutions, ranging from 10−5 to 10−12. + +=== Viral DNA === +In the same year, the team reported similar EMS from the DNA of HIV under high dilution of the culture medium. They used the HIV1 strain as their prototype – it was the discovery of this virus that led to Montagnier sharing the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. CEM cells (leukemia T-cells) were used to culture the HIV but no EMS was detected at any level of dilution. However, testing blood samples from HIV-infected patients (including those with symptoms of AIDS, those who have undergone antiretroviral therapy (ART), and untreated individuals) showed detectable EMS from ART-treated patients with undetectable viral loads at plasma dilution levels between 10−4 and 10−8. +In 2015, Montagnier's team published another finding similar to the original one, but using bacterial and viral DNA. Here they claim that the electromagnetic waves could be explained in terms of an unspecified quantum effect. + +== The DNA transduction experiment == +The experiment was first made in July 2005, and was repeated and filmed for a TV documentary in 2013, released on the French channel France 5 on 5 July 2014. The online journal Ouvertures detailed the test protocol through interviews with Montagnier. +Montagnier's experiment can be summarised as follows: + +A known water sample with 2 ng/ml of 104 bases DNA from an HIV infected patient is diluted by 10 into water and agitated for 15 seconds. After filtration to remove the DNA, the dilution and agitation steps are repeated 10 times, reaching high dilution levels of 10−10. +The highly diluted sample emits electromagnetic signals (EMS) of low frequencies. +This EMS is recorded by a microphone coil and saved as a 6-second WAV file at the lab in Paris. +The WAV file is emailed to a partner team at the university of Benevento in Italy. +The Italian team emits with a coil for 1 hour the EMS of the WAV file on a sample of distilled water in a sealed metal tube. +The water sample is then placed in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine. +The PCR machine in Italy produces DNA, 98% identical to the initial DNA in Paris. + +== Interpretation == + +It is proposed by Montagnier that some molecules interact through electromagnetic waves instead of direct contact. These waves could be trapped into coherence domains formed by water molecules vacuum spheres at quantum scales. These structures would keep the signal in the absence of the original molecule. During the PCR step of the experiment, this remaining signal could have contained the necessary information for the initial DNA to be reconstructed. +The principle is similar to Benveniste's experiment from 1997 where EMS was recorded from ovalbumine at the Northwestern University Medical School of Chicago, and transmitted through email to Benveniste's Digital Biology Laboratory in Clamart, France. After emitting the signal on pure water for 20 minutes, the water could cause an allergic shock on an isolated Guinea-pig heart allergic to ovalbumine. In both experiments the EMS reproduces the properties of the original molecules in their absence. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..af073dd55 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "DNA teleportation" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_teleportation" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:52.216081+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Responses and criticisms == +The 2009 publications were immediately followed by scientific comments and criticisms of the credibility of the purported phenomenon, as well as the authenticity of the research. According to chemist Jeff Reimers of the University of Sydney, Australia, "If the results are correct, these would be the most significant experiments performed in the past 90 years, demanding re-evaluation of the whole conceptual framework of modern chemistry." +The credibility of the peer-review system of the journal Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences, in which the 2009 papers were published, was questioned. It was a new journal of which Montagnier is chairman of the editorial board. Gary Schuster, at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, compared it to pathological science. Paul Myers at the University of Minnesota Morris also described it as "pathological science." He described the paper as "one of the more unprofessional write-ups I've ever run across" and criticized the publication process as having an "unbelievable" turnaround time: "another suspicious sign are the dates. This paper was submitted on 03 January 2009, revised on 05 January 2009, and accepted on 06 January 2009", leading him to ask: "Who reviewed this, the author's mother? Maybe someone even closer. Guess who the chairman of the editorial board is: Luc Montagnier... This is the same nonsense and the same apparatus that Benveniste was peddling." The influence of Benveniste can also be inferred from one of the co-authors, Jamal Aïssa, who was Benveniste's collaborator in the research in which they claim that water memory can be transported through the internet. (It was for this research that Benveniste received his second Ig Nobel Prize in 1998.) +Philip Ball wrote an analysis about Montagnier's work in Chemistry World, stating "It looks like one of the most astonishing discoveries in a century, yet it was almost entirely ignored." He claims this experiment was never replicated and that the work was "ignored for good reason, namely that it's utterly implausible". +On 28 June 2010, Montagnier spoke at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany, "where 60 Nobel prize winners had gathered, along with 700 other scientists, to discuss the latest breakthroughs in medicine, chemistry and physics." He "presented a new method for detecting viral infections that bore close parallels to the basic tenets of homeopathy. Although fellow Nobel prize winners – who view homeopathy as quackery – were left openly shaking their heads, Montagnier's comments were rapidly embraced by homeopaths eager for greater credibility. Cristal Sumner, of the British Homeopathic Association, said Montagnier's work gave homeopathy 'a true scientific ethos'." +Montagnier was also questioned about his beliefs on homeopathy, to which he replied: "I can't say that homeopathy is right in everything. What I can say now is that the high dilutions are right. High dilutions of something are not nothing. They are water structures which mimic the original molecules. We find that with DNA, we cannot work at the extremely high dilutions used in homeopathy; we cannot go further than a 10−18 dilution, or we lose the signal. But even at 10−18, you can calculate that there is not a single molecule of DNA left. And yet we detect a signal." + +== See also == +Homeopathy +Pseudoscience +Junk science +Masaru Emoto +Water Memory + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a96b6c6ff --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Daffy's Elixir" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:33.374658+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Daffy's Elixir (also sometimes known as Daffey's Elixir or Daffye's Elixir) is a name that has been used by several patent medicines over the years. It was originally designed for diseases of the stomach, but was later marketed as a universal cure. It remained a popular remedy in Britain and later the United States of America throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. + +== Origins == +Daffy's Elixir was one of the most popular and frequently advertised patent medicines in Britain during the 18th century. It is reputed to have been invented by clergyman Thomas Daffy, rector of Redmile, Leicestershire, in 1647. He named it elixir salutis (lit. elixir of health) and promoted it as a generic cure-all. + +== Ingredients == +An early recipe for "True Daffy" from 1700 lists the following ingredients: aniseed, brandy, cochineal, elecampane, fennel seed, jalap, manna, parsley seed, raisin, rhubarb, saffron, senna and spanish liquorice. Chemical analysis has shown this to be a laxative made mostly from alcohol. Other recipes include Guiuacum wood chips, caraway, Salt of Tartar, and scammony. + +== Uses == +According to an early nineteenth century advertisement it was used for the following ailments: The Stone in Babies and Children; Convulsion fits; Consumption and Bad Digestives; Agues; Piles; Surfeits; Fits of the Mother and Vapours from the Spleen; Green Sickness; Children's Distempers, whether the Worms, Rickets, Stones, Convulsions, Gripes, King's Evil, Joint Evil or any other disorder proceeding from Wind or Crudities; Gout and Rheumatism; Stone or Gravel in the Kidnies; Cholic and Griping of the Bowels; the Phthisic (both as cure and preventative provided always that the patient be moderate in drinking, have a care to prevent taking cold and keep a good diet; Dropsy and Scurvy. The frequent use of the medicine to treat Colic, gripes or fret in horses was deplored in early veterinary manuals. + +== Subsequent history == +After Daffy's death in 1680 the recipe was left to his daughter Catherine, and his kinsmen Anthony and Daniel who were apothecaries in Nottingham. Anthony Daffy moved to London in the 1690s and began to exploit the product issuing pamphlets such as Directions for taking elixir salutis or, the famous purging cordial, known by the name of Daffy's elixir salutis [London], [1690?]. His widow Elleanor Daffy continued from about 1693 and (their daughter?) Katharine from about 1707. During the early 18th century the product was advertised widely in the emerging national and local newspapers. The success attracted several counterfeit copies, using inferior alcohol rather than brandy. +The medicine was later produced by William and Cluer Dicey & Co. of Bow Church yard c.1775 who claimed the sole rights of manufacture of the True Daffy's Elixir, although the recipe was not subject to any patent. Proprietorship was also then claimed by Peter Swinton of Salisbury Court and his son Anthony Daffy Swinton who may have been descended from the inventor. Dicey and Co. and their successors marketed it in the United States of America. +It then passed to Dicey and Sutton, and later to Messrs W. Sutton & Co. of Enfield in Middlesex, who continued to market it throughout the nineteenth century. + +== References in literature == +The use of Daffy's elixir is referred to in Charles Dickens Oliver Twist 1838, Ch. II, where it is referred to as Daffy, in the sentence: 'Why, it's what I'm obliged to keep a little of in the house, to put into the blessed infants' Daffy, when they ain't well, Mr. Bumble, (the Parish Beadle)' replied Mrs. Mann as she opened a corner cupboard, and took down a bottle and glass. 'It's gin. I'll not deceive you, Mr. B. It's gin.' +It is also mentioned in the William Makepeace Thackeray book, Vanity Fair 1848, Chapter XXXVIII A Family In a Small Way, where it is referenced in the sentence ‘..and there found Mrs. Sedley in the act of surreptitiously administering Daffy’s Elixir to the infant.’ +Daffy's elixir is mentioned in Anthony Trollope's novel Barchester Towers, 1857. +Daffy's elixir is also mentioned on several occasions in Thomas Pynchon's novel Mason & Dixon, 1997, particularly by Jeremiah Dixon, who attempts to procure large quantities before beginning his surveying trip with Charles Mason. Dixon is warned by Benjamin Franklin, however, that imported Daffy's Elixir is extremely expensive, and he would be better off ordering a customized version from the apothecary. During the same visit, Dixon also orders laudanum, a well-known constipating agent. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..297544a36 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Daffy's Elixir" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daffy's_Elixir" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:33.374658+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Early advertisements == +Daffy’s original elixir salutis, vindicated against all counterfeits, &c. or, An advertisement by mee, Anthony Daffy, of London, citizen and student in physick, By way of vindication of my famous and generally approved cordial drink, (called elixir salutis) from the notoriously false suggestions of one Tho. Witherden of Bear-steed in the county of Kent, Gent. (as pretended;) Jane White, Robert Brooke, apothecary, and Edward Willet; all new upstatrt counterfitors of my elixir, and Ape-like imitators of my long since printed Books and Directions, (some of them, nigh verbatim, or word for word) and that to the jeopardy of many good, (but mis-in-formed) Peoples Healths, and Lives too; as also, from the false pretentions of other more sneaking Cub-Quacks, not yet lickt into form, but remaining Moon-blind brats, (still in swadling-clouts) I mean the numerous crew of libellous pamphleteeirs, which are (if possible) more dangerous counterfeiters of my Elixer . . . Advertisement by mee, Anthony Daffy s.n., 1690?]. +Daffy’s original and famous elixir salutis: the choice drink of health: or, health-bringing drink. Being a famous cordial drink, found out by the providence of the Almighty, and (for above twenty years) experienced by himself, and divers persons (whose names are at most of their desires here inserted) a most excellent preservative of man-kind. A secret far beyond any medicament yet known, and is found so agreeable to nature, that it effects all its operations, as nature would have it, and as a virtual expedient proposed by her, for reducing all her extreams unto an equal temper; the same being fitted unto all ages, sexes, complexions, and constitutions, and highly fortifying nature against any noxious humour, invading or offending the noble parts. Never published by any but by Anthony Daffy, student in physick, and since continued by his widow Elleanor Daffy, London : printed with allowance, for the author, by Tho. Milbourn dwelling in Jewen-Street, 1693. + +== Thomas Daffy biography == +Daffy (1671 – 1680), was educated at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon, (now Abingdon School) from 1630 to circa 1634. He gained a scholarship to Pembroke College, Oxford in 1634, (BA 1635, MA 1640). +He became rector of Harby in Leicestershire on the presentation of the Earl of Rutland before being removed (allegedly after causing offence to the Countess of Rutland). He took the incumbency of Vicar of Redmile in 1666, where he remained until his death. + +== References == + +=== Citations === + +=== Sources === + +== External links == +Reverend Thomas Daffy - Vicar of Redmile +Nancy Cox and Karin Dannehl, Dictionary of Traded Goods and Commodities, 1550-1820 +Homan, Peter G. (23 December 2006). "Daffy: a legend in his own preparation". The Pharmaceutical Journal. Archived from the original on 11 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018. +Osborne, Sally (20 August 2011). "The delights of Daffy". Eighteenth-century recipes(Blog). \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hatcher_Childress-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hatcher_Childress-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9729efc8d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hatcher_Childress-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "David Hatcher Childress" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hatcher_Childress" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:59.903663+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +David Hatcher Childress (born June 1, 1957) is an American author, and the owner of Adventures Unlimited Press, a publishing house established in 1984 specializing in books on topics such as ancient mysteries, unexplained phenomena, pseudohistory, and historical revisionism. His own works primarily concentrate on pseudoarchaeological and pseudoscientific topics such as "UFOs, secret societies, suppressed technology, cryptozoology [and] conspiracy theory". Childress, having no degree, refers to himself as a "rogue archaeologist". + + +== Biography == +Born in France to American parents, and raised in Colorado and Montana, United States, Childress went to University of Montana–Missoula to study archaeology, but left college in 1976 at 19 to begin travelling in pursuit of his archaeological interests. After several years in Asia and then Africa, Childress moved in 1983 to Stelle, Illinois, a community founded by New Age writer Richard Kieninger; Childress had been given one of Kieninger's books while touring Africa. Childress chronicled his explorations in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in his Lost Cities and Ancient Mysteries series of books. +Childress's first book, A Hitchhikers Guide to Africa and Arabia, was published in 1983 by Chicago Review Press. In 1984, Childress moved to Kempton, Illinois, and established a publishing company named Adventures Unlimited Press, which is a sole proprietorship. His company published his own works and then those of other authors, presenting fringe-scientific theories regarding ancient civilizations, cryptozoology, and little-known technologies. In 1992, Childress founded the World Explorers Club, which occasionally runs tours to places he writes about, and publishes a magazine called World Explorer. + + +== Reception == +Patrick D. Nunn, a professor of geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast has noted that Childress is a proponent of pseudoscientific claims such as the lost continent Mu and megaliths on the Pacific islands built by levitation. Nunn wrote that "the disappearance of Mu is very convenient because it means that theorists like Childress can say what they like and appear convincing to people who are comparatively uninformed, as many naturally are, of the huge body of scientific information on Pacific geology and cultures." +Historical archaeologist Charles E. Orser (editor of International Journal of Historical Archaeology) has criticized Childress's writings: + + +Pseudo-archaeologists continue to perpetuate the idea that Atlantis was a racialized place. David Hatcher Childress, one of the most flagrant violators of basic archaeological reasoning, has provided perhaps the most outrageous racialized vision of Atlantis. In discussing Tiahuanaco in Bolivia—as a palace built long before any Native South Americans were present—Childress proposes that the majestic site could only have been constructed by the "Atlantean League." The league was composed of mythic seafarers who "sailed the world spreading a megalithic culture, and wore red turbans over their blond hair" (Childress 1986: 139, emphasis added). Nowhere did Plato, the only actual source on Atlantis, mention the blond hair of the Atlanteans. Plato did mention that the men and women of Atlantis, being semi-divine, were inherently good . . . The correlation between goodness and whiteness is thus obvious in Childress's formulation and in much else that has been written about Atlantis. + + +== Publications == +Childress's company has published nearly 200 books (many translated into foreign languages) over the course of two dozen years. Childress himself has authored and co-authored over a dozen books, from his first in 1983 to his most recent in 2013. His influences include Erich von Däniken, Thor Heyerdahl, and Charles Berlitz. + + +=== Author or co-author === + + +=== Editor === + + +=== Contributor === + + +== Notes == + + +== External links == +Official website +Adventures Unlimited Press, official website +World Explorers Club, official website +David Hatcher Childress at IMDb \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-0.md index 7637a7f18..34734286d 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/2 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:14.740460+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:34.590638+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-1.md index 29c34b4a0..1d4d776c1 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/2 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_drive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:14.740460+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:34.590638+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4ca6b8300 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Debunker" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:35.747040+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A debunker is a person or organization that exposes or discredits claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. The term is often associated with skeptical investigation of controversial topics such as UFOs, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, and exploratory or fringe areas of scientific or pseudoscientific research. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to "debunk" is defined as: "to expose the sham or falseness of." The New Oxford American Dictionary defines "debunk" as "expose the falseness or hollowness of (a myth, idea, or belief)". If debunkers are not careful, their communications may backfire – increasing an audience's long-term belief in myths. Backfire effects can occur if a message spends too much time on the negative case, if it is too complex, or if the message is threatening. + +== Etymology == +The American Heritage Dictionary traces the passage of the words bunk (noun), debunk (verb), and debunker (noun) into American English in 1923 as a belated outgrowth of bunkum. The first recorded use of the words was in 1828, apparently related to a poorly received "speech for Buncombe County, North Carolina" given by North Carolina representative Felix Walker during the 16th United States Congress (1819–1821). The term "debunkery" is not limited to arguments about scientific validity; it is also used in a more general sense at attempts to discredit any opposing point of view, such as that of a political opponent. The term "debunk" originated as a neologism in the 1923 novel Bunk by American journalist and popular historian W. E. Woodward (1874–1950), who used it to mean to "take the bunk out of things". + +== Notable debunkers == + +=== Ancient === +Cicero debunked divination in his philosophical treatise De Divinatione in 44 BCE. +Sextus Empiricus debunked the claims of astrologers and dogmatic philosophers (c. 160 CE) +Lucian wrote a book named Alexander the False Prophet against mystic and oracle Alexander of Abonoteichus (c. 105 – c. 170 CE) who led the Glycon cult then widely popular in the Roman Empire. He described Alexander's alleged miracles as tricks, including the appearance of the god Glycon being an elaborate puppet. Lucian also describes him as using thuggery against critics to silence them, including himself. + +=== Modern === +Mick West operates the website Metabunk, where he investigates and debunks conspiracy theories, and has contributed multiple articles to Skeptical Inquirer. +Stephen Barrett founded Quackwatch and writes on medical quackery. +Adam Conover hosted the television series Adam Ruins Everything which debunks several misconceptions. +Dorothy Dietrich is a professional magician and Houdini expert and historian. Has been put in charge of Houdini's grave site, and is the founder of The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania. +Brian Dunning produces the podcast Skeptoid. +Stanton Friedman has debunked both supposed UFO cases and debunking attempts on other UFO cases. +Martin Gardner was a mathematics and science writer who extensively debunked parapsychology in his magazine articles and books. +Susan Gerbic is the founder and leader of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia which has the mission of improving the skeptical content of Wikipedia. She has focused her skeptical activism at debunking celebrity "psychics" such as Sylvia Brown, Chip Coffey, Tyler Henry and Thomas John. +Britt Marie Hermes is a prominent debunker of naturopathy having once practised as a naturopath. +Harry Houdini debunked spiritualists. +Ray Hyman is a psychologist who is known for debunking some parapsychological studies. +Philip Klass was a pioneer in the field of skeptical investigation of UFOs. +Phil Mason is a scientist and YouTuber with the online pseudonym "Thunderf00t" (also "VoiceofThunder"), who debunks various snake-oil merchants and fundraiser campaigns for certain products, using basic scientific understanding, e.g. the laws of thermodynamics, to show that the advertised things simply make no sense and cannot deliver what is promised. He is known for criticising religion, pseudoscience, creationism, Hyperloop, Solar Roadways, etc. +Alan Melikdjanian (Captain Disillusion) is a debunker of viral videos and hoaxes on the Internet, usually deconstructing them and explaining the post production techniques and software used to create the illusions. +Donald Menzel was Philip Klass's predecessor in debunking UFOs. +Joe Nickell wrote regularly for the Skeptical Inquirer. +Penn & Teller are an entertainment team who often demystify magic tricks and illusions. They have also debunked many other aspects of popular belief on their show, Penn & Teller: Bullshit!. +Phil Plait is an astronomer and science writer whose speciality is fighting pseudoscience related to space and astronomy. He established Badastronomy.com to counter public misconceptions about astronomy and space science, providing critical analysis of pseudoscientific theories related to these subjects. +Basava Premanand founded Indian CSICOP and the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, has exposed various Indian "god-men" (fakirs, sadhus, swamis, gurus, faith healers) and was known for being the most fierce critic of Sathya Sai Baba and his frauds. +James Randi has exposed faith healers, "psychics" and others claiming to have paranormal powers. +Benjamin Radford is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic who has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns debunking topics such as urban legends, unexplained mysteries and the paranormal. +Carl Sagan was a noted astronomer who debunked purported close encounters such as the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, and pseudoscience such as Immanuel Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision. +Richard Saunders is prior president of Australian Skeptics, host of the Skeptic Zone podcast, a science activist, and is a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Fellow. +Michael Shermer is executive director and founder of the non-profit organization The Skeptics Society, and editor-in-chief of the group's magazine, Skeptic. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ba4f42c4c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Debunker" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debunker" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:35.747040+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Notable organizations == +American Council on Science and Health +Committee for Skeptical Inquiry +James Randi Educational Foundation +The MythBusters, a program on the Discovery Channel. Two former special effects technicians, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, test the validity of urban legends. +The National Institute of Standards and Technology debunked the World Trade Center controlled demolition conspiracy theories. +Popular Mechanics has released several publications also debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, in particular those mentioned in Loose Change. +Quackwatch +The Skeptics Society +Snopes debunks or validates urban legends. + +== Backfire effects == + +Australian Professorial Fellow Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook, Climate Communication Fellow for the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and author at Skeptical Science, co-wrote Debunking Handbook, in which they warn that debunking efforts may backfire. Backfire effects occur when science communicators accidentally reinforce false beliefs by trying to correct them, a phenomenon known as belief perseverance. +Cook and Lewandowsky offer possible solutions to the backfire effects as described in different psychological studies. They recommend spending little or no time describing misconceptions because people cannot help but remember ideas that they have heard before. They write: "Your goal is to increase people's familiarity with the facts." They recommend providing fewer and clearer arguments, considering that more people recall a message when it is simpler and easier to read. "Less is more" is especially important because scientific truths can get overwhelmingly detailed; pictures, graphs, and memorable tag lines all help keep things simple. +The authors write that debunkers should try to build up people's egos in some way before confronting false beliefs because it is difficult to consider ideas that threaten one's worldviews (i.e., threatening ideas cause cognitive dissonance). It is also advisable to avoid words with negative connotations. The authors describe studies which have shown that people abhor incomplete explanations – they write "In the absence of a better explanation, [people] opt for the wrong explanation". It is important to fill in conceptual gaps, and to explain the cause of the misconception in the first place. The authors believe these techniques can reduce the odds of a "backfire" – that an attempt to debunk bad science will increase the audience's belief in misconceptions. The Debunking Handbook (2020) explains that "backfire effects occur only occasionally and the risk of occurrence is lower in most situations than once thought". The authors recommend to "not refrain from attempting to debunk or correct misinformation out of fear that doing so will backfire or increase beliefs in false information". + +== See also == +List of scientific skeptics +The True Believer + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_UFO_hypothesis-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_UFO_hypothesis-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2081dc146 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_UFO_hypothesis-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Demonic UFO hypothesis" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonic_UFO_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:36.963507+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The demonic UFO hypothesis is the proposal that unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings are the result of a satanic influence, or are themselves demons. +Psychologist Tim Lomas and theologian Brendan Case from the Harvard Human Flourishing Program argue that interpretations of anomalous aerial phenomena are shaped by the cultural and religious frameworks available to witnesses, with earlier “angelic” readings giving way in modern times to “alien” ones, and that such labels function as interpretive categories for making anomalous experiences intelligible rather than as definitive claims about the phenomenon’s nature. + + +== Chronology == +Occultist Marjorie Cameron connected the 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO incident to the recent death of her partner Jack Parsons, a rocketry expert and disciple of Aleister Crowley. +In 1954, faith healer and evangelist Walter Vinson "W.V." Grant Sr published the booklet "Men in Flying Saucers Identified: Not a Mystery!" suggesting UFOs were demonic. +In the end of the 1960s, British UFO author Gordon Creighton endorsed the theory. +In the wake of the 1973 Pascagoula incident, Rev. Bill Riddick preached a sermon suggesting UFOs were demonic. In 1974, Clifford Wilson authored UFOs and their Mission Impossible which popularized the demonic hypothesis. In the 1975 book UFOs: What on Earth is Happening?, Christian fundamentalist authors John Weldon and Zola Levitt suggested demons are responsible for UFO sightings. Weldon collaborated with Clifford Wilson on the 1978 text Close Encounters: A Better Explanation. +Apocalyptic author Hal Lindsey wrote of demonic UFOs in The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon. In 1982, Rev. W.T. Widman of Arizona made headlines for his claim that demons fly UFOs. +The 2002 book Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men expanded on the topic. In 2010, British author Nick Redfern explored this concept in his book Final Events, subtitled "Demonic UFOs, Alien Abductions, the Government, and the Afterlife". +Beginning in the late 2010s, Luis Elizondo and others in the Disclosure movement discussed the demonic hypothesis. Parapsychologist and engineer Harold E. Puthoff included “demonic/djinn” as one of several candidate categories for interpreting UAP in his 2022 paper Ultraterrestrial Models. + + +== See also == +Extraterrestrial hypothesis +Space animal hypothesis +Psychosocial hypothesis +Interdimensional hypothesis +Cryptoterrestrial hypothesis +Time-traveler UFO hypothesis +Signs (film), where aliens may be demons + + +== Additional reading == +"Demonic theory of UFOs" by Barry Downing in Story, Ronald; Greenwell, J. Richard (October 9, 1980). The Encyclopedia of UFOs. Dolphin Books – via Google Books. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..58d8507cf --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Dermo-optical perception" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:38.123323+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Dermo-optical perception (DOP, also known as dermal vision, dermo-optics, skin vision, skin reading, finger vision, cutaneous perception, digital sight, and bio-introscopy) is a term that is used in parapsychological literature to denote the alleged capability to perceive colors, differences in brightness, and/or formed images through the skin (without using the eyes, as distinct from blindsight), especially upon touching with the fingertips. +Typically, people who claim to have dermo-optical perception claim to be able to see using the skin of their fingers or hands. People who claim to have DOP often demonstrate it by reading while blindfolded. The effect has not been demonstrated scientifically. +Paroptic vision – also known as paroptic sense, eyeless vision, eyeless sight, para-optic perception, extra-optical vision or extra-retinal vision (not to be confused with extra-retinal information, an unrelated neuroscientific concept) – is a broader term referring to the alleged ability to perceive visual phenomena by any means without the light from the scene entering the eyes. Besides DOP it includes for example the ability to see an object enclosed by a box that is impervious to light. + +== History == +The first Western scientific reports are from the 17th century. Scattered cases kept being reported over the years, but scientific interest did not pick up until the 20th century. ESP researchers enthusiastically studied DOP, hoping that it was an example of extra-sensory perception, but they could only conclude that some of the results could not be explained by cheating. +According to Joe Nickell, a noted skeptic, many circus entertainers and magicians have utilized tricks to perform eyeless-sight feats. In the 1880s Washington Irving Bishop performed the "blindfold drive" with a horse-drawn carriage. In the early 20th century Joaquín María Argamasilla known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes" claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. Argamasilla managed to fool Gustav Geley and Charles Richet into believing he had genuine psychic powers. In 1924 he was exposed by Harry Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. +A teenager from America named Pat Marquis known as "the boy with X-ray eyes" was tested by J. B. Rhine and was caught peeking through the blindfold down his nose. Science writer Martin Gardner has written that the ignorance of blindfold deception methods has been widespread in investigations into objects at remote locations from persons who claim to possess eyeless vision. Gardner documented various conjuring techniques psychics such as Rosa Kuleshova, Linda Anderson and Nina Kulagina have used to peek from their blindfolds to deceive investigators into believing they used eyeless vision. +Life magazine reported on several cases on June 12, 1964, and on April 19, 1937, calling them "X-ray wonders", but all of them were found to be cheating when tested under controlled conditions. The article on 12 June reported on accounts of DOP in the Soviet Union. This focused on Rosa Kuleshova of Nizhni Tagil, whose alleged abilities were demonstrated on a TV programme called Relay watched by over 40 million viewers. This encouraged the mother of 9 year old Lena Blisznova to claim her daughter had similar abilities. They reported on the research of the psychologist Aleksei N. Leontiev, who used a Pavlovian techniques to explore DOP several years previously and then had the role of leading a research programme into the claimed phenomenon. Although Leontiev would only express his personal opinion that there was substance behind the alleged phenomenon, the Russian American expert on Soviet Psychology Gregory Razran was particularly excited about the research declaring "In all my years, I can't remember when anything has had me more excited than this prospect of opening up new doors of perception." Complaining that he was too excited to sleep at night, he opined that this was a "major scientific breakthrough" which would lead to an "explosive outburst of research" whose results were "bound to be revolutionary". Razran was keen to return to Queens College, City University of New York, where he was a professor and planned to carry out further research himself. Razran had been head of the Psychology department at Queens since 1945, but relinquished the post in 1966. +In 2010, an Italian lady known as R. G. who claimed she could peer inside sealed boxes with X-ray vision to describe what is inside was tested at the University of Pavia by Massimo Polidoro, chemist Luigi Garlaschelli and physicist Adalberto Piazzoli. Twelve objects were selected and placed in wooden boxes. She failed the test, getting only one object correct. +Joe Nickell who has studied DOP has written "To date, no one has demonstrated convincingly, under suitably controlled conditions, the existence of X-ray sight or any other form of clairvoyance or ESP." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..261a50ece --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Dermo-optical perception" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermo-optical_perception" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:38.123323+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Scientific reception == +Experiments into DOP by scientists have shown no effect. Alleged positive results have not been accepted by the mainstream scientific community due to procedures not being tight enough to prevent cheating by participants, problems with replicating the effect reliably, and concerns about the colors being recognized by the texture of the ink on the paper (people who are blind from an early age can recognize Braille patters that only have .2 millimeters of elevation above the paper, and the limit of relief distinction in fingers is still unknown). In summary, DOP has not been demonstrated scientifically. +Most of DOP positive results have been explained as cheating by participants, either via the use of magicians' tricks, or via "peeking down the nose" (cheating by participants) In recent years, DOP has been the object of mainstream research that had no links with ESP. +Apart from trickery, there are several hypotheses about how fingers could "see" radiation emitted by the colors in the paper, but none have been tested successfully. For example, people can hold their fingers near to painted and non-painted surfaces, and distinguish them by how much corporal heat is radiated back to their fingers. While it has not been verified if fingers can be sensitive enough to detect heat radiation from different inks in paper, it is theorized that blind people could plausibly do it. + +== See also == + +Synesthesia, in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway + +== References == + +== Bibliography (in English, Russian, and Ukrainian) == +Познанская, Н. Б. (1936). Кожная чувствительность к инфракрасным и к видимым лучам, «Бюл. экспер. биологии и медицины», т. 2, вып. 5. (in Russian) +Познанская, Н. Б. (1938). Кожная чувствительность к видимому и инфракрасному облучению, «Физиологический журнал СССР», т. XXIV, вып. 4. (in Russian) +Леонтьев, А. Н. Проблемы развития психики. М., МГУ, 1959 (in Russian) +Houdini, H. (1924). A Complete Exposure of Argamasilla, the Famous Spaniard who Baffled Noted Scientists of Europe and America, with His Claim to X-ray Vision. Adams Press. +Список публикаций А.С. Новомейского по вопросам кожно-оптической чувствительности (in Russian) +Makous W (1966). "Cutaneous color sensitivity: explanation and demonstration". Psychological Review. 73 (4): 280–294. doi:10.1037/h0023440. PMID 5943979. +Makous W (1966). "Dermoptical perception". Science. 152 (3725): 1109. doi:10.1126/science.152.3725.1109.a. +Duplessis Y (1985). "Dermo-optical sensitivity and perception: Its influence on human behavior". Biosocial Research. 7: 76–93. Archived from the original on 2010-06-21. Retrieved 2010-03-14. +Passini R., Rainville C. (1992). "The dermo-optical perception of color as an information source for blind travelers". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 75 (3): 995–1010. doi:10.2466/pms.1992.75.3.995. PMID 1454507. S2CID 25379724. +Мизрахи В.М. (1998). Психологические условия развития кожно-оптического восприятия цвета у слепых школьников Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine (idem). Диссертационная работа канд. психол. наук. Киев (in Ukrainian) +Larner A.J. (2006). "A possible account of synaesthesia dating from the seventeenth century" (PDF). Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 15 (3): 245–249. doi:10.1080/09647040500388661. PMID 16887762. S2CID 8346142. +Gardner, M (11 February 1966). "Dermo-optical Perception: A Peek Down the Nose". Science. 151 (3711): 654–657. Bibcode:1966Sci...151..654G. doi:10.1126/science.151.3711.654. PMID 5908072. + +== External links == +Skeptic's Dictionary entry on Dermo-optical perception +LIFE Magazine article (June 12, 1964) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e6b348b64 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Detoxification (alternative medicine)" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:39.234044+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Detoxification (often shortened to detox and sometimes called body cleansing) is a type of alternative medicine treatment which aims to rid the body of unspecified "toxins" – substances that proponents claim accumulate in the body over time and have undesirable short-term or long-term effects on individual health. It is not to be confused with detoxification carried out by the liver and kidneys, which filter the blood and remove harmful substances to be processed and eliminated from the body. Activities commonly associated with detoxification include dieting, fasting, consuming exclusively or avoiding specific foods (such as fats, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, juices, herbs), colon cleansing, chelation therapy, certain kinds of IV therapy and the removal of dental fillings containing amalgam. +Scientists and health organizations have criticized the concept of detoxification for its unsound scientific basis and for the lack of evidence for claims made. The "toxins" usually remain undefined, with little to no evidence of toxic accumulation in the patient. The British organisation Sense about Science has described some detox diets and commercial products as "a waste of time and money", while the British Dietetic Association called the idea "nonsense" and a "marketing myth". Dara Mohammadi summarizes "detoxing" as "a scam [...] a pseudo-medical concept designed to sell you things", and Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine, describes it as a term for conventional medical treatments for addiction which has been "hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment". + +== Background == +Suspicions of the inefficacy of purging became widespread by the 1830s. Biochemistry and microbiology appeared to support auto-intoxication theory in the 19th century, but by the early twentieth century detoxification-based approaches quickly fell out of favour. Even though abandoned by mainstream medicine, the idea has persisted in the popular imagination and amongst alternative medicine practitioners. Notions of internal cleansing had resurgence along with the rise of alternative medicine in the 1970s and following; it remains unscientific and anachronistic. With the rise of the environmentalist movement, many detox diets use the diet format as a political platform to advocate for environmental ideas about pollution and toxic contamination. + +== Types == + +=== Detox diets === +Detox diets are dietary plans that claim to have detoxifying effects. The general idea suggests that most food contains contaminants: ingredients deemed unnecessary for human life, such as flavor enhancers, food colorings, pesticides, and preservatives. Scientists, dietitians, and doctors, while generally viewing brief "detox diets" as harmless (unless nutritional deficiency results), often dispute the value and need of "detox diets", due to lack of supporting factual evidence or coherent rationale. In cases where a person suffers from a disease, belief in the efficacy of a detox diet can result in delay or failure to seek effective treatment. +Detox diets can involve consuming extremely limited sets of foods (only water or juice, for example, a form of fasting known as juice fasting), eliminating certain foods (such as fats) from the diet, or eliminating ultra-processed foods and alleged irritants. Detox diets are often high in fiber. Proponents claim that this causes the body to burn stored fats, releasing fat-stored "toxins" into the blood, which can then be eliminated through the blood, skin, urine, feces, and breath. Proponents claim that things such as an altered body odor support the notion that detox diets have an effect. The mainstream medical view is that the body has mechanisms to rid itself of toxins, and a healthy diet is best for the body. In the short-term, such detox diet may lead to weight loss, due to the strict caloric restriction, however after returning to a normal diet there is a weight gain. Although a brief fast of a single day is unlikely to cause harm, prolonged fasting (as recommended by certain detox diets) can have dangerous health consequences or can even be fatal. + +=== Colon cleansing === + +Colon cleansing involves administration of an enema (colonic) containing some salt, and sometimes coffee or herbs to remove food that, according to proponents, remains in the colon, producing nonspecific symptoms and general ill-health. However, the colon usually does not require any help cleaning itself. The practice can be potentially dangerous if incorrectly practised. + +=== Heavy metals === + +Practitioners may recommend detoxification as a treatment to address the notion that mercury poisoning arises from consumption of contaminated fish and from dental amalgam fillings – Quackwatch states: "Removing good fillings is not merely a waste of money. In some cases, it results in tooth loss because when fillings are drilled out, some of the surrounding tooth structure will be removed with it." + +=== "Detoxification" devices === + +Certain devices are promoted to allegedly remove toxins from the body. One version involves a foot-bath using a mild electric current, while another involves small adhesive pads applied to the skin (usually the foot). In both cases, the production of an alleged brown "toxin" appears after a brief delay. In the case of the foot bath, the "toxin" is actually small amounts of rusted iron leaching from the electrodes. The adhesive pads change color due to oxidation of the pads' ingredients in response to the skin's moisture. In both cases, the same color changes occur irrespective of whether the water or patch even makes contact with the skin (they merely require water, thus proving the color change does not result from any body detoxification process). + +== Criticism == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..05a191037 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Detoxification (alternative medicine)" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_(alternative_medicine)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:39.234044+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Unsound scientific basis === +A 2015 review of clinical evidence about detox diets concluded: "At present, there is no compelling evidence to support the use of detox diets for weight management or toxin elimination. Considering the financial costs to consumers, unsubstantiated claims and potential health risks of detox products, they should be discouraged by health professionals and subject to independent regulatory review and monitoring." +Detoxification and body cleansing products and diets have been criticized for their unsound scientific basis, in particular their premise of nonexistent "toxins" and their appropriation of the legitimate medical concept of detoxification. According to the Mayo Clinic, the "toxins" typically remain unspecified, and there is little to no evidence of toxic accumulation in patients treated. According to a British Dietetic Association (BDA) Fact Sheet, "The whole idea of detox is nonsense. The body is a well-developed system that has its own builtin mechanisms to detoxify and remove waste and toxins." It went on to characterize the idea as a "marketing myth", while other critics have called the idea a "scam" and a "hoax". The organization Sense about Science investigated "detox" products, calling them a waste of time and money. Resulting in a report that concluded the term is used differently by different companies, most offered no evidence to support their claims, and in most cases its use was the simple renaming of "mundane things, like cleaning or brushing". +The human body is naturally capable of maintaining itself, with several organs dedicated to cleansing the blood and the gut. Alan Boobis, a professor and toxicologist at Imperial College London, states: + +The body’s own detoxification systems are remarkably sophisticated and versatile. They have to be, as the natural environment that we evolved in is hostile. It is remarkable that people are prepared to risk seriously disrupting these systems with unproven 'detox' diets, which could well do more harm than good. +Scientific skeptic author Brian Dunning investigated the subject in 2008 and concluded that:Anyone interested in detoxifying their body might think about paying a little more attention to their body and less attention to the people trying to get their money... Why is it that so many people are more comfortable self-medicating for conditions that exist only in advertisements, than they are simply taking their doctor's advice? It's because doctors are burdened with the need to actually practice medicine. They won't hide bad news from you or make up easy answers to please you.Despite unsound scientific basis, detoxification is popular, and detoxification products and regimes have become a profitable health trend. As with some other alternative medicine treatments, efficacy has been attributed to astroturfing, the placebo effect, psychosomatic improvements, or natural recovery from illness that would have occurred without use of the product. +Edzard Ernst argued that detox is by definition medical fraud. + +== See also == +List of diets + +== References == + +== External links == + Media related to Alternative detoxification at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths-0.md index 46f6a669f..ce7d4f101 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_baths" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:21:56.007922+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:40.459020+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_pads-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_pads-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cfb26da2c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_pads-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Detoxification foot pads" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detoxification_foot_pads" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:41.617652+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Detoxification foot pads are pseudoscientific alternative medical adhesive foot pads or patches that manufacturers claim can dramatically improve health when placed under the feet during sleep. Some of these pads may contain ingredients such as "distilled bamboo vinegar" that allegedly pull toxins from the body, but critics have shown that the process is not scientifically viable. +On January 3, 2008, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an urgent warning regarding the potential dangers of many imported pharmaceutical substances, including several brands of detox foot patches. In April 2008, in response to questions from the Associated Press, an FDA spokeswoman said regarding the agency's investigation of the claims made for Kinoki foot pads that "basically, when we open up a case it means that the violation might be in terms of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, such as when (product makers) make false, misleading claims." +In August 2008, National Public Radio commissioned a laboratory test to look for heavy metals in used pads, which Kinoki claims are extracted from the body. The test found none. NPR also discovered that the pads change from white to grey when exposed to moisture, including sweat, and not necessarily because they absorb other substances. +The Japanese company Kenrico claims that their pads have a positive effect on the health of the users, and that they remove heavy metals from the body. There is no evidence that these products work. The skin is one of the body's largest organs of detoxification, there is no proposed mechanism as to why these patches would increase the detoxification rate above baseline. + + +== Effectiveness == +While the detoxification foot pads seem to be popular among young populations in some regions, the effect of the pads remains unclear. "Removing heavy metals from the body" seems to be good for health; however, the human body needs a certain amount of heavy metals such as zinc, iron, copper, etc. Excessive amounts of heavy metals can cause disease. Although absorption through skin is one of the ways for the human body to take in heavy metals, it is not clear if the heavy metals can be pulled out of the body through skin. The circadian rhythm is not related to the heavy metal detox, either. There is no evidence that bamboo vinegar has the function of attracting heavy metals. On the other hand, detoxification foot pads can not accurately control how much heavy metal is “detoxified” from the body. The pads have no evidence of identifying what they claim to remove, or the way of measuring their levels in the body. +No studies have been done to measure the amount of accumulated heavy metal on the pad after it has been left overnight. The Japanese company Kinoki claimed their foot pad can cause weight loss by removing toxins, metabolic wastes, heavy metals, and unspecified chemicals from the body. Kinoki also claimed that the pads can treat various kinds of disease, including headaches, depression, and even a weakened immune system. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that those claims were unsupported. + + +== See also == +Detoxification foot baths +Detoxification +Detoxification (alternative medicine) + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-0.md index cd41c9e95..92c290506 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/2 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:04:03.598386+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:42.825405+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-1.md index 0b711fbf4..4dddd9aba 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/2 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Physik" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:04:03.598386+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:42.825405+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..51f14bf21 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Dianetics" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Dianetics is a set of pseudoscientific ideas and practices regarding the human mind invented in 1950 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Dianetics was originally conceived as a form of psychological treatment, but was rejected by the psychological and medical establishments as pseudoscientific and ineffective. It was the precursor to Scientology and has since been incorporated into it. It involves a process called "auditing", which uses an electrical resistance meter, ostensibly to remove emotional burdens and "cure" people from their troubles. +"Auditing" uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject. Hubbard eventually decided to present Dianetics as a form of spirituality that is part of the Church of Scientology, after several practitioners were arrested for practicing medicine without a license and a prosecution trial was pending against the first Dianetics organization that Hubbard founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey. As well as escaping prosecution, Hubbard also saw the possibility of reducing the tax burden from the sale of Dianetics books and methods. + +== Premise == +The word Dianetics was coined from Greek dia meaning "through" and nous meaning "mind". +The pseudoscientific Dianetics ideas seek to explain the metaphysical relationship between the mind and the body. The theory describes the human mind as two parts: the conscious "analytical mind" and the subconscious "reactive mind". The stated purpose of the Dianetics technique of "auditing" is to erase the contents of the reactive mind—the holder of painful and destructive emotions that can act on a person as posthypnotic suggestions. "Auditing" uses techniques from hypnosis that are intended to create dependency and obedience in the auditing subject. In auditing, the person is asked questions intended to help them locate and deal with painful past experiences. +Dianetics theory posits that "the basic principle of existence is to survive" and that the basic personality of humans is sincere, intelligent, and good. The drive for goodness and survival is distorted and inhibited by aberrations (deviations from rational thinking). Hubbard claimed that Dianetics could increase intelligence, eliminate unwanted emotions, and alleviate a wide range of illnesses he believed to be psychosomatic. Conditions purportedly treatable by Dianetics included arthritis, allergies, asthma, some coronary difficulties, eye trouble, ulcers, migraines, and sexual deviance. + +== History == + +According to Hubbard, he had a near-death experience while sedated for a dental operation in 1938 that inspired him to write the manuscript Excalibur. Though it was never published, the work allegedly became the basis for Dianetics. The first publication on Dianetics was Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science, an article by Hubbard in Astounding Science Fiction (cover date May 1950). This was followed by the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (DMSMH), published May 9, 1950. In these works Hubbard claimed that the source of all psychological pain, and therefore the cause of mental and physical health problems, was a form of memory known as "engrams". According to Hubbard, people could reach a state he named "Clear" when all their engrams had been removed by talking with an "auditor". +While the technique was not accepted by the medical and scientific establishment, in the first two years of its publication DMSMH sold over 100,000 copies. Publication of DMSMH brought in a flood of revenue, which Hubbard used to establish Dianetics foundations in six major U.S. cities. Two of the strongest initial supporters of Dianetics in the 1950s were John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Joseph Augustus Winter, a writer and medical physician. Campbell published some of Hubbard's short stories, and Winter hoped that his own colleagues would likewise be attracted to Hubbard's Dianetics system. +Readers formed groups to study and practice Dianetics. According to sociologist Roy Wallis, this period was one of "excited experimentation" and Hubbard's work was regarded as "an initial exploration to be developed further by others". Per Wallis, it was Dianetics' popularity as a lay psychotherapy that contributed to the Dianetics Foundation's downfall. Most people read the book, tried it out, then put it down. The remaining practitioners had no ties to the Foundation. Factions formed and followers challenged Hubbard's movement and his authority. The craze of 1950–51 was dead by 1952. +In 1951, with debts piled up and facing bankruptcy, the Foundation was bailed out by Don Purcell, a wealthy Dianetics follower from Wichita. But the relief was short-lived, and the Foundation fell to bankruptcy in 1952. Hubbard fled to Phoenix, Arizona, having lost the Foundation, the rights to Dianetics, and the DMSMH copyrights to Purcell. Hubbard sued and in 1954 Purcell settled by giving the copyrights back to Hubbard. +In Phoenix, Hubbard created "Scientology"; its techniques were intended to rehabilitate people so that they might reach their full potential as spiritual beings. Dianetics was incorporated into Scientology. In 1978, Hubbard introduced "New Era Dianetics" (NED) and New Era Dianetics for OTs, and added them to The Bridge to Total Freedom. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a78a9d529 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Dianetics" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Concepts == +In the book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard describes techniques that he suggests can rid people of fears and psychosomatic illnesses. A basic idea in Dianetics is that the mind consists of two parts: the "analytical mind" and the "reactive mind". The "reactive mind", which operates when a person is physically unconscious, acts as a record of shock, trauma, pain, and otherwise harmful memories. Experiences such as these are dubbed "engrams". Dianetics is proposed as a method to erase engrams in the reactive mind to achieve a state of clear. +In Dianetics, the unconscious or reactive mind is described as a collection of "mental image pictures", which contain the recorded experience of past moments of unconsciousness, including all sensory perceptions and feelings involved, ranging from prenatal experiences, infancy and childhood, to even the traumatic feelings associated with events from past lives and extraterrestrial cultures. The type of mental image picture created during a period of unconsciousness involves the exact recording of a painful experience. Hubbard called this phenomenon an engram, and defined it as "a moment of 'unconsciousness' containing physical pain or painful emotion and all perceptions and is not available to the analytical mind as experience". +Hubbard proposed that these engrams caused "aberrations" (deviations from rational thinking) in the mind, which produced lasting adverse physical and emotional effects. When the analytical (conscious) mind shut down during these moments, events and perceptions of this period were stored as engrams in the unconscious or reactive mind. In Hubbard's earliest publications on the subject, engrams were variously referred to as norn, impediment, and comanome before "engram" was adapted from its existing usage at the suggestion of Joseph Augustus Winter. Some commentators noted Dianetics's blend of science fiction and occult orientations at the time. +Hubbard claimed that engrams were the cause of almost all psychological and physical problems. In addition to physical pain, engrams could include words or phrases spoken in the vicinity while the patient was unconscious. For instance, Winter cites the example of a patient with a persistent headache supposedly tracing the problem to a doctor saying, "Take him now", during the patient's birth. + +[The reactive mind] can give a man arthritis, bursitis, asthma, allergies, sinusitis, coronary trouble, high blood pressure ... And it is the only thing in the human being which can produce these effects ... Discharge the content of [the reactive mind] and the arthritis vanishes, myopia gets better, heart illness decreases, asthma disappears, stomachs function properly and the whole catalog of ills goes away and stays away. +According to Bent Corydon, Hubbard created the illusion that Dianetics was the first psychotherapy to address traumatic experiences in their own time, but others had done so before as standard procedure. Hugh Urban wrote it was clear that Hubbard's work had been influenced by Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank, and Hubbard himself mentioned similarities between Dianetics and Freud. +Hubbard claimed that by using Dianetics technique the reactive mind could be emptied of all engrams; "cleared" of its contents. A person who has completed this process would be "Clear". The benefits of Clear might include a higher IQ, better relationships, or career success. + +== Procedure == + +The procedure of Dianetics therapy (known as auditing) is a two-person activity. One person, the "auditor", guides the other person, the preclear, through the procedures. The preclear's job is to look at their mind and talk to the auditor. The auditor acknowledges what the preclear says and controls the process. +The auditor and preclear sit down facing each other. After getting settled, the auditor tells the preclear to close their eyes and locate something that happened to them in the past. The preclear tells the auditor what happened in the incident like he is re-experiencing it again. The auditor coaxes the preclear to recall as much as possible, and goes back over the incident several times until the preclear is cheerful about it, at which point the auditor may end the session or find another incident and repeat the process. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..da6309bbd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Dianetics" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Therapeutic claims == +The slick craftsman of mass-production science-fiction, mustering his talents and energies for a supreme effort, produces [...] a fictional science. Had dianetics been presented as fiction [...] it might have been, like other ingenious science-fiction, good entertainment. +In August 1950, amid the success of Dianetics, Hubbard held a demonstration at Los Angeles's Shrine Auditorium where he presented a young woman called Sonya Bianca (a pseudonym) to a large audience, including many reporters and photographers, as "the world's first Clear". Despite Hubbard's claim that she had "full and perfect recall of every moment of her life", Bianca proved unable to answer questions from the audience testing her memory and analytical abilities, including the question of the color of Hubbard's tie. Hubbard explained Bianca's failure to display her promised powers of recall to the audience by saying that he had used the word "now" in calling her to the stage, and thus inadvertently frozen her in "present time", which blocked her abilities. In the late 1950s, Hubbard claimed that several people had reached the state of Clear by the time he presented Bianca as the world's first; these others, Hubbard said, he had successfully cleared in the late 1940s while working incognito in Hollywood posing as a swami. In 1966, Hubbard declared South African Scientologist John McMaster to be the first true Clear. +Hubbard claimed, in an interview with The New York Times in November 1950, that "he had already submitted proof of claims made in the book to a number of scientists and associations." He added that the public as well as proper organizations were entitled to such proof and that he was ready and willing to give such proof in detail. In January 1951, the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation of Elizabeth, New Jersey, published Dianetic Processing: A Brief Survey of Research Projects and Preliminary Results, a booklet providing the results of psychometric tests conducted on 88 people undergoing Dianetics therapy. It presents case histories and a number of X-ray plates to support claims that Dianetics had cured "aberrations" including manic depression, asthma, arthritis, colitis and "overt homosexuality", and that after Dianetic processing, test subjects experienced significantly increased scores on a standardized IQ test. The report's subjects are not identified by name, but one of them is clearly Hubbard himself ("Case 1080A, R. L."). +The authors provide no qualifications, although they are described in Hubbard's book Science of Survival (where some results of the same study were reprinted) as psychotherapists. Critics of Dianetics are skeptical of this study, both because of the bias of the source and because the researchers appear to ascribe all physical benefits to Dianetics without considering possible outside factors; in other words, the report lacks any scientific controls. Winter was originally an associate of Hubbard and an early adopter of Dianetics, but by the end of 1950 had cut ties with Hubbard and written an account of his personal experiences with Dianetics. He called Hubbard "absolutistic and authoritarian", and criticized the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation for failing to undertake "precise scientific research into the functioning of the mind". He also recommended that auditing be done by experts only and that it was dangerous for laymen to audit each other. Hubbard writes: "Again, Dianetics is not being released to a profession, for no profession could encompass it." + +== Scientific rejection == +Hubbard's original book on Dianetics attracted highly critical reviews from science and medical writers and organizations. The American Psychological Association passed a resolution in 1950 calling "attention to the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations." Dianetics has achieved no acceptance as a scientific theory, and scientists cite it as an example of a pseudoscience. +Few scientific investigations into the effectiveness of Dianetics have been published. Professor John A. Lee states in his 1970 evaluation of Dianetics: + +Objective experimental verification of Hubbard's physiological and psychological doctrines is lacking. To date, no regular scientific agency has established the validity of his theories of prenatal perception and engrams, or cellular memory, or Dianetic reverie, or the effects of Scientology auditing routines. Existing knowledge contradicts Hubbard's theory of recording of perceptions during periods of unconsciousness. +The MEDLINE database records two independent scientific studies on Dianetics, both conducted in the 1950s under the auspices of New York University. Harvey Jay Fischer tested Dianetic therapy against three claims made by proponents and found it does not affect any significant changes in intellectual functioning, mathematical ability, or the degree of personality conflicts; Jack Fox tested Hubbard's thesis regarding recall of engrams, with the assistance of the Dianetic Research Foundation, and could not substantiate it. +Commentators from a variety of backgrounds have described Dianetics as an example of pseudoscience. For example, philosophy professor Robert Carroll points to Dianetics' lack of empirical evidence: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d7b5c596e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Dianetics" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:44.107872+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +What Hubbard touts as a science of mind lacks one key element that is expected of a science: empirical testing of claims. The key elements of Hubbard's so-called science don't seem testable, yet he repeatedly claims that he is asserting only scientific facts and data from many experiments. It isn't even clear what such "data" would look like. Most of his data is in the form of anecdotes and speculations ... Such speculation is appropriate in fiction, but not in science. +The validity and practice of auditing have been questioned by a variety of non-Scientologist commentators. Commenting on the example cited by Winter, the science writer Martin Gardner asserts that "nothing could be clearer from the above dialogue than the fact that the dianetic explanation for the headache existed only in the mind of the therapist, and that it was with considerable difficulty that the patient was maneuvered into accepting it." +Other critics and medical experts have suggested that Dianetic auditing is a form of hypnosis. Hubbard, who had previously used hypnosis for entertainment purposes, strongly denied this connection and cautioned against hypnosis in Dianetics auditing. Professor Richard J. Ofshe, a leading expert on false memories, suggests that the feeling of well-being reported by preclear at the end of an auditing session may be induced by post-hypnotic suggestion. Other researchers have identified quotations in Hubbard's work suggesting evidence that false memories were created in Dianetics, specifically in the form of birth and pre-birth memories. +According to an article by physician Martin Gumpert, "Hubbard's concept of psychosomatic disease is definitely wrong. Psychosomatic ailments are not simply caused by emotional disturbances: they are diseases in which the emotional and the organic factor are closely involved and interdependent." + +But even the limited good that dianetics may do by introducing a single, narrowly-defined role-playing technique into interpersonal relations is probably more than offset by the damage it can do with its accompanying pretentious and nonsensical doctrines. [...T]hose who are helped by dianetics will necessarily be kept at a low level of intellectual and emotional maturity by the nonsense they have absorbed in order to be helped. The lure of the pseudoscientific vocabulary and promises of dianetics cannot but condemn thousands who are beginning to emerge from scientific illiteracy to a continuation of their susceptibility to word-magic and semantic hash. + +== See also == +Bibliography of Scientology +Co-counselling + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014. +Breuer J, Freud S, "Studies in Hysteria", Vol II of the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (Hogarth Press, London, 1955). +Fischer, Harvey Jay: "Dianetic therapy: an experimental evaluation. A statistical analysis of the effect of dianetic therapy as measured by group tests of intelligence, mathematics and personality. " Abstract of Ph.D. thesis, 1953, New York University +Miscavige, David (October 8, 1993). "Speech to the International Association of Scientologists" – via David S. Touretzky. +O'Brien, Helen: Dianetics in Limbo. Whitmore, Philadelphia, 1966 +Streissguth, Thomas (1995). Charismatic Cult Leaders. The Oliver Press. ISBN 1881508188. OL 1097441M. +van Vogt, A.E.: Dianetics and the Professions, 1953 +Williamson, Jack (1984). Wonder's Child: My life in science fiction. New York: Bluejay Books. ISBN 0312944543. OL 2848895M. + +== External links == +Official website \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_of_Ta_Prohm-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_of_Ta_Prohm-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a61352747 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_of_Ta_Prohm-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Dinosaur of Ta Prohm" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_of_Ta_Prohm" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:45.294513+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The "dinosaur of Ta Prohm" is a bas-relief in the Khmer Empire temple-monastery of Ta Prohm. Numerous reliefs of various animals are present in the temple; the "dinosaur" is one of its more ambiguous artworks. The relief first gained modern notoriety in the late 1990s when the lobe-like features running down the animal's back were compared to the back plates of stegosaurian dinosaurs. The relief has since become a popular piece of "evidence" for the fringe belief that non-avian dinosaurs once coexisted with humans. +There is no academic consensus on what animal is depicted. The supposed back plates are likely stylized background foliage, present in many of the other reliefs at the temple. Other than this feature, the animal bears little resemblance to stegosaurs and instead possesses marked anatomical differences, such as in the proportions and features of its head and in its lack of a thagomizer (tail spikes). Some of its anatomical features have been compared to chameleons and rhinoceroses. It is not certain that the relief was intended to depict a real animal at all, since some reliefs in the temple depict mythical creatures. Since Ta Prohm is a popular site for film crews, it has also been suggested that the relief could be a modern hoax. + + +== History == +The bas-relief is located in the temple-monastery of Ta Prohm in Cambodia. Within the temple, it is found in Gopura III, east of the main sanctuary. It is one of several roundels in a vertical strip of reliefs between the east wall of the main body of the gopura and the south wall of the porch. +Ta Prohm was constructed in the late 12th century under Jayavarman VII of the Khmer Empire and was dedicated in honor of his mother, Sri Jayarajacudamani, in 1186. Ta Prohm is decorated with numerous bas-reliefs, depicting various animals and mythical figures. Many of the animals can be identified but some are more ambiguous, such as the "dinosaur". When exactly the relief was carved is unknown; the temple in later times saw phases of being damaged, expanded, and modified. After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 15th century, Ta Prohm and other temples were mostly left abandoned and neglected. Unlike some other temples, Ta Prohm has seen only little modern restoration work. +The "dinosaur" relief first gained widespread recognition in modern times when its strange appearance was pointed out in a 1997 guidebook, Angkor Cities and Temples by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques. In their later 1999 book, Ancient Angkor, Freeman and Jacques again highlighted the relief and referred to it as "a very convincing representation of a stegosaur". + + +== Description == +The animal depicted in the relief has a convex-shaped back, lined with a series of ornaments superficially reminiscent of the plates of stegosaurian dinosaurs. It is likely that these supposed plates are meant to be stylized lotus leaves or petals, which are also featured in nearby reliefs and throughout the temple's artwork, sometimes in a nearly identical manner. The ornamentations of reliefs depicting a water buffalo and a bird have for instance been identified as nearly identical; in these cases, the ornamentation is clearly not meant to represent back plates. + + +== Identification == + + +=== Conventional identifications === + +The relief has garnered relatively little scientific interest. Conventional identifications of the animal depicted, taking into account the likelihood that the "plates" are stylized background foliage, include a chameleon, a mountain horned lizard, a rhinoceros, a water buffalo, or a boar. Although the head anatomy corresponds to that of a rhinoceros, the animal lacks a nose horn. It is possible that it originally had a horn that later weathered away or that the species depicted is one with a much less pronounced horn, such as the Bornean rhinoceros, historically present in Cambodia. The arched back and large tail have been interpreted by some as more suggestive of a chameleon. It is also possible that the animal is a mythical one since other mythical creatures are depicted elsewhere in the temple, including very close to the "dinosaur"; the relief at the bottom of the same strip is a mythical dog-like creature with the head of a human or monkey. +Another possibility is that the relief was either made or altered by a modern hoaxer. Ta Prohm is often used by film crews and this particular image could have been carved as a joke. The relief is lighter than the surrounding carvings, which could suggest that it was made or altered relatively recently. Alternatively, this could have resulted from it being cleaned or from visitors making molds of it. + + +=== Fringe theories === + +Some adherents of fringe theories, such as Young Earth creationists and cryptozoologists, have put forth the "dinosaur" of Ta Prohm as evidence that humans and non-avian dinosaurs once coexisted. The relief has been widely publicized online, particularly on websites and blogs by creationists, including by the major creationist organization Answers in Genesis. A replica of the relief is exhibited at the Creation Evidence Museum of Texas, where the conclusion that it represents a stegosaur is strongly encouraged. +All dinosaur lineages other than birds went extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, 66 million years ago. The complete absence of non-avian dinosaur fossils in Cenozoic layers contrasts sharply with the good record of the group in Mesozoic layers and their survival would require ghost lineages on an unprecedented scale. Stegosaurs appear to have been declining already in the Early Cretaceous. They may have gone extinct prior to the extinction event since no certain stegosaurian fossils are known from the Late Cretaceous. + +There is no evidence that the animal depicted is a stegosaurian dinosaur. The Khmer Empire was an advanced, highly populous, and literate society. It is unlikely that the presence of stegosaurs in Cambodia only a few centuries ago would not have been documented in any other way than through a single relief in a temple. Beyond the superficial resemblance of the plates, the animal also shares few similarities with stegosaurs. Even if interpreted as plates, the structures along the animal's back do not resemble stegosaurian plates, which were greater in number and placed in two rows. The animal is depicted with two large structures on the back of its head, either horns (not known from any stegosaur) or large ear flaps (which would suggest that it is a mammal). It is also depicted with a short neck, a wide snout and a large head. These features correspond to rhinoceros anatomy and are very different from the long neck, pointed and narrow snout, and small heads of stegosaurs. The animal has front and back legs of around the same size, whereas stegosaurs had back legs significantly larger than their front legs. The tail appears to be very low to the ground whereas dinosaurs are now known to have held their tails well above the ground. The animal does not have a thagomizer (tail spikes), one of the most striking and unique features of stegosaurs. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c12226737 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Disclose.tv" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:47.580504+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Disclose.tv is a disinformation outlet based in Germany that presents itself as a news aggregator. It is known for promoting conspiracy theories and fake news, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-vaccine narratives. +The website was created in 2007 as a conspiracy forum focused around content such as UFOs and paranormal phenomena. In 2021, it rebranded itself as a news aggregator on its social media platforms and website. Disclose.tv pushes far-right content, conspiracy theories and misleading information together with real news taken from other sources frequently without attribution, and platforms hate speech, including Holocaust denial and neo-Nazism, on its message groups. + +== History == + +Archived versions of Disclose.tv were found as far back as March 2007 by Logically, a British anti-disinformation organisation. In its initial form, the website operated as a forum focusing on user-generated content discussing topics such as UFOs, paranormal phenomena and conspiracy theories. The website's name references the concept of "disclosure" in the UFO community, referring to the time they believe the government will confirm the existence of aliens and release information about them. +In April 2012, Disclose.tv announced a redesign of its website. During the 2010s, Disclose.tv's content became more political, with users' posts on the site casting doubt on the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and criticising "social justice warriors", which Logically said was indicative of "the right-wing undercurrent of the community". +In 2019, Disclose.tv removed its user-written articles and switched to primarily hosting forums; the website presented some of the forum posts as news articles on its social media accounts. In September 2021, it removed its old versions and cleared out its Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts, and announced to its users that it would be operating exclusively as a news website. Around the same time, the website published news articles that were backdated to September 2020, and many of which were plagiarised from a combination of reliable sources and other conspiracy theory websites. +In January 2022, after Logically sent a request for comment during its investigation of the website, Disclose.tv published an unsigned statement claiming to have never heard of Logically, stating it had "lost sight" of the hateful content being posted on its Discord channel despite claiming to have moderators and bots searching for such posts, and apologising for the examples of plagiarism listed in the investigation. The statement also targeted Logically reporter Ernie Piper by name. Logically noted that Disclose.tv had blocked many members of its editorial team on Twitter prior to the request for comment, despite claiming to have never heard of Logically. Piper said that the statement, part of which was described as being "ironic and mocking in tone", was "not a normal way for a media organization to respond to critical coverage", and added that it was "alarming" and "in and of itself a threat" that Disclose.tv had published his name to its followers. + +== Influence == + +As of January 2022, Disclose.tv has social media accounts on Twitter (1 million followers as of 5 November 2022), Telegram (438,000 followers), YouTube (12,000 followers) and Facebook (3 million followers), as well as the far-right platforms Gettr (612,000 followers) and Gab (199,000 followers). Between September 2021 and January 2022, Disclose.tv also maintained a Discord server. Disclose.tv's content has been promoted by QAnon conspiracy theorists and shared on COVID-19 misinformation groups on Telegram. +Miro Dittrich, a senior researcher for the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy (CeMAS), a German extremism monitoring agency, said that Disclose.tv "is an exception in terms of its reach" in relation to other fringe websites, and in how it is "trying to portray itself as not being a German outlet" and reusing American far-right sources' talking points. Dittrich and Stephan Mündges, the head of the Technical University of Dortmund's Journalism Institute, said that the biggest threat from outlets like Disclose.tv is their ability to present conspiracy theories, disinformation and misleading stories as factual news. Mündges noted, "They call themselves 'alternative media.' And not everything they publish is completely false, there can be a true story that is then given a strong slant in a certain direction." +In January 2022, Logically reported that Holocaust denial, neo-Nazism and other forms of hate speech were flourishing on Disclose.tv's Discord and Telegram groups, which included users displaying the swastika and sharing the neo-Nazi propaganda film Europa: The Last Battle on its Telegram group. Logically reporter Ernie Piper explained, "They had a disclaimer saying 'no Nazi BS,' but were at best negligent and at worst freely allowing extreme anti-Semitism on their channels." Promoting or platforming Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany, with a punishment of up to five years in prison. Following Logically's request for comment, Disclose.tv closed its Discord server. Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said that Disclose.tv was "known" to them, but did not comment further on the extent to which they were monitoring its channels. +In December 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Disclose.tv's Telegram channel serves as an influential bridge between disparate far-right extremist channels. Telegram recommends that visitors to Disclose.tv's channel follow similar channels, including white nationalist channel Red Ice, incel channel Femoids Unleashed and neo-Nazi accelerationist channel Zoomerwaffen. + +== Content == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7ebe827bc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +title: "Disclose.tv" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclose.tv" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:47.580504+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Disclose.tv presents itself as a news aggregator on its social media platforms, promoting conspiracy theories and misleading information together with real news taken from other sources frequently without attribution. It has misrepresented past events as having taken place in the present, such as reporting on a March 2020 curfew in Bavaria in October 2021. Logically noted that over half of Disclose.tv's eight most popular tweets featured no attribution as of January 2022, and stated that the website's continued uncritical coverage of conspiracy narratives and UFOs since its September 2021 relaunch revealed its links to pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. +Dittrich stated that the website often creates content "that doesn't look like it's conspiracy-driven" and is occasionally shared by "apolitical people or people on the left who don't know its true purpose". Mündges said that it was not very common for a Germany-based website to be producing content in another language for an international audience, adding: "It is more common that items from the English-language media, for example the 'Stop the steal' narrative, are taken and translated into German". + +=== Prior to 2021 relaunch === +In 2012, Disclose.tv published a story titled "List of All FEMA Concentration Camps in America Revealed", which was shared by American far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. In 2015, skeptic Brian Dunning listed Disclose.tv at #6 on his "Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites" list, calling it "the National Enquirer of the 21st century. Aliens, UFOs, mermaids, Planet X, ghosts, ancient mysteries... anything you'd expect to find in a supermarket tabloid, you can find on the pages of Disclose.tv." +In August 2016, Disclose.tv published an article falsely claiming that Edward Snowden was pronounced dead by his girlfriend in Russia. In September, Disclose.tv claimed that NASA had admitted to being in contact with aliens and had not formally announced the information due to believing that everyone was already aware of it; Snopes traced the source of the claim to Waterford Whispers News, an Irish satirical news website. +In 2017, PolitiFact included Disclose.tv in its list of fake news websites. +In May 2018, Disclose.tv published an article claiming that vaccines contain "cancer enzymes". The fact-checking website Health Feedback noted that the "enzymes" referred to in the article seemed to be nagalase, which is not in any vaccine. The claim was repeated on websites such as GlobalResearch.ca and Natural News. +In October 2018, Disclose.tv published a story claiming that a Zimbabwean man had created an electric car that did not require charging. PolitiFact rated the claim "Pants on Fire", noting that the man's claims had already been reported on in 2015, and that the Zimbabwean technology news website TechZim had noted that the car was outside of the Law of Conservation of Energy. + +=== COVID-19 misinformation === + +Disclose.tv promotes anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown narratives, and misrepresents developments related to COVID-19. A study published in March 2021 in the Online Social Networks and Media journal identified Disclose.tv as a purveyor of disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. +In March 2021, Disclose.tv misrepresented a report on vaccine passports published by The Washington Post to falsely claim that the Biden administration would both mandate the use of a passport and maintain the system that runs it. +In July 2021, Disclose.tv tweeted that 60% of people being admitted to hospitals in the United Kingdom had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The claim was based on an incorrect statistic given by Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Advisor for the UK; Vallance issued a statement on Twitter with the correct statistic, which was that 60% of people being hospitalized were unvaccinated. Disclose.tv subsequently deleted its tweet. +In October 2021, Disclose.tv published an article titled "German court declares Corona curfew unconstitutional", which referred to a March 2020 curfew in Bavaria that was retroactively ruled unconstitutional by the State Court. +In February 2022, Disclose.tv shared on Twitter a Reuters article with the incorrect headline "Japan's Kowa says that ivermectin effective against Omicron in phase III trial". The tweet was reshared by podcaster Joe Rogan. Reuters subsequently corrected its headline and article to note that the research conducted by Kowa was non-clinical research; the correction was shared by Disclose.tv, which still falsely stated that ivermectin was "effective against Omicron in phase III trial". +In March 2024, Disclose.tv republished an op-ed by Paul Marik and Pierre Kory in The Hill claiming that long COVID was caused by COVID-19 vaccination instead of COVID-19 infection. The fact-checking website Health Feedback found that the op-ed relied on anecdotes that did not provide evidence to support the claim. + +== Operation == +Disclose.tv is owned by Futurebytes GmbH & Co. KG, which describes itself as a "private equity company" and is based in Passau. Futurebytes is registered with the District Court of Passau and its described purpose is e-commerce, marketing and advertising. Futurebytes is owned by Uwe Braun, a Cologne-based entrepreneur who has made money in Internet hosting businesses, with his company Host Europe being sold to GoDaddy for €1.69 billion ($1.82 billion) in 2016. Braun has not publicly acknowledged his connection to Disclose.tv. In the website's imprint, Braun is named as the legally responsible person. +In January 2022, Logically reported that all of the website's articles were attributed to only four writers, none of whom had links to personal websites, social media or biographies, and their profile pictures were fakes generated by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). The writers' articles also appeared to have been written by a native German speaker. + +== See also == +List of fake news websites + +== References == + +== External links == +Official website +Robert Evans (28 January 2022). "DiscloseTV & the Cultic Milieu". It Could Happen Here (Podcast). iHeart. Retrieved 20 August 2023. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..596dee3bc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +title: "Discovery Institute" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:48.709313+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Discovery Institute (DI) is a politically conservative think tank that advocates the pseudoscientific notion of intelligent design (ID). It was founded in 1991 in Seattle as a non-profit offshoot of the Hudson Institute. +It has been denounced as a "propaganda mill" by various prominent critics. +Its "Teach the Controversy" campaign aims to permit the teaching of anti-evolution, intelligent-design arguments in United States public high school science courses in place of accepted scientific theories, positing that a scientific controversy exists over whether evolution is a reality, when in fact there is none. + +== History == +The institute was cofounded in 1991 by Bruce Chapman and George Gilder as a non-profit educational foundation and think tank. +It was started as a branch organization of the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based conservative think tank. It is named after the Royal Navy ship HMS Discovery in which George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. The organization was incorporated in 1991. + +=== Discovery Institute Press === +Discovery Institute Press is the institute's publishing arm and has published intelligent design books by its fellows including David Berlinski's Deniable Darwin & Other Essays (2010), Jonathan Wells' The Myth of Junk DNA (2011) and an edited volume titled Signature Of Controversy, which contains apologetics in defense of the institute's Center for Science and Culture director Stephen C. Meyer. + +=== Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity === +The Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity (PSSI), formally registered as PSSI International Inc., is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit anti-evolution organization, based in Clearwater, Florida, promoting the pseudoscience of intelligent design associated with the Discovery Institute. While in the past, the organization sponsored events promoting intelligent design and fundamentalist Christianity, it is currently largely inactive. The PSSI was established in early 2006 by Rich Akin. Geoffrey Simmons, Discovery Institute fellow, is one of the directors of the PSSI. +The PSSI created a public list of medical professionals who dissent from Darwinism. This list is used by the Discovery Institute in its anti-evolution campaigns. The list is used in support of the Discovery Institute claims that intelligent design is scientifically valid while asserting that evolution lacks broad scientific support. +The PSSI, which was active between 2006 and 2008, held a "Doctors Doubting Darwin" rally at the University of South Florida's Sun Dome in September 2006. Attendance was estimated at 3,500 to 4,000 people by a local reporter. Apologetic organizations promoting the event had hoped to fill all 7,700 seats in the Sun Dome. This meeting featured the Discovery Institute's Jonathan Wells and fellow Michael Behe, and received local radio coverage. This rally was opposed by the Florida Citizens for Science. + +=== Teach the Controversy === + +Teach the Controversy is a campaign conducted by the Discovery Institute to promote the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit the teaching of evolution in United States public high school science courses. +The scientific community and science education organizations have replied that there is no scientific controversy regarding the validity of evolution and that the controversy is a religious and political one. A federal court, along with the majority of scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, say the institute has manufactured the controversy they want to teach by promoting a "false perception" that evolution is "a theory in crisis" by falsely claiming it is the subject of wide controversy and debate within the scientific community. In the December 2005 ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Judge John E. Jones III concluded that intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents". + +=== Wedge strategy === + +The wedge strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the institute. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the "Wedge Document". Its goal is to change American culture by shaping public policy to reflect politically conservative, fundamentalist, evangelical Protestant values. The wedge metaphor is attributed to Phillip E. Johnson and depicts a metal wedge splitting a log. In Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) the authors wrote "Although its religious orientation is explicit, the long-term plan outlined in the Wedge Document also displays the Discovery Institute's political agenda very clearly. In ten years, the Wedge strategy was to be extended to ethics, politics, theology; the humanities, and the arts. The ultimate goal of the Discovery Institute is to 'overthrow' materialism and 'renew' American culture to reflect right-wing Christian values." + +=== Center for Science and Culture === + +The Center for Science and Culture (CSC), formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC), is part of the Discovery Institute, beside other connected sites, such as Mind Matters, operated by the non-profit Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute. It publishes the blog Evolution News & Science Today (formerly Evolution News & Views and often shortened to Evolution News (EN)), that promotes "a rigorously God-centered view of creation, including a new 'science' based solidly on theism." + +=== Center on Wealth & Poverty === +Robert Marbut, a senior fellow of Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth & Poverty, has appeared on NewsNation. + +=== Other issues === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d28963b78 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +title: "Discovery Institute" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:48.709313+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Homelessness ==== +Christopher Rufo, an activist who later opposed the teaching of critical race theory, wrote frequently on the subject of homelessness while he worked for the Discovery Institute. In his 2018 Discovery Institute-funded policy paper "Seattle Under Siege: How Seattle's Homelessness Policy Perpetuates the Crisis and How We Can Fix It," Rufo said that four groups—"socialist intellectuals", "compassion brigades", the "homeless-industrial complex", and the "addiction evangelists"—had successfully framed the debate on homelessness and diverted funding to their projects. He described how the "compassion brigade" had called for social justice using terms such as "compassion, empathy, bias, inequality, root causes, systemic racism." Rufo brought negative attention to All Home, which at the time was King County, Washington's homelessness agency, by sharing a video of a stripper performing at a conference on homelessness. All Home's director was placed on administrative leave and resigned shortly thereafter. + +Caitlin Bassett of the Discovery Institute has contributed opinion articles that criticize governmental response to homelessness as wasteful and counterproductive to the goal of ending homelessness. The Discovery Institute opposes the Housing First approach, preferring to prioritize treating homeless people for mental illness or drug addiction. + +==== 2020 United States presidential election ==== +Scott S. Powell, a senior fellow of the Institute, has promoted the false claim that the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen. + +=== Climate change === +The Discovery Institute website has posted articles denying the scientific consensus on climate change. + +== See also == + +Creation and evolution in public education in the United States +Hudson Institute +Timeline of intelligent design + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Mooney, Chris (2005). The Republican War on Science. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-04675-1. LCCN 2005004889. OCLC 58605134. +Pennock, Robert T, ed. (2001). Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-66124-1. LCCN 2001031276. OCLC 46729201. +Phy-Olsen, Allene (2010). Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design. Historical Guides to Controversial Issues in America. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-37841-6. LCCN 2010009743. OCLC 656503130. + +== External links == +Official website +"Discovery Institute". Internal Revenue Service filings. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. +Discovery Institute on C-SPAN \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dit_da-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dit_da-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..54d0243e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dit_da-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +--- +title: "Dit da" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dit_da" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:51.077410+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Dit da (Chinese: 跌打; pinyin: diē dǎ; Jyutping: dit3 daa2; lit. 'fall [and] hit'), tit da or die da is a traditional Chinese medicine discipline used to treat trauma and injuries such as bone fractures, sprains, and bruises. Methods include bone-setting and occasional use of topical preparations such as the dit da jow. Die da originated among martial artists in Guangdong. In Hong Kong, 跌打 is pronounced as "tid da" in Hong Kong Cantonese. + + +== Background == +Before one learns hitting others, one learns being hit. [Hence] before one learns the martial arts, one learns dit-da. +Dit da originated in Guangdong, China, and was usually practiced by martial artists who knew aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. Dit da specialists may also use or recommend dit da jow, other Chinese medical therapies, and in modern times, the use of Western medicine if serious injury is involved. Dit da is not commonly practiced in the West, but it is currently practiced in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. + + +== History == +The development of dit-da grew out of study by martial artists in Foshan, the main origin of "Southern-style" Chinese martial arts. This city has supported a rich martial arts tradition ever since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. By the times between the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of Republic of China rule, Foshan has become a hub of local martial arts activity, being home to numerous competing styles and giving birth to icons such as Ip Man and Wong Fei-hung. The intense competition also meant that bone and tendon injuries were common, fueling the development of a local form of traumatology. + + +=== Foshan gu-shang === +Among the early practitioners were Li Cai-gan (–1915), who received initial education in TCM traumatology from a monk during his refuge in a small town near Guangzhou. Upon his return to Foshan, Cai-gan developed his version of the dit-da practice under the name gu-shang (Chinese: 骨伤; pinyin: gǔ shāng; Jyutping: gwat1 soeng1; lit. 'bone injury'). +After Cai-gan's death, his son Li Guang-hai (1894-1972) inherited his practice. Guang-hai would develop several innovations: a principle of "treating trauma by following the hematomas" (治伤从瘀), a collection of eight methods of bone setting, and a range of topical medications in liniment and paste form. Most important for the spread of his fame, however, were his charitable contributions. Guang-hai offered free medication and treatment during a severe flood in the 1910s. Later on, he offered free treatment, food, and boarding to patients traveling from neighboring towns. Beginning in 1939, he offered the same treatment for casualties for the local Communist guerrilla. At the founding of the Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (FTCMH) in 1956, Guang-hai was named its vice director. He became the director in 1960, was expelled during the Cultural Revolution, then returned to work as an ordinary doctor until his death. +Guang-hai's tenure also resulted in the spread of the study of "gu-shang", leading to several third-generation practitioners. Among them, his son Li Jia-da and his student Chen Wei-liang stayed at FTCMH, while his other son Li Jia-yu established a famous practice in Guangzhou. The two at FTCMH would go on to train Chen Xun-wen, noted for the incorporation of modern diagnostics, biomechanics, and medical imaging in his practice as well as a high paper output. + + +=== Other Foshan developments === +Feng Liaoxing (1630-1695) was a Foshan dit da practitioner. He founded a pharmacy named after himself, which still exists today as a pharmaceutical company. + + +== Notable practitioners == +Leung Jan +Wong Fei-hung +Lam Sai-wing +Lam Cho +Kwan Tak-hing +Luk Chee Fu +Chris Leong Yann Kong (Malaysia) + + +== Conservation == +Foshan traumatological pharmaceutical techniques were added to the intangible cultural heritage list of Foshan city government in 2015. Two of the listed practitioners were: Chen Xun-wen (Deputy Director, Orthopedic Center, Foshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital; fourth generation), Zou Yun-xuan (Chief Chinese Physician, Department of Orthopedic Traumatology, FTCMH; fifth generation). +Chinese traditional bone-setting therapy (Foshan traumatological bone-setting) was added to the intangible cultural heritage list of Foshan city government in 2018. Two of the listed practitioners were: Chen Xun-wen (titles as above, fourth generation), He Lilei (Chief Chinese Physician, Department of Orthopedic Traumatology, FTCMH; fifth generation). +Feng Liaoxing's dit da jow formula is standardized in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The formula is on the intangible cultural heritage list of Guangdong. + + +== See also == +Chiropractic +Joint manipulation +Sports injury +Tui na + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-0.md index 205987ff8..602081279 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/2 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:23:22.401071+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:53.410449+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-1.md index 7332f2d26..9da37c0a9 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/2 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_signatures" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:23:22.401071+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:53.410449+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Koster's_Antigaspills-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Koster's_Antigaspills-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0507e5eff --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Koster's_Antigaspills-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +--- +title: "Doktor Koster's Antigaspills" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Koster's_Antigaspills" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:54.558335+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Doktor Koster's Antigaspills were an early-20th-century alternative medication intended to treat stomach upset and excessive flatulence. They are best known for being administered to Adolf Hitler by his physician, Theodor Morell, to treat Hitler's stomach ailments. Morrell, regarded as a quack by Hitler's associates, administered a wide variety of unorthodox concoctions and medications to Hitler beginning in 1936. +The pill's active ingredients consisted primarily of atropine (an extract of Atropa belladonna) and strychnine. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..88f8e168e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Dowsing" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate many types of object and material without the use of a technical equipment or scientific apparatus. It can be applied to seek for ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia), gravesites, or malign "earth vibrations". It is also known as divining (especially in water divining), doodlebugging (particularly in the United States, in searching for petroleum or treasure) or water finding, or water witching (in the United States). +A Y-shaped twig or rod, or two L-shaped ones, called dowsing rods or divining rods are normally used, and the motion of these are said to reveal the location of the target material. The motion of such dowsing devices is generally attributed to random movement, or to the ideomotor phenomenon, a psychological response where a subject makes motions unconsciously. +The scientific evidence shows that dowsing is no more effective than random chance. It is therefore regarded as a pseudoscience. + +== History == + +=== Early divination and religion === + +Dowsing originated in ancient times, when it was treated as a form of divination. The Catholic Church banned the practice completely. +Protestant Reformer Martin Luther perpetuated the Catholic ban, in 1518 listing divining for metals as an act that broke the first commandment (i.e., as occultism). +Old texts about searching for water do not mention using the divining twig, and the first account of this practice was in 1568. +Sir William F. Barrett wrote in his 1911 book Psychical Research that: + +...in a recent admirable Life of St. Teresa of Spain, the following incident is narrated: Teresa in 1568 was offered the site for a convent to which there was only one objection, there was no water supply; happily, a Friar Antonio came up with a twig in his hand, stopped at a certain spot and appeared to be making the sign of the cross; but Teresa says, "Really I cannot be sure if it were the sign he made, at any rate he made some movement with the twig and then he said, ' Dig just here '; they dug, and lo ! a plentiful fount of water gushed forth, excellent for 'drinking, copious for washing, and it never ran dry.' " As the writer of this Life remarks: "Teresa, not having heard of dowsing, has no explanation for this event", and regarded it as a miracle. This, I believe, is the first historical reference to dowsing for water. +In 1662, divining with rods was declared to be "superstitious, or rather satanic" by a Jesuit, Gaspar Schott, though he later noted that he was not sure that the devil was always responsible for the movement of the rod. In southern France in the 17th century, it was used to track criminals and heretics. Its abuse led to a decree of the inquisition in 1701, forbidding its employment for purposes of justice. +An epigram by Samuel Sheppard, from Epigrams theological, philosophical, and romantick (1651) runs thus: + +=== Modern dowsing === +Dowsing practices used in an attempt to locate metals are still performed much like they were during the 16th century. The 1550 edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia contains a woodcut of a dowser with forked rod in hand walking over a cutaway image of a mining operation. The rod is labeled in Latin and German; "Virgula Divina – Glück-Rüt" ('Rod Divine, Luck-Rod'), but there is no text accompanying the woodcut. By 1556, Georgius Agricola's treatment of mining and smelting of ore, De Re Metallica, included a detailed description of dowsing for metal ore. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1dee42a66 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Dowsing" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +...There are many great contentions between miners concerning the forked twig, for some say that it is of the greatest use in discovering veins, and others deny it. ... All alike grasp the forks of the twig with their hands, clenching their fists, it being necessary that the clenched fingers should be held toward the sky in order that the twig should be raised at that end where the two branches meet. Then they wander hither and thither at random through mountainous regions. It is said that the moment they place their feet on a vein the twig immediately turns and twists, and so by its action discloses the vein; when they move their feet again and go away from that spot the twig becomes once more immobile. ... +In the 16th century, German deep mining technology was in enormous demand all over Europe. German miners were licensed to live and work in England, particularly in the Stannaries (tin mines) of Devon and Cornwall and in Cumbria. In other parts of England, the technique was used in the royal mines for calamine. By 1638 German miners were recorded using the technique in silver mines in Wales. +The Middle Low German name for a forked stick (Y-rod) was Schlag-Ruthe ('striking rod'). This was translated in the sixteenth century Cornish dialect to duschen (duschan according to William Barrett) (Middle English, 'to strike, fall'). By the seventeenth century the English term dowsing was coming into common use. +In the lead-mining area of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England in the 17th century the natural philosopher Robert Boyle, inspired by the writings of Agricola, watched a practitioner try to find "latent veins of metals". Boyle saw the hazel divining rod (virgula divinatoria) stoop in the hands of the diviner, who protested that he was not applying any force to the twig; Boyle accepted the man's genuine belief but himself remained unconvinced. Towards the end of the century, in 1691 the philosopher John Locke, who was born in the English West Country, used the term deusing-rod for the Old Latin name virgula divina. So, dowse is synonymous with strike, hence the phrases: to dowse/strike a light, to dowse/strike a sail. +Dowsing was conducted in South Dakota in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to help homesteaders, farmers and ranchers locate water wells on their property. +The military have occasionally resorted to dowsing techniques. In the First World War Gallipoli campaign, sapper Stephen Kelly, of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, Australian Expeditionary Force, became well known for finding water for the British troops. In the late 1960s during the Vietnam War, some United States Marines used dowsing when locating weapons and tunnels. As late as in 1986, when 31 soldiers were taken by an avalanche during an operation in the NATO drill Anchor Express in Vassdalen, Norway, the Norwegian army attempted to locate soldiers buried in the avalanche using dowsing as a search method. +Dowsing is still used by some farmers and water engineers in Britain; however, many of the country's utilities have distanced themselves from the practice. + +=== Postulated mechanisms === +Early attempts at an explanation of dowsing were based on the notion that the divining rod was physically affected by emanations from substances of interest. The following explanation is from William Pryce's 1778 Mineralogia Cornubiensis: + +The corpuscles... that rise from the Minerals, entering the rod, determine it to bow down, in order to render it parallel to the vertical lines which the effluvia describe in their rise. In effect the Mineral particles seem to be emitted from the earth; now the Virgula [rod], being of a light porous wood, gives an easy passage to these particles, which are also very fine and subtle; the effluvia then driven forwards by those that follow them, and pressed at the same time by the atmosphere incumbent on them, are forced to enter the little interstices between the fibres of the wood, and by that effort they oblige it to incline, or dip down perpendicularly, to become parallel with the little columns which those vapours form in their rise. +A study towards the end of the 19th century concluded that the phenomenon was attributed to cryptaesthesia, where the practitioner makes unconscious observations of the terrain and involuntarily influences the movement of the rod. Early investigations by members of the Society for Psychical Research endorsed this view. +Committed parapsychologist G. N. M. Tyrrell also believed that the action of the rod was caused by involuntary muscular movements and debunked the theory of external influences. +Dowsing over maps, prior to visiting the site, was also believed to work, hence some kind of clairvoyance was proposed. This was believed to act on the nervous system, rather than on the muscles directly. These various mechanisms remain in contention among dowsers. + +=== Fraudulent security devices === + +In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, a number of dowsing-like devices were marketed for modern police and military use, primarily as explosive detectors, such as the ADE 651, Sniffex, and the GT200. In consequence of these frauds, in 1999 the United States National Institute of Justice issued advice against buying equipment based on dowsing. + +== Equipment == +The device used by a dowser is typically referred to as a dowsing or divining rod, even though it may not be rod-shaped. + +=== Dowsing twig === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e12cb266b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Dowsing" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Traditionally, the most common method used is the dowsing twig, a forked (Y-shaped) branch from a tree or bush. Some dowsers prefer branches from particular trees, and some prefer the branches to be freshly cut. Hazel twigs in Europe and witch-hazel in the United States are traditionally commonly chosen, as are branches from willow or peach trees. The two ends on the forked side are held one in each hand with the third (the stem of the Y) pointing straight ahead. The dowser then walks slowly over the places where the target (for example, minerals or water) may be, and the dowsing rod is expected to dip, incline or twitch when a discovery is made. This method is sometimes known as "willow witching." Some dowsers would hang a golden ring on the edge of the dowsing rod, or split the tip to slide in a silver coin. + +=== Pair of rods === + +Many modern dowsers use a pair of L-shaped metal rods. One rod is held in each hand, with the short arm of the L held upright, and the long arm pointing forward. The upright arm is often free to rotate inside a tube. When something is "found," the rods move in synchrony. Depending on the dowser, they may cross over or swing apart. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the rods may point in opposite directions, showing its orientation. The rods may be fashioned from wire coat hangers or wire flags used for locating utilities. Glass or plastic rods have also been accepted. Straight rods are also sometimes used for the same purposes, and were common in early 19th century New England. + +=== Pendulum === +A pendulum weight on a short cord or thread is the tool of choice for many modern dowsers. An article in Live to Plant lists it as one of three common methods (the other two being Y-shaped rods and L rods). The dowser holds the cord in one hand and allows the pendulum to swing freely. The dowser then observes how the pendulum is swinging and interprets the motion to offer insights. + +== Studies == +Dowsing studies from the early twentieth century were examined by geologist John Walter Gregory in a report for the Smithsonian Institution. Gregory concluded that the results were a matter of chance or explained by observations from ground surface clues. +Geologist W. A. MacFadyen tested three dowsers during 1943–1944 in Algeria. The results were entirely negative. +A 1948 study in New Zealand by P. A. Ongley tested 75 dowsers' ability to detect water. None of them was more reliable than chance. According to Ongley "not one showed the slightest accuracy." +Archaeometrist Martin Aitken tested British dowser P. A. Raine in 1959. Raine failed to dowse the location of a buried kiln that had been identified by a magnetometer. +In 1971, dowsing experiments were organized by British engineer R. A. Foulkes on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The results were "no more reliable than a series of guesses". +Physicists John Taylor and Eduardo Balanovski reported in 1978 a series of experiments they conducted that searched for unusual electromagnetic fields emitted by dowsing subjects; they did not detect any. +A 1979 review by Evon Z. Vogt and Ray Hyman examined many controlled studies of dowsing for water, and found that none of them showed better than chance results. +British academics Richard N. Bailey, Eric Cambridge, and H. Denis Briggs, carried out dowsing experiments at the grounds of various churches. They reported successful results in their book Dowsing and Church Archaeology (1988). Their experiments were critically examined by archaeologist Martijn Van Leusen who suggested they were badly designed and the authors had redefined the test parameters on what was classified as a "hit" or "miss" to obtain positive results. +A 2006 study of grave dowsing in Iowa reviewed 14 published studies and determined that none of them correctly predicted the location of human burials, and simple scientific experiments demonstrated that the fundamental principles commonly used to explain grave dowsing were incorrect. +A randomized double-blind trial in 2012 was carried out to determine whether homeopaths were able to distinguish between Bryonia and placebo by use of a dowsing method. The results were negative. + +=== Kassel 1991 study === +A 1990 double-blind study was undertaken in Kassel, Germany, under the direction of the Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (Society for the Scientific Investigation of the Parasciences). James Randi offered a US$10,000 prize to any successful dowser. The three-day test of some thirty dowsers involved plastic pipes through which water flow could be controlled and directed. The pipes were buried 50 centimeters (19.7 in) under a level field, the position of each marked on the surface with a colored strip. The dowsers had to tell whether water was running through each pipe. All the dowsers signed a statement agreeing this was a fair test of their abilities and that they expected a 100% success rate. However, the results were no better than chance, and no one was awarded the prize. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b2ed22600 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Dowsing" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:56.970197+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Betz 1990 study === +In a 1987–88 study in Munich by Hans-Dieter Betz and other scientists, 500 dowsers were initially tested for their skill, and the experimenters selected the best 43 among them for further tests. Water was pumped through a pipe on the ground floor of a two-story barn. Before each test, the pipe was moved in a direction perpendicular to the water flow. On the upper floor, each dowser was asked to determine the position of the pipe. Over two years, the dowsers performed 843 such tests and, of the 43 pre-selected and extensively tested candidates, at least 37 showed no dowsing ability. The results from the remaining 6 were said to be better than chance, resulting in the experimenters' conclusion that some dowsers "in particular tasks, showed an extraordinarily high rate of success, which can scarcely if at all be explained as due to chance … a real core of dowser-phenomena can be regarded as empirically proven." +Five years after the Munich study was published, Jim T. Enright, a professor of physiology who emphasized correct data analysis procedure, contended that the study's results are merely consistent with statistical fluctuations and not significant. He believed the experiments provided "the most convincing disproof imaginable that dowsers can do what they claim", stating that the data analysis was "special, unconventional and customized". Replacing it with "more ordinary analyses", he noted that the best dowser was on average 4 millimeters (0.16 in) out of 10 meters (32.81 ft) closer to a mid-line guess, an advantage of 0.04%, and that the five other "good" dowsers were on average farther than a mid-line guess. Enright emphasized that the experimenters should have decided beforehand how to statistically analyze the results; if they only afterward chose the statistical analysis that showed the greatest success, then their conclusions would not be valid until replicated by another test analyzed by the same method. He further pointed out that the six "good" dowsers did not perform any better than chance in separate tests. Another study published in Pathophysiology hypothesized that such experiments as this one that were carried out in the twentieth century could have been interfered with by man-made radio frequency radiation, as test subjects' bodies absorbed the radio waves and unconscious hand movement reactions took place following the standing waves or intensity variations. + +== Scientific reception == + +=== Ideomotor phenomenon === +Science writers such as William Benjamin Carpenter (1877), Millais Culpin (1920), and Martin Gardner (1957) accept the view of some dowsers that the movement of dowsing rods is the result of unconscious muscular action. This view is widely accepted amongst the scientific community. The dowsing apparatus is known to amplify slight movements of the hands caused by a phenomenon known as the ideomotor response: people's subconscious minds may influence their bodies without consciously deciding to take action. This would make the dowsing rod susceptible to the dowsers' subconscious knowledge or perception; and also to confirmation bias. + +=== Pseudoscience === +Dowsing is considered to be a pseudoscience. +Psychologist David Marks in a 1986 article in Nature included dowsing in a list of "effects which until recently were claimed to be paranormal but which can now be explained from within orthodox science." Specifically, dowsing could be explained in terms of sensory cues, expectancy effects, and probability. +Science writer Peter Daempfle has noted that when dowsing is subjected to scientific testing, it fails. Daempfle has written that although some dowsers claim success, this can be attributed to the underground water table being distributed relatively uniformly in certain areas. +According to archaeologist Kenneth Feder, "the vast majority of archaeologists don't use dowsing, because they don't believe it works." +Psychologist Chris French has noted that "dowsing does not work when it is tested under properly controlled conditions that rule out the use of other cues to indicate target location." +Water dowsers often achieve good results because random chance has a high probability of finding water in favorable terrain. + +== In pop culture == +Dowsing rods have appeared in many forms of popular media, such as Coraline and Pokémon. It is often associated with ghostly or creepy themes and stories with superstitious elements. Other elements of popular media that reference dowsing rods include use of a dowsing pendulum by Professor Calculus in Tintin, appearing as a card in Magic: The Gathering, and appearing as a plot device multiple times in The Smurfs (1981). + +== Notable dowsers == + +Notable dowsers include: + +== See also == + +== References == + +=== Bibliography === +Inglis, Brian (1986). The Paranormal: An Encyclopedia of Psychic Phenomena. Paladin. pp. 245–256. ISBN 978-0-586-08463-2 – via Internet Archive. + +== Further reading == + +== External links == + +Footage of water dowser at work Archived 2010-06-19 at the Wayback Machine +George P. Hansen: "Dowsing: A Review of Experimental Research". In: Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Volume 51, Number 792, October 1982, pp. 343–367 +James Randi, "The Matter of Dowsing" +The Skeptics Dictionary – Includes details of various scientific tests +"Dowsing, on season 8 , episode 2". Scientific American Frontiers. Chedd-Angier Production Company. 1997–1998. PBS. Archived from the original on 2006-01-01. On "Beyond Science" video Archived 2015-11-06 at the Wayback Machine featuring Ray Hyman, November 19, 1997 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..85c25a088 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +title: "Drapetomania" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:58.190792+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Drapetomania was a proposed mental illness that, in 1851, American physician Samuel A. Cartwright hypothesized as the cause of enslaved Americans fleeing captivity. This hypothesis was based on the belief that slavery was such an improvement upon the lives of slaves that only those suffering from some form of mental illness would wish to escape. +Cartwright specifically cited the tendency of slaves to flee the plantations that held them. Since slaves happy with their condition would not want to leave, he inferred that such people had to be sick, impervious to the natural order of things. He published an article about black slaves' illnesses and idiosyncrasies in De Bow's Review. Contemporarily reprinted in the South, Cartwright's article was widely mocked and satirized in the northern United States. The concept has since been debunked as pseudoscience and shown to be part of the edifice of scientific racism. +The term derives from the Greek δραπέτης (drapetēs, 'a runaway [slave]') and μανία (mania, 'madness, frenzy'). +As late as 1914, the third edition of Thomas Lathrop Stedman's Practical Medical Dictionary included an entry for drapetomania, defined as "vagabondage, dromomania; an uncontrollable or insane impulsion to wander." + + +== Description == + +Cartwright described the disorder—which, he said, was "unknown to our medical authorities, although its diagnostic symptom, the absconding from service, is well known to our planters and overseers"—in a paper delivered before the Medical Association of Louisiana that was widely reprinted. +He stated that the malady was a consequence of masters who "made themselves too familiar with [slaves], treating them as equals". + +If treated kindly, well fed and clothed, with fuel enough to keep a small fire burning all night—separated into families, each family having its own house—not permitted to run about at night to visit their neighbors, to receive visits or use intoxicating liquors, and not overworked or exposed too much to the weather, they are very easily governed—more so than any other people in the world. If any one or more of them, at any time, are inclined to raise their heads to a level with their master or overseer, humanity and their own good requires that they should be punished until they fall into that submissive state which was intended for them to occupy. They have only to be kept in that state, and treated like children to prevent and cure them from running away.In Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race, Cartwright says that the Bible calls for a slave to be submissive to his master, and by doing so, the slave will have no desire to run away:If the white man attempts to oppose the Deity's will, by trying to make the negro anything else than "the submissive knee-bender" (which the Almighty declared he should be), by trying to raise him to a level with himself, or by putting himself on an equality with the negro; or if he abuses the power which God has given him over his fellow-man, by being cruel to him, or punishing him in anger, or by neglecting to protect him from the wanton abuses of his fellow-servants and all others, or by denying him the usual comforts and necessaries of life, the negro will run away; but if he keeps him in the position that we learn from the Scriptures he was intended to occupy, that is, the position of submission; and if his master or overseer be kind and gracious in his bearing towards him, without condescension, and at the same time ministers to his physical wants, and protects him from abuses, the negro is spell-bound, and cannot run away. + + +=== Prevention and remedy === +In addition to identifying drapetomania, his feeling was that with "proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented". In the case of slaves "sulky and dissatisfied without cause"—a warning sign of imminent flight—Cartwright mentioned "whipping the devil out of them" as a "preventative measure". + + +=== Contemporaneous criticism === +While Cartwright's article was reprinted in the South, in the northern United States it was widely mocked. A satirical analysis of the article appeared in a Buffalo Medical Journal editorial in 1855. Renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, in A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (1856), observed that white indentured servants had often been known to flee as well, so he satirically hypothesized that the supposed disease was actually of white European origin, and had been introduced to Africa by traders. +Stephen Jay Gould identified Cartwright as "a prominent Southern physician" with the caveat that Cartwright's defenses of slavery constituted "an extreme within the range of 'scientific argument'" that was not typical and may have been unsupported by "many intelligent Southerners." + + +== See also == +Dysaesthesia aethiopica, another novel diagnosis of Cartwright regarding what was seen as a mental illness that was the cause of laziness among slaves. +The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease +Depression +Dromomania +Political abuse of psychiatry +Fugitive slave +Classification of mental disorders +Sluggish schizophrenia +Biology of depression +Gaslighting + + +== References == + + +== Sources == +Samuel A. Cartwright, "Report on the Diseases and Physical Peculiarities of the Negro Race", The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal 1851:691–715 (May). +Reprinted in DeBow's Review XI (1851). Available at Google Books and excerpted at PBS.org. +Reprinted in Arthur Caplan, H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., and James McCartney, eds, Concepts of Health and Disease in Medicine: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Boston: Addison-Wesley, 1980). +Reprinted in Arthur L. Caplan, James J. McCartney, Dominic A. Sisti, eds, Health, Disease, and Illness: Concepts in Medicine (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-58901-014-0 + + +== External links == + Quotations related to Drapetomania at Wikiquote +An Early History – African American Mental Health Archived 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine +Findlay, James A. (2000). "DRAPETOMANIA --- A DISEASE CALLED FREEDOM: An Exhibition of 18th-, 19th- and Early 20th-Century Material Culture of the African Experience in the Americas from the Collection of Derrick Joshua Beard". Broward County, Florida, US: Broward County Library. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. +Dimuro, Gina (April 4, 2018). "Southerners Actually Thought Slaves Escaping Was A Sign Of Mental Illness". All That's Interesting. +DicoPolHiS + + +== Bibliography == +Katherine Bankole, Slavery and Medicine: Enslavement and Medical Practices in Antebellum Louisiana, New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 1998. +Bob Myers, "Drapetomania": Rebellion, Defiance and Free Black Insanity in the Antebellum United States, phD thesis, 2014. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_fraud-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_fraud-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..df4ac7c5a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_fraud-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Drug fraud" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_fraud" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:59.358366+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Drug fraud is a type of fraud in which drugs, legal or illegal, are cut or altered in such a way that diminishes their value below that which they are sold for. + + +== Illegal drug fraud == + +This type of drug fraud occurs when the dealer cuts or commingles the pure drug with a similar substance such as baby powder or powdered milk. When this is sold to the user, the user receives less of a high and so must buy more to get the previous high. There may also be adverse health consequences as a result of the cutting substance, such as a bad trip or overdose. This can also be seen in prescription drugs. + + +== Legal drug fraud == +Legal drug fraud occurs when a physician prescribes medication for a patient under false pretenses. This may be because the manufacturers of the drug have paid the doctor a fee to dispense their drug. Another cause may be drug pricing fraud, in which a physician prescribes a patient expensive drugs, that they may or may not need, in order to profit from the receipts. +Patients too, may participate in this. A common method is the forging of doctor prescriptions to gain access to prescription medications. A somewhat rarer type is a citizen posing as a doctor to, among other things, gain access to the free samples of drugs that some drug manufacturers give out. The samples may also be sold to desperate patients at an exorbitant rate. Actual physicians may do this also. Others may prescribe drugs without sufficient cause. + + +== Legal status == +Illegal drug fraud is rarely addressed in court, as victims rarely involve police, but legal drug fraud is on the rise. Its upswing has increased calls for accountability as well as a bill being passed in the United States, 2007 Senate Bill 88. + + +== References == + + +== See also == +Quackery +Double billing +Counterfeit medications +Pharmaceutical fraud \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cbd9fadaa --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Dry needling" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:00.518749+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Dry needling, also known as trigger point dry needling and intramuscular stimulation, is a treatment technique used by various healthcare practitioners, including physical therapists, physicians, and chiropractors, among others. Acupuncturists usually maintain that dry needling is adapted from acupuncture, but others consider dry needling as a variation of trigger point injections. It involves the use of either solid filiform needles or hollow-core hypodermic needles for therapy of muscle pain, including pain related to myofascial pain syndrome. Dry needling is mainly used to treat myofascial trigger points, but it is also used to target connective tissue, neural ailments, and muscular ailments. The American Physical Therapy Association defines dry needling as a technique used to treat dysfunction of skeletal muscle and connective tissue, minimize pain, and improve or regulate structural or functional damage. +There is conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of dry needling. Some results suggest that it is an effective treatment for certain kinds of muscle pain, while other studies have shown no benefit compared to a placebo; however, not enough high-quality, long-term, and large-scale studies have been done on the technique to draw clear conclusions about its efficacy. Currently, dry needling is being practiced in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and other parts of the world. + +== Origin == + +=== Etymology and terminology === +The origin of the term dry needling is attributed to Janet G. Travell. In her 1983 book, Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: Trigger Point Manual, Travell uses the term dry needling to differentiate between two hypodermic needle techniques when performing trigger point therapy. However, Travell did not elaborate on the details of the dry needling techniques: the injection of a local anesthetic and the mechanical use of a hypodermic needle without injecting a solution. The current techniques were based on traditional and Western medical acupuncture. + +=== Initial techniques === + +Travell preferred a 1.5-in hypodermic needle for trigger point therapy and used this needle for both injection therapy and dry needling. Travell never used an acupuncture needle. Travell had access to acupuncture needles but reasoned that they were far too thin for trigger point therapy. She preferred hypodermic needles because of their strength and tactile feedback: "A 22-gauge, 3.8-cm (1.5-in) needle is usually suitable for most superficial muscles. In hyperalgesic patients, a 25-gauge, 3.8-cm (1.5-in) needle may cause less discomfort, but will not provide the clear feeling of the structures being penetrated by the needle and is more likely to be deflected by the dense contraction knots that are the target... A 27-gauge needle, 3.8-cm (1.5-in) needle is even more flexible; the tip is more likely to be deflected by the contraction knots and it provides less tactile feedback for precision injection". + +== Development and regulation in the United States == +The solid filiform needle used in dry needling is regulated by the FDA as a Class II medical device described in the code titled "Sec. 880.5580 Acupuncture needle is a device intended to pierce the skin in the practice of acupuncture". Per the Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the subsequent amendments to said act, the FDA definition applies to how the needles can be marketed and does not mean that acupuncture is the only medical procedure where these needles can be used. Dry needling using such a needle contrasts with the use of a hollow hypodermic needle to inject substances such as saline solution, botox or corticosteroids to the same point. +The founder of Integrative Systemic Dry Needling (ISDN), Yun-Tao Ma, has spearheaded the "dry needling" movement in the United States. Ma states, "Although ISDN originated in traditional Chinese methods, it has developed from the ancient empirical approach to become modern medical art rooted in evidence-based thinking and practice." Ma also states that, "Dry needling technique is a modern Western medical modality that is not related to traditional Chinese acupuncture in any way. Dry needling has its own theoretical concepts, terminology, needling technique, and clinical application." + +The American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists states:Dry needling is a neurophysiological evidence-based treatment technique that requires effective manual assessment of the neuromuscular system. Physical therapists are well trained to utilize dry needling with manual physical therapy interventions. Research supports that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, normalizes biochemical and electrical dysfunction of motor end plates, and facilitates an accelerated return to active rehabilitation. +Dry needling for the treatment of myofascial (muscular) trigger points is based on theories similar, but not exclusive, to traditional acupuncture; both acupuncture and dry needling target the trigger points, which are a direct and palpable source of patient pain. A high degree of correspondence is reported between myofascial trigger point dry needling and traditional western acupuncture. Acupuncture and dry needling are similar in the underlying phenomenon and neural processes between trigger and acupuncture points. There is a high degree of correspondence between published locations of trigger points and classical acupuncture points for the relief of pain. Dry needling, and its treatment techniques and desired effects, would be most directly comparable to the use of 'a-shi' points in acupuncture. However, dry needling theory only begins to describe the complex sensation referral patterns that have been documented as "channels" or "meridians" in Chinese Medicine. What further distinguishes dry needling from traditional acupuncture is that it does not use the full range of traditional theories of Chinese Medicine, which is used to treat not only pain, but also other non-musculoskeletal issues that often cause pain. The distinction between trigger points and acupuncture points for the relief of pain is blurred. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..261be2018 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Dry needling" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:00.518749+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Technique == +The technique for dry needling depends on which tissue is being targeted and the overall objective of the treatment. For example, one of the most common treatment objectives for dry needling, myofascial trigger points (TrPs), differs physiologically from treatments for scar tissue, connective tissue problems, and other medical issues. +In the treatment of trigger points for persons with myofascial pain syndrome, dry needling is an invasive procedure in which a filiform needle is inserted into the skin and muscle directly at a myofascial trigger point. A myofascial trigger point consists of multiple, hyperirritable contraction knots related to the production and maintenance of the pain cycle; essentially, myofascial trigger points will generate much local pain upon stimulation or irritation. Deep dry needling for treating trigger points was first introduced by the Czech neurologist Karel Lewit in 1979. Lewit had noticed that the success of injections into trigger points in relieving pain was apparently unconnected to the analgesic used. +Dry needling can be divided into categories in terms of depth of penetration: deep and superficial dry needling. Deep dry needling will inactivate myofascial trigger points by provoking a local twitch response (LTR), which is an involuntary spinal cord reflex in which the muscle fibers in the taut band of muscle contract. The LTR indicates the proper placement of the needle in a trigger point. Dry needling that elicits LTRs improves treatment outcomes, and may work by activating endogenous opioids. The activation of the endogenous opioids is for an analgesic effect using the gate control theory of pain. In addition, deep dry may also decrease pain, increase range of motion, and minimize myofascial trigger point irritability. In regards to the factor of pain reduction, relief occurs at four central levels: local pain, spinal pain through nerves, brain stem pain, and higher brain center pain. +The relief of myofascial trigger points has been more highly researched than the relief of connective tissues, muscle fascia, muscle tension, and scar tissue; however, the American Physical Therapy Association claims that there potentially may be some benefits of dry needling on these ailments according to some available evidence. The APTA also claims that dry needling should not be used as a standalone procedure, but should be used in conjunction with other treatment methods, including manual soft tissue mobilization, neuromuscular re-education, functional retraining, and therapeutic exercises. Once the needle is inserted, one can manually or electrically stimulate the filiform needle depending for the desired effect of treatment. + +== Efficacy == +There is currently no standardized form of dry needling. There is a general scarcity of extensive research in the field. Many studies published about dry needling are not randomized, contain small sample sizes, and have high dropout rates. A review recommended the usage of dry needling, compared to sham or placebo, for decreasing pain immediately after treatment and at 4 weeks in patients with upper quarter myofascial pain syndrome. However, the authors caution that "the limited number of studies performed to date, combined with methodological flaws in many of the studies, prompts caution in interpreting the results of the meta-analysis performed". Similarly, a second review of dry needling found insufficient high-quality evidence for the use of direct dry needling for short and long-term pain and disability reduction in patients with musculoskeletal pain syndromes. The same review reported that robust evidence validating the clinical diagnostic criteria for trigger point identification or diagnosis is lacking and that high-quality studies demonstrate that manual examination for the identification and localization of a trigger point is neither valid nor reliable between examiners. +Three more recent reviews reached similar conclusions: little evidence supporting the use of trigger point dry needling to treat upper shoulder pain and dysfunction, evidence not robust enough to draw a clear conclusion about safety and efficacy, and that dry needling for the treatment of myofascial pain syndrome in the lower back appeared to be a useful addition to standard therapies, but stated clear recommendations could not be made because the published studies were small and of low quality. However, a retrospective analysis of 2,910 dry needling interventions as reported by Mabry, et al. identified no reported safety events when dry needling was performed by physical therapists. + +== Controversy == + +=== Risks === +Dry needling is considered invasive. Invasive treatments are associated with infections and cutaneous infections, which can be avoided, however, by using good aseptic (sterile) technique. Nonetheless, the procedure is increasing in popularity despite the unanswered questions regarding its overall effectiveness and safety. Mild adverse events following dry needling are commonly bleeding, bruising, and pain. Severe adverse effects include pneumothorax, injury to the central nervous system and spine, and blood-borne infection transmission. The American Medical Association made a press release in 2016 that said physical therapists and other non-physicians practicing dry needling should – at a minimum – have standards that are similar to the ones for training, certification, and continuing education that exist for acupuncture. AMA board member Russell W. H. Kridel, MD: "Lax regulation and nonexistent standards surround this invasive practice. For patients' safety, practitioners should meet standards required for licensed acupuncturists and physicians." +Additional adverse effects of dry needling include cardiac tamponade and hematoma. During a recent study, a self-reported survey of almost 230,000 people, 8.6% (19726 patients) reported experiencing at least one adverse effect. 2.2% (4,963 patients) reported an adverse effect that required further treatment. However, since this study was based on the patient's self-reporting rather than actual incidence, the collective findings cited above are probably lower than the actual incidence. Because dry needling sometimes involves blood and other bodily fluids, there are sometimes risk of transmission of multiple forms of hepatitis as well as HIV. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f4ef77aea --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Dry needling" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_needling" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:00.518749+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Relation to acupuncture === +The debated distinction between dry needling and acupuncture has become a controversy because it relates to an issue of scope of practice of various professions. Acupuncturists claim that dry needling is a form of acupuncture that does not fall in the scope of physical therapists, chiropractors, or the majority of other healthcare professionals; whereas those healthcare professionals claim dry needling is not acupuncture, but rather a procedure that is rooted in biomedical modern sciences. Becoming a certified acupuncturist requires hundreds of hours spent in educational programs, national-level exams, and good professional standing. On the other hand, to be certified in dry needling requires continued education or a certification program that is not yet regulated with strict standards; in addition, there is a general lack of policymakers, evaluation systems, or healthcare standards governing the technique of dry needling. +Many physical therapists and chiropractors have asserted that they are not practicing acupuncture when dry needling; however, much of dry needling research has been done concerning acupuncture. They assert that much of the basic physiological and biomechanical knowledge that dry needling utilizes is taught as part of their core physical therapy and chiropractic education and that the specific dry needling skills are supplemental to that knowledge and not exclusive to acupuncture. Many acupuncturists have argued that dry needling appears to be an acupuncture technique requiring minimal training that has been re-branded under a new name (dry needling). Whether dry needling is considered to be acupuncture depends on the definition of acupuncture, and it is argued that trigger points do not correspond to acupuncture points or meridians. They correspond by definition to the ad hoc category of 'a-shi' acupoints. This category of points is not necessarily distinct from other formal categories of acupoints. In 1983, Janet Travell described trigger point locations as 92% in correspondence with known acupuncture points. In 2006, a journal article concluded that the two point systems are in over 90% agreement. In 2009, Dorsher and Fleckenstein conclude that the strong (up to 91%) consistency of the distributions of trigger point regions' referred pain patterns to acupuncture meridians provides evidence that trigger points most likely represent the same physiological phenomenon as acupuncture points in the treatment of pain disorders. +A comparison of Western trigger points to traditional acupuncture points corroborates the 92% correspondence. In 2011, The Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine published a position paper describing dry needling as an acupuncture technique. +According to a qualitative review, dry needling combined with acupuncture was more effective in alleviating pain and achieved a higher response rate than dry needling alone. However, there is no clear research on whether dry needling is a better treatment choice over laser, physical therapy, or other combined treatments. + +=== Regulation === +The North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board has published a position statement asserting that dry needling is acupuncture and thus is covered by the North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing law, and is not within the present scope of practice of Physical Therapists. The Attorney General was asked for an opinion by the North Carolina Acupuncture Licensing Board which he gave in 2011: "In our opinion, the Board of Physical Therapy Examiners may determine that dry needling is within the scope of practice of physical therapy if it conducts rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act and adopts rules that relate dry needling to the statutory definition of practice of physical therapy." However, the North Carolina Rules Review Committee of the legislative branch found that the North Carolina Physical Therapy Board had no statutory authority for the proposed rule. The Physical Therapy board subsequently decided that they had the right to declare dry needling within scope anyway "The Board believes physical therapists can continue to perform dry needling so long as they possess the requisite education and training required by N.C.G.S. § 90–270.24(4), but there are no regulations to set the specific requirements for engaging in dry needling." +In January 2014, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners did not have the statutory authority to include dry needling in the scope of practice for chiropractors in that state. The ruling did not address whether chiropractors have the medical expertise to use dry needling or whether the training they were given was adequate. Pending further discussion of training requirements, the Oregon Physical Therapist Licensing Board has advised all Oregon physical therapists against practicing dry needling. They have not changed their ruling that dry needling is within the scope of practice for Oregon Physical Therapists. + +== See also == +Myofascial release + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..796a673d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Duluth model" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:01.734691+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Duluth model is a pseudoscientific protocol for coordinated intervention of community resources against intimate partner violence (IPV). While it remains the primary means of addressing such violence in many American states, legal, social, and academic critics widely consider the model to be pseudoscientific, less effective compared to other protocols, or biased because it incorrectly categorically rejects women's violence, violence within same-sex relationships, bidirectional abuse,, and theoretically unsound as it was not created through academic study. Academics have demonstrated that it is an extreme, negative, and polarized model. +The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP) devised the protocol to bring law enforcement, family law, and social work agencies together in a "Coordinated Community Response" ("CCR") to purportedly reduce violence against women and rehabilitate perpetrators of domestic violence. The DAIP developed the curriculum in Duluth, Minnesota, whence its name. The model describes coordinating community agencies to provide a consistent response to female victims of Intimate Partner Violence that has three primary goals: + +Ensuring survivor safety. +Providing a way to hold offenders/abusive partners accountable for their violence. +Changing the climate of tolerance for this form of violence. +Part of this model is the men's behavior change program Creating a Process of Change for Men who Batter: The Duluth Curriculum. The curriculum is the most common batterer intervention program used in the United States. Advocates of the Duluth model claim it is successful because it is grounded in the experience of female victims, helps offenders and society change, and pulls the whole community together to respond. +The Duluth Model Coordinated Community Response has received multiple awards for its grassroots efforts to end intimate partner violence, including the World Future Council's Future Policy Award in 2014. It has been criticized by mental health professionals who focus on individual behaviour and reject a social model of battering. Edward Gondolf critiques the narrow forms of evidence used to evaluate interventions, arguing that the biomedical research model is inappropriate for evaluating the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions. + +== Origin and theory == +The feminist theory underlying the Duluth model is that men use violence within relationships to exercise abusive power and control. The curriculum "is designed to be used within a community using its institutions to diminish the power of batterers over their victims and to explore with each abusive man the intent and source of his violence and the possibilities for change through seeking a different kind of relationship with women”. This is illustrated by the "Power and Control Wheel," a graphic typically displayed as a poster in participating locations. According to the Duluth model, "women and children are vulnerable to violence because of their unequal social, economic, and political status in society." Treatment of abusive men is focused on re-education, as "we do not see men’s violence against women as stemming from individual pathology, but rather from a socially reinforced sense of entitlement." +The program's philosophy is intended to help batterers work to change their attitudes and personal behavior so they would learn to be nonviolent in any relationship. The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project was the first multi-agency program designed to address the issue of domestic violence. This experimental program, conducted in Duluth in 1981, coordinated the actions of a variety of agencies dealing with domestic conflict. The Duluth model curriculum was developed by a "small group of activists in the battered women’s movement", with five battered women and four men as subjects. The program has become a model for programs in other jurisdictions seeking to deal more effectively with domestic violence. + +== Effectiveness == +An early U.S. government sponsored study found that batterers who complete programs based on the Duluth Model are less likely to repeat acts of domestic violence than those who do not complete any batterers' intervention program. A 2003 study conducted by the U.S. National Institute of Justice found the Duluth Model to have "little or no effect". This study had considerable shortfalls, and the National Institute of Justice said in its introduction that "response rates were low, many people dropped out of the program, and victims could not be found for subsequent interviews. The tests used to measure batterers' attitudes toward domestic violence and their likelihood to engage in future abuse were of questionable validity." +A 2003 longitudinal, four-year evaluation by E. W. Gondolf, covering four cities, shows clear deescalation of reassault and other abuse, with 80% of men reaching sustained non-violence. A 2005 study led by Larry Bennett, a professor of social work at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an expert on batterer intervention programs, found that of the 30 batterer intervention programs in Cook County, Illinois, 15 percent of batterers who completed the programs were rearrested for domestic violence, compared with 37 percent of those who dropped out of the programs. Bennett said the studies are largely meaningless because they lacked a proper control group. He added that participants who complete domestic violence programs are likely to be more motivated than others to improve behavior and would be less inclined to offend again. +A 2011 review of the effectiveness of batterers intervention programs (BIP), primarily the Duluth model, found that "there is no solid empirical evidence for either the effectiveness or relative superiority of any of the current group interventions," and that "the more rigorous the methodology of evaluation studies, the less encouraging their findings." That is, as BIPs in general, and Duluth model programs in particular are subject to increasingly rigorous review, their success rate approaches zero. A 2014 news report reported zero percent recidivism within five years for a batterers intervention program based on Nonviolent Communication, and contrasted this with a recidivism rate of 40 percent within five years for a batterers intervention program based on the Duluth model as reported by the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0d7ccc65a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Duluth model" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth_model" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:01.734691+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Criticism == +Criticism of the Duluth Model has centered on the program's sexist insistence that men are perpetrators who are violent because they have been socialized in a patriarchy that condones male violence, and that women are victims who are violent only in self-defense. Some critics argue that "programs based on the Duluth Model may ignore research linking domestic violence to substance abuse and psychological problems, such as attachment disorders, traced to childhood abuse or neglect, or the absence of a history of adequate socialization and training." +Others criticize the Duluth Model as being overly confrontational rather than therapeutic, focusing solely on changing the abuser's actions and attitudes rather than dealing with underlying emotional and psychological issues. Donald Dutton, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia who has studied abusive personalities, states: "The Duluth Model was developed by people who didn't understand anything about therapy." Dutton also observes that "lesbian battering is more frequent than heterosexual battering". Philip W. Cook comments that in the case of homosexual domestic violence, the patriarchy is absent: there is no male dominance of women in same-sex relationships, and in fact female on female abuse is reported more than twice as frequently as male on male abuse. Furthermore, some critics argue that the model ignores the reality that women can be the perpetrators of domestic violence in heterosexual relationships. Its proponents counter that the Duluth model is effective and makes best use of scarce resources. Ellen Pence, co-founder of the DAIP, writes: + +By determining that the need or desire for power was the motivating force behind battering, we created a conceptual framework that, in fact, did not fit the lived experience of many of the men and women we were working with. The DAIP staff ... remained undaunted by the difference in our theory and the actual experiences of those we were working with ... It was the cases themselves that created the chink in each of our theoretical suits of armor. Speaking for myself, I found that many of the men I interviewed did not seem to articulate a desire for power over their partner. Although I relentlessly took every opportunity to point out to men in the groups that they were so motivated and merely in denial, the fact that few men ever articulated such a desire went unnoticed by me and many of my coworkers. Eventually, we realized that we were finding what we had already predetermined to find. +The Duluth model is featured in the documentary Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America with commentary from its authors, as well as its main critics, such as Dutton. + +== See also == +Abusive power and control +Outline of domestic violence +Rape shield law +Relationship counseling +Relationship education +Violence Against Women Act + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Ellen Pence; Michael Paymar (1993). Education Groups for Men Who Batter: The Duluth Model. Springer Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8261-7990-6. +Donald G Dutton (2006). Rethinking Domestic Violence. UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-5987-5.; review by Walter S. DeKeseredy in Canadian Journal of Sociology Online November – December 2007 +Muslim Wheel of Domestic Violence—A variation of the Duluth Power and Control Wheel + +== External links == +Official Site +Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America—a documentary film and web site focusing on the Duluth Model. Founders Ellen Pence and Michael Paymar are interviewed in the film, with excerpts and transcripts on the web +http://www.theduluthmodel.org/training/wheels.html \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dfe81e106 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: "Dunstan Baby Language" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunstan_Baby_Language" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:02.908958+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Dunstan Baby Language is a hypothesis about infantile vocal reflexes as signals, in humans. The hypothesis is that across cultures and linguistic groups there are five sounds, each with a meaning, that are used by infants before the language acquisition period. The hypothesis was developed by Australian former mezzo-soprano, Priscilla Dunstan, and has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In a 2023 Nature paper, researchers have not been able to validate Dunstan's theory, and only found infant cries to carry age and identity information. + + +== Dunstan's hypothesis == +Between 0–3 months, infants make what Dunstan calls "sound reflexes." According to Dunstan, we all have reflexes, like sneezes, hiccups, and burps, that all have a recognizable pattern when sound is added to the reflex. There are other reflexes that all babies experience, and when sound is added to these, a distinct, preemptive "cry" will occur before the infant breaks into what Dunstan calls the hysterical cry. Dunstan states that these preemptive cries can indicate what the infant requires (e.g., food, comfort, sleep), and they escalate to the hysterical cry if they are not answered. As the infant matures past 3 months in vocalization, the sound reflexes become replaced with more elaborate babbling. + + +=== Words (sound reflexes) === +According to Dunstan, there are five universal words (or "sound reflexes") used by infants. + +Neh (I am hungry) – An infant uses the sound reflex "Neh" to communicate its hunger. The sound is produced when the sucking reflex is triggered, and the tongue is pushed up on the roof of the mouth. +Owh (I'm sleepy) – An infant uses the sound reflex "Owh" to communicate that they are tired. The sound is produced much like an audible yawn. +Heh (I'm experiencing discomfort) – An infant uses the sound reflex "Heh" to communicate stress, discomfort, or perhaps that it needs a fresh diaper. The sound is produced by a response to a skin reflex, such as feeling sweat or itchiness in the bum. +Eair (I have lower gas) – An infant uses the sound reflex "Eair" to communicate they have flatulence or an upset stomach. The sound is produced when trapped air from a belch is unable to release and travels to the stomach where the muscles of the intestines tighten to force the air bubble out. Often, this sound will indicate that a bowel movement is in progress, and the infant will bend its knees, bringing the legs toward the torso. This leg movement assists in the ongoing process. +Eh (I need to be burped) – An infant uses the sound reflex "Eh" to communicate that it needs to be burped. The sound is produced when a large bubble of trapped air is caught in the chest, and the reflex is trying to release this out of the mouth. +Dunstan states that she has a photographic memory for sounds and that this, combined with her years in the opera and her experience as a mother, allowed her to recognize certain sounds in the human voice. A DVD set called The Dunstan Baby Language was released by Dunstan in November 2006. The two-disc set covered the five universal words of the language, methods of learning how to recognize the vocalizations and sounds, numerous examples of baby cries from around the world to "tune your ear," and live demonstrations of newborn mother groups experimenting with the language. + + +== Criticism == +Linguistics experts point out that Dunstan's hypothesis has not been subjected to rigorous testing or academic scrutiny. In fact, in 2023 researchers tested the hypothesis and could not demonstrate it to be true. The Dunstan company had, at one time, developed a clinical trial plan with Brown University researchers to test its claims, but abandoned it for consumer surveys and small-group observations in order "to hasten the development of a system that could be used by parents," skipping rigorous testing to go straight to market. + + +== See also == +Baby sign language +Baby talk +Confirmation bias +Elimination communication +Fis phenomenon + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Dunstan Baby Language Website +Dunstan Baby Language Website – French Version +Dunstan Baby Language on Oprah.com Archived 16 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine +News from Language Log Labs +Baby Language Information +Video links +Dunstan Baby Language +Dunstan Baby Language on CTV News \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaesthesia_aethiopica-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaesthesia_aethiopica-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6509349e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaesthesia_aethiopica-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +title: "Dysaesthesia aethiopica" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysaesthesia_aethiopica" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:04.101771+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In psychiatry, dysaesthesia aethiopica (literally "Ethiopian bad feeling", "black bad feeling") was an alleged mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851, which proposed a theory for the cause of laziness among slaves. Today, dysaesthesia aethiopica is not recognized as a disease, but instead considered an example of pseudoscience, and part of the edifice of scientific racism. + + +== History == + +Applied exclusively to African Americans, dysaesthesia aethiopica was characterized by partial insensitivity of the skin and "so great a hebetude of the intellectual faculties, as to be like a person half asleep." Other symptoms included dry, thick, rough skin and "lesions of the body discoverable to the medical observer, which are always present and sufficient to account for the symptoms." Cartwright contended that the existence of dysaesthesia aethiopica was "clearly established by the most direct and positive testimony," but other doctors had failed to notice it because their "attention [had] not been sufficiently directed to the maladies of the negro race." +Cartwright said that overseers referred to this condition as "rascality", as if the slaves' clumsiness and erratic actions were intentional, but he disagreed, claiming that it was in fact a physical disease, which he believed was caused by the blood being "highly carbonized and deprived of oxygen" due to "idleness" or bad diet. He felt that it was "easily curable, if treated on sound physiological principles." Insensitivity of the skin was one symptom of the disease, so the skin should be stimulated: + +The best means to stimulate the skin is, first, to have the patient well washed with warm water and soap; then, to anoint it all over in oil, and to slap the oil in with a broad leather strap; then to put the patient to some hard kind of work in the sunshine. [...] After resting [...] the patient should eat some good wholesome food, well seasoned with spices and mixed with vegetables, as turnip or mustard salad, with vinegar [and] resume his work again +Author Vanessa Jackson has noted that lesions were a symptom of dysaesthesia aethiopica and "the ever-resourceful Dr. Cartwright determined that whipping could ... cure this disorder. Of course, one wonders if the whipping were not the cause of the 'lesions' that confirmed the diagnosis." +According to Cartwright, after the prescribed "course of treatment" the slave will "look grateful and thankful to the white man whose compulsory power ... has restored his sensation and dispelled the mist that clouded his intellect." +Cartwright saw the whole thing as confirmation of his belief that black people were incapable of looking after themselves without the supervision of white people. According to him, dysaesthesia aethiopica was "much more prevalent among free negroes living in clusters by themselves, than among slaves on our plantations, and attacks only such slaves as live like free negroes in regard to diet, drinks, exercise, etc." – indeed, according to Cartwright, "nearly all [free negroes] are more or less afflicted with it, that have not got some white person to direct and to take care of them." He explicitly dismissed the opinion which assigned the causes of the "problematic" behavior to the social situation of the slaves without further justifications: "[The northern physicians] ignorantly attribute the symptoms to the debasing influence of slavery on the mind." + + +== See also == +Drapetomania, the name given to what was seen at one point in time to be a mental illness that caused black slaves to flee captivity. +Scientific racism +Minority stress +Pellagra + + +== References == + + +== Sources == +Samuel A. Cartwright, "Report on the Diseases and Physical Peculiarities of the Negro Race", The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal 1851:691–715 (May). +Reprinted in DeBow's Review XI (1851). Available at Google Books and excerpted at PBS.org. +Reprinted in Arthur Caplan, H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., and James McCartney, eds, Concepts of Health and Disease in Medicine: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Boston: Addison-Wesley, 1980). +Reprinted in Arthur L. Caplan, James J. McCartney, Dominic A. Sisti, eds, Health, Disease, and Illness: Concepts in Medicine (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-58901-014-0. + + +== External links == +An Early History – African American Mental Health Archived 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..68d04adb4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +--- +title: "E-meter" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The E-Meter (also electropsychometer and Hubbard Electrometer) is an electronic device used in Scientology that allegedly "registers emotional reactions". After claims by L. Ron Hubbard that the procedures of auditing, which used the E-Meter, could help heal diseases, the E-Meter became the subject of litigation. Since then, the Church of Scientology publishes disclaimers declaring that the E-Meter "by itself does nothing", is incapable of improving health, and is used solely for spiritual purposes. + +== History == + +=== Mathison === + +Volney Mathison built an Electrodermal activity meter based on a Wheatstone bridge, a vacuum tube amplifier, and a large moving-coil meter that projected an image of the needle on the wall. He patented his device in 1954 as an electropsychometer or E-meter, and it came to be known as the "Mathison Electropsychometer". In Mathison's words, the E-meter "has a needle that swings back and forth across a scale when a patient holds on to two electrical contacts". Mathison recorded in his book, Electropsychometry, that the idea of the E-Meter came to him in 1950 while listening to a lecture by L. Ron Hubbard: + +In 1950 ... I next attended a series of lectures being given by a very controversial figure, who several times emphasized that perhaps the major problem of psychotherapy was the difficulty of maintaining the communication of accurate or valid data from the patient to the therapist. +and + +it appeared to me that the psychogalvanometer showed most promise. +Hubbard told of that encounter in a 1952 recorded lecture: + +This machine, the electropsychometer, has been acting as a pilot since about the first of January 1952. Very early I wanted a pilot; I had to have some method of metering preclears which was not dependent at all upon opinion or judgment. And I went out and looked at the existing lie detector equipment and I could not find anything which would do a job of work. Now, Volney Mathison out on the Coast heard a talk out there one day, and I mentioned this fact. ... I had one of the fanciest electroencephalographs made and it didn't do anything very much, police detectors didn't do anything very much, and Mathison went to work and he floated a current within a current. This machine is relatively simple, but it's a current floating inside another current ... And I am, by the way, very much indebted to Mathison just on this basis of all of a sudden having a pilot. +Mathison began working with L. Ron Hubbard in 1951 and that year filed application for his first E-meter patent, U.S. Patent 2,684,670. After the partnership broke up in 1954, Mathison continued improving his E-meters with additional patents (U.S. patent 2,736,313, U.S. patent 2,810,383), marketing them through his own company and publications, retaining many of the concepts and terms from his time with Hubbard. +In a separate line of development, EDA monitors were incorporated in polygraph machines by Leonarde Keeler. Rigorous testing of the polygraph has yielded mixed results, and some critics classify polygraph operation as a pseudoscience. + +=== Hubbard === + +The E-meter was adopted for use in Dianetics and Scientology when Mathison collaborated with Hubbard in 1951. Some sources say the E-meter was "developed by Volney Mathison following Hubbard's designs", or that Hubbard invented it. Hubbard falsely claimed to be the inventor of the E-meter, a claim which is in keeping with the Scientology stance that Hubbard is the "source", or "the only originator of all Dianetics and Scientology material". +The E-meter was not part of the early days of Dianetics and Scientology. Auditing was composed of conversation and not led by a mechanical device. Hubbard introduced an E-meter prototype during the 1952 Philadelphia Doctorate Course but did not introduce his transistorized version until several years later. The E-meter became "the principal material artifact" of Dianetics and Scientology from the 1960s onward. +In the book, L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?, Bent Corydon wrote: + +In late 1954 the use of the E-meter was discontinued by Hubbard. Wrote Hubbard: "Yesterday, we used an instrument called an E-Meter to register whether or not the process was still getting results so that the auditor would know how long to continue it. While the E-Meter is an interesting investigation instrument and has played its part in research, it is not today used by the auditor ... As we long ago suspected, the intervention of a mechanical gadget between the auditor and the preclear had a tendency to depersonalize the session ..." +Though it seemed for a while that Scientology's more advanced techniques would serve without an E-meter, a few months later in May 1955, Hubbard wrote: + +And here come E-Meters back into the picture. The HASI is, at this moment, building a new and better E-Meter than has ever been built before, under the trademarked name of Physio-galvanometer, or O-Meter. It has very little in common with the old type E-Meter. Nevertheless, an old type E-Meter can be utilized. +The Scientology meter was smaller, based on transistors rather than vacuum tubes, and powered by a low-voltage rechargeable battery rather than line voltage. +From then on, the E-meter was a required tool for Scientology ministers. The "Hubbard Mark II" E-meter was christened in 1960 and the Hubbard Mark III shortly after. On December 6, 1966, Hubbard won a patent on the Mark V version under the name "Hubbard Electropsychometer". Corydon wrote that the Hubbard E-meter was actually developed by Scientologists Don Breeding and Joe Wallis, though the patent (U.S. patent 3,290,589) does not list other developers. +The Scientology E-meter has been redesigned and re-patented several times since its first introduction to Dianetics (e.g.: U.S. patent 4,459,995, U.S. patent 4,578,635, U.S. patent 4,702,259). + +=== Earlier similar devices === +Electrodermal activity meters were first developed in 1889 in Russia, and psychotherapists began using them as tools for therapy in the 1900s. + +== Use in Scientology == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d6de17136 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "E-meter" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +E-meters are used by Scientology practitioners known as "auditors". Scientology materials refer to the subject as the "preclear". The auditor gives the preclear a series of commands or questions while the preclear holds a pair of cylindrical electrodes ("cans") connected to the meter, and the auditor notes both the verbal response and the activity of the meter. Auditor training includes familiarization with a number of characteristic needle movements, each with a specific significance. Religion scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen describes the e-meter as "a technical device that could help the auditor locate engrams and areas of change when auditing a preclear". +Scientology concepts associated with the E-meter and its use are regarded by the scientific and medical communities as pseudoscience, as the E-meter has never been subjected to clinical trials as a therapeutic tool. +Scientologists claim that in the hands of a trained operator, the meter can indicate whether a person has been relieved from the spiritual impediment of past experiences. In accordance with a 1974 federal court order, the Church of Scientology asserts that the E-meter is intended for use only in church-sanctioned auditing sessions; it is not a curative or medical device. The E-meters used by the Church were previously manufactured by Scientologists at their Gold Base facility, but were being manufactured in Hong Kong and Taiwan as of 1998. +According to Hubbard, the E-meter is used by the operator for three vital functions: + +To determine what process to run and what to run it on. +To observe how well the process is running. +To know when the process should be stopped. +The Church claims that the E-meter can be used to assess the emotional charge of single words, whole sentences, and questions, as well as indicating the general state of the subject when the operator is not speaking. Few users of the E-meter claim that it does anything to the subject. To most, it does no more than suggest to the operator a change of mental, emotional, or autonomic nervous system activity. +New religious movement scholar Douglas Cowan writes that Scientologists cannot progress along the Bridge to Total Freedom without an E-meter, and that Hubbard even told Scientologists to buy two E-meters, in the event that one of them fails to operate. According to anthropologist Roy Rappaport, the E-meter is a ritual object, an object that "stand[s] indexically for something intangible". + +=== Other uses === +Similar devices have been used as research tools in many human studies and as one of several components of the Leonarde Keeler's polygraph (lie detector) system, which has been widely criticized as ineffective and pseudoscientific by legal experts and psychologists. +EDA meters are used in both therapist-patient and bio-feedback settings. EDA is one of the factors recorded by polygraphs, and EDA meters are often used in human studies to gauge psychological responses. + +== Description == + +Most prominent on the face of the e-meter is a display with a needle pointer. There are several dials and knobs, and modern e-meters have several LCD displays. All models have knobs for turning the device on, testing it, setting the sensitivity, and boosting the device. The primary control for the auditor is the tone arm (a rotating lever) which is held throughout auditing and operated by one hand while the auditor writes with their other hand. As the needle on the display moves off the right or left of the dial, the tone arm is used to bring the needle back on the dial. During an auditing session, the auditor writes down questions he has asked the preclear, the preclear's answers, and activity of the e-meter such as needle movements and tone arm settings + +There are ten main "needle actions" that an auditor is trained to spot, including a "fall," a smooth needle motion to the right; a "rise," a similar motion to the left; and a "free needle," or more commonly called a "floating needle," which is "a rhythmic sweep of the dial at a slow, even pace... back and forth." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e4d4247fd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "E-meter" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Electronics === +One of E-meter's primary components is a Wheatstone bridge, an electrical circuit configuration invented in 1833 that enables the detection of very small differences between two electrical impedances (in this case, resistances). The E-meter is constructed so that one resistance is the subject's body and the other is a rheostat controlled by the operator. A small voltage from the battery is applied to electrodes held in the subject's hands. As the electrical properties (electrodermal activity) of the subject's body change during the counseling, the resulting changes in the small electric current are displayed in needle movements on a large analog panel meter. The dial face is without numbers because the absolute resistance in ohms is relatively unimportant, while the operator watches primarily for characteristic needle motions. The voltage applied to the electrodes is less than 1.5 V, and the electric current through the subject's body is less than a half a milliampere. +In the Scientology E-meter, the large control, known as the "tone arm", adjusts the meter bias, while a smaller one controls the gain. The operator manipulates the tone arm to keep the needle near the center of the dial so its motion is easily observed. A simple E-meter powered by direct current, such as that used by the Scientologists and the like, displays several kinds of electrodermal activity (EDA) on the one dial without distinction, including changes in resistance and bioelectric potential. Researchers in psychophysiology are also exploring admittance and impedance aspects of EDA that can be observed only with alternating current. +The E-Meter, measuring variations in electrodermal activity (which can be highly responsive to emotion), functions on the same physiological data sources as one of the parts of the polygraph, or "lie detector". According to Scientology doctrine, the resistance corresponds to the "mental mass and energy" of the subject's mind, which are claimed to change when the subject thinks of particular mental images (engrams). One account tells about Hubbard using the E-meter to determine whether or not fruits can experience pain, as in his 1968 assertion that tomatoes "scream when sliced". +The traditional theory of EDA holds that skin resistance varies with the state of sweat glands in the skin. Sweating is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. Because sweat contains electrolytes (salt, etc.), conductivity is increased when the sweat glands are activated. But some advocates argue that the meter responds more quickly than would be possible by the exudation and drying of sweat. They propose an additional mechanism termed the "Tarchanoff Response", through which the cerebral cortex of the brain affects the current directly. This phenomenon is not completely understood, and further research needs to be performed. + +== Legal issues == + +=== United States === + +The medical establishment had been watching Hubbard's enterprises since 1951, when the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners prosecuted the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation (Elizabeth, New Jersey) for practicing medicine without a license. In 1958, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seized and destroyed 21,000 Dianazene tablets from Hubbard's Distribution Center Inc., charging that they were falsely labeled as a treatment for radiation sickness. +On January 4, 1963, in service of an FDA complaint, more than 100 US marshals and deputized longshoremen with drawn guns raided the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C., and confiscated more than three tons of property, including 5,000 books, 2,900 booklets, and several hundred E-meters. The FDA accused the Church of making false medical claims that the E-meters could treat physical and mental illnesses. The FDA also charged that the meters did not bear adequate directions for treating the conditions for which they were recommended. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d8e6824e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "E-meter" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Church claimed that they had not written any publication that the E-meter could or would heal anything and sued to get the property back. Years of litigation ensued. In the first trial beginning on April 3, 1967, the jury found that the Church misrepresented the E-meter, and the judge ordered the confiscated materials destroyed. However, in 1969 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed the verdict; the Church, it said, had made substantial showing that Scientology is a religion and the government had done nothing to rebut the claim. The US Court of Appeals wrote: [The Founding Church has] made no attempt to contradict the expert testimony introduced by the Government. They have conceded that the E-meter is of no use in the diagnosis or treatment of disease as such, and have argued that it was never put forward as having such use. Auditing or processing, in their view, treats the spirit of man, not his body, though through the healing of the spirit the body can be affected. They have culled from their literature numerous statements disclaiming any intent to treat disease and recommending that Scientology practitioners send those under their care to doctors when organic defects may be found. They have introduced through testimony a document which they assert all those who undergo auditing or processing must sign which states that Scientology is "a spiritual and religious guide intended to make persons more aware of themselves as spiritual beings, and not treating or diagnosing human ailments of body or mind, and not engaged in the teaching of medical arts or sciences * * *."Finally, with respect to their claim to be a religion and hence within the protection of the First Amendment, they have shown that the Founding Church of Scientology is incorporated as a church in the District of Columbia, and that its ministers are qualified to perform marriages and burials. They have introduced their Creed into evidence. The Government has made no claim that the Founding Church is not a bona fide religion, that auditing is not part of the exercise of that religion, or that the theory of auditing is not a doctrine of that religion. +Having found that Scientology was a religion, the Court wrote that the government was forbidden by the First Amendment to the Constitution to rule on the truth or falsity of the Church's doctrines and interfere with its practices, provided the claims are not manifestly insincere and the practices are reasonably harmless. The Court ordered a new trial with the mandate that the trial court could not forbid auditing, use of the E-meter, or purveyance of the literature within a religious context. The FDA appealed the decision, but in 1969, the US Supreme Court declined to review the case, commenting only that "Scientology meets the prima facie test of religion". In his 1973 judgment, District Court Judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that:Hubbard and his fellow Scientologists developed the notion of using an E-Meter to aid auditing. Substantial fees were charged for the meter and for auditing sessions using the meter. They repeatedly and explicitly represented that such auditing effectuated cures of many physical and mental illnesses. An individual processed with the aid of the E-Meter was said to reach the intended goal of 'clear' and was led to believe that there was reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most, illnesses would successfully be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to be successful. All this was and is false. Unable to do more under the mandate from the Court of Appeals, Judge Gesell ordered all the property to be returned to the Church, and thereafter, the E-meter may be used only in "bona fide religious counseling". All meters and referring literature must include a label disclaiming any medical benefits: +The E-Meter is not medically or scientifically useful for the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease. It is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily functions of anyone. +The church adopted a modified version of that statement, which it still invokes in connection with the E-meter. The current statement reads: + +The Hubbard Electrometer is a religious artifact. By itself, this meter does nothing. It is for religious use by students and Ministers of the church in Confessionals and pastoral counseling only. +Judge Gesell also ordered the Church to pay all the government's legal fees and warehousing costs for the confiscated property for the nine years of litigation. He also required the church to pay the salaries and travel expenses of FDA agents who might, from time to time, inspect for compliance with the court's order. The raid was ruled illegal, but the government retained copies of the documents. + +=== Sweden === +In 1979, a court forbade calling the E-meter "an invaluable aid to measuring man's mental state and changes in it" in an advertisement. The prohibition was upheld by the European Commission of Human Rights in case X. and Church of Scientology v. Sweden. + +=== France === +In October 2009, a three-judge panel at the Correctional Court in Paris, convicted the church and six of its members of organized fraud. The Court's decision followed a three-week trial, where two plaintiffs alleged they were defrauded by the organization. One plaintiff's complaint involved the use of an E-Meter by Scientologists with medical implications. This plaintiff claimed that, after being audited with the device, she was encouraged to pay tens of thousands of euros for vitamins, books, and courses to improve her condition. She argued that amounted to fraud. The Court agreed, and the ruling was upheld on appeal in 2013. See Scientology in France § Conviction for fraud. + +=== Australia === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7b19f9bc8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: "E-meter" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-meter" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:05.250291+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In 1964, the government of Victoria, Australia, held a Board of Inquiry into Scientology which returned its findings in a document colloquially known as the Anderson Report. Psychiatrist Ian Holland Martin, honorary federal secretary of the Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, gave evidence that the E-Meter "used for Scientology" was a "psycho-galvano-meter" and was "dangerous in unqualified hands". He said that if the E-meter "was suggested to possess mysterious powers" to someone who did not understand that it had "been thoroughly discredited as a lie detector" then "that person would be suggestible to ideas foisted on him by the operator". The final report of the inquiry stated that the E-meter enabled Scientology + +to assume, intensify and retain control over the minds and wills of preclears. Fears of its abilities keep them in constant subjection. Its use can be so manipulated by cunningly phrased questions that almost any desired result can be obtained, and it is used unscrupulously to dominate students and staff alike. All the evil features of scientology are intensified where the E-meter is involved. When used in conjunction with hypnotic techniques, its evil impact is greatly increased. + +This simple electrical device is not, of course, the sole basis for the condemnation of scientology, but without the E-meter scientology would be partly disarmed. +In 1965, Victoria banned the use of the E-meter without a license, with Western Australia and South Australia following suit. In 1969, the High Court of Western Australia ruled the ban illegal. South Australia repealed its law in 1973, and Victoria repealed it in 1982. In 1983, the High Court of Australia ruled that Scientology was a religion and as such had the same rights and protections. + +== Scientology beliefs and theories == +Within the Church of Scientology, the early psychoanalysts are credited with first use of the E-meter. + +Bob Thomas, senior executive of the Church of Scientology in the United States, described the E-meter ... "Some very early work on this was done by Jung, who used a list of words. I think he combined it with the psycho-galvanometer. By this word association, he was attempting to increase the effectiveness of the free association techniques, which he was not sure about." +Hubbard credited Mathison with recreating the E-meter and bringing him the first model for use in Dianetics. Hubbard set out his theory of how the E-meter works in his book Understanding the E-Meter: + +For the meter to be read, the tiny flow of electrical energy through the preclear (person) has to remain steady. When this tiny flow is changed the needle of the E-Meter moves. This will happen if the preclear pulls in or releases mental mass. This mental mass (condensed energy), acts as an additional resistance or lack of resistance to the flow of electrical energy from the E-Meter. +Hubbard claimed that this "mental mass" has the same physical characteristics, including weight, as mass as commonly understood by lay persons: + +In Scientology it has been discovered that mental energy is simply a finer, higher level of physical energy. The test of this is conclusive in that a thetan "mocking up" (creating) mental image pictures and thrusting them into the body can increase the body mass and by casting them away again can decrease the body mass. This test has actually been made and an increase of as much as thirty pounds, actually measured on scales, has been added to, and subtracted from, a body by creating "mental energy". Energy is energy. Matter is condensed energy. +This text in Understanding the E-Meter is accompanied by three drawings. The first shows a man standing on a weighing scale, which reflects a weight of "150" (the units are not given). The next shows the man on the same scale, weighed down under a burden of "Mental Image Pictures", and the scale indicates a weight of "180". The last picture shows the man standing upright on the scale, now unburdened by "Mental Image Pictures" and with a smile on his face, while the scale again indicates a weight of "148". +Bob Thomas, senior executive of the church in the early 1970s, gave a prosaic description. + +The immediate goal of the E-meter is to enhance communication. In other words, just to take a parallel: if an analyst were allowing his patient to free-associate, and the patient were connected in some way with a galvanometer which showed the analyst what things the patient mentioned were emotionally charged and what things were not emotionally charged, a lot of time would be saved. So it's simply an assist for the practitioner to direct the individual to areas which he himself may not realize are troubled or charged with emotion or are repressed; and to better direct his attention into those areas ... +The E-meter is a simple psycho-galvanometer. It's got some increased sensitivity built into it and the myological reactions that you sometimes get in the galvanometer have been damped out by the circuitry, so that the mental reactions, the reactions of the spirit, on the body are emphasized and can be read more clearly. But that's simply the design of the circuitry; it doesn't basically affect the kind of device. It registers what is called, commonly, the psychogalvanomic reflex, which is a reflex that is a poorly understood mechanism of the psyche. The body resistance seems to vary when the individual thinks of a painful or pain-associated or traumatic-associated concept, or word or idea. ... Some very early work was done on this by Jung ... + +== See also == +Auditing (Scientology) +Biofeedback +Ohmmeter +Thought identification + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== External links == + +Scientology Today: What is the E-Meter and how does it work?, official Church of Scientology description +Secrets of Scientology: The E-Meter, by David S. Touretzky +E-Meter US Patent, filed by the Church of Spiritual Technology on May 9, 1996, and published January 4, 2000 +"New Religious Movements, Technology, and Science: The Conceptualization of the E-Meter in Scientology Teachings" Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 51 (3):661-683 (2016), a thorough historical and critical study by scholar Stefano Bigliardi. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENFJ-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENFJ-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..243c299cb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENFJ-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +--- +title: "ENFJ" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENFJ" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:28.828769+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +ENFJ (Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Judgement) is an abbreviation used in the publications of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to refer to one of 16 personality types. The MBTI assessment was developed from the work of prominent psychiatrist Carl G. Jung in his book Psychological Types. Jung proposed a psychological typology based on the theories of cognitive functions that he developed through his clinical observations. +From Jung's work, others developed psychological typologies. Jungian personality assessments include the MBTI assessment, developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs, and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, developed by David Keirsey. Keirsey referred to ENFJs as Teachers, one of the four types belonging to the temperament he called the Idealists. ENFJs account for about 2–5% of the population. + + +== The MBTI instrument == +E – Extraversion preferred to introversion: ENFJs often feel motivated by their interaction with people. They tend to enjoy a wide circle of acquaintances, and they gain energy in social situations. They tend to turn to external sources when making decisions, and want approval from others. (whereas introverts expend energy). +N – Intuition preferred to sensing: ENFJs tend to be more abstract than concrete. They focus their attention on the big picture rather than the details, and on future possibilities rather than immediate realities. +F – Feeling preferred to thinking: ENFJs tend to value personal considerations above objective criteria. When making decisions, they often give more weight to social implications than to logic. +J – Judgment preferred to perception: ENFJs tend to plan their activities and make decisions early. They derive a sense of control through predictability. + + +== ENFJ characteristics == + + +=== Type description === +Extroverted feeling types seek continuity through harmonious relationships and collective values. They excel at picking up on values, simply because shared values are what create harmony. Some will profess the importance of tough-minded logic, justice and scholarly debate because their environments have these shared values. They tend to adopt the collective values of those in their social group. + + +=== Correlation with Enneatype === +According to Baron and Wagele, the most common Enneatypes for ENFJs are Helpers (Twos) and Achievers (Threes). + + +== Cognitive functions == +Using the more modern interpretation, the cognitive functions of the ENFJ are as follows: + + +=== Dominant: Extraverted feeling (Fe) === +Fe seeks social connections and creates harmonious interactions through considerate, enthusiastic, and charming behavior. Fe responds to the explicit (and implicit) wants of others, and may even create an internal conflict between the subject's own needs and the desire to meet the needs of others. + + +=== Auxiliary: Introverted intuition (Ni) === +Attracted to symbolic actions or devices, Ni synthesizes seeming paradoxes to create the previously unimagined. These realizations come with a certainty that demands action to fulfill a new vision of the future, solutions that may include complex systems or universal truths. + + +=== Tertiary: Extraverted sensing (Se) === +Se focuses on the experiences and sensations of the immediate, physical world. With an acute awareness of the present surroundings, it brings relevant facts and details to the forefront and may lead to spontaneous action. + + +=== Inferior: Introverted thinking (Ti) === +Ti seeks precision, such as the exact word to express an idea. It notices the minute distinctions that define the essence of things, then analyzes and classifies them. Ti examines all sides of an issue, looking to solve problems while minimizing effort and risk. It uses models to root out logical inconsistency. + + +=== Shadow functions === +Later personality researchers (notably Linda V. Berens) added four additional functions to the descending hierarchy, the so-called "shadow" functions to which the individual is not naturally inclined but which can emerge when the person is under stress. For ENFJ these shadow functions are (in order): + +Introverted feeling (Fi): Fi filters information based on interpretations of worth, forming judgments according to criteria that are often intangible. Fi constantly balances an internal set of values such as harmony and authenticity. Attuned to subtle distinctions, Fi innately senses what is true and what is false in a situation. +Extraverted intuition (Ne): Ne finds and interprets hidden meanings, using "what if" questions to explore alternatives, allowing multiple possibilities to coexist. This imaginative play weaves together insights and experiences from various sources to form a new whole, which can then become a catalyst to action. +Introverted sensing (Si): Si collects data in the present moment and compares it with past experiences, a process that sometimes evokes the feelings associated with memory, as if the subject were reliving it. Seeking to protect what is familiar, Si draws upon history to form goals and expectations about what will happen in the future. +Extraverted thinking (Te): Te organizes and schedules ideas and the environment to ensure the efficient, productive pursuit of objectives. Te seeks logical explanations for actions, events, and conclusions, looking for faulty reasoning and lapses in sequence. + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Keirsey Teacher Idealist (ENFJ) Archived 2013-09-23 at the Wayback Machine +The Myers & Briggs Foundation: The 16 MBTI Types \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dfb0df828 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,57 @@ +--- +title: "Ear candling" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:06.479579+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal-auricular therapy, is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine practice claiming to improve general health and well-being by lighting one end of a hollow candle and placing the other end in the ear canal. Medical research has shown that the practice is both dangerous and ineffective and does not functionally remove earwax or toxicants, despite product design contributing to that impression. + + +== Technique == +Medical News Today describes the process of ear candling: + +Ear candles are typically about 10 inches long, hollow, and tapered. A person lights them at their widest end. They are usually made of fabric soaked in wax or a mixture of substances, often paraffin and beeswax. To perform ear candling, a person will lie on their side and insert a candle into the ear. Usually, a square or circle made of paper, tin foil, or plastic acts as a cover to prevent hot wax from dripping onto the face, neck, or hair. Once the candle and covering are secure, a person will light the candle for 10–20 minutes. Wax does not go into the ear during this process. Ear candle makers and supporters claim that the lit candle creates enough warmth to generate suction. This suction pulls impurities and wax out of the ear canal. + + +== Safety and effectiveness == + +Professor of Complementary Medicine Edzard Ernst wrote about ear candles: "There is no data to suggest that it is effective for any condition. Furthermore, ear candles have been associated with ear injuries. The inescapable conclusion is that ear candles do more harm than good. Their use should be discouraged." +According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), ear candling is sometimes promoted with claims that the practice can "purify the blood" or "cure" cancer. Health Canada has determined the candles do not affect the ear, and provide no health benefit; instead, they create a risk of injury, especially when used on children. In October 2007, US FDA issued an alert identifying ear candles (also known as ear cones or auricular candles) as "dangerous to health when used in the dosage or manner, or with the frequency or duration, prescribed, recommended, or suggested in the labeling thereof ... since the use of a lit candle in the proximity of a person's face would carry a high risk of causing potentially severe skin/hair burns and middle ear damage." +A 2007 paper in the journal Canadian Family Physician concludes: + +Ear candling appears to be popular and is heavily advertised with claims that could seem scientific to lay people. However, its claimed mechanism of action has not been verified, no positive clinical effect has been reliably recorded, and it is associated with considerable risk. No evidence suggests that ear candling is an effective treatment for any condition. On this basis, we believe it can do more harm than good and we recommend that GPs discourage its use. +A 2007 article in American Family Physician said ear candling should be avoided, stating: + +In theory, the combination of heat and suction is supposed to remove earwax. However, in one trial, ear candles neither created suction nor removed wax and actually led to occlusion with candle wax in persons who previously had clean ear canals. Primary care physicians may see complications from ear candling including candle wax occlusion, local burns, and tympanic membrane perforation. + +The Spokane Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic conducted a research study in 1996, which concluded that ear candling does not produce negative pressure and is ineffective in removing wax from the ear canal. Several studies have shown that ear candles produce the same residue – which is simply candle wax and soot – when burnt without ear insertion. +At least two house fires (one fatal) have been caused by accidents during ear candling. +A survey of ear, nose and throat surgeons found some who had treated people with complications from ear candling, and that burns were the most common. + + +== Product regulations == +In Europe, some ear candles bear the CE mark (93/42/EEC), though they are mostly self-issued by the manufacturer. This mark indicates that the device is designed and manufactured so as not to compromise the safety of patients, but no independent testing is required as proof. +While ear candles are widely available in the US, selling or importing them with medical claims is illegal. +In a report, Health Canada states "There is no scientific proof to support claims that ear candling provides medical benefits. ... However, there is plenty of proof that ear candling is dangerous". It says that while some people claim to be selling the candles "for entertainment purposes only", the Canadian government maintains that there is no reasonable non-medical use, and hence any sale of the devices is illegal in Canada. + + +== Origin == +Ear candle manufacturer Biosun referred to them as "Hopi" ear candles, but there is no such treatment within traditional Hopi healing practices. Vanessa Charles, public relations officer for the Hopi Tribal Council, has stated that ear candling "is not and has never been a practice conducted by the Hopi tribe or the Hopi people." The Hopi tribe has repeatedly asked Biosun to stop using the Hopi name. Biosun ignored the request for over a decade until sometime after 2014 when the product was rebranded as "traditional earcandles" in Germany, although the product is still marketed by third-party US resellers as "Hopi". +Many advocates of ear candles claim that the treatment originates from traditional Chinese, Egyptian, or North American medicine. The mythical city of Atlantis is also reported to be the origin of this practice, which has no documentation. The earliest records state that it was first practiced by Americans in the 20th century from some European immigrants. It developed largely in Arizona. + + +== See also == +Ear pick +List of ineffective cancer treatments + + +== References == + + +== External links == + +Horowitz, Janice M. (June 19, 2000). "Ear Candling". Time. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_sensitivity-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_sensitivity-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..47fd17f6a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_sensitivity-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Earthquake sensitivity" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_sensitivity" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:09.780483+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Earthquake sensitivity and earthquake sensitive are pseudoscientific terms defined by Jim Berkland to refer to certain people who claim sensitivity to the precursors of impending earthquakes, manifested in "dreams or visions, psychic impressions, or physiological symptoms", the latter including "ear tones" (ringing in the ears), headaches, and agitation. It is claimed that "[a] person with a very sensitive body may also have some subtle reaction to whatever animals react to". Proponents have speculated that these may result from: 1) piezoelectric effects due to changes in the stress of the Earth's crust, 2) low-frequency electromagnetic signals, or 3) from the emission of radon gas. +Although proponents suggest the possibility that the claimed effects might work through known physical phenomena, and thus be amenable to scientific study, these claims are pseudoscientific in that no evidence of such effects, nor any theory of how such effects might be perceived, has been presented in the scientific literature. What the scientific literature does have is various reports showing that animals do not show disturbed or altered behavior attributable to earthquake precursors (other than foreshocks). Aside from whether such phenomena can be detected (by any means), the "consistent failure to find reliable earthquake precursors" has led many scientists to question whether such precursor phenomena even exist. + +Could "earthquake sensitives" be responding to some kind of "psychic impressions" or other paranormal phenomena as yet unknown to science? After reviewing the scientific literature the International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting for Civil Protection (ICEF) concluded that there is no credible scientific evidence that animals display behaviors indicative of earthquake-related environmental disturbances that are unobservable by the physical and chemical sensor systems available to earthquake scientists. +On their side, the proponents claim that there have been "many scientific papers" supporting their views, but "most have been totally rejected by the keepers of high wisdom." While scientists are quick to dismiss theories they "know, or have good reason to believe, are not credible", and especially predictions by amateurs on account of their lack of scientific rigor, +proponents claim that successful predictions can indicate a significant breakthrough, even if the details are not understood. In this regard Berkland claims "a 75 percent accuracy rate of forecasting quakes." However, these results (besides being disputed) are irrelevant in demonstrating any kind of "earthquake sensitive" effect as Berkland's predictions appear to not involve such effects. +Berkland ceased posting his predictions after June 2010. Though a few others have continued to post their predictions on Berkland's website, there appears to be no effort to correlate "ear tones" or any other physiological effect with subsequent earthquakes. + + +== See also == +Earthquake prediction + + +== Notes == + + +== Sources == + + +== External links == +http://www.syzygyjob.com Jim Berkland's earthquake prediction website. (Inactive since June 2010.) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation-0.md index ee888e1cc..48d375729 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_misinformation" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:11:15.841965+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:11.005459+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..77295d653 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Elastic therapeutic tape" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:12.213282+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Elastic therapeutic tape, also called kinesiology tape or kinesiology therapeutic tape, Kinesio tape, k-tape, or KT is an elastic cotton strip with an acrylic adhesive that is purported to ease pain and disability from athletic injuries and a variety of other physical disorders. In individuals with chronic musculo­skeletal pain, research suggests that elastic taping may help relieve pain, but not more than other treatment approaches, and no evidence indicates that it can reduce disability in chronic pain cases. +No convincing scientific evidence indicates that such products provide any demonstrable benefit in excess of a placebo, with some declaring it a pseudo­scientific treatment. + +== History == +Kenzo Kase, a Japanese–American chiro­practor, developed the product in the 1970s. The company he founded markets variants under the brand name "Kinesio" and takes legal action to prevent the word being used as a genericised trademark. +A surge in popularity resulted after the product was donated to Olympic athletes in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and 2012 London Summer Olympics. The tapes' prominence and mass introduction to the general public have been attributed to Kerri Walsh who wore the tape on her shoulder, and who along with Misty May-Treanor dominated the 2008 beach volleyball event. In 2012, science journalist Brian Dunning speculated on why he had not seen "a single athlete, pro beach volleyball players included, wear Kinesio Tape outside of the Olympics". He believes that "sponsor­ship dollars may be entirely responsible for the popularity of Kinesio Tape during televised events." + +== Properties == + +The product is a type of thin, elastic cotton tape that can stretch up to 140% of its original length. As a result, if the tape is applied stretched greater than its normal length, it will "recoil" after being applied and therefore create a pulling force on the skin. This elastic property allows much greater range of motion compared to traditional white athletic tape and can also be left on for long periods before re­appli­cation. +Designed to mimic human skin, with roughly the same thickness and elastic properties, the tape can be stretched 30%–40% long­itu­din­ally. It is a latex-free material with acrylic adhesive, which is heat-activated. The cotton fibers allow for evaporation and quicker drying leading to longer wear time, up to 4 days. How the tape is claimed to affect the body is dependent on the location and how it is applied; the stretch direction, the shape, and the location all supposedly play a role in the tape's hypo­thetical function. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5dc4c6276 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +title: "Elastic therapeutic tape" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:12.213282+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Effectiveness == +Manufacturers have made a wide variety of claims, including that it provides physical support for muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. KT Health's web site at one point claimed the tape "lifts the skin, decompressing the layers of fascia, allowing for greater movement of lymphatic fluid which transports white blood cells throughout the body and removes waste products, cellular debris, and bacteria". This increase in the inter­stitial space purportedly reduces pressure on the body's nociceptors, which detect pain, and stimulates mechano­receptors, to improve overall joint pro­prio­ception. Critics say these claims are not supported by evidence. +In the 2012 article "Scientists sceptical as athletes get all taped up", Reuters reported that "In a review of all the scientific research so far, published in the Sports Medicine journal in February, researchers found 'little quality evidence to support the use of Kinesio tape over other types of elastic taping in the management or prevention of sports injuries". Some researchers claim that what athletes are experiencing is just a placebo effect. +In July 2012, Steven Novella writing in Science-Based Medicine in the article "Olympic Pseudo­science", examined the use of KT in the larger context of "sports-related pseudo­science". Novella says "The world of sports competition is rife with pseudo­science, false claims, dubious products, super­stitions, and magical charms." Novella concluded that "Consumers should be very skeptical of claims made for products marketed as athletic performance enhancing." +In August 2012, science journalist Brian Dunning reports in "Kinesio Tape: The Evidence" that positive studies of the tape are the result of people being deceived by a "stage magician's trick" – which he describes in detail – that is used to fool subjects into thinking strength or flexibility is being affected, when they are not. He reports that kinesio tape is claimed to be good for a plethora of issues including "pain management, injury treatment, injury prevention, enhanced performance, increased range of motion, and just about anything else an athlete might want." He concludes: "It sounds like a miracle – one simple product that does everything you can imagine. In short, a textbook snake oil product." +A 2012 meta analysis found that the efficacy of elastic therapeutic tape in pain relief was trivial, because no reviewed study found clinically important results. The tape "may have a small beneficial role in improving strength, range of motion in certain injured cohorts, and force sense error compared with other elastic tapes, but further studies are needed to confirm these findings". +The same article concluded: "KT had some substantial effects on muscle activity, but it was unclear whether these changes were beneficial or harmful. In conclusion, there was little quality evidence to support the use of KT over other types of elastic taping in the management or prevention of sports injuries." +A 2014 meta analysis looked at methodo­logical quality of studies, along with overall population effect, and suggested that studies of lower methodo­logical quality are more likely to report beneficial effects of elastic therapeutic taping, thus indicating the perceived effect of using kinesio taping is not real. It also suggested that applying elastic therapeutic tape, "to facilitate muscular contraction has no, or only negligible, effects on muscle strength". +A 2015 meta analysis found that the taping provided more pain relief than no treatment at all, but was not better than other treatment approaches in patients with chronic musculo­skeletal pain. The same meta analysis did not find any significant changes in disability as a result of taping. +In March 2018, Science-Based Medicine again examined KT in response to its public use at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the article A Miscellany of Medical Malarkey Episode 3: The Revengening. The article reports that: + +The claims made by manufacturers and promoters of the tape are highly implausible, particularly those involving increased muscle strength, improved blood flow to an injured areas [sic], and better lymphatic drainage to reduce swelling. No evidence supports these claims. Pain reduction and injury prevention are also frequently-cited benefits that similarly lack evidence, at least none showing an effect specific to kinesio tape... There is no evidence of a specific benefit related to kinesio tape itself, or to any kind of expert application of it. +In November 2018, Science-Based Medicine described a study published the same month in the journal BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehab­ili­tat­ion which examines the effec­tive­ness of different colors of kinesio­logy tape, as well as re­examining general effec­tive­ness of kinesio­logy tape against a placebo. Describing the conclusions of the study, they write: + +Nothing mattered. Tape color didn't matter. Color preference didn't matter. "Proper" placement of KT with tension didn't matter. No effect on performance, strength, or function was found in any experimental round compared to the control round for any of the subjects. +A 2023 systematic review included nine randomised controlled trials in their meta-analysis, and concluded that KT can significantly reduce pain intensity between baseline and immediately post-intervention and between baseline and the short-term follow-up period. However, no significant differences existed between KT's ability to relieve other symptoms of CNLBP—disability, trunk flexion range of motion (ROM), change in status, fear of movement, isometric endurance of the trunk muscles, or extension—when compared to either sham taping or KT as an adjunct to physical therapy. + +== Deceptive marketing lawsuit == +In 2017, KT Health settled a class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts, resolving claims of unjust enrichment and untrue and misleading marketing. It agreed to pay $1.75 million (equivalent to $2.2 million in 2024‍) to refund half the purchase price of the tape, representing the premium paid above traditional athletic tape. The brand also agreed to drop claims that the tape "will keep you pain-free", "prevents injury", or provides "24-hour pain relief", and add the disclaimer "not clinically proven for all injuries". + +== See also == +Buddy wrapping – Bandaging a damaged finger or toe to a healthy one +Elastic bandage – Pressure-creating dressing +Self-adhering bandage – Bandage that sticks to itself but not other surfacesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets +Kinesiology – Study of human body movement + +== References == + +== External links == + Media related to Kinesio taping at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacupuncture-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacupuncture-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7f3d38e0c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacupuncture-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Electroacupuncture" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroacupuncture" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:13.345193+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Electroacupuncture is a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles. +The Cochrane Collaboration, a group of evidence-based medicine (EBM) reviewers, reviewed acupuncture and electroacupuncture for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Because of the small number and poor quality of studies, they found no evidence to recommend its use for this condition. The reviewers concluded: + +"Although the results of the study on electroacupuncture show that electroacupuncture may be beneficial to reduce symptomatic knee pain in patients with RA 24 hours and 4 months post treatment, the reviewers concluded that the poor quality of the trial, including the small sample size preclude its recommendation. The reviewers further conclude that acupuncture has no effect on ESR, CRP, pain, patient's global assessment, number of swollen joints, number of tender joints, general health, disease activity and reduction of analgesics. These conclusions are limited by methodological considerations such as the type of acupuncture (acupuncture vs electroacupuncture), the site of intervention, the low number of clinical trials and the small sample size of the included studies." +A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis found inconclusive evidence that electroacupuncture was effective for nausea and vomiting and hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy. The American Cancer Society has concluded that the evidence does not support the use of EAV "as a method that can diagnose, cure, or otherwise help people with cancer" or "as a reliable aid in diagnosis or treatment of ... other illness". + + +== See also == +Alternative medicine +Microcurrent electrical neuromuscular stimulator +Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Terr AI (2000). "Controversial and unproven diagnostic tests for allergic and immunologic diseases". Clin Allergy Immunol. 15: 307–20. PMID 10943300. +Comments on the AANP Position on Electrodiagnosis from Quackwatch \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohomeopathy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohomeopathy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..260b2367e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohomeopathy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,44 @@ +--- +title: "Electrohomeopathy" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohomeopathy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:14.530601+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Electrohomeopathy, also called electrohomoeopathy, electropathy or the Mattei cancer cure, is a historical proposed alternative to miasma theory and then-increasingly popular germ theory, as well as associated techniques. Invented in the 19th century by Count Cesare Mattei, the name is derived from a combination of electro (for electric bio-energy), homeo (Greek for "similar" or "like") and pathy (from the Greek word "pathos," which means "suffering"); it is an herbal medicine system that relies on the claimed healing properties of plants. The theory never saw significant mainstream success and the ideas have been characterized as quackery and described as "utter idiocy". + + +== History and criticism == +Electrohomeopathy was devised by Cesare Mattei (1809–1896) in the latter part of the 19th century. Mattei, a nobleman living in a castle in the vicinity of Bologna, studied natural science, anatomy, physiology, pathology, chemistry and botany. He ultimately focused on the supposed therapeutic power of "electricity" in botanical extracts. Mattei made bold, unsupported claims for the efficacy of his treatments, including the claim that his treatments offered a nonsurgical alternative to cancer. His treatment regimens were met with scepticism by medical orthodoxy: + +The electrohomeopathic system is an invention of Count Mattei who prates of "red," "blue," and "green" electricity, a theory that, in spite of its utter idiocy, has attracted a considerable following and earned a large fortune for its chief promoter. + +After Mattei's death, his work was built upon by Theodore Krauss (1864-1924) who amplified the number of available treatments, including the introduction of injectable forms of treatment, and modernised production processes. +Notwithstanding criticisms, including a challenge by the British medical establishment to the claimed success of his cancer treatments, electrohomeopathy (or Matteism, as it was sometimes known at the time) attracted adherents in Germany, France, the US and the UK by the beginning of the 20th century; electrohomeopathy had been the subject of approximately 100 publications and there were three journals dedicated to it. By 1892, "in deference to popular clamour it was beginning to be practised even by regular medical practitioners." W. T. Stead published a challenge to the medical faculty, which resulted in a medical committee being set up, under Morell Mackenzie, to inquire into the claims of Matteism. All of the committee members were sceptical, but "we were all steadfastly resolved, if we should find ourselves mistaken, and if Mattei’s potions really should cure cancer in some inconceivable way, that we would admit our error and make known the true state of the case." +The committee observed five patients with cancer of the breast, selected by the Matteists who were treating them. After a year, they found that "the cancerous growths all continued to progress exactly as if no treatment whatever had been used. Some developed slowly, others more rapidly: but one, which had presented an unbroken surface at the outset, very soon became deeply ulcerated and excavated, and even the Matteists themselves were obliged to admit that “it seemed to be getting worse.” ... Matteism, in the deliberate judgment of the committee, consists exclusively of vulgar, unadulterated, unredeemed quackery... Mr. Stokes analysed the “electricities", and found them to yield no other reaction than that of plain distilled water." + + +== Philosophy == +Remedies are derived from what are said to be the active micronutrients or mineral salts of certain plants. One contemporary account of the process of producing electrohomeopathic remedies was as follows:As to the nature of his remedies we learn... that... they are manufactured from certain herbs, and that the directions for the preparation of the necessary dilutions are given in the ordinary jargon of homeopathy. The globules and liquids, however, are "instinct with a potent, vital, electrical force, which enables them to work wonders." This process of "fixing the electrical principle" is carried on in the secret central chamber of a Neo-Moorish castle which Count Mattei has built for himself in the Bolognese Apennines... The "red electricity" and "white electricity" supposed to be "fixed" in these "vegetable compounds" are in their very nomenclature and suggestion poor and miserable fictions. + +According to Mattei's own ideas however, every disease originates in the change of blood or of the lymphatic system or both, and remedies can therefore be mainly divided into two broad categories to be used in response to the dominant affected system. Mattei wrote that having obtained plant extracts, he was "able to determine in the liquid vegetable electricity". Allied to his theories and therapies were elements of Chinese medicine, of medical humours, of apparent Brownianism, as well as modified versions of Samuel Hahnemann's homeopathic principles. + + +== Modern usage == +A symposium took place in Bologna in 2008 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Cesare Mattei, with attendees from India, Pakistan, Germany, the UK, and the USA. Electrohomeopathy is practised predominantly in India and Pakistan although it is not a recognised healthcare discipline in India, where it has been called "quackery". + + +== See also == +List of ineffective cancer treatments + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Mattei, Count Cesare The Principles of Electrohomoeopathy: a new science, 1880 ISBN 978-8170212348 +Gliddon, Aurelius J L Stepping Stones to Electro-Homoeopathy, 1892 (reprinted 2010) ISBN 978-8184541717 +Krauss, Theodor Die Grundsätze der Elektro-Homöopathie (in German), 1921 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b4fe34714 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Electromagnetic hypersensitivity" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:15.755092+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is a claimed sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, to which adverse symptoms are attributed. EHS has no scientific basis and is not a recognized medical diagnosis, although it is generally accepted that the experience of EHS symptoms is of psychosomatic origin. Claims are characterized by a "variety of non-specific symptoms, which afflicted individuals attribute to exposure to electromagnetic fields." Attempts to justify the claim that EHS is caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields have amounted to pseudoscience. +Those self-diagnosed with EHS report adverse reactions to electromagnetic fields at intensities well below the maximum levels permitted by international radiation safety standards. Provocation trials have found that such claimants are unable to distinguish between exposure and non-exposure to electromagnetic fields. A systematic review of medical research in 2011 found no convincing scientific evidence for symptoms being caused by electromagnetic fields. Since then, several double-blind experiments have shown that people who report electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to detect the presence of electromagnetic fields and are as likely to report ill health following a sham exposure as they are following exposure to genuine electromagnetic fields, suggesting the cause in these cases is the nocebo effect. +As of 2005, the WHO recommended that claims of EHS be clinically evaluated to determine and rule out alternative diagnoses for suffered symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy and management of comorbid psychiatric disorders may help manage the condition. +Some people who feel they are sensitive to electromagnetic fields may seek to reduce their exposure or use alternative medicine. Government agencies have enforced false advertising claims against companies selling devices to shield against EM radiation. + +== Signs and symptoms == +No specific symptoms are associated with claims of EHS, and the reported symptoms range widely among individuals. They include headache, fatigue, stress, sleep disturbances, skin prickling, burning sensations, rashes, and achy or painful muscles. In severe cases, such symptoms can be a disabling problem for the affected person, causing psychological distress. There is no scientific basis to link such symptoms to electromagnetic field exposure. +The prevalence of some reported symptoms is geographically or culturally dependent and does not imply "a causal relationship between symptoms and attributed exposure". Many such reported symptoms overlap with other syndromes known as symptom-based conditions, functional somatic syndromes, and IEI (idiopathic environmental intolerance). +Those reporting electromagnetic hypersensitivity usually describe different levels of susceptibility to electric fields, magnetic fields, and various frequencies of electromagnetic waves. Devices implicated include fluorescent and low-energy lights, mobile, cordless/portable phones, and Wi-Fi. A 2001 survey found that people self-diagnosing as EHS related their symptoms most frequently to cell sites (74%), followed by mobile phones (36%), cordless phones (29%), and power lines (27%). Surveys of people with EHS have found no consistent pattern to these symptoms. + +== Causes == +Most blinded conscious provocation studies have failed to show a correlation between exposure and symptoms. An example is a 2007 study where 17 individuals who showed symptoms in an open test were exposed variously to real mobile phones or sham ones. The individuals showed discomfort with the mobile phones regardless of whether the phones were genuine. These results suggest that psychological mechanisms play a role in causing or exacerbating EHS symptoms. In 2010, Rubin et al. published a follow-up to their 2005 review, bringing the totals to 46 double-blind experiments and 1175 people with self-diagnosed EHS. Neither review found robust evidence to support the hypothesis that electromagnetic exposure causes EHS, nor have other studies. They also concluded that the studies supported the role of the nocebo effect in triggering acute symptoms in those with EHS. + +== Diagnosis == +Electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not an accepted diagnosis; medically, there is no case definition or clinical practice guideline and no test to identify it, nor is there an agreed-upon definition with which to conduct clinical research. +Complaints of electromagnetic hypersensitivity may mask organic or psychiatric illness: in a recent psychological model of mental disorder, Sébastien Point proposed to consider it as a specific phobia. Diagnosing those underlying conditions involves investigating and identifying possible medical causes of the symptoms. It may require a thorough medical evaluation to identify and treat any specific conditions that may be responsible for the symptoms, and a psychological evaluation to identify alternative psychiatric/psychological conditions that may be responsible or contribute to the symptoms. +Symptoms may also be brought on by imagining that exposure is causing harm, an example of the nocebo effect. Studies have shown that reports of symptoms are more closely associated with the belief that one is being exposed than with actual exposure. + +== Management == +Whatever the cause of symptoms attributed to EHS, it can be a debilitating condition that benefits from treatment or management. Cognitive behavioral therapy has shown some success helping people cope with the condition. +As of 2005, WHO recommended that people presenting with claims of EHS be evaluated to determine if they have a medical condition that may be causing the symptoms the person is attributing to EHS, that they have a psychological evaluation, and that the person's environment be evaluated for issues like air or noise pollution that may be causing problems. +A variety of pseudoscientific devices are marketed to those who fear that they are being harmed by electromagnetic fields. The US Federal Trade Commission has warned about scams that involve selling products purported to protect against cell phone radiation. In the UK, a product called 5GBioShield was identified by Trading Standards as a "scam" device. Its manufacturers claimed that it could mitigate harms from phone radiation, but British authorities determined that the device was merely a USB drive. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e83a12484 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,42 @@ +--- +title: "Electromagnetic hypersensitivity" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_hypersensitivity" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:15.755092+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Prevalence == +In 1997, before Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G technology, a group of scientists attempted to estimate the number of people reporting "subjective symptoms" from electromagnetic fields for the European Commission. They estimated that electromagnetic sensitivity occurred in "less than a few cases per million of the population" (based on centres of occupational medicine in UK, Italy and France) or up to "a few tenths of a per cent of the population" (based on self-aid groups in Denmark, Ireland and Sweden). In 2005, the UK Health Protection Agency reviewed this and several other studies for prevalence figures and concluded that "the differences in prevalence were at least partly due to the differences in available information and media attention around electromagnetic hypersensitivity that exist in different countries" and that "Similar views have been expressed by other commentators". The authors noted that most of the studies focused on computer monitors (VDUs), as such the "findings cannot apply in full" to other forms of EMF exposure such as radio waves from mobile phones/base stations. +In 2007, a UK survey aimed at a randomly selected group of 20,000 people found a prevalence of 4% for symptoms self-attributed to electromagnetic exposure. +A 2013 study using telephone surveys in Taiwan concluded that the rates of IEI-EMF were in decline within the country, despite previous expectations of a rise in prevalence as electronic devices became more widespread. Rates declined from 13% in 2007 to 5% in 2013. The study also referred to apparent declines in the Netherlands (from 7% in 2009 to 4% in 2011) and in Germany (from 10% in 2009 to 7% in 2013). More women believed themselves to be electromagnetically hypersensitive than men. +In 2021, physicist Sébastien Point noted that the prevalence of electrohypersensitivity is similar to the prevalence of specific phobias as well as the gender ratio (2 electrohypersensitive or phobic women for one electrohypersensitive or phobic man), which, according to him, reinforces the hypothesis that electrohypersensitivity is a new specific phobia. + +== Society and culture == +In 2010, a cell tower operator in South Africa revealed at a public meeting that the tower that nearby residents were blaming for their EHS symptoms had been turned off over six weeks before the meeting, making it a highly unlikely cause of EHS symptoms. +In February 2014, the UK Advertising Standards Authority found that claims of harm from electromagnetic radiation, made in a product advertisement, were unsubstantiated and misleading. +People have sued for damages due to harm claimed from electromagnetic radiation. In 2012, a New Mexico judge dismissed a lawsuit in which a person sued his neighbor, claiming to have been harmed by EM radiation from his neighbor's cordless telephones, dimmer switches, chargers, Wi-Fi, and other devices. The plaintiff brought the testimony of his doctor, who also believed she had EHS, and a person who represented himself as a neurotoxicologist; the judge found none of their testimony credible. In 2015, parents of a boy at a school in Southborough, Massachusetts, alleged that the school's Wi-Fi was making the boy sick. +In November 2015, a depressed teenage girl in England died by suicide. This act was attributed to EHS by her parents and taken up by tabloids and EHS advocates. +The public position of the EU's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) to the European Commission is that "new improved studies on the association between radio frequency fields from broadcast transmitters and childhood cancer provide evidence against such an association." But "data on the health effects of intermediate frequency fields used, for example, in metal detectors or anti-theft devices in shops, are still lacking." The SCENIHR called for research to continue. +Some people who feel they are sensitive to electromagnetic fields self-treat by trying to reduce their exposure to electromagnetic sources by disconnecting or removing electrical devices, shielding or screening their selves or their residences, and alternative medicine. In Sweden, some municipalities provide disability grants to people who claim to have EHS to have abatement work done in their homes, even though the public health authority does not recognize EHS as an actual medical condition; towns in Halland do not provide such funds and this decision was challenged and upheld in court. +The United States National Radio Quiet Zone is an area where wireless signals are restricted for scientific research purposes, and some people who believe they have EHS have relocated there to seek relief. +Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and Director general of the World Health Organization, claims to have EHS. In 2015, she said that she had been sensitive for 25 years. +The 2022 documentary Electric Malady examines the life of a Swedish man who claims to have EHS. +The crime drama television series Better Call Saul, the prequel to Breaking Bad, features the character Chuck McGill, who claims to have EHS. McGill lives his day-to-day life without electricity, his house lit by gas lamps, with his apparent reactions to electrical currents playing a part in the story. + +== See also == +Wireless electronic devices and health +Electromagnetic radiation and health +Bioelectromagnetics – the study of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological entities +Microwave auditory effect +List of questionable diseases +Radiophobia – the fear of ionizing radiation, originating in the early 1900s +Wind turbine syndrome +Tinfoil hat – a popular stereotype and slang term for paranoia, persecutory delusions, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories + +== References == + +== External links == +Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Energy and Health: Research Needs from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) (Technical Report 178 – published June 2017) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..96b61d204 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic harassment" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:16.923803+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Electronic harassment, electromagnetic torture, and psychotronic torture is a conspiracy theory describing the hostile use of mundane electromagnetic devices, such as radio or microwaves, against self-identified "targeted individuals" (TIs). They believe that malicious actors are transmitting sounds and thoughts into people's heads, affecting their bodies, and harassing them generally. The delusion often concerns government agents or crime rings and alleges that the "perpetrators" use electromagnetic radiation (such as the microwave auditory effect), radar, and surveillance techniques to carry out their goals. +Some TIs claim to be victims of gang stalking, and many have created or joined support and advocacy groups. +Multiple medical professionals have concluded that these experiences are hallucinations, the result of delusional disorders, or psychosis. + +== Experiences == +The experiences of people who describe themselves as undergoing electronic harassment using esoteric technology, and who call themselves "targeted individuals" ("T.I."), vary, but experiences often include hearing voices in their heads calling them by name, often mocking them or others around them, as well as physical sensations like burning. They have also described being under physical surveillance by one or more people. Many of these people act and function otherwise normally and included among them are people who are successful in their careers and lives otherwise, and who find these experiences confusing, upsetting, and sometimes shameful, but entirely real. They use news stories, military journals, and declassified national security documents to support their allegations that governments have developed technology that can send voices into people's heads and cause them to feel things. The New York Times estimated that there are more than 10,000 people who self-identify as targeted individuals. +Psychologist Lorraine Sheridan co-authored a study of gang-stalking in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology. According to Sheridan, "One has to think of the T.I. phenomenon in terms of people with paranoid symptoms who have hit upon the gang-stalking idea as an explanation of what is happening to them". Mental health professionals say that T.I.s can experience hallucinations and their explanations of being targeted or harassed arise from delusional disorders or psychosis. Yale psychiatry professor Ralph Hoffman states that people often ascribe voices in their heads to external sources such as government harassment, God, or dead relatives, and it can be difficult to persuade these individuals that their belief in an external influence is delusional. Other experts compare these stories to accounts of alien abductions. +Press accounts have documented individuals who apparently believed they were victims of electronic harassment, and in some cases persuaded courts to agree. In 2008, James Walbert went to court claiming that his former business associate had threatened him with "jolts of radiation" after a disagreement, and later claimed feeling symptoms such as electric shock sensations and hearing strange sounds in his ears. The court decided to issue an order banning "electronic means" to further harass Walbert. + +=== Notable crimes === +Various people who describe themselves as undergoing electronic harassment have committed crimes, notably including a number of mass shootings. +Fuaed Abdo Ahmed, a 20-year-old man, held a man and two women hostage at the Tensas State Bank in St. Joseph, Louisiana on August 13, 2013, eventually killing two of the hostages and himself. A subsequent police investigation officially concluded that Ahmed had paranoid schizophrenia and was hearing voices. Ahmed had accused the family of his ex-girlfriend of implanting a "microphone device" of some kind in his head. +On September 16, 2013, Aaron Alexis fatally shot twelve people and injured three others in the Washington Navy Yard using a shotgun on which he had written "my ELF weapon", before being killed by responding police officers. The FBI concluded that Alexis had "delusional beliefs". These beliefs included that he was being "controlled or influenced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic waves." +On November 20, 2014, Myron May shot and injured three people on the campus of Florida State University and was killed by responding police officers. Before the event, he had become increasingly anxious that he was under government surveillance and heard voices. +Gavin Eugene Long, who killed three police officers and injured three others in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 17, 2016, was a believer in numerous anti-government movements and conspiracy theories, but he was most notably a member of a group dedicated to helping people with "remote brain experimentation, remote neural monitoring of an entire human's body." +Matthew Choi, a 30-year-old South African, who claimed himself under a V2K electronic harassment and made remarks about "being brainwashed through microwave" since 2015, murdered a taxi driver in Hong Kong on October 12, 2021. The case arose mass attention in the city, and the police described him as "extremely dangerous". \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e8ae295cc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic harassment" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_harassment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:16.923803+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Conspiracy theories == +Mind control conspiracy advocates believe they have found references to secret weapons in government programs such as "Project Pandora," a DARPA research effort into biological and behavioral effects of microwave radiation commissioned after the Moscow Signal incident, when the U.S. embassy in Moscow was bombarded with microwaves by the Soviets beginning in 1953. It was discovered that the Soviets' intent was eavesdropping and electronic jamming rather than mind control. Project Pandora studied the effects of occupational radiation exposure, and the project's scientific review committee concluded that microwave radiation could not be used for mind control. Conspiracy advocates also frequently cite the 2002 Air Force Research Laboratory patent for using microwaves to send spoken words into someone's head. Although there is no evidence that mind control using microwaves exists, rumors of continued classified research fuel the worries of people who believe they are being targeted. +In 1987, a U.S. National Academy of Sciences report commissioned by the Army Research Institute noted psychotronics as one of the "colorful examples" of claims of psychic warfare that first surfaced in anecdotal descriptions, newspapers, and books during the 1980s. The report cited alleged psychotronic weapons such as a "hyperspatial nuclear howitzer" and beliefs that Russian psychotronic weapons were responsible for Legionnaires' disease and the sinking of the USS Thresher among claims that "range from incredible to the outrageously incredible." The committee observed that although reports and stories as well as imagined potential uses for such weapons by military decision makers exist, "nothing approaching scientific literature supports the claims of psychotronic weaponry." +Psychotronic weapons were reportedly being studied by the Russian Federation during the 1990s with military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Timothy L. Thomas saying in 1998 that there was a strong belief in Russia that weapons for attacking the mind of a soldier were a possibility, although no working devices were reported. In Russia, a group called "Victims of Psychotronic Experimentation" attempted to recover damages from the Federal Security Service during the mid-1990s for alleged infringement of their civil liberties including "beaming rays" at them, putting chemicals in the water, and using magnets to alter their minds. These fears may have been inspired by revelations of secret research into "psychotronic" psychological warfare techniques during the early 1990s, with Vladimir Lopatkin, a State Duma committee member in 1995, surmising "something that was secret for so many years is the perfect breeding ground for conspiracy theories." +In 2012, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin commented on plans to draft proposals for the development of psychotronic weapons. NBC News Science Editor Alan Boyle dismissed notions that such weapons actually existed, saying, "there's nothing in the comments from Putin and Serdyukov to suggest that the Russians are anywhere close to having psychotronic weapons." +Mike Beck, a former NSA spy, believes his Parkinson's disease was caused by electronic harassment. In 2014, the NSA gave Beck's attorney Mark Zaid a statement which said the agency had received "intelligence information from 2012 associating the hostile country to which Mr. Beck traveled in the late 1990s with a high-powered microwave system weapon", but added that "The National Security Agency has no evidence that such a weapon, if it existed and if it was associated with the hostile country in the late 1990s, was or was not used against Mr. Beck". NSA general counsel Glenn Gerstell told The Washington Post that "the agency has not found any proof that Beck or his co-worker were attacked". + +== Support and advocacy communities == +There are extensive online support networks and numerous websites maintained by people fearing mind control. Palm Springs psychiatrist Alan Drucker has identified evidence of delusional disorders on many of these websites, and psychologists agree that such sites negatively reinforce mental troubles, while some say that the sharing and acceptance of a common delusion could function as a form of group cognitive therapy. +According to psychologist Sheridan, the amount of content online about electronic harassment that suggests it is a fact without any debate on the subject, creates a harmful, ideological, platform for such behavior. +As part of a 2006 British study by Vaughan Bell, independent psychiatrists determined "signs of psychosis are strongly present" based on evaluation of a sample of online mind-control accounts whose posters were "very likely to be schizophrenic." Psychologists have identified many examples of people reporting "mind control experiences" (MCEs) on self-published web pages that are "highly likely to be influenced by delusional beliefs." Common themes include "bad guys" using "psychotronics" and "microwaves," frequent mention of the CIA's MKULTRA project and frequent citing of a scientific paper entitled "Human auditory system response to modulated electromagnetic energy." +Some people who describe themselves as undergoing electronic harassment have organized and campaigned to stop the use of alleged psychotronic and other mind control weapons. These campaigns have received some support from public figures, including former U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who included a provision banning "psychotronic weapons" in a 2001 bill that was later dropped, and former Missouri State Representative Jim Guest. + +== See also == +"Air Loom" +On the Origin of the "Influencing Machine" in Schizophrenia +Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura +Directed-energy weapon +Electronic warfare +Tin foil hat +The Psychotronic Man + +== References == + +== External links == +Eric Tucker, 18 September 2013. Aaron Alexis, Navy Yard Shooting Suspect, Thought People Followed Him With Microwave Machine, The Huffington Post +Profile: Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, BBC News, 25 September 2013 +FSU Shooter Myron May Left Message: 'I Do Not Want to Die in vain', Tracy Connor, NBC News, 21 November 2014 +"United States of Paranoia: They See Gangs of Stalkers", The New York Times, 10 June 2016 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a96653ae1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic voice phenomenon" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:18.072267+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Within ghost hunting and parapsychology, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices. Parapsychologist Konstantīns Raudive, who popularized the idea in the 1970s, described EVP as typically brief, usually the length of a word or short phrase. +Enthusiasts consider EVP to be a form of paranormal phenomenon often found in recordings with static or other background noise. Scientists regard EVP as a form of auditory pareidolia (interpreting random sounds as voices in one's own language) and a pseudoscience promulgated by popular culture. Prosaic explanations for EVP include apophenia (perceiving patterns in random information), equipment artifacts, and hoaxes. + +== History == +As the Spiritualist religious movement became prominent in the 1840s–1940s with a distinguishing belief that the spirits of the dead can be contacted by mediums, new technologies of the era, including photography, were employed by spiritualists in an effort to demonstrate contact with a spirit world. So popular were such ideas that Thomas Edison was asked in an interview with Scientific American to comment on the possibility of using his inventions to communicate with spirits. He replied that if the spirits were only capable of subtle influences, a sensitive recording device would provide a better chance of spirit communication than the table tipping and ouija boards mediums employed at the time. However, there is no indication that Edison ever designed or constructed a device for such a purpose. As sound recording became widespread, mediums explored using this technology to demonstrate communication with the dead as well. Spiritualism declined in the latter part of the 20th century, but attempts to use portable recording devices and modern digital technologies to communicate with spirits continued. + +=== Early interest === +American photographer Attila von Szalay was among the first to try recording what he believed to be voices of the dead as a way to augment his investigations in photographing ghosts. He began his attempts in 1941 using a 78 rpm record, but it wasn't until 1956 – after switching to a reel-to-reel tape recorder – that he believed he was successful. Working with Raymond Bayless, von Szalay conducted several recording sessions with a custom-made apparatus, consisting of a microphone in an insulated cabinet connected to an external recording device and speaker. Szalay reported finding many sounds on the tape that could not be heard on the speaker at the time of recording, some of which were recorded when there was no one in the cabinet. He believed these sounds to be the voices of discarnate spirits. Among the first recordings believed to be spirit voices were such messages as "This is G!", "Hot dog, Art!", and "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all". Von Szalay and Raymond Bayless's work was published by the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1959. Bayless later went on to co-author the 1979 book, Phone Calls From the Dead. +In 1959, Swedish painter and film producer Friedrich Jürgenson was recording bird songs. Upon playing the tape later, he heard what he interpreted to be his dead father's voice and then the spirit of his deceased wife calling his name. He went on to make several more recordings, including one that he said contained a message from his late mother. + +=== Raudive voices === +Konstantin Raudive, a Latvian psychologist who had taught at Uppsala University, Sweden, and who had worked in conjunction with Jürgenson, made over 100,000 recordings which he described as being communications with discarnate people. Some of these recordings were conducted in an RF-screened laboratory and contained words Raudive said were identifiable. In an attempt to confirm the content of his collection of recordings, Raudive invited listeners to hear and interpret them. He believed that the clarity of the voices heard in his recordings implied that they could not be readily explained by normal means. Raudive published his first book, Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead in 1968 and it was translated into English in 1971. + +=== Spiricom and Frank's Box === +In 1980, William O'Neil constructed an electronic audio device called "The Spiricom". O'Neil claimed the device was built to specifications which he received psychically from George Mueller, a scientist who had died six years previously. At a Washington, DC press conference on April 6, 1982, O'Neil stated that he was able to hold two-way conversations with spirits through the Spiricom device, and provided the design specifications to researchers for free. However, nobody is known to have replicated the results O'Neil claimed using his own Spiricom devices. O'Neil's partner, retired industrialist George Meek, attributed O'Neil's success, and the inability of others to replicate it, to O'Neil's mediumistic abilities forming part of the loop that made the system work. +In 2020 Kenny Biddle wrote a comprehensive article explaining the origins of the Spiricom as developed by O'Neil and Meek. He was prompted to do so by the re-emergence of the device on the television series Ghosthunters. He comprehensively debunked the "science" behind the device in both the original development and the Ghosthunters episode. +Another electronic device specifically constructed in an attempt to capture EVP is "Frank's Box" or the "Ghost Box", created in 2002 by EVP enthusiast Frank Sumption for supposed real-time communication with the dead. Sumption claims he received his design instructions from the spirit world. The device is described as a combination white noise generator and AM radio receiver modified to sweep back and forth through the AM band selecting split-second snippets of sound. Critics of the device say its effect is subjective and incapable of being replicated, and since it relies on radio noise, any meaningful response a user gets is purely coincidental, or simply the result of pareidolia. Paranormal researcher Ben Radford writes that Frank's Box is a "modern version of the Ouija board... also known as the 'broken radio'". \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..eaff5ee18 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic voice phenomenon" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:18.072267+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Interest in the 21st century and late 20th century === +In 1982, Sarah Estep founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP) in Severna Park, Maryland, a nonprofit organization with the purpose of increasing awareness of EVP, and of teaching standardized methods for capturing it. Estep began her exploration of EVP in 1976, and says she has made hundreds of recordings of messages from deceased friends, relatives, and extraterrestrials whom she speculated originated from other planets or dimensions. +The term Instrumental Trans-Communication (ITC) was coined by Ernst Senkowski in the 1970s to refer more generally to communication through any sort of electronic device such as tape recorders, fax machines, television sets or computers between spirits or other discarnate entities and the living. One particularly famous claimed incidence of ITC occurred when the image of EVP enthusiast Friedrich Jürgenson (whose funeral was held that day) was said to have appeared on a television in the home of a colleague, which had been purposefully tuned to a vacant channel. ITC enthusiasts also look at the TV and video camera feedback loop of the Droste effect. +In 1979, parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo described an alleged paranormal phenomenon in which people report that they receive simple, brief, and usually single-occurrence telephone calls from spirits of deceased relatives, friends, or strangers. Rosemary Guiley has written "within the parapsychology establishment, Rogo was often faulted for poor scholarship, which, critics said, led to erroneous conclusions." +In 1995, the parapsychologist David Fontana proposed in an article that poltergeists could haunt tape recorders. He speculated that this may have happened to the parapsychologist Maurice Grosse who investigated the Enfield Poltergeist case. However, Tom Flynn, a media expert for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, examined Fontana's article and suggested an entirely naturalistic explanation for the phenomena. According to the skeptical investigator Joe Nickell "Occasionally, especially with older tape and under humid conditions, as the tape travels it can adhere to one of the guide posts. When this happens on a deck where both supply and take-up spindles are powered, the tape continues to feed, creating a fold. It was such a loop of tape, Flynn theorizes, that threaded its way amid the works of Grosse's recorder." +In 1997, Imants Barušs, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, conducted a series of experiments using the methods of EVP investigator Konstantin Raudive, and the work of "instrumental transcommunication researcher" Mark Macy, as a guide. A radio was tuned to an empty frequency, and over 81 sessions a total of 60 hours and 11 minutes of recordings were collected. During recordings, a person either sat in silence or attempted to make verbal contact with potential sources of EVP. Barušs stated that he did record several events that sounded like voices, but they were too few and too random to represent viable data and too open to interpretation to be described definitively as EVP. He concluded: "While we did replicate EVP in the weak sense of finding voices on audio tapes, none of the phenomena found in our study was clearly anomalous, let alone attributable to discarnate beings. Hence we have failed to replicate EVP in the strong sense." The findings were published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration in 2001, and include a literature review. +In 2005, the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research published a report by paranormal investigator Alexander MacRae. MacRae conducted recording sessions using a device of his own design that generated EVP. +In an attempt to demonstrate that different individuals would interpret EVP in the recordings the same way, MacRae asked seven people to compare some selections to a list of five phrases he provided, and to choose the best match. MacRae said the results of the listening panels indicated that the selections were of paranormal origin. +Portable digital voice recorders are currently the technology of choice for some EVP investigators. Since some of these devices are very susceptible to Radio Frequency (RF) contamination, EVP enthusiasts sometimes try to record EVP in RF- and sound-screened rooms. +Some EVP enthusiasts describe hearing the words in EVP as an ability, much like learning a new language. Skeptics suggest that the claimed instances may be misinterpretations of natural phenomena, inadvertent influence of the electronic equipment by researchers, or deliberate influencing of the researchers and the equipment by third parties. EVP and ITC are seldom researched within the scientific community, so most research in the field is carried out by amateur researchers who lack training and resources to conduct scientific research, and who are motivated by subjective notions. + +== Explanations and origins == +Paranormal claims for the origin of EVP include living humans imprinting thoughts directly on an electronic medium through psychokinesis and communication by discarnate entities such as spirits, nature energies, beings from other dimensions, or extraterrestrials. Paranormal explanations for EVP generally assume production of EVP by a communicating intelligence through means other than the typical functioning of communication technologies. Natural explanations for reported instances of EVP tend to dispute this assumption explicitly and provide explanations which do not require novel mechanisms that are not based on recognized scientific phenomena. +One study, by psychologist Imants Barušs, was unable to replicate suggested paranormal origins for EVP recorded under controlled conditions. Brian Regal in Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia (2009) has written "A case can be made for the idea that many EVPs are artifacts of the recording process itself with which the operators are unfamiliar. The majority of EVPs have alternative, nonspiritual sources; anomalous ones have no clear proof they are of spiritual origin." + +=== Natural explanations === +There are a number of simple scientific explanations that can account for why some listeners to the static on audio devices may believe they hear voices, including radio interference and the tendency of the human brain to recognize patterns in random stimuli. Some recordings may be hoaxes created by frauds or pranksters. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3027f47c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic voice phenomenon" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:18.072267+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Psychology and perception ==== +Auditory pareidolia is a situation created when the brain incorrectly interprets random patterns as being familiar patterns. In the case of EVP it could result in an observer interpreting random noise on an audio recording as being the familiar sound of a human voice. The propensity for an apparent voice heard in white noise recordings to be in a language understood well by those researching it, rather than in an unfamiliar language, has been cited as evidence of this, and a broad class of phenomena referred to by author Joe Banks as Rorschach Audio has been described as a global explanation for all manifestations of EVP. +In a 2019 investigation of a supposed haunted painting in a West Virginia museum, paranormal researcher Kenny Biddle investigated the claims made by the museum owner and ghost hunters that an EVP recording clearly saying the woman's name, "Annie", is really the voice of the woman in the portrait. The name Annie is written on the back of the portrait, which primes anyone listening for the name, to know what name to listen for. The EVP was created using a Radio Shack radio "modified to allow it to continually scan through the available AM or FM frequencies without muting the sound." Regarding a general question by the ghost hunter "What is your name?", Biddle writes, "I can guarantee sooner or later you'll hear something that sounds like a name, and there is a good chance of being a name, because you're listening to radio broadcasts, news reports, commercials, and so on—which often include names." Biddle lists words such as "company, anything, anyone, mahogany, many, or even any" as words that can be commonly heard while listening to the radio. The phrase '"... and he ..."' would also sound like "Annie" to anyone primed to listen for the name Annie. +Skeptics such as David Federlein, Chris French, Terence Hines and Michael Shermer say that EVP are usually recorded by raising the "noise floor"⁠ — the electrical noise created by all electrical devices — in order to create white noise. When this noise is filtered, it can be made to produce noises which sound like speech. Federlein says that this is no different from using a wah pedal on a guitar, which is a focused sweep filter which moves around the spectrum and creates open vowel sounds. This, according to Federlein, sounds exactly like some EVP. This, in combination with such things as cross modulation of radio stations or faulty ground loops can cause the impression of paranormal voices. The human brain evolved to recognize patterns, and if a person listens to enough noise the brain will detect words, even when there is no intelligent source for them. Expectation also plays an important part in making people believe they are hearing voices in random noise. +Apophenia is related to, but distinct from pareidolia. Apophenia is defined as "the spontaneous finding of connections or meaning in things which are random, unconnected or meaningless", and has been put forward as a possible explanation. According to the psychologist James Alcock what people hear in EVP recordings can best be explained by apophenia, cross-modulation or expectation and wishful thinking. Alcock concluded "Electronic Voice Phenomena are the products of hope and expectation; the claims wither away under the light of scientific scrutiny." + +==== Physics ==== +Interference, for example, is seen in EVP recordings, especially those recorded on devices which contain RLC circuitry. These cases represent radio signals of voices or other sounds from broadcast sources. Interference from CB Radio transmissions and wireless baby monitors, or anomalies generated through cross modulation from other electronic devices, are all documented phenomena. It is even possible for circuits to resonate without any internal power source by means of radio reception. +Capture errors are anomalies created by the method used to capture audio signals, such as noise generated through the over-amplification of a signal at the point of recording. +Artifacts created during attempts to boost the clarity of an existing recording might explain some EVP. Methods include re-sampling, frequency isolation, and noise reduction or enhancement, which can cause recordings to take on qualities significantly different from those that were present in the original recording. +The first EVP recordings may have originated from the use of tape recording equipment with poorly aligned erasure and recording heads, resulting in the incomplete erasure of previous audio recordings on the tape. This could allow a small percentage of previous content to be superimposed or mixed into a new 'silent' recording. + +==== Sporadic meteors and meteor showers ==== +For all radio transmissions above 30 MHz (which are not reflected by the ionosphere) there is a possibility of meteor reflection of the radio signal. Meteors leave a trail of ionised particles and electrons as they pass through the upper atmosphere (a process called ablation) which reflect transmission radio waves which would usually flow into space. These reflected waves are from transmitters which are below the horizon of the received meteor reflection. In Europe this means the brief scattered wave may carry a foreign voice which can interfere with radio receivers. Meteor reflected radio waves last between 0.05 seconds and 1 second, depending on the size of the meteor. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9fe69b7ef --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic voice phenomenon" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:18.072267+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Organizations that show interest in EVP == +There are a number of organizations dedicated to studying EVP and instrumental transcommunication, or which otherwise express interest in the subject. Individuals within these organizations may participate in investigations, author books or journal articles, deliver presentations, and hold conferences where they share experiences. In addition, organizations exist which dispute the validity of the phenomena on scientific grounds. +The Association TransCommunication (ATransC), formerly the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP), and the International Ghost Hunters Society conduct ongoing investigations of EVP and ITC including collecting examples of purported EVP available over the internet. The Rorschach Audio Project, initiated by sound artist Joe Banks, which presents EVP as a product of radio interference combined with auditory pareidolia and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Biopsychocybernetics Research, a non-profit organization dedicated to studying anomalous phenomena related to neurophysiological conditions. According to the AA-EVP it is "the only organized group of researchers we know of specializing in the study of ITC". +Parapsychologists and spiritualists have an ongoing interest in EVP. Many spiritualists experiment with a variety of techniques for spirit communication which they believe provide evidence of the continuation of life. According to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches, "An important modern day development in mediumship is spirit communications via an electronic device. This is most commonly known as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)". An informal survey by the organization's Department Of Phenomenal Evidence cites that 1/3 of churches conduct sessions in which participants seek to communicate with spirit entities using EVP. +The James Randi Educational Foundation offered a million dollars for proof that any phenomena, including EVP, are caused paranormally. + +== Demographics == + +=== United States === +In 2015, an investigation by sociologist Marc Eaton on the demography of United States paranormal groups that used electronic voice phenomenon found an overrepresentation of white participants, raised in the Roman Catholic Church (which is only 21% of the U.S. population), mainly with some post-secondary education. Although a preponderance of research shows that women and "less socially integrated individuals" are more likely to believe in ghosts, the demographic samples in Eaton's research did not reflect this. + +== Cultural impact == +The concept of EVP has influenced popular culture. It is popular as an entertaining pursuit, as in ghost hunting, and as a means of dealing with grief. It has influenced literature, radio, film, television, and music. + +=== Groups === +Investigation of EVP is the subject of hundreds of regional and national groups and Internet message boards. Paranormal investigator John Zaffis claims, "There's been a boom in ghost hunting ever since the Internet took off." Investigators, equipped with electronic gear – like EMF meters, video cameras, and audio recorders – scour reportedly haunted venues, trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of ghosts. Many use portable recording devices in an attempt to capture EVP. + +=== Films === +Films involving EVP include Poltergeist, The Sixth Sense, and White Noise. + +=== Video games === +Sylvio is an indie-developed first-person horror adventure video game released on Steam in June 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and, OS X, utilizing the Unity engine. The game is about an audio recordist called Juliette Waters, who records the voices of ghosts through electronic voice phenomenon. She finds herself trapped in an old family park, shut down since a landslide in 1971, and she now needs to use her recorder to survive the night. A sequel, Sylvio 2, was released on October 11, 2017. +Phasmophobia is a co-op horror video game, in which a team of one to four players play as ghost hunters who try to identify hostile ghosts in varying locations. The game features a Spirit Box item used to capture EVPs of certain ghost types, which helps the players identify the type of the ghost they're dealing with. EVPs in Phasmophobia consist recorded lines from news broadcasts: "Act of killing", "Elderly victim", "From far away" are a few of the examples the ghost might give. Alternatively, the game has a sound recorder that can be used to record words directly from a ghost or laughing. +It has been featured on television series like Ghost Whisperer, In Search Of… (1981), The Omega Factor, A Haunting, Ghost Hunters, MonsterQuest, Ghost Adventures, The Secret Saturdays, Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files, Supernatural, Derren Brown Investigates, Ghost Lab and Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural + +Coast To Coast AM hosts George Noory and Art Bell have explored the topic of EVP with featured guests such as Brendan Cook and Barbara McBeath of the Ghost Investigators Society, and paranormal investigator and 'demonologist' Lou Gentile. +The Spirit of John Lennon was a pay-per-view séance broadcast in 2006, in which TV crew members, a psychic, and an "expert in paranormal activity" claim the spirit of former Beatle John Lennon made contact with them through what was described as "an Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP)." +The Doctor Who episode "Dark Water" features a fictional facility which was allegedly based on this principle. +The Egyptian series Nasiby w Kesmetk episode 6 + +=== Novels === +Legion, a 1983 novel by William Peter Blatty, contains a subplot where Dr. Vincent Amfortas, a terminally ill neurologist, leaves a "to-be-opened-upon-my-death" letter for Father Dyer detailing his accounts of contact with the dead, including the doctor's recently deceased wife, Ann, through EVP recordings. Amfortas' character and the EVP subplot do not appear in the film version of the novel, The Exorcist III, although in Kinderman's dream dead people are seen trying to communicate with the living by radio. +In Pattern Recognition, a 2003 novel by William Gibson, the main character's mother tries to convince her that her father is communicating with her from recordings after his death/disappearance in the September 11, 2001 attacks. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d596b0226 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Electronic voice phenomenon" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voice_phenomenon" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:18.072267+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Theatre and music === +In Nyctivoe, a 2001 vampire-inspired play by Dimitris Lyacos, the male character as well as his deceased companion are speaking from a recording device amidst a static/white noise background. +In With the people from the bridge, a 2014 play by Dimitris Lyacos based on the idea of the return of the dead, the voice of the female character NCTV is transmitted from a television monitor amidst a static/white noise background. +EVP is the subject of Vyktoria Pratt Keating's song "Disembodied Voices on Tape" from her 2003 album Things that Fall from the Sky, produced by Andrew Giddings of Jethro Tull. +Laurie Anderson's "Example #22", from her 1981 album Big Science, interposes spoken sentences and phrases in German with sung passages in English representing EVP. +During the outro to "Rubber Ring" by The Smiths, a sample from an EVP recording is repeated. The phrase "You are sleeping, you do not want to believe," is a 'translation' of the 'spirit voices' from a 1970s flexitape. The original recording is from the 1971 record which accompanied Raudive's book 'Breakthrough', and which was re-issued as a flexi-disc in the 1980s free with The Unexplained magazine. +Bass Communion's 2004 album Ghosts on Magnetic Tape was inspired by EVP. +The band Giles Corey composed the song "Empty Churches" which features track 2 called 'Raymond Cass', track 36 called 'Justified Theft' and track 38 called 'Tramping' from the album An Introduction to EVP by The Ghost Orchid which features excerpts from different EVP experiments produced by many researchers, although most are unknown, some have been pointed out to be better known researchers who studied EVP recordings including Friedrich Jurgenson, Raymond Cass and Konstantin Raudive. +The 2017 album Katharsis (A Small Victory) of Polish theatre group Teatr Tworzenia by Jarosław Pijarowski contains EVP recordings in the background of its second track "Katharsis – Pandemonium". + +== See also == +Auditory hallucination +Backward message +Ghost hunting +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Mediumship +Parapsychology +Pattern recognition +Reverse speech + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electropoise-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electropoise-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8e80aa4dd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electropoise-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +title: "Electropoise" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electropoise" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:19.294552+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Electropoise was a fake medical instrument patented and sold in the United States of America by Hercules Sanche, who also invented and sold other fake instruments which were later termed as "electroquackery" and included such devices as the "Oxydonor" which were claimed to remedy a range of ailments. + + +== History == +The instruments were widely advertised in popular magazines and the company, Electrolibration, opened numerous offices far from their headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama including New York and London. The President of Electropoise, John N. Webb, admitting that he was not a man of science stated that his hands were full handling the business. It was sold for about twenty-five dollars. Other successors like Oxydonor were sold at ten to thirty dollars. Even during its heyday, a period when electricity was viewed with awe, some physicians called attention to the nature of the fraud but their efforts had little impact on the advertisement and sale. A letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1897 by a physician named George N. Kreider states that "One of the most glaring frauds of this decade has been an appliance known as 'Electropoise,' advertised in Harper's Monthly and other leading publications" and promoted by a W.H. De Puy, editor of the New York Christian Advocate. +N.C. Morse, a physician, tried investigating the instrument and wrote: "I have had it sawed into sections and alas, like the goose that laid the golden egg of fable fame, there is nothing in the carcass!" Another physician named Harding wrote in 1930 that the pricing of such devices helped in selling the remedy which may have had a placebo effect. The advertisement was clever in claiming that it enhanced the body's natural healing ability. The Electropoise, it claimed: + +... is a thermal instrument with an electrical force simulating the nervous current, and evidently acting through trophic nerves. When the polarizer is placed in cold water or upon ice, and the plate attached to wrist or ankle or over other parts of the body as may be required, the warmth of the body upon the plate at once brings this thermal influence into action. The effects are a generally distributed and accelerated circulation, with stimulated nutritive function in every tissue. The respiration deepened and more oxygen absorbed. The secretions of stomach, liver, and all the digestive organs are increased... +Elsewhere it claimed: + +...a little instrument which enables the system to take on oxygen freely from the atmosphere. This addition of nature's own tonic increases vitality, tones up the nervous system, purifies the blood, and by expelling the morbid matter and diseased tissues restores the body to its normal condition - healthSkeptics pointed out the fraudulent logic used in claims and endorsements of its curative effect stating that it was dangerous use of post hoc ergo propter hoc as the logic. +Sanche was careful in that he never claimed that his device would cure diseases like tuberculosis. Others like E.L. Moses, inventor of Oxypathor, would go to jail for 18 months in 1915 for making false curative claims. +The company was not without competition. A device called the Oxygenor was marketed by a rival and Sanche went to court. The court claimed that there was not enough evidence for the value of his invention and therefore that it could not be protected. Justice Shiras and the other judges declared that his theory of "diaduction" (a term he coined) was a mere pretense to allow him to obtain a patent. In Britain the Richardson Electro-Galvanic Belt of Ludgate Hill and the Magneto-Electric Battery Company were competing with Electropoise. + + +== See also == +Pulvermacher's chain +Radionics + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +American Medical Association. (1911). Nostrums and Quackery: Articles on the Nostrum Evil and Quackery. Press of American Medical Association. +Stewart Holbrook. (1959). The Golden Age of Quackery. Collier Books. + + +== External links == +Museum of Electrotherapy Archived March 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-0.md index 2cecec20f..15f63992d 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:18.405715+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:20.530876+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-1.md index 326ecc43a..83d7f2a08 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-1.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-1.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 2/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:18.405715+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:20.530876+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-2.md index d3f91c1ed..ce825e808 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-2.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-2.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 3/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:18.405715+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:20.530876+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-3.md index 959049d8c..ef596bf86 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-3.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-3.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 4/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:18.405715+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:20.530876+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-4.md index 1e7ddbbd0..f345c6002 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-4.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive-4.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 5/5 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EmDrive" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:14:18.405715+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:20.530876+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Techniques-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Techniques-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e5fef10e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Techniques-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Emotional Freedom Techniques" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_Freedom_Techniques" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:21.733406+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a technique that stimulates acupressure points by pressuring, tapping or rubbing while focusing on situations that represent personal fear or trauma. EFT draws on various theories of alternative medicine – including acupuncture, neuro-linguistic programming, energy medicine, and Thought Field Therapy (TFT). EFT also combines elements of exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and somatic stimulation. It is best known through Gary Craig's EFT Handbook, published in the late 1990s, and related books and workshops by a variety of teachers. EFT and similar techniques are often discussed under the umbrella term "energy psychology". +Advocates claim that the technique may be used to treat a wide variety of physical and psychological disorders, and as a simple form of self-administered therapy. The Skeptical Inquirer describes the foundations of EFT as "a hodgepodge of concepts derived from a variety of sources, [primarily] the ancient Chinese philosophy of chi, which is thought to be the 'life force' that flows throughout the body." The existence of this life force is "not empirically supported". +EFT has no benefit as a therapy beyond the placebo effect or any known effective psychological techniques that may be provided in addition to the purported "energy" technique. It is generally characterized as pseudoscience, and it has not garnered significant support in clinical psychology. + + +== Process == + +During a typical EFT session, the person will focus on a specific issue while tapping on "end points of the body's energy meridians." EFT tapping exercises combine elements of cognitive restructuring and exposure techniques with acupoint stimulation. The technique instructs individuals to tap on meridian endpoints of the body – such as the top of the head, eye brows, under eyes, side of eyes, chin, collar bone, and under the arms. While tapping, they recite specific phrases that target an emotional component of a physical symptom. +According to the EFT Manual, the procedure consists of the participant rating the emotional intensity of their reaction on a Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) – i.e., a Likert scale for subjective measures of distress, calibrated 0 to 10 – then repeating an orienting affirmation while rubbing or tapping specific points on the body. Some practitioners incorporate eye movements or other tasks. The emotional intensity is then rescored and repeated until no changes are noted in the emotional intensity. + + +== Mechanism == +Proponents of EFT and other similar treatments believe that tapping/stimulating acupuncture points provide the basis for significant improvement in psychological problems. However, the theory and mechanisms underlying the supposed effectiveness of EFT have "no evidentiary support" "in the entire history of the sciences of biology, anatomy, physiology, neurology, physics, or psychology." Researchers have described the theoretical model for EFT as "frankly bizarre" and "pseudoscientific." One review noted that one of the highest quality studies found no evidence that the location of tapping points made any difference, and attributed effects to well-known psychological mechanisms, including distraction and breathing therapy. +An article in the Skeptical Inquirer argued that there is no plausible mechanism to explain how the specifics of EFT could add to its effectiveness, and they have been described as unfalsifiable and therefore pseudoscientific. Evidence has not been found for the existence of meridians. + + +== Research quality == +EFT has no useful effect as a therapy beyond the placebo effect or any known-effective psychological techniques that may be used with the purported "energy" technique, but proponents of EFT have published material claiming otherwise. Their work, however, is flawed and hence unreliable: high-quality research has never confirmed that EFT is effective. +A 2009 review found "methodological flaws" in research studies that had reported "small successes" for EFT and the related Tapas Acupressure Technique. The review concluded that positive results may be "attributable to well-known cognitive and behavioral techniques that are included with the energy manipulation. Psychologists and researchers should be wary of using such techniques, and make efforts to inform the public about the ill effects of therapies that advertise miraculous claims." +A 2016 systematic review found that EFT was effective in reducing anxiety compared to controls, but also called for more research to establish the relative efficacy to that of established treatments. + + +== Reception == +A Delphi poll of an expert panel of psychologists rated EFT on a scale describing how discredited EFT has been in the field of psychology. On average, this panel found EFT had a score of 3.8 on a scale from 1.0 to 5.0, with 3.0 meaning "possibly discredited" and a 4.0 meaning "probably discredited." A book examining pseudoscientific practices in psychology characterized EFT as one of a number of "fringe psychotherapeutic practices," and a psychiatry handbook states EFT has "all the hallmarks of pseudoscience." +EFT, along with its predecessor, Thought Field Therapy, has been dismissed with warnings to avoid their use by publications such as The Skeptic's Dictionary and Quackwatch. +Proponents of EFT and other energy psychology therapies have been "particularly interested" in seeking "scientific credibility" despite the implausible proposed mechanisms for EFT. A 2008 review by energy psychology proponent David Feinstein concluded that energy psychology was a potential "rapid and potent treatment for a range of psychological conditions." However, this work by Feinstein has been widely criticized. One review criticized Feinstein's methodology, noting he ignored several research papers that did not show positive effects of EFT, and that Feinstein did not disclose his conflict of interest as an owner of a website that sells energy psychology products such as books and seminars, contrary to the best practices of research publication. +Another review criticized Feinstein's conclusion, which was based on research of weak quality and instead concluded that any positive effects of EFT are due to the more traditional psychological techniques rather than any putative "energy" manipulation. A book published on the subject of evidence-based treatment of substance abuse called Feinstein's review "incomplete and misleading" and an example of a poorly performed evidence-based review of research. +Feinstein published another review in 2012, concluding that energy psychology techniques "consistently demonstrated strong effect sizes and other positive statistical results that far exceed chance after relatively few treatment sessions." This review was also criticized, where again it was noted that Feinstein dismissed higher quality studies which showed no effects of EFT, in favor of methodologically weaker studies which did show a positive effect. +In response to a literature review by D. Feinstein on "Manual Stimulation of Acupuncture Points", published in 2023 in the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Cassandra L. Bonessa, Rory Pfundb, and David F. Tolin publish, in the same journal, a critical analysis of 3 meta-analyses highlighted by this study. By using the AMSTAR2 analysis criteria, they come to the conclusion that these were poorly carried out and that their quality is “Critically low”. The three researchers call EFT pseudo-science and an “unsinkable rubber duck”. + + +== References == + + +== External links == + +"How 'Tapping Therapy' Can Help Calm Your Mind"—Short BBC video describing EFT \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energo-Chromo-Kinese-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energo-Chromo-Kinese-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..44daa81e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energo-Chromo-Kinese-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Energo-Chromo-Kinese" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energo-Chromo-Kinese" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:22.904585+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Energo-Chromo-Kinese, also named ECK, is a pseudo-scientific and esoteric-oriented new religious movement founded in October 1987 in Villefranche-sur-Mer by Patrick Véret, a former acupuncturist. + + +== History and organization == +ECK uses many associations and societies (including Connaissance ontologique universelle et recherche biologique énergétique (COURBE), Energo 8 international, Energo conseils, Jéricho 3000, Association pour la recherche en médecine énergétique and SOS Spasmophilie) and is particularly active in the therapeutic and medical fields. Centers and schools were subsequently established to teach the beliefs of the group, which won over business executives and major corporations, but especially doctors, dentists and kinesiotherapists. Customers who attend these four-degree courses become "kinergists". The doctrine is a "gnostic pantheism" and is explained in two books written by Patrick Véret: La Médecine énergétique and La spasmophilie enfin vaincue, respectively written in 1981 and 1985. According to French cult consultant Jean-Marie Abgrall, ECK doctrines "represent an amalgam (or a synthesis, according to its proponents) of various theories referring to human "energy" — mainly Chinese medicine and Vedic medicine. According to ECK, the human body has seven energy centers that vibrate on the same frequencies as certain colors or certain sounds." +On 22 February 1993, the French branch of the organization was dissolved by a court decision of the Tribunal de commerce of Paris and the founders split off. Véret founded the Nutrition énergétique des organes et des méridiens (NEOM), led the Ordre du temple de la Jérusalem céleste (OTJC). +The movement is currently active in France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Canada, the United States, Portugal, Australia... In France, the group seems to be in the decline. + + +== Reception == +ECK was listed as a cult in the 1999 parliamentary report established by the Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France and also appeared in the 1997 Belgian parliamentary report. It was considered as dangerous because of its pseudo-medical speech which could be harmful to members' health, exaggerated requests for money, and indoctrination of the members who became dependent to the group. It was also criticized by anti-cult groups and former members. +In 2007, an academic thesis about the dangers of cults for health contained a large analysis of ECK beliefs and practices. + + +== Bibliography == +Nutripuncture: Stimulating the Energy Pathways of the Body Without Needles by Patrick Veret M.D. Cristina Cuomo Fabio Burigana, Antonio Dell'Aglio, Healing Arts Press; +Vital impulses and human relations, applications of nutripuncture by Patrick Véret, Cristina Cuomo, Fabio Burigana; + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1d2671759 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Energy (esotericism)" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:24.097387+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Proponents and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine refer to a variety of claimed experiences and phenomena as being due to an energy or force that defies measurement or experimentation, and thus are distinct from uses of the term energy in science. +Claims related to energy therapies are most often anecdotal, rather than being based on repeatable empirical evidence, thus not following the scientific method. +There is no scientific evidence for the existence of such energy, and physics educators criticize the use of the term energy to describe ideas in esotericism and spirituality as unavoidably confusing. + +== History == +The concept of esoteric energy has appeared in various cultures and spiritual traditions throughout history. Although interpretations differ, many traditions describe it as a vital force that animates living beings and permeates the cosmos. These ideas often overlap with religious, medical, and mystical frameworks, influencing practices ranging from healing to spiritual enlightenment. +In ancient civilizations, esoteric energy was frequently associated with breath, spirit, or divine power. The ancient Egyptians referred to ka, a vital essence that sustained life and represented a person’s spiritual double. In ancient Greece, the Stoics developed the concept of pneuma, a universal breath that pervades all existence, while Aristotle and Plato explored the idea of a world soul, or anima mundi, as the unifying force of nature. The Romans adopted similar notions through the term spiritus, which referred to both breath and an animating principle. +Many indigenous and shamanic traditions also describe energy in ways that influence their spiritual and healing practices. Native American belief systems frequently refer to a medicine energy that connects all living things, often associated with the guidance of spirit beings. Among the Yoruba, aṣẹ is regarded as a divine force that animates life and can be channeled through ritual and invocation. Similarly, in Polynesian traditions, mana is seen as a powerful spiritual energy that exists in people, objects, and the natural world. + +=== Eastern traditions === +Eastern traditions developed complex theories of energy as a subtle force flowing through the human body and the universe. In Taoist philosophy and Traditional Chinese Medicine, qi (气) was understood as a dynamic energy circulating through the body's meridians, influencing health and vitality. Eastern philosophy also includes the notion of "negative qi", typically understood as introducing negative moods like outright fear or more moderate expressions like social anxiety or awkwardness. Deflecting this negative qi through geomancy is a goal of feng shui. +The concept of qi also appears in the art of feng shui and Chinese martial arts. Practices such as acupuncture, tai chi, and qi gong were developed to regulate and cultivate this energy. The traditional explanation of acupuncture states that it works by manipulating the circulation of qi through a network of meridians. In tai chi, the ancient Chinese martial art, participants aim to concentrate and balance the body's qi, providing benefits to mental and physical health. +Similarly, in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, prana (Sanskrit: प्राण, prāṇa; the Sanskrit word for breath, "life force” or "vital principle") was described as the breath-based life force that moves through nadis, subtle channels that distribute energy throughout the body. In Hindu literature, prāṇa is sometimes described as originating from the Sun and connecting the elements. The practice of pranayama, a form of breath control, was believed to balance and enhance pranic energy. In Tibetan Buddhism, lung (རླུང་) refers to a form of wind-energy that plays a key role in meditation, visualization, and tantric yogic practices. +Japan also adopted energy concepts from China, referring to ki (気) as a life force that could be harnessed for healing, as seen in the development of Shugendō. Practitioners of Shugendō believe that ki/ritual energy is transmitted to the client via the palms of the practitioner’s hands. In yoga, Ayurveda, and Indian martial arts, it permeates reality on all levels, including inanimate objects. + +=== Western conceptions === +Western esotericism has incorporated energy concepts into its mystical and occult traditions. Medieval and Renaissance alchemy often described an inherent vital force that could transmute base materials into gold and refine the human soul. In the 18th century, Franz Mesmer ignited debate with his theory of animal magnetism, suggesting that an invisible magnetic fluid pervades living beings and could be manipulated for healing. Attention to vitalism grew in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 19th century, the Theosophical Society introduced theories of etheric energy, the astral plane, and subtle bodies, which became influential in later esoteric and New Age movements. In the 20th century, the Austrian physician and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, building on his mentor Sigmund Freud's core notion of libido, developed the concept of orgone energy, which he believed was a fundamental cosmic force that plays a role in physical and mental health. + +=== In biology === +As biologists studied embryology and developmental biology, particularly before the discovery of genes, a variety of organisational forces were posited to account for their observations. German biologist Hans Driesch (1867–1941), proposed entelechy, an energy which he believed controlled organic processes. However, such ideas are discredited and modern science has all but abandoned the attempt to associate additional energetic properties with life. +It is not the scientific concept of energy that is being referred to in the context of spirituality and alternative medicine. As Brian Dunning writes: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e58e8d7d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Energy (esotericism)" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_(esotericism)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:24.097387+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +That's all that energy is: a measurement of work capability. But in popular culture, 'energy' has somehow become a noun. "Energy" is often spoken of as if it is a thing unto itself, like a region of glowing power, that can be contained and used. Here's a good test. When you hear the word "energy" used, substitute the phrase "measurable work capability". Does the usage still make sense? Remember, energy itself is not the thing being measured: energy is the measurement of work performed or of potential... Thus, this New Age concept of the body having an "energy field" is fatally doomed. There is no such thing as an energy field; they are two unrelated concepts. +Despite the lack of scientific support, spiritual writers and thinkers have maintained ideas about energy and continue to promote them either as useful allegories or as fact. The field of energy medicine purports to manipulate energy, but there is no credible evidence to support this. + +== Conceptual frameworks == +Esoteric traditions have developed various conceptual models to describe the nature, flow, and function of energy within the human body, the natural world, and the cosmos. These frameworks often include subtle bodies, energy centers, and channels through which energy is believed to move. Many of these ideas are found in religious, mystical, and alternative healing traditions, forming the foundation for practices such as yoga, meditation, alchemy, and energy healing. +The concept of subtle bodies appears across many traditions, referring to layers of existence beyond the physical body. In Hindu and Buddhist thought, the astral body (sūkṣma śarīra) and the causal body (kāraṇa śarīra) are described as non-material sheaths that house consciousness and energy. Theosophy expands on this idea, describing multiple energetic layers such as the etheric body, which is said to interface between the physical and astral realms. The aura, often depicted as a luminous field surrounding the body, is another widely recognized concept in spiritual traditions, believed to reflect an individual’s emotional, mental, and spiritual state. +Energy is often thought to flow through structured pathways within the body. Hindu and Buddhist traditions describe nadis, subtle channels through which prana moves, while Traditional Chinese Medicine speaks of meridians, pathways that distribute qi and regulate bodily functions. Tibetan Buddhism similarly identifies a system of tsa (channels), which direct lung (wind energy) throughout the body. In Western esotericism, alchemists and Hermeticists developed related ideas, proposing that spiritual energy circulates through subtle currents within the human microcosm, mirroring celestial movements. +Energy centers, often referred to as chakras, are believed to serve as focal points where energy gathers and transforms. Hindu and Tantric Buddhist traditions describe a system of seven primary chakras, each corresponding to different aspects of human consciousness and physiology, from the Muladhara (root) chakra at the base of the spine to the Sahasrara (crown) chakra at the top of the head. Each chakra is associated with specific elements, colors, and vibrational frequencies, and practices such as mantra recitation, visualization, and breath control are used to balance these centers. Western occultists, including figures from the Theosophical and Hermetic traditions, have adapted the chakra system into their mystical frameworks. +The role of breath is emphasized in many traditions as a means of controlling and directing energy. In pranayama, controlled breathing techniques regulate prana to cultivate spiritual and physical well-being. Similarly, qi gong and tai chi involve intentional breathwork to guide Qi and harmonize the body’s energy. These practices often intersect with meditation and visualization, creating a bridge between physical exercises and mystical states of awareness. +Another key aspect of esoteric energy frameworks is their connection to consciousness and transformation. Many traditions describe spiritual progress as a refinement of energy, where lower, denser energies are transmuted into higher states of awareness. Alchemical traditions, for example, speak of refining vital energy through symbolic processes like calcination, dissolution, and sublimation, ultimately leading to enlightenment. In Western occultism, energy manipulation is a key principle in ceremonial magic, where the practitioner directs subtle forces through will and intention. + +== Locations == +There are various sacred natural sites that people of different belief systems find numinous or have an "energy" with significance to humans. The idea that some kind of "negative energy" is responsible for creating or attracting ghosts or demons appears in contemporary paranormal culture and beliefs as exemplified in the TV shows Paranormal State and Ghost Hunters. + +== See also == + +== References == + +=== Works cited === + +== Further reading == + +== External links == + Media related to Energy (esotericism) at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Polarizer_controversy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Polarizer_controversy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2a5c739ad --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Polarizer_controversy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Energy Polarizer controversy" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Polarizer_controversy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:27.629079+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +During the 1980s, the Holden Dealer Team (HDT), a semi-official Australian racing outfit and car tuning partner of Holden, faced controversy after fitting cars with epoxy-resin boxes containing crystals and magnets they called "Energy Polarizers". These devices were pseudoscientifically claimed to improve performance by "aligning molecules". +In 1980 Peter Brock formed Holden Dealer Team Special Vehicles, a car tuning company for Holden vehicles, and produced "homologation specials" based on the Holden Commodore. On 20 February 1987 HDT unveiled the HDT Director, based on the Holden Commodore (VL), with the option to install Energy Polarizer devices for AU$480. Brock described the boxes as "a magic cure" that "made a shit house car good". His belief in the devices originated from the influence of the Melbourne-based chiropractor Eric Dowker, who had helped Brock give up alcohol and cigarettes and influenced a belief in crystal healing and orgone energy. 173 units were sold with the Energy Polarizer. +Due to the controversy and the HDT team's installation of new rear suspension without prior permission or testing, Holden ended the relationship in 1987, later founding Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) with Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) as its performance division. The Australian Skeptics awarded Peter Brock the 1986 'Bent Spoon Award' for the Energy Polarizer. +In 2011 the Holden Dealer Team released the "Heritage Series" cars, which paid homage to the controversy by equipping the Energy Polarizer devices. In 2017 Holden produced a special edition Director model of the Holden Calais V (VF), 360 units were produced. + + +== Notes == + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_field_disturbance-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_field_disturbance-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4f846b8a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_field_disturbance-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Energy field disturbance" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_field_disturbance" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:25.257627+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Energy field disturbance is a pseudoscientific concept rooted in alternative medicine. Supporters of this concept believe it concerns the disruptance of a metaphysical biofield that permeates the body, resulting in poor emotional or physiological health. This concept is often related to therapeutic touch. + + +== NANDA diagnosis and controversy == +The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) previously recognized the diagnosis "Disturbed Energy Field" in 1994, prior to implementation of a rule requiring a minimum requirement by evidence in the literature prior to accepting a new diagnosis. Later, NANDA has reported it received feedback questioning the validity of the diagnosis, including criticism from skeptic James Randi. Based on this feedback, NANDA said it would reevaluate this diagnosis based on current scientific evidence. +"Disturbed Energy Field" was removed from the NANDA taxonomy in the 10th edition of Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions & Classification 2015-2017, with the explanation that "...all literature support currently provided for this diagnosis is regarding intervention rather than for the nursing diagnosis itself" (p. 13). +In the 11th edition of NANDA International Nursing Diagnoses: Definitions & Classification, 2018-2020, the diagnosis returned under the name of "Imbalanced energy field", it is inside Domain 4, Class 3. + + +== Reception == +The alleged benefits of therapeutic touch are not supported by any scientific evidence. + + +== See also == +Aura (paranormal) +Energy medicine +Orgone +Subtle body +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..91594b734 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Energy medicine" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:26.409139+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into patients and effect positive results. +This esoteric concept of "energy" used by proponents of energy medicine is unrelated to the scientific concept of energy. +The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to mysticism and esotericism in the wider alternative medicine sphere rather than any unified terminology, leading to terms such as energy healing, vibrational medicine, and similar terms being used synonymously. Practitioners may classify their practice as hands-on, hands-off, or distant, wherein the patient and healer are in different locations. Many approaches to energy healing exist: for example, "biofield energy healing", "spiritual healing", "contact healing", "distant healing", therapeutic touch, Reiki, and Qigong. +Reviews of the scientific literature on energy healing have concluded that no evidence supports its clinical use. The theoretical basis of energy healing has been criticised as implausible; research and reviews supportive of energy medicine have been faulted for containing methodological flaws and selection bias, and positive therapeutic results have been determined to result from known psychological mechanisms, such as the placebo effect. Some claims of those purveying "energy medicine" devices are known to be fraudulent, and their marketing practices have drawn law-enforcement action in the U.S. + +== History == +History records the repeated association or exploitation of scientific inventions by individuals claiming that newly discovered science could help people to heal. In the 19th century, electricity and magnetism were in the "borderlands" of science, and electrical quackery became rife. These concepts continue to inspire writers in the New Age movement. In the early 20th century, health claims for radio-active materials put lives at risk; recently, quantum mechanics and grand unification theory have provided similar opportunities for commercial exploitation. Thousands of devices claiming to heal via putative or veritable energy are used worldwide. Many are illegal or dangerous and are marketed with false or unproven claims. The Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners barred EPFX use by chiropractors. Reliance on spiritual and energetic healing is associated with serious harm or death when patients delay or forego medical treatment. + +== Classification == +The term "energy medicine" has been in general use since the founding of the non-profit International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine in the 1980s. Guides are available for practitioners, and other books aim to provide a theoretical basis and evidence for the practice. Energy medicine often proposes that imbalances in the body's "energy field" result in illness, and that by rebalancing the body's energy field, health can be restored. Some modalities describe treatments as ridding the body of negative energies or blockages in 'mind'; illness or episodes of ill health after a treatment are referred to as a 'release' or letting go of a 'contraction' in the body-mind. Usually, a practitioner will then recommend further treatments for complete healing. +The US-based National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) distinguishes between health care involving scientifically observable energy, which it calls "Veritable Energy Medicine", and health care methods that invoke physically undetectable or unverifiable "energies", which it calls "Putative Energy Medicine": + +Types of "veritable energy medicine" include magnet therapy, colorpuncture, and light therapy. Medical techniques involving the use of electromagnetic radiation (e.g., radiation therapy or magnetic resonance imaging) are not considered "energy medicine" in the terms of alternative medicine. +Types of "putative energy medicine" include biofield energy healing therapies that are claimed to direct or modulate "energies" to allow healing in the patient. This includes spiritual healing, psychic healing, therapeutic touch, healing touch, Hands of light, Esoteric healing, Magnetic healing (now a historical term not to be confused with magnet therapy), Qigong healing, Reiki, crystal healing, distant healing, intercessory prayer, and similar modalities. Concepts such as Qi (Chi), Prana, Innate Intelligence, Mana, Pneuma, vital fluid, Odic force, and orgone are among the many terms that have been used to describe these putative energy fields. This category does not include acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, chiropractic, moxibustion and other modalities where a physical intervention is used to manipulate a putative energy. +Polarity therapy founded by Randolph Stone is a kind of energy medicine based on the belief that a person's health is subject to positive and negative charges in their electromagnetic field. It has been promoted as capable of curing many human ailments ranging from muscular tightness to cancer; however, according to the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that polarity therapy is effective in treating cancer or any other disease." + +== Beliefs == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..13e756180 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Energy medicine" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:26.409139+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +There are various schools of energy healing, including biofield energy healing, spiritual healing, contact healing, distant healing, Pranic Healing, therapeutic touch, Reiki, and Qigong among others. +Spiritual healing occurs largely among practitioners who do not see traditional religious faith as a prerequisite for effecting cures. Faith healing by contrast takes place within a traditional or non-denominational religious context such as with some televangelists. The Buddha is often quoted by practitioners of energy medicine, but he did not practise "hands on or off" healing. +Energy healing techniques such as therapeutic touch have found recognition in the nursing profession. In 2005–2006, the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association approved the diagnosis of "energy field disturbance" in patients, reflective of what has been variously called a "postmodern" or "anti-scientific" approach to nursing care. This approach has been strongly criticised. +Believers in these techniques have proposed quantum mystical invocations of non-locality to try to explain distant healing. They have also proposed that healers act as a channel passing on a kind of bioelectromagnetism which shares similarities to vitalistic pseudosciences such as orgone or qi. Writing in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, James Oschman introduced the concept of healer-sourced electromagnetic fields which change in frequency. Oschman believes that "healing energy" derives from electromagnetic frequencies generated by a medical device, projected from the hands of the healer, or by electrons acting as antioxidants. Beverly Rubik, in an article in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, justified her belief with references to biophysical systems theory, bioelectromagnetics, and chaos theory that provide her with a "…scientific foundation for the biofield…" Drew Leder remarked in a paper in the same journal that such ideas were attempts to "make sense of, interpret, and explore 'psi' and distant healing." and that "such physics-based models are not presented as explanatory but rather as suggestive." +Physicists and sceptics criticise these explanations as pseudophysics – a branch of pseudoscience which explains magical thinking by using irrelevant jargon from modern physics to exploit scientific illiteracy and to impress the unsophisticated. +Indeed, even enthusiastic supporters of energy healing say that "there are only very tenuous theoretical foundations underlying [spiritual] healing". + +== Scientific investigations == + +=== Distant healing === +A systematic review of 23 trials of distant healing published in 2000 did not draw definitive conclusions because of the methodological limitations among the studies. In 2001 the lead author of that study, Edzard Ernst, published a primer on complementary therapies in cancer care in which he explained that though "about half of these trials suggested that healing is effective", the evidence was "highly conflicting" and that "methodological shortcomings prevented firm conclusions." He concluded that "as long as it is not used as an alternative to effective therapies, spiritual healing should be virtually devoid of risks." A 2001 randomised clinical trial by the same group found no statistically significant difference on chronic pain between distance healers and "simulated healers". A 2003 review by Ernst updating previous work concluded that the weight of evidence had shifted against the use of distant healing, and that it can be associated with adverse effects." + +=== Contact healing === +A 2001 randomised clinical trial randomly assigned 120 patients with chronic pain to either healers or "simulated healers", but could not demonstrate efficacy for either distance or face-to-face healing. A systematic review in 2008 concluded that the evidence for a specific effect of spiritual healing on relieving neuropathic or neuralgic pain was not convincing. In their 2008 book Trick or Treatment, Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst concluded that "spiritual healing is biologically implausible and its effects rely on a placebo response. At best, it may offer comfort; at worst, it can result in charlatans taking money from patients with serious conditions who require urgent conventional medicine." + +=== Evidence base === +Alternative medicine researcher Edzard Ernst has said that although an initial review of pre-1999 distant healing trials highlighted 57% of trials as showing positive results, later reviews of non-randomised and randomised clinical trials conducted between 2000 and 2002 led to the conclusion that "the majority of the rigorous trials do not support the hypothesis that distant healing has specific therapeutic effects." Ernst described the evidence base for healing practices to be "increasingly negative". Many of the reviews were also under suspicion for fabricated data, lack of transparency, and scientific misconduct. He concluded that "Spiritual healing continues to be promoted despite the absence of biological plausibility or convincing clinical evidence … that these methods work therapeutically and plenty to demonstrate that they do not." A 2014 study of energy healing for colorectal cancer patients showed no improvement in quality of life, depressive symptoms, mood, or sleep quality. + +== Earthing == +The Earthing Institute gathers researchers and therapists who believe that to maintain or regain good health, direct contact with Earth by removing floors, carpets, and especially shoes is necessary. Walking barefoot and sleeping on the ground are conceived as useful tools for achieving the "earthing" (or "grounding") of the body. It is claimed that thanks to earthing one would benefit from the "extraordinary healing power" of Nature through the transferral of electrons from the Earth's surface to the body: "a primordial and naturally stabilized electric reference point for all body biological circuits is created". According to its practitioners, Earthing has preventive and curative effects on chronic inflammation, aging-related disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and even depression and autism spectrum disorders. +The concept of earthing has been criticized as pseudoscience by skeptics and the medical community. A review of the available literature on the subject was written by several people that are financially tied to the company espousing the practice of earthing. Steven Novella referred to the work as "typical of the kind of worthless studies designed to generate false positives—the kind of in-house studies that companies sometimes use so that they can claim their products are clinically proven." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6ab39a51d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +title: "Energy medicine" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:26.409139+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Bioresonance therapy == +Bioresonance therapy (including MORA therapy and BICOM) is a pseudoscientific medical practice in which it is proposed that electromagnetic waves can be used to diagnose and treat human illness. + +=== History and method === +Bioresonance therapy was invented (in Germany) in 1977 by Franz Morell and his son-in-law, engineer Erich Rasche. Initially, they marketed it as "MORA-Therapie", for MOrell and RAsche. Some of the machines contain an electronic circuit measuring skin-resistance, akin to the E-meter used by Scientology, which the bioresonance creators sought to improve; Franz Morell had links with Scientology. +Practitioners claim to be able to detect a variety of diseases and addictions. Some practitioners also claim they can treat diseases using this therapy without drugs, by stimulating a change of "bioresonance" in the cells, and reversing the change caused by the disease. The devices would need to isolate and pinpoint pathogens' responses from the mixture of responses the device receives via the electrodes. These transformed signals transmitted over the same electrodes has a healing effect, claim practitioners. + +=== Scientific evaluation === +Lacking any scientific explanation of how bioresonance therapy might work, researchers have classified bioresonance therapy as pseudoscience. Some studies did not show effects above that of the placebo effect. WebMD states: "There is no reliable scientific evidence that bioresonance is an accurate indicator of medical conditions or disease or an effective treatment for any condition." +Proven cases of online fraud have occurred, with a practitioner making false claims that he could cure cancer, and that his clients did not need to follow the chemotherapy or surgery recommended by medical doctors, which can be life-saving. Ben Goldacre ridiculed the BBC when it reported as fact a clinic's claim that the treatment could stop 70% of clients smoking, a better result than any conventional therapy. +In the United States of America, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies "devices that use resistance measurements to diagnose and treat various diseases" as Class III devices, which require FDA approval before marketing. The FDA has banned some of these devices from the US market, and has prosecuted many sellers of electrical devices for making false claims of health benefits. +According to Quackwatch, the therapy is completely nonsensical and the proposed mechanism of action impossible. + +== Explanations for positive reports == +There are several, primarily psychological, explanations for positive reports after energy therapy, including placebo effects, spontaneous remission, and cognitive dissonance. A 2009 review found that the "small successes" reported for two therapies collectively marketed as "energy psychology" (Emotional Freedom Techniques and Tapas Acupressure Technique) "are potentially attributable to well-known cognitive and behavioral techniques that are included with the energy manipulation." The report concluded "Psychologists and researchers should be wary of using such techniques, and make efforts to inform the public about the ill effects of therapies that advertise miraculous claims." +There are primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural. The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc, meaning that a genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the healer or patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the placebo effect, through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the healer – not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed. In both cases, the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities. +Positive findings from research studies can also result from such psychological mechanisms, or as a result of experimenter bias, methodological flaws such as lack of blinding, or publication bias; positive reviews of the scientific literature may show selection bias, in that they omit key studies that do not agree with the author's position. All of these factors must be considered when evaluating claims. + +== See also == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Bioresonance therapy +Hörner M, Bioresonanz: "Anspruch einer Methode und Ergebnis einer technischen Überprüfung", Allergologie, 1995, 18 S. 302 +Kofler H, "Bioresonanz bei Pollinose. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung zur diagnostischen und therapeutischen Wertigkeit", Allergologie 1996, 19, p. 114 +Niggemann B, "Unkonventionelle Verfahren in der Allergologie. Kontroverse oder Alternative?" Allergologie 2002, 25, p. 34 +oracknows (May 16, 2008). "Your Friday Dose of Woo: MORA the same ol' same ol' woo". ScienceBlogs. Retrieved February 22, 2014. +Schultze-Werninghaus, "paramedizinische Verfahren: Bioresonanzdiagnostik und -Therapie", Allergo J, 1993, 2, pp. 40–2 +Wandtke F, "Bioresonanz-Allergietest versus pricktest und RAST", Allergologie 1993, 16, p. 144 +Wille A, "Bioresonance therapy (biophysical information therapy) in stuttering children", Forsch Komplementärmed, 1999 Feb; 6 Suppl 1:50–2 + +== External links == + +NIH Energy medicine: overview. +Miracle Machines: The 21st-Century Snake Oil: a Seattle Times series on fraudulent energy medicine devices +What Is Complementary and Alternative Medicine? "biofield". +An overview of the pseudoscience behind "bioresonance therapy": "Electrodiagnostic" Devices \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7e9cbf54b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Enneagram of Personality" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:29.956388+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Enneagram of Personality, or simply the Enneagram, is a pseudoscientific model of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types. +The origins and history of ideas associated with the Enneagram of Personality are disputed. Contemporary approaches are principally derived from the teachings of the Bolivian psycho-spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo from the 1950s and the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo from the 1970s. Naranjo's theories were also influenced by earlier teachings about personality by George Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way tradition in the first half of the 20th century. +As a typology, the Enneagram defines nine personality types (sometimes called "enneatypes"), which are represented by the points of a geometric figure called an enneagram, which indicate some of the principal connections between the types. There have been different schools of thought among Enneagram teachers and their understandings are not always in agreement. +The Enneagram of Personality is promoted in both business management and spirituality contexts through seminars, conferences, books, magazines, and DVDs. In business contexts, it is often promoted as a means to gain insights into workplace interpersonal dynamics; in spirituality it is commonly presented as a path to states of enlightenment and essence. Proponents in both contexts say it has aided in self-awareness, self-understanding, and self-development. +There has been limited formal psychometric analysis of the Enneagram, and the peer-reviewed research that has been done is not accepted within the relevant academic communities. Though the Enneagram integrates some concepts that parallel other theories of personality, it has been dismissed by personality assessment experts as pseudoscience. + +== History == +The origins and historical development of the Enneagram of Personality are matters of dispute. Similar ideas to the Enneagram of Personality are found in the work of Evagrius Ponticus, a Christian mystic who lived in 4th-century Alexandria in Egypt. Evagrius identified eight logismoi ("deadly thoughts") plus an overarching thought he called "love of self". Evagrius wrote that "The first thought of all is that of love of self [philautia]; after this, [come] the eight." In addition to identifying eight deadly thoughts, Evagrius also identified "virtues" in opposition to those thoughts. +G. I. Gurdjieff (died 1949) is credited with first using the word enneagram and is the only known source for the geometric figure. He did not develop the nine personality types associated with the Enneagram of Personality. Instead, Gurdjieff used the enneagram figure for various other purposes, including sacred dances known as the Gurdjieff movements. +Oscar Ichazo (1931–2020) is credited as the principal source of the contemporary Enneagram of Personality which is largely derived from parts of Ichazo's teachings, such as those on ego-fixations, holy ideas, passions, and virtues. The Bolivian-born Ichazo began teaching programs of self-development in the 1950s. His teaching, which he called "Protoanalysis", uses the enneagram figure among several other symbols and ideas. Ichazo founded the Arica Institute - which was originally based in Chile before moving to the United States in the 1970s - and coined the term "Enneagram of Personality" (which he originally called the "Enneagon of Personality"). +Claudio Naranjo (1932–2019) learned the Enneagram of Personality from Ichazo in 1970 and then developed and taught his own understanding of the Enneagram in the United States, principally at the Esalen Institute and to his students in Berkeley, California. Two of his students were Jesuit priests who later adapted the Enneagram for use in Christian spirituality within programs at Loyola University in Chicago. Ichazo originally strongly objected to the Enneagram teachings of Naranjo and other teachers due to what he considered their misinterpretations and misuses of the Enneagram. +Naranjo's teachings became increasingly popular in the United States and elsewhere from the 1970s. Numerous other authors also published books on the Enneagram of Personality in the 1980s and 1990s. Those authors included Don Richard Riso (1987), Helen Palmer (1988), Eli Jaxon-Bear (1989), Elizabeth Wagele (1994), and Richard Rohr (1995). In 1994, the First International Enneagram Conference, attended by around 1,400 participants, was held at Stanford University and co-sponsored by the university's psychiatry department where psychiatrist, Enneagram author, and conference co-director David Daniels was teaching. +Analysis of Google search results over 16 years shows an increase in searches for the word "enneagram" from 2017. Additionally, social media accounts and podcasts about the Enneagram have increased, indicating a growing popularity among millennials. It has been suggested that the rise in popularity of the Enneagram parallels a renewed interest in astrology. + +== Figure == +The enneagram figure is composed of three parts; a circle, an inner triangle (connecting 3-6-9), and an irregular hexagonal "periodic figure" (connecting 1-4-2-8-5-7). According to esoteric spiritual traditions, the circle symbolizes unity, the inner triangle symbolizes the "law of three" and the hexagram represents the "law of seven" (because 1-4-2-8-5-7-1 is the repeating decimal created by dividing one by seven in base 10 arithmetic). These three elements constitute the usual enneagram figure. + +== Nine types == +The table below offers an outline of the principal characteristics of the nine types along with their basic relationships. This table expands upon Oscar Ichazo's ego fixations, holy ideas, passions, and virtues primarily using material from Understanding the Enneagram: The Practical Guide to Personality Types (revised edition) by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson as well as Charles Tart's Transpersonal Psychologies. Other theorists may disagree on some aspects. The types are normally referred to by their numbers, but sometimes their "characteristic roles" (which refers to distinctive archetypal characteristics) are used instead. Various labels for each type are commonly used by different authors and teachers. The "stress" and "security" points (sometimes referred to as the "disintegration" and "integration" points) are the types connected by the lines of the enneagram figure and are believed to influence a person in an adverse or relaxed circumstance. According to this hypothesis, someone with a primary One type, for example, may begin to think, feel, and act more like someone with a Four type when stressed or a Seven type when relaxed. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..dddd83ea3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Enneagram of Personality" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:29.956388+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Three triads of type patterns === +The nine Enneagram personality type patterns are grouped into various triads of three types in which each of the types have multiple common personality issues. The most well-known of these triad groupings is also associated with the three "centers of intelligence" as taught by G. I. Gurdjieff. These three centers are traditionally known as the intellectual, emotional, and instinctual centers. Although each person is understood to always have all three centers active in their personality structure, certain personality issues are more associated with one of the centers depending on a person's dominant type pattern. In Enneagram of Personality teachings each of these centers has a more particular or stronger association with one of the triads of personality types as follows: + +The intellectual center is particularly associated with types 5, 6, and 7. People with one of these dominant type patterns are largely motivated by "thinking" issues related to fear. +The emotional center is particularly associated with types 2, 3, and 4. People with one of these dominant type patterns are largely motivated by "feeling" and "image" issues related to anxiety and depression. +The instinctual center is particularly associated with types 8, 9, and 1. People with one of these dominant type patterns are largely motivated by "gut" issues related to anger. +An individual's tritype is a three digit number where each digit corresponds to individual's dominant type in each of the three centers of intelligence. + +=== Wings === +Most, but not all, Enneagram of Personality enthusiasts teach that a person's basic type is modified, at least to some extent, by the personality dynamics of the two adjacent types as indicated on the enneagram figure. These two types are called "wings". A person with the Three personality type, for example, is understood to have points Two and Four as their wing types. The circle of the enneagram figure may indicate that the types or points exist on a spectrum rather than as distinct types or points unrelated to those adjacent to them. A person may be understood, therefore, to have a core type and one or two wing types which influence but do not change the core type. Empirical research into the wing concept by Anthony Edwards did not support the hypothesis. Related to, but not the same, as the wing concept is Ichazo's viewpoint involving the active, attractive, and function forces. According to him, the type is made from a starting point, referred to as the active force. In turn, the type is also led with an attractive force. This ends with the "function", where the result is the formation of a type in between the two. Naranjo said about the wings that a person "can easily see" their primary type as being between its adjacent wings. + +=== Connecting lines === +For some Enneagram theorists the lines connecting the points add further meaning to the information provided by the descriptions of the types. Sometimes called the "security" and "stress" points, or points of "integration" and "disintegration", some theorists believe these connected points also contribute to a person's overall personality. From this viewpoint, therefore, at least four other points affect a person's overall personality; the two points connected by the lines to the core type and the two wing points. The earlier teachings about the connecting lines are now rejected or modified by Enneagram teachers, including Claudio Naranjo who developed them. + +=== Instinctual subtypes === +Each of the personality types is understood as having three "instinctual subtypes". These subtypes are believed to be formed according to which one of three instinctual energies of a person is dominantly developed and expressed. The instinctual energies are called "self-preservation", "sexual" (also called "intimacy" or "one-to-one"), and "social". On the instinctual level, people may internally stress and externally express the need to protect themselves (self-preservation), to connect with important others or partners (sexual), or to get along or succeed in groups (social). From this perspective, there are 27 distinct personality patterns, because people of each of the nine types also express themselves as one of the three subtypes. An alternative approach to the subtypes understands them as three domains or clusters of instincts which result in increased probability of survival (the "preserving" domain), increased skill in navigating the social environment (the "navigating" domain), and increased likelihood of reproductive success (the "transmitting" domain). From this understanding the subtypes reflect individual differences in the presence of these three separate clusters of instincts. +It is believed that people function in all three forms of instinctual energies, but one instinct will be more well-developed and dominant. + +== Type indicator tests == +Enneagram type indicator tests have been developed by prominent teachers, such as Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson who developed the Riso–Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (RHETI) in 1993. Their research focused on constructing it as a personality measurement instrument. The RHETI has heuristic value but minimal scientific research conducted. +The Stanford Enneagram Discovery Inventory was developed by psychiatry professor David Daniels at Stanford University and was later renamed the Essential Enneagram Test. This assessment was employed to conduct various research studies, including on the personalities of identical twins. +A 2002 review of validation studies of various Enneagram tests found guarded support for their reliability and validity. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fc1c0b7f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +--- +title: "Enneagram of Personality" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:29.956388+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Research and criticism == +While Enneagram teachings have attained a degree of popularity, they have been categorized by many professionals as a pseudoscience due to their subjectivity and inability to be tested scientifically, and described as "an assessment method of no demonstrated reliability or validity". In 2011, the scientific skeptic Robert Todd Carroll included the Enneagram in a list of pseudoscientific theories that "can't be tested because they are so vague and malleable that anything relevant can be shoehorned to fit the theory". +A 2020 review of Enneagram empirical work found mixed results for the model's reliability and validity. The study noted that the ipsative version of the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator (scores on one dimension decrease scores on another dimension) had troubles with validity, whereas the non-ipsative version of the test has been found to have better internal consistency and test-retest reliability. It was found that 87% of individuals were able to accurately predict their Enneagram type (before taking the test) by being read descriptions of each type. +In a Delphi poll of 101 doctoral-level members of psychological organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the Enneagram was among five psychological treatments and tests which were rated by at least 25% of them as being discredited for personality assessment. Experts familiar with the Enneagram rated it with a mean score of 4.14 (3.37 in the first round of the study) which is approximately an equivalent to the option "probably discredited" (3 = possibly discredited, 4 = probably discredited, 5 = certainly discredited). +The Enneagram has also received criticism from religious perspectives. In 2000, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine produced a draft report on the origins of the Enneagram to aid bishops in their evaluation of its use in their dioceses. The report identified aspects of the intersection between the Enneagram and Roman Catholicism which, in their opinion, warranted scrutiny with potential areas of concern, stating, "While the enneagram system shares little with traditional Christian doctrine or spirituality, it also shares little with the methods and criteria of modern science ... The burden of proof is on proponents of the enneagram to furnish scientific evidence for their claims." Partly in response to Jesuits and members of other religious orders teaching a Christian understanding of the Enneagram of Personality, a 2003 Vatican document called Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life. A Christian Reflection on the 'New Age' said that the Enneagram "when used as a means of spiritual growth introduces an ambiguity in the doctrine and the life of the Christian faith". + +== See also == +16PF Questionnaire – Self-report personality test +A. H. Almaas – American writer and spiritual teacher (born 1944) +Big Five personality traits – Personality model consisting of five broad dimensions +Myers–Briggs Type Indicator – Pseudoscientific personality questionnaire +Personality psychology – Branch of psychology focused on personality +Revised NEO Personality Inventory – Big Five personality trait inventory + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Daniels, David (2000). The Essential Enneagram. HarperOne. ISBN 0-06-251676-0. +Gilbert, Eleonora (2015). Conversations on the Enneagram. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 978-1-909454-34-7. +Goldberg, Michael J. (1999). 9 Ways of Working. Marlowe & Company. ISBN 1-56924-688-2. +Maitri, Sandra (2005). The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues: Finding the Way Home. Tarcher. ISBN 1-58542-406-4. +Naranjo, Claudio (1994). Character and Neurosis: An Integrative View. Gateways/IDHHB, Inc. ISBN 0-89556-066-6. +Naranjo, Claudio (1997). Transformation Through Insight: Enneatypes in Life. Hohm Press. ISBN 0-934252-73-4. +Palmer, Helen (1991). The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and Others in Your Life. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-250683-8. +Riso, Don Richard; Hudson, Russ (1999). Wisdom of the Enneagram. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-37820-1. +Riso, Don Richard; Hudson, Russ (2000). Understanding the Enneagram; the practical guide to personality types. Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-00415-7. +Ichazo, Oscar (2024). The Enneagrams of the Fixations, The Original Teachings. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 978-1966138068 +Ichazo, Oscar (June 24, 2025). “Oscar Ichazo’s Fixations: Insights into the Central Teachings.” Enneagram Monthly. June 2025. +Ichazo, Oscar (2025). Insights into the Enneagrams of the Fixations. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. ISBN 9781966138198 +Ichazo, Oscar (2025). “Protoanalysis,” The History of the Integral Teachings, Vol I 1983–1993, pages 27 to 35. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. 9781966134729 +Ichazo, Oscar (2025). “Fixations and Autodiagnosis,” The History of the Integral Teachings, Vol II 1993–1998, pages 280 to 291. The Oscar Ichazo Foundation. 9781966138242 +Ichazo, Oscar (July 24, 2025). “Discover Ichazo’s Body of Knowledge.” Enneagram Monthly. July 2025. +Ichazo, Oscar (August 19, 2025). “Awake or Asleep, The Nine Fixations.” Enneagram Monthly. August 2025. +Ichazo, Oscar (September 17, 2025). “Discovering Unity.” Enneagram Monthly. September 2025. +Bellafiore, Joe (October 15, 2025). “Experiencing the Fixations.” Enneagram Monthly. October 2025. +Ichazo, Oscar (November 19, 2025). “The Four Killers of Humanity.” Enneagram Monthly. November 2025. +Ichazo, Oscar (December 19, 2025). “The Transcendental Experience.” Enneagram Monthly. December 2025. +Don Richard Riso: Understanding the Enneagram, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1990 +with Russ Hudson: Understanding the Enneagram. The Practical Guide to Personality Types. revised ed., Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 2000. ISBN 0-618-00415-7. ISBN 978-0-618-00415-7. books.google.com (preview) + +== External links == + +International Enneagram Association website +"enneagram". The Skeptic's Dictionary. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a6dc77969 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Epilepsy surgery" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:31.127122+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Epilepsy surgery involves a neurosurgical procedure where an area of the brain involved in seizures is either resected, ablated, disconnected or stimulated. The goal is to eliminate seizures or significantly reduce seizure burden. Approximately 60% of all people with epilepsy (0.4% of the population of industrialized countries) have focal epilepsy syndromes. In 20% to 30% of these patients, the condition is not adequately controlled with adequate trials of two anticonvulsive drugs, termed drug resistant epilepsy, or refractory epilepsy. Such patients are potential candidates for surgical epilepsy treatment. +First line therapy for epilepsy involves treatment with anticonvulsive drugs, also called antiepileptic drugs– most patients will respond to trials of one or two different medications. The goal of treatment is the elimination of seizures, since uncontrolled seizures carry significant risks, including injury and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. In patients with refractory epilepsy, surgery is considered the only curative option. Epilepsy surgery has been performed for more than a century, but its use dramatically increased in the 1980s and 1990s, reflecting advancement in technique and improved efficacy in selected patients. + +== Evaluation == +The pre-surgical evaluation for epilepsy is designed to locate the "epileptic focus" or the "epileptogenic zone" (the location where the epilepsy originates in the brain) and to determine if/how surgery could affect normal brain function. Defining the epileptogenic zone has a fundamental role in determining the boundaries of the area that needs to be removed in order to relieve seizures but also to avoid harming the "eloquent cortex" or areas of the brain that control functions such as language, motor control, or vision. Resective surgery involves cutting away or disconnecting areas of the brain that are generating or propagating seizures. Epileptologists, neurologists with special training in epilepsy, will also confirm the diagnosis of epilepsy to make sure that seizure-like activity is truly due to epilepsy as opposed to non-epileptic seizures. +The evaluation typically includes neurological physical examination, routine electroencephalography (EEG), Long-term video-EEG monitoring, neuropsychological evaluation, and neuroimaging such as MRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Neuroimaging can help identify if there is a structural cause for the seizures, such as a tumor or abnormal blood vessels such as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Several imaging techniques including MRI, SPECT, and PET have been found to identify the epileptogenic zone in anywhere from 50% to 80% of cases. Some epilepsy centers use intracarotid sodium amobarbital test (Wada test) and fMRI when evaluating temporal lobe epilepsy surgery, as surgeries in this area of the brain can affect memory. Recent studies note fMRI outperforming the Wada test for memory and language localization. Current research into pre-surgical evaluation includes computer models of seizure generation, high-frequency oscillations as biomarkers of epilepsy, and magnetoencephalography for repeat epilepsy surgeries. +If noninvasive testing was inadequate in identifying the epileptic focus or in distinguishing the surgical target from normal brain tissue and function, then long-term video-EEG monitoring with the use of intracranial electrodes may be required for evaluation. Brain mapping by the technique of cortical electrical stimulation or electrocorticography are other procedures used in the process of invasive testing for certain patients. +Once the epilepsy focus is located, the specific surgery involved in treatment is decided on. The type of surgery depends on the location of the seizure focal point. Surgeries for epilepsy treatment include, but are not limited to: temporal lobe resection, hemispherectomy, ground temporal and extratemporal resection, parietal resection, occipital resection, frontal resection, extratemporal resection, and callosotomy. + +== Hemispherectomy == +Hemispherectomy or hemispherotomy involves removal or a functional disconnection of most, or all of, one half of the brain typically leaving the basal ganglia and thalamus. It is reserved for people with the most catastrophic epilepsies, such as those due to Rasmussen's encephalitis. If the surgery is performed on very young patients (2–5 years old), then the remaining hemisphere may acquire some motor control of the ipsilateral body due to neuroplasticity; in older patients, paralysis results on the side of the body opposite to the part of the brain that was removed with less prospect for recovery. A visual field defect is an unavoidable side effect, typically involving a homonymous hemianopia involving loss of the half of the visual field on the same side of the disconnected brain. Because of these and other side-effects, it is usually reserved for patients having exhausted other treatment options, including for children under 3 years of age who have drug-resistant epilepsy. +Hemispherectomies can be divided into three main types: anatomic, functional, and hemidecortication. Anatomic hemispherectomy involves the surgical removal of an entire cerebral hemisphere excluding deep structures such as the basal ganglia, thalamus, and brainstem to preserve vital functions. WE Dandy recorded the first anatomic hemispherectomy in 1928 for glioma resection and the first surgery for epilepsy was performed by McKenzie ten years later. This approach is less commonly performed due to high risks of complications, such as hydrocephalus due to blockage of the foramen of Monro, one of the passages that drains cerebrospinal fluid in the brain and spine, and superficial cerebral hemosiderosis (SCH). The procedure became less popular with the introduction of new antiepileptic drugs in the 1960s. +Functional hemispherectomies differ in that they disconnect the affected hemisphere from the rest of the brain to prevent spread from the epileptogenic focus to other parts of the brain. Structures involved can include the corpus callosum and thalamocortical fibers, as they are implicated in relaying information between the brain's hemispheres. Many approaches are available and overall are described according to their surgical plane including vertical (between the two hemispheres) and lateral (along the Sylvian fissure). Depending on each patient case, alternate procedures such as hemidecortication or peri-insular hemispherectomies are available to disrupt the epilepsy signal but remain less invasive to minimize risks. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b138e620e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Epilepsy surgery" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy_surgery" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:31.127122+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Temporal lobe resection == +Temporal lobe resection acts as a treatment option for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, or those whose seizure focus is in the temporal lobe. Temporal lobe seizures are the most common type (approximately 30% of diagnoses) of seizures for teens and young adults. The procedure involves resecting, or cutting away, brain tissue within the region of the temporal lobe in order to remove the seizure focus. Specific evaluation for temporal lobe resection requires convergent clinical, MRI, and EEG data in order to precisely pinpoint the focal area and boundaries of the focal area. +The surgery has produced successful outcomes, controlling seizures in as much as 70 percent of temporal lobe epilepsy patients. Follow-up studies suggest that the procedure also has produced positive long-term effects that illustrate 63 percent of patients still remaining seizure-free. Although the procedure produces positive outcomes for patients regarding seizure control, it can also produce negative outcomes such as memory impairment, visual disturbance, and cognitive dysfunction. Hemispheric dominance can determine the likelihood of certain complications of surgery in the temporal lobe; for the majority of right-handed people, the left hemisphere is dominant and is associated with the brain's language centers (most notably Wernicke's area) and the right (non-dominant) hemisphere is associated with memory and learning of non verbal information such as vision. Thus, temporal lobe resection of the dominant hemisphere often causes verbal memory impairment while resection of the non-dominant hemisphere often causes visual memory impairment. +Important structures implicated in temporal lobectomies include the auditory cortex, hippocampus, Wernicke's area, and amygdala; the latter three broadly affecting memory, language, and emotion, respectively. The hippocampus, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus are collectively termed the mesial temporal structures and are frequently targeted for resection in epilepsy. +Types of temporal lobectomy include anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) and selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH). The ATL resection is the most common technique where the lateral and polar cortex are removed along with the aforementioned mesial temporal structures as well as the posterior part depending on which hemisphere the epileptogenic zone lies. The most common complication after ATL is a defect in vision known as a homonymous superior quadrantanopia, wherein the upper quarter field of vision on both eyes is altered, known as the "pie in the sky defect", with a frequency from 1.5% to 22%. ATL surgery resection encompasses the amygdala, hippocampus as well as surrounding tissue or neocortex whereas SAH is more targeted to the former two structures to be as minimally disruptive as possible. The SAH approach goes through a space on the lateral side of the brain known as the Sylvian fissure to reach the amygdala and hippocampus which are deeper in the middle of the brain. These structures may also be targeted through the middle temporal gyrus, below the Sylvian fissure, to avoid the visual pathways that course near the top of the temporal lobe. +The decision between ATL and SAH should include a multidisciplinary team involving an epileptologist and neurosurgeon and tailored to each patient's specific case. Both have varying rates of seizure freedom depending on how well the epileptogenic zone is localized. One meta-analysis found that there is no significant difference in seizure freedom but visual complications after surgery were less frequent in SAH. + +== Extratemporal resection == +Extratemporal lobe resection acts as a treatment option for patients with extratemporal epilepsy, or epilepsy patients whose seizure focus is outside of the temporal lobe, and stems from either the occipital lobes, parietal lobe, frontal lobe, or in multiple lobes. The evaluation for the procedure often requires more than clinical, MRI, and EEG convergence due to the variability of the seizure focus. Along with additional imaging techniques such as PET and SPECT, invasive studies may be needed to pinpoint the seizure focus. The efficacy of extratemporal lobe resection generally is less than resection of the temporal lobe. For example, in frontal lobe resections seizure freedom has been achieved in 38-44 percent of patients. + +== Tumor Resection == +If a benign or malignant brain tumor is suspected to be the cause of seizure activity, surgical removal of the tumor may be indicated. The approach and technique is case-dependent. One study of supratentorial brain tumors in children less observed a dramatic reduction in the severity and frequency of seizures at one and four year follow-up. +See also Brain tumors. + +== Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT) == +LITT is a minimally invasive technique under imaging guidance (typically MRI) where a small hole is drilled through the skull (a Burr hole) and a precise laser targets structures that are causing seizures, known as laser ablation. Ablative procedures are appropriate options for patients who otherwise would not be good surgical candidates due to other medical problems or specific anatomical reasons that would make targeting their epilepsy difficult with a traditional surgery. Outcomes for each type of surgery vary widely depending on seizure localization, epilepsy specifics, and surgeon approach. Given that this is a new technique, more research into comparing outcomes is necessary but preliminary studies suggest lower seizure freedom. +See also ablative brain surgery. + +== See also == +Engel classification +Anticonvulsant +Temporal lobe +Temporal lobe epilepsy +Epilepsy syndromes +Rasmussen Encephalitis +Sturge–Weber syndrome +Hippocampal sclerosis + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopid_race-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopid_race-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ab8d995b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopid_race-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Ethiopid race" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopid_race" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:33.479750+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Ethiopid (also spelled Aethiopid) is an outdated racial classification of humans indigenous to Northeast Africa, who were typically classified as part of the Caucasian race – the Hamitic sub-branch, or in rare instances the Negroid race. The racial classification was mainly made up of the Afroasiatic-speaking populations of the Horn of Africa, but to an extent included certain Nilo-Saharan populations of the Nile Valley and the Great Lakes region. + + +== Center of distribution == +According to John Baker (1974), in their stable form, their center of distribution was considered to be the Horn of Africa, among that region's Hamito-Semitic-speaking populations. Baker described them as being of medium height, with a dolicocephalic or mesocephalic skull (see cephalic index), an essentially Caucasoid facial form, an orthognathic profile (no prognathism) and a rather prominent, narrow nose, often ringlety hair, and an invariably brown skin, with either a reddish or blackish tinge. + + +== Dividing humankind into races == +The concept of dividing humankind into three races called Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid (originally named "Ethiopian") was introduced in the 1780s by members of the Göttingen school of history and further developed by Western scholars in the context of racist ideologies during the age of colonialism. + + +== Obsolescence in modern genetics == +With the rise of modern genetics, the concept of distinct human races in a biological sense has become obsolete. In 2019, the American Association of Biological Anthropologists stated: "Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation. It was never accurate in the past, and it remains inaccurate when referencing contemporary human populations." + + +== Notes == + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7fd040cd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Eugenics" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:34.922682+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Eugenics is a largely discredited set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fertility of those considered inferior, often through forced sterilization, or promoting that of those considered superior. +The contemporary history of eugenics began in the late 19th century, when a popular eugenics movement emerged in the United Kingdom, which spread to most European countries (e.g., Sweden and Germany), and many other countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia. +Historically, the idea of eugenics has been used to argue for a broad array of practices ranging from prenatal care for mothers deemed genetically desirable to the forced sterilisation and murder of those deemed unfit. To population geneticists, the term has included the avoidance of inbreeding without altering allele frequencies; for example, British-Indian scientist J. B. S. Haldane wrote in 1940 that "the motor bus, by breaking up inbred village communities, was a powerful eugenic agent." Debate as to what qualifies as eugenics continues today. +A progressive social movement promoting eugenics had originated in the 19th century, with diverse support, but by the mid 20th century the term was closely associated with scientific racism and authoritarian coercion. With modern medical genetics, genetic testing and counselling have become common, and new or liberal eugenics rejects coercive programmes in favour of individual parental choice. + +== Common distinctions == + Eugenic programmes included both positive measures, such as encouraging individuals deemed particularly "fit" to reproduce, and negative measures, such as marriage prohibitions and forced sterilisation of people deemed unfit for reproduction. +Positive eugenics is aimed at encouraging reproduction among the genetically advantaged, for example, the intelligent, the healthy, and the successful. Possible approaches include financial and political stimuli, targeted demographic analyses, in vitro fertilisation, egg transplants, and cloning. Negative eugenics aimed to eliminate, through sterilisation or segregation, those deemed physically, mentally, or morally undesirable. This includes abortions, sterilisation, and other methods of family planning. Both positive and negative eugenics can be coercive; in Nazi Germany, for example, abortion was illegal for women deemed by the state to be superior. + +=== As opposed to "euthenics" === + +== Historical eugenics == + +=== Ancient and medieval origins === + +In ancient Sparta, according to Plutarch (fl. 50 to 120 CE), the council of elders (the Gerousia) inspected every proper citizen's child and determined whether or not the child was fit to live. A child deemed unfit was allegedly thrown into a chasm. Plutarch's account is the sole historical source for the Spartan practice of infanticide motivated by eugenics. While ancient Greeks practiced infanticide, no contemporary sources support Plutarch's claims of infanticide on eugenic grounds. In 2007, the tradition of dumping infants near Mount Taygete was called into question due to a lack of physical evidence: anthropologist Theodoros Pitsios' research of the site found only bodies ranging in age from 18 to 35 years. +Plato's political philosophy included the belief that the state should cautiously monitor and control human reproduction through selective breeding. +According to Tacitus (c. 56 – c. 120), a Roman of the Imperial Period, the Germanic tribes of his day killed any member of their community they deemed cowardly, un-warlike or "stained with abominable vices", usually by drowning them in swamps. Modern historians regard Tacitus' ethnographic writing as unreliable in such details. + +=== Academic origins === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..eb22fa9f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Eugenics" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:34.922682+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The term eugenics and its modern field of study were first formulated by Francis Galton in 1883, directly drawing on the recent work delineating natural selection by his half-cousin Charles Darwin. He published his observations and conclusions chiefly in his influential book Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development. Galton himself defined it as "the study of all agencies under human control which can improve or impair the racial quality of future generations". The first to systematically apply Darwinism theory to human relations, Galton believed that various desirable human qualities were also hereditary ones, although Darwin strongly disagreed with this elaboration of his theory. +Eugenics became an academic discipline at many colleges and universities and received funding from various sources. Organisations were formed to win public support for and to sway opinion towards responsible eugenic values in parenthood, including the British Eugenics Education Society of 1907 and the American Eugenics Society of 1921. Both sought support from leading clergymen and modified their message to meet religious ideals. In 1909, the Anglican clergymen William Inge and James Peile both wrote for the Eugenics Education Society. Inge was an invited speaker at the 1921 International Eugenics Conference, which was also endorsed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York Patrick Joseph Hayes. +Three International Eugenics Conferences presented a global venue for eugenicists, with meetings in 1912 in London, and in 1921 and 1932 in New York City. Eugenic policies in the United States were first implemented by state-level legislators in the early 1900s. Eugenic policies also took root in France, Germany, and Great Britain. Later, in the 1920s and 1930s, the eugenic policy of sterilising certain mental patients was implemented in other countries including Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Sweden. +Frederick Osborn's 1937 journal article "Development of a Eugenic Philosophy" framed eugenics as a social philosophy—a philosophy with implications for social order. That definition is not universally accepted. Osborn advocated for higher rates of sexual reproduction among people with desired traits ("positive eugenics") or reduced rates of sexual reproduction or sterilisation of people with less-desired or undesired traits ("negative eugenics"). +In addition to being practiced in a number of countries, eugenics was internationally organised through the International Federation of Eugenics Organisations. Its scientific aspects were carried on through research bodies such as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, the Cold Spring Harbor Carnegie Institution for Experimental Evolution, and the Eugenics Record Office. Politically, the movement advocated measures such as sterilisation laws. In its moral dimension, eugenics rejected the doctrine that all human beings are born equal and redefined moral worth purely in terms of genetic fitness. Its racist elements included pursuit of a pure "Nordic race" or "Aryan" genetic pool and the eventual elimination of "unfit" races. +Many leading British politicians subscribed to the theories of eugenics. Winston Churchill supported the British Eugenics Society and was an honorary vice president for the organisation. Churchill believed that eugenics could solve "race deterioration" and reduce crime and poverty. +As a social movement, eugenics reached its greatest popularity in the early decades of the 20th century, when it was practiced around the world and promoted by governments, institutions, and influential individuals. Many countries enacted various eugenics policies, including: genetic screenings, birth control, promoting differential birth rates, marriage restrictions, segregation (both racial segregation and sequestering the mentally ill), compulsory sterilisation, forced abortions or forced pregnancies, ultimately culminating in genocide. By 2014, gene selection (rather than "people selection") was made possible through advances in genome editing, leading to what is sometimes called new eugenics, also known as "neo-eugenics", "consumer eugenics", or "liberal eugenics"; which focuses on individual freedom and allegedly pulls away from racism, sexism or a focus on intelligence. + +==== Early opposition ==== +Early critics of the philosophy of eugenics included the American sociologist Lester Frank Ward, the English writer G. K. Chesterton, and Scottish tuberculosis pioneer and author Halliday Sutherland. Ward's 1913 article "Eugenics, Euthenics, and Eudemics", Chesterton's 1917 book Eugenics and Other Evils, and Franz Boas' 1916 article "Eugenics" (published in The Scientific Monthly) were all harshly critical of the rapidly growing movement. +Several biologists were also antagonistic to the eugenics movement, including Lancelot Hogben. Other biologists who were themselves eugenicists, such as J. B. S. Haldane and R. A. Fisher, however, also expressed scepticism in the belief that sterilisation of "defectives" (i.e. a purely negative eugenics) would lead to the disappearance of undesirable genetic traits. +Among institutions, the Catholic Church opposes sterilisation for eugenic purposes. Attempts by the Eugenics Education Society to persuade the British government to legalise voluntary sterilisation were opposed by Catholics and by the Labour Party. The American Eugenics Society initially gained some Catholic supporters, but Catholic support declined following the 1930 papal encyclical Casti connubii. In this, Pope Pius XI explicitly condemned sterilisation laws: "Public magistrates have no direct power over the bodies of their subjects; therefore, where no crime has taken place and there is no cause present for grave punishment, they can never directly harm, or tamper with the integrity of the body, either for the reasons of eugenics or for any other reason." +The eugenicists' political successes in Germany and Scandinavia were not at all matched in such countries as Poland and Czechoslovakia, even though measures had been proposed there, largely because of the Catholic Church's moderating influence. + +=== Eugenic feminism === + +=== North American eugenics === + +==== In Mexico ==== + +=== Nazism and the decline of eugenics === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b952b9f2f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Eugenics" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:34.922682+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The reputation of eugenics started to decline in the 1930s, a time when Ernst Rüdin used eugenics as a justification for the racial policies of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler had praised and incorporated eugenic ideas in Mein Kampf in 1925 and emulated eugenic legislation for the sterilisation of "defectives" that had been pioneered in the United States once he took power. Some common early 20th century eugenics methods involved identifying and classifying individuals and their families. This included racial groups (such as the Roma and Jews in Nazi Germany), the poor, mentally ill, blind, deaf, developmentally disabled, promiscuous women, and homosexuals as "degenerate" or "unfit". This led to segregation, institutionalisation, sterilisation, and mass murder. The Nazi policy of identifying German citizens deemed unfit and then systematically murdering them with poison gas, referred to as the Aktion T4 campaign, paved the way for the Holocaust. + +By the end of World War II, many eugenics laws were abandoned, having become associated with Nazi Germany. H. G. Wells, who had called for "the sterilisation of failures" in 1904, stated in his 1940 book The Rights of Man: Or What Are We Fighting For? that among the human rights, which he believed should be available to all people, was "a prohibition on mutilation, sterilisation, torture, and any bodily punishment". After World War II, the practice of "imposing measures intended to prevent births within [a national, ethnical, racial or religious] group" fell within the definition of the new international crime of genocide, set out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union also proclaims "the prohibition of eugenic practices, in particular those aiming at selection of persons". + +=== In Singapore === + +Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, actively promoted eugenics as late as 1983. In 1984, Singapore began providing financial incentives to highly educated women to encourage them to have more children. For this purpose was introduced the "Graduate Mother Scheme" that incentivised graduate women to get married as much as the rest of their populace. The incentives were extremely unpopular and regarded as eugenic, and were seen as discriminatory towards Singapore's non-Chinese ethnic population. In 1985, the incentives were partly abandoned as ineffective, while the government matchmaking agency, the Social Development Network, remains active. + +== Modern eugenics == + +Liberal eugenics, also called new eugenics, aims to make genetic interventions morally acceptable by rejecting coercive state programmes and relying on parental choice. Bioethicist Nicholas Agar, who coined the term, argues that the state should intervene only to forbid interventions that excessively limit a child’s ability to shape their own future. Unlike "authoritarian" or "old" eugenics, liberal eugenics draws on modern scientific knowledge of genomics to enable informed choices aimed at improving well-being. Julien Savulescu further argues that some eugenic practices, like prenatal screening for Down syndrome, are already widely practiced, without being labelled "eugenics", as they are seen as enhancing freedom rather than restricting it. +UC Berkeley sociologist Troy Duster argued that modern genetics is a "back door to eugenics". This view was shared by then-White House Assistant Director for Forensic Sciences, Tania Simoncelli, who stated in a 2003 publication by the Population and Development Programme at Hampshire College that advances in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) are moving society to a "new era of eugenics", and that, unlike the Nazi eugenics, modern eugenics is consumer driven and market based, "where children are increasingly regarded as made-to-order consumer products". The United Nations' International Bioethics Committee also noted that while human genetic engineering should not be confused with the 20th century eugenics movements, it nonetheless challenges the idea of human equality and opens up new forms of discrimination and stigmatisation for those who do not want or cannot afford the technology. +In 2025, geneticist Peter Visscher published a paper in Nature, arguing genome editing of human embryos and germ cells may become feasible in the 21st century, and raising ethical considerations in the context of previous eugenics movements. A response argued that human embryo genetic editing is "unsafe and unproven". Nature also published an editorial, stating: "The fear that polygenic gene editing could be used for eugenics looms large among them, and is, in part, why no country currently allows genome editing in a human embryo, even for single variants". + +== Contested scientific status == + +One general concern is that the reduced genetic diversity that may be a feature of long-term, species-wide eugenics plans could eventually result in inbreeding depression, increased spread of infectious disease, and decreased resilience to changes in the environment. + +=== Arguments for scientific validity === + +In his original lecture "Darwinism, Medical Progress and Eugenics", Karl Pearson claimed that everything concerning eugenics fell into the field of medicine. Anthropologist Aleš Hrdlička said in 1918 that "[t]he growing science of eugenics will essentially become applied anthropology." The economist John Maynard Keynes was a lifelong proponent of eugenics and described it as a branch of sociology. +In a 2006 newspaper article, Richard Dawkins said that discussion regarding eugenics was inhibited by the shadow of Nazi misuse, to the extent that some scientists would not admit that breeding humans for certain abilities is at all possible. He believes that it is not physically different from breeding domestic animals for traits such as speed or herding skill. Dawkins felt that enough time had elapsed to at least ask just what the ethical differences were between breeding for ability versus training athletes or forcing children to take music lessons, though he could think of persuasive reasons to draw the distinction. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d159e8ce9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Eugenics" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:34.922682+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Objections to scientific validity === +Amanda Caleb, Professor of Medical Humanities at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, says "Eugenic laws and policies are now understood as part of a specious devotion to a pseudoscience that actively dehumanises to support political agendas and not true science or medicine." +The first major challenge to conventional eugenics based on genetic inheritance was made in 1915 by Thomas Hunt Morgan. He demonstrated the event of genetic mutation occurring outside of inheritance involving the discovery of the hatching of a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) with white eyes from a family with red eyes, demonstrating that major genetic changes occurred outside of inheritance. Morgan criticised the view that traits such as intelligence or criminality were hereditary, because these traits were subjective. +Pleiotropy occurs when one gene influences multiple, seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits, an example being phenylketonuria, which is a human disease that affects multiple systems but is caused by one gene defect. Andrzej Pękalski, from the University of Wroclaw, argues that eugenics can cause harmful loss of genetic diversity if a eugenics programme selects a pleiotropic gene that could possibly be associated with a positive trait. Pękalski uses the example of a coercive government eugenics programme that prohibits people with myopia from breeding but has the unintended consequence of also selecting against high intelligence since the two were associated. +While the science of genetics has increasingly provided means by which certain characteristics and conditions can be identified and understood, given the complexity of human genetics, culture, and psychology, at this point there is no agreed objective means of determining which traits might be ultimately desirable or undesirable. Some conditions such as sickle-cell disease and cystic fibrosis respectively confer immunity to malaria and resistance to cholera when a single copy of the recessive allele is contained within the genotype of the individual, so eliminating these genes is undesirable in places where such diseases are common. +Edwin Black, journalist, historian, and author of War Against the Weak, argues that eugenics is often deemed a pseudoscience because what is defined as a genetic improvement of a desired trait is a cultural choice rather than a matter that can be determined through objective scientific inquiry. This aspect of eugenics is often considered to be tainted with scientific racism and pseudoscience. + +== Contested ethical status == + +=== Contemporary ethical opposition === + +In a book directly addressed at socialist eugenicist J.B.S. Haldane and his once-influential Daedalus, Bertrand Russell had one serious objection of his own: eugenic policies might simply end up being used to reproduce existing power relations "rather than to make men happy." +Environmental ethicist Bill McKibben argued against germinal choice technology and other advanced biotechnological strategies for human enhancement. He writes that it would be morally wrong for humans to tamper with fundamental aspects of themselves (or their children) in an attempt to overcome universal human limitations, such as vulnerability to aging, maximum life span and biological constraints on physical and cognitive ability. Attempts to "improve" themselves through such manipulation would remove limitations that provide a necessary context for the experience of meaningful human choice. He claims that human lives would no longer seem meaningful in a world where such limitations could be overcome with technology. Even the goal of using germinal choice technology for clearly therapeutic purposes should be relinquished, he argues, since it would inevitably produce temptations to tamper with such things as cognitive capacities. He argues that it is possible for societies to benefit from renouncing particular technologies, using Ming China, Tokugawa Japan and the contemporary Amish as examples. + +=== Contemporary ethical advocacy === + +Bioethicist Stephen Wilkinson has said that some aspects of modern genetics can be classified as eugenics, but that this classification does not inherently make modern genetics immoral. +Historian Nathaniel C. Comfort has claimed that the change from state-led reproductive-genetic decision-making to individual choice has moderated the worst abuses of eugenics by transferring the decision-making process from the state to patients and their families. +In their book published in 2000, From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice, bioethicists Allen Buchanan, Dan Brock, Norman Daniels and Daniel Wikler argued that liberal societies have an obligation to encourage as wide an adoption of eugenic enhancement technologies as possible (so long as such policies do not infringe on individuals' reproductive rights or exert undue pressures on prospective parents to use these technologies) in order to maximise public health and minimise the inequalities that may result from both natural genetic endowments and unequal access to genetic enhancements. + +== In popular culture == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d0af8a4f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Eugenics" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:34.922682+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The novel Brave New World by the English author Aldous Huxley (1931), is a dystopian social science fiction novel which is set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy. +Various works by the author Robert A. Heinlein mention the Howard Foundation, a group which attempts to improve human longevity through selective breeding. +Among Frank Herbert's works, the Dune series, starting with the eponymous 1965 novel, describes selective breeding by a powerful sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit, to produce a supernormal male being, the Kwisatz Haderach. +The Star Trek franchise features a race of genetically engineered humans which is known as "Augments", the most notable of them being Khan Noonien Singh. These "supermen" were the cause of the Eugenics Wars, a dark period in Earth's fictional history, before they were deposed and exiled. Spin-offs like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds present the Eugenics Wars as the main reason why genetic enhancement is illegal in the United Federation of Planets. +Naoki Urasawa's manga Monster and its anime adaptation of the same name mention "The Eugenics Experiment" conducted in the premises of 511 Kinderheim, a clandestine East German orphanage where the main antagonist Johan Liebert grew up into a psychopathic serial killer. +The film Gattaca (1997) provides a fictional example of a dystopian society that uses eugenics to decide what people are capable of and their place in the world. The title alludes to the letters G, A, T and C, the four nucleobases of DNA, and depicts the possible consequences of genetic discrimination in the present societal framework. Relegated to the role of a cleaner owing to his genetically projected death at age 32 due to a heart condition (being told: "The only way you'll see the inside of a spaceship is if you were cleaning it"), the protagonist observes enhanced astronauts as they are demonstrating their superhuman athleticism. Although it was not a box office success, it was critically acclaimed and influenced the debate over human genetic engineering in the public consciousness. As to its accuracy, its production company, Sony Pictures, consulted with a gene therapy researcher and prominent critic of eugenics known to have stated that "[w]e should not step over the line that delineates treatment from enhancement", W. French Anderson, to ensure that the portrayal of science was realistic. Disputing their success in this mission, Philim Yam of Scientific American called the film "science bashing" and Nature's Kevin Davies called it a "surprisingly pedestrian affair", while molecular biologist Lee Silver described its extreme determinism as "a straw man". +In his 2018 book Blueprint, the behavioural geneticist Robert Plomin writes that while Gattaca warned of the dangers of genetic information being used by a totalitarian state, genetic testing could also favour better meritocracy in democratic societies which already administer a variety of standardised tests to select people for education and employment. He suggests that polygenic scores might supplement testing in a manner that is essentially free of biases. + +== See also == + +== References == + +== Notes == + +== External links == + +H-Eugenics, H-Net's network on the history of eugenics from Michigan State University +Eugenics: Its Origin and Development (1883–Present) by the National Human Genome Research Institute (30 November 2021) +Eugenics and Scientific Racism Fact Sheet by the National Human Genome Research Institute (3 November 2021) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1fa1951f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Excited delirium" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:36.061055+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Excited delirium (ExDS), also known as agitated delirium (AgDS), is a widely rejected pseudoscientific diagnosis characterized as a potentially fatal state of extreme agitation and delirium. It has disproportionately been diagnosed postmortem in black men who were physically restrained by law enforcement personnel at the time of death. Mainstream medicine does not recognise the label as a diagnosis. It is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the International Classification of Diseases, and is not recognized by the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, or the National Association of Medical Examiners. +The American College of Emergency Physicians, which was an outlier in supporting the diagnosis, changed its position in 2023, stating: + +The term excited delirium should not be used among the wider medical and public health community, law enforcement organizations, and ACEP members acting as expert witnesses testifying in relevant civil or criminal litigation. +A 2017 investigative report by Reuters found that excited delirium had been listed as a factor in autopsy reports, court records or other sources in at least 276 deaths that followed taser use since 2000. The Taser manufacturing firm Axon published numerous medical studies promoting the diagnosis along with their product. +There have been concerns raised over the use by law enforcement and emergency medical personnel partners to inject sedative drugs, a practice nicknamed "policing by needle", citing claims of excited delirium. The drugs ketamine or midazolam (a benzodiazepine) and haloperidol (an antipsychotic) injected into a muscle have sometimes been used to sedate a person at the discretion of paramedics and sometimes at direct police request. Ketamine can cause respiratory arrest, and in many cases there is no evidence of a medical condition that would justify its use. The term excited delirium is sometimes used interchangeably with acute behavioural disturbance, a symptom of a number of conditions which is also responded to with involuntary injection with benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, or ketamine. +A 2020 investigation by the United Kingdom Forensic Science Regulator found that the diagnosis should not have been used since it "has been applied in some cases where other important pathological mechanisms, such as positional asphyxia and trauma may have been more appropriate". In the U.S., neurologists writing for the Brookings Institution called it "a misappropriation of medical terminology, used by law enforcement to legitimize police brutality and to retroactively explain certain deaths occurring in police custody". The American Psychiatric Association's position is that the term "is too non-specific to meaningfully describe and convey information about a person." The Royal College of Psychiatrists has deprecated use of excited delirium, recommending non-diagnostic descriptions for highly agitated states such as acute behavioral disturbance. + +== History == +Throughout the 19th and early-20th century, "excited delirium" was used to describe an emotional and agitated state related to drug overdose and withdrawal or poisonings, similar to catatonia or Bell's mania, with some believing them to be the same condition. +In 1985, an article titled "Cocaine-induced psychosis and sudden death in recreational cocaine users", co-authored by Dade County deputy chief medical examiner Charles Victor Wetli was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. The article describes a state of "excited delirium" in cocaine users leading to respiratory collapse and death, despite the people having blood concentrations of cocaine ten times lower than those seen in fatal overdoses. In five of the seven cases presented in the article, the deaths occurred while in police custody. In 1988, Wetli claimed that a series of nineteen women, all Black prostitutes, had died of excited delirium due to "sexual excitement" while under the influence of cocaine. Police later announced they had found a serial killer, Charles Henry Williams, responsible for those deaths. +By the 1990s, the term "excited delirium" (ExDS) began to be used as a diagnosis to explain deaths in police custody especially during or after restraint, particularly in Florida. Despite the increasing usage of "excited delirium" in the 1990s by some medical examiners and police, mainstream medical associations refused to recognize the legitimacy of the purported syndrome, and it was never listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). In the early 2000s, medical commentators noted that excited delirium was used disproportionately against African Americans, and alleged that police often used it to cover up deaths resulting from police brutality while in custody. + +=== Rejection by experts === +Excited delirium is not recognized by the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, and not listed as a medical condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases. Dr. Michael Baden, a specialist in investigating deaths in custody, describes excited delirium as "a boutique kind of diagnosis created, unfortunately, by many of my forensic pathology colleagues specifically for persons dying when being restrained by law enforcement". In June 2021, the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK released a statement that they do "not support the use of such terminology [as ExDS or AgDS], which has no empirical evidential basis" and said "the use of these terms is, in effect, racial discrimination". +A 2020 scientific literature review looked at reported cases of excited delirium and agitated delirium. The authors noted that most published current information has indicated that excited delirium-related deaths are due to an occult pathophysiologic process. A database of cases was created which included the use of force, drug intoxication, mental illness, demographics, and survival outcome. A review of cases revealed there was no evidence to support ExDS as a cause of death in the absence of restraint. The authors found that when death occurred in an aggressively restrained individual that fits the profile of either ExDS or AgDS, restraint-related asphyxia must be considered the more likely cause of the death. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e46d2840a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Excited delirium" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:36.061055+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Position of the American College of Emergency Physicians === +Prior to 2009, excited delirium was only recognized by medical examiners, not physicians. However, in 2009, a 19-person task force from American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) wrote a white paper suggesting that excited delirium should be considered as a valid syndrome, which physicians can use for diagnoses. This suggestion was adopted by the ACEP later in 2009. +In 2017, investigative reporters from Reuters reported that three of the 19 members of the 2009 task force were paid consultants for Axon, the manufacturer of Tasers. Axon frequently blames excited delirium for stun-gun-related deaths. +In 2020, the American Psychiatric Association expressed concern about the ACEP's adoption of excited delirium as a genuine syndrome, due to factors such as disproportionate application to African-Americans: + +The concept of "excited delirium" (also referred to as "excited delirium syndrome" (ExDs)) has been invoked in a number of cases to explain or justify injury or death to individuals in police custody, and the term excited delirium is disproportionately applied to Black men in police custody. Although the American College of Emergency Physicians has explicitly recognized excited delirium as a medical condition, the criteria are unclear and to date there have been no rigorous studies validating excited delirium as a medical diagnosis. +In 2021, the ACEP created a new task force to reevaluate the excited delirium syndrome. As a result, in 2023 the ACEP withdrew the 2009 white paper, which defined the syndrome, and instead endorsed a new syndrome "hyperactive delirium syndrome with severe agitation". In a statement, the ACEP said it had "withdrawn its approval of this [the 2009] paper" and that "[t]he term excited delirium should not be used among the wider medical and public health community, law enforcement organizations, and ACEP members acting as expert witnesses testifying in relevant civil or criminal litigation". +The 2021 ACEP report was criticized by some physicians for failing to sufficiently consider racial bias, similar to the 2009 report: + +Absent from the 2009 and 2021 reports is a substantive discussion of the potential inequitable application of the diagnosis of ExD to Black individuals, and especially Black men while in police custody or under the care of emergency medical services (EMS) care.... In contrast with the ACEP reports, the popular press has directed increasing attention to the issue of bias and ExD. News reports critically examined the concept of ExD, including racial aspects, after the diagnosis of ExD was advanced by the legal defense team and the police to explain the deaths of George Floyd and Elijah McClain, respectively. +Mainstream medical organizations continued to withhold recognition of either the old syndrome or new syndrome, due to the absence of scientific rigor or evidence. +In 2023, the state of California became the first in the United States to ban the use of excited delirium as a cause of death. + +== Controversy == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8c03eebb6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Excited delirium" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:36.061055+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Association with racism === +In 2003, the NAACP argued that excited delirium is used to explain the deaths of minorities more often than whites, and the American Psychiatric Association also notes that "the term excited delirium is disproportionately applied to Black men in police custody". The American Civil Liberties Union argued in 2007 that the diagnosis served "as a means of white-washing what may be excessive use of force and inappropriate use of control techniques by officers during an arrest." +Several academic commentators have noted that medical personnel and law enforcement personnel apply diagnoses of excited delirium in a manner which disproportionately disadvantages African Americans. Excited delirium has also been used to diagnose Indigenous people after violent police encounters. In 1999, in Victoria British Columbia, Canada, Anthany Dawson, a member of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Nation, was beaten and punched repeatedly by the police before dying in an ambulance. Initially, police statements relayed to the public that overdose was his cause of death, though there was no evidence of drug use at the time of the statements’ release. Later, toxicology reports only found a small amount of marijuana from the previous evening before his death. In the media, Dawson was portrayed as having been mentally ill, but he had no medical history of mental illness. Then, he was believed to have a genetic condition that predisposed him to die of excited delirium which was the documented cause of his death. Dawson's mother, however, maintains that "police force and racism" was the sole cause of her son’s death. By presenting these unfounded individual causes for Dawson’s death, police violence cannot be named as the causal factor in his life ending. +In addition, commentators have alleged that fallacious diagnoses of excited delirium have been used to cover-up instances of police brutality. Excited delirium’s diagnosis serves to cover the racial injustice of police brutality and structural racism, pinning the blame on the victim. By painting the victims in police reports as menacing, unpredictable, and uncontrollable under the pretence of being mentally ill, or under influence of substances, police aggression is not only excused, it is justified. Rather than enacting empathy and compassion for people in vulnerable situations, the police create a dehumanizing narrative wherein the victims’ death is inevitable, where their life reaches a prescribed end. Police procedures and behaviours, their tendency to escalate force and gross neglect goes unexamined and unquestioned. Ultimately, it removes moral culpability and accountability from the police and leaves the victims’ families and communities without justice nor a proper account of their loved ones’ death. +Excited delirium has been described as fundamentally racist by many commentators in the media, including Jon Ronson's BBC podcast Things Fell Apart in 2024. The episode, titled "The Most Mysterious Deaths", describes Wetli's initial coining of the phrase "excited delirium", as well as the later debunking of the phenomenon, and its connection to the murder of George Floyd. +Before the term "excited delirium" was rejected by the ACEP in 2023, its supposed risk factors vary including "bizarre behavior generating phone calls to police", "failure to respond to police presence", and "continued struggle despite restraint". It supposedly endows individuals with "superhuman strength" and being "impervious to pain". It is disproportionately diagnosed among young Black men, and has clear undertones of racial bias. + +=== Influence of Taser manufacturer === +Axon Enterprise, formerly Taser International, provides training for police on recognizing excited delirium and several prominent proponents of the diagnosis are retained by Axon, with diagnosis often based on a test conducted by Deborah Mash, a paid consultant to Axon. A 2017 report by Reuters found that excited delirium had been listed as a factor in autopsy reports, court records or other sources in at least 276 deaths that followed taser use since 2000, with diagnosis often based on a test conducted by Deborah Mash. In one case, within four hours of a man dying after being tasered, Axon had provided model press releases, instructions for gathering evidence of excited delirium, and advised that samples be sent to Mash. +Axon has paid thousands of dollars to proponents of the excited delirium diagnosis, including Charles Wetli who first proposed the term, who have repeatedly used "excited delirium" as a defense in liability suits and to shield police officers from criminal liability for deaths in custody. +Axon has instigated litigation against some medical examiners who suggested that tasers were a factor in the death of restrained persons. Scholars have speculated that this may have a chilling effect on the reports published by some medical examiners. A survey in 2011 showed that 14% of medical examiners had altered a diagnostic finding "out of fear of litigation by the company". +In Canada, the 2007 case of Robert Dziekanski received national attention and placed a spotlight on the use of tasers in police actions and the diagnosis of excited delirium. Police psychologist Mike Webster testified at a British Columbia inquiry into taser deaths that police have been "brainwashed" by Taser International to justify "ridiculously inappropriate" use of the electric weapon. He called excited delirium a "dubious disorder" used by Taser International in its training of police. In a 2008 report, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police argued that excited delirium should not be included in the operational manual for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police without formal approval after consultation with a mental-health-policy advisory body. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a6642bc8b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Excited delirium" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excited_delirium" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:36.061055+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Association with police restraint === +Amnesty International found that the syndrome was cited in 75 of the 330 deaths following police use of a taser on suspects between 2001 and 2008, and a Florida-based study found it was listed as a cause of death in over half of all deaths in police custody, though many Florida districts do not use it at all. +According to an article in the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review, since 2000, over one thousand people in the United States have died shortly after being tased, with the deaths sharing several commonalities: "the deceased often were mentally ill or under the influence of drugs at the time of death, they tend to have been shocked multiple times by officers during arrest, and they often share an exceptionally rare cause of death, 'excited delirium.'" +While diagnosis is habitually of men under police restraint, medical preconditions and symptoms attributed to the syndrome are far more varied. +Males account for more documented diagnoses than females. Often law enforcement has used tasers or physical measures in these cases, and death most frequently occurs after the person is forcefully restrained. Critics of excited delirium have stated that the condition is primarily attributed to deaths while in the custody of law enforcement and is disproportionately applied to Black and Hispanic victims. One study looking at cocaine-related deaths in the 1970s and 1980s in Florida, showed that the deaths were more likely to be diagnosed as excited delirium when involving young Black men dying in police custody and "accidental cocaine toxicity" when involving white people. A 1998 study found that "In all 21 cases of unexpected death associated with excited delirium, the deaths were associated with restraint (for violent agitation and hyperactivity), with the person either in a prone position (18 people [86%]) or subjected to pressure on the neck (3 [14%]). All of those who died had suddenly lapsed into tranquillity shortly after being restrained". +The UK Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAP) suggests that the syndrome should be termed "Sudden death in restraint syndrome" in order to enhance clarity. Some civil-rights groups have argued that excited delirium diagnoses are being used to absolve law enforcement of guilt in cases where alleged excessive force may have contributed to patient deaths. +Prominent cases include Daniel Prude, who was said to be in a state of excited delirium in 2020 when police put a hood over his head and pressed his naked body against the pavement. Prude, a Black man, lost consciousness and died. Excited delirium was also cited by the defense in State v. Chauvin, a murder trial related to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher refuted the defense suggestion that Floyd had "superhuman strength" during his arrest because he was suffering from the condition. + +=== Ketamine use === +Ketamine or midazolam and haloperidol injected into a muscle have frequently been used, sometimes at direct police request, to sedate people alleged to be experiencing excited delirium. Ketamine can cause respiratory arrest, and in many cases there is no evidence of a medical condition that would justify its use. Following an injection the person must be transported to a hospital. In 2018, a Minneapolis hospital published a paper which reported that 57 percent of the people who had been injected for agitation needed intubation. +Concern has been raised about the increasing usage of a claim of excited delirium to justify tranquilizing persons during arrest, with requests for tranquilization often being made by law enforcement rather than medical professionals. Ketamine is the most commonly used drug in these cases. There have been deaths related to use of ketamine on restrained prisoners. A controversial study into ketamine use was terminated due to ethics concerns. The study was also linked to Axon via Jeffrey Ho. +In 2019, Elijah McClain, a Black man, was arrested by police officers after receiving a 911 call which reported a man walking, waving his arms and wearing a ski mask. The officers said that he was exhibiting "crazy strength" when they attempted to arrest him but all three said that their body cams had fallen off and thus there was no video of what they claimed to be a violent struggle. McClain weighed 140 pounds and was 5 feet 6 inches tall. He was handcuffed and then a choke hold was used twice, once "successfully" meaning that McClain lost consciousness. When paramedics arrived they administered enough ketamine to sedate a 220-pound man. He went into cardiac arrest a few minutes later. In a report of the case on 60 Minutes, John Dickerson interviewed the District Attorney who justified the use of ketamine, adding that since excited delirium could not be ruled out as a cause of death it would be impossible to win a homicide case because "you can't file a homicide charge without cause of death." + +== See also == +Positional asphyxia +Stimulant psychosis +Taser safety issues +Drapetomania + +== Notes == + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..65d0924c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Expanding Earth" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:37.253793+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The expanding Earth or growing Earth was a hypothesis attempting to explain the position and relative movement of continents by increase in the volume of Earth. With the recognition of plate tectonics in 20th century, the idea has been abandoned and considered a pseudoscience. + +== Different forms of the hypothesis == + +=== Expansion with constant mass === +In 1834, during the second voyage of HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin investigated stepped plains featuring raised beaches in Patagonia which indicated to him that a huge area of South America had been "uplifted to its present height by a succession of elevations which acted over the whole of this space with nearly an equal force". While his mentor Charles Lyell had suggested forces acting near the crust on smaller areas, Darwin hypothesized that uplift at this continental scale required "the gradual expansion of some central mass" [of the Earth] "acting by intervals on the outer crust" with the "elevations being concentric with form of globe (or certainly nearly so)". In 1835 he extended this concept to include the Andes Mountains as part of a curved enlargement of the Earth's crust due to "the action of one connected force". Not long afterwards, he abandoned this idea and proposed that as the mountains rose, the ocean floor subsided, explaining the formation of coral reefs. +In 1889 and 1909 Roberto Mantovani published a hypothesis of Earth expansion and continental drift. He assumed that a closed continent covered the entire surface of a smaller Earth. Thermal expansion caused volcanic activity, which broke the land mass into smaller continents. These continents drifted away from each other because of further expansion at the rip-zones, where oceans currently lie. Although Alfred Wegener noticed some similarities to his own hypothesis of continental drift, he did not mention Earth expansion as the cause of drift in Mantovani's hypothesis. +A compromise between Earth-expansion and Earth-contraction is the "theory of thermal cycles" by Irish physicist John Joly. He assumed that heat flow from radioactive decay inside Earth surpasses the cooling of Earth's exterior. Together with British geologist Arthur Holmes, Joly proposed a hypothesis in which Earth loses its heat by cyclic periods of expansion. By their hypothesis, expansion caused cracks and joints in Earth's interior that could fill with magma. This was succeeded by a cooling phase, where the magma would freeze and become solid rock again, causing Earth to shrink. + +=== Mass addition === +In 1888 Ivan Osipovich Yarkovsky suggested that some sort of aether is absorbed within Earth and transformed into new chemical elements, forcing the celestial bodies to expand. This was associated with his mechanical explanation of gravitation. Also the theses of Ott Christoph Hilgenberg (1933, 1974) were based on absorption and transformation of aether-energy into normal matter. + +After initially endorsing the idea of continental drift, Australian geologist Samuel Warren Carey advocated expansion from the 1950s (before the idea of plate tectonics was generally accepted) to his death, alleging that subduction and other events could not balance the sea-floor spreading at oceanic ridges, and describing yet unresolved paradoxes that continue to plague plate tectonics. Starting in 1956, he proposed some sort of mass increase in the planets and said that a final solution to the problem is only possible by cosmological processes associated with the expansion of the universe. +Bruce Heezen initially interpreted his work on the mid-Atlantic ridge as confirming S. Warren Carey's Expanding Earth Theory, but later ended his endorsement, finally convinced by the data and analysis of his assistant, Marie Tharp. The remaining proponents after the 1970s, like the Australian geologist James Maxlow, are mainly inspired by Carey's ideas. +To date no scientific mechanism of action has been proposed for this addition of new mass. Although the earth is constantly acquiring mass through accumulation of rocks and dust from space such accretion, however, is only a minuscule fraction of the mass increase required by the growing earth hypothesis. + +=== Decrease of the gravitational constant === +Paul Dirac suggested in 1938 that the universal gravitational constant had decreased during the billions of years of its existence. This caused German physicist Pascual Jordan to propose in 1964, a modification of the theory of general relativity, that all planets slowly expand. This explanation is considered a viable hypothesis within the context of physics. +Measurements of a possible variation of the gravitational constant showed an upper limit for a relative change of 5×10−12 per year, excluding Jordan's idea. + +=== Formation from a gas giant === +According to the hypothesis of J. Marvin Herndon (2005, 2013) the Earth originated in its protoplanetary stage from a Jupiter-like gas giant. During the development phases of the young Sun, which resembled those of a T Tauri star, the dense atmosphere of the gas giant was stripped off by infrared eruptions from the sun. The remnant was a rocky planet. Due to the loss of pressure from its atmosphere it would have begun a progressive decompression. Herndon regards the energy released due to the lack of compression as a primary energy source for geotectonic activity, to which some energy from radioactive decomposition processes was added. He terms the resulting changes in the course of Earth's history by the name of his theory Whole-Earth Decompression Dynamics. He considered seafloor spreading at divergent plate boundaries as an effect of it. In his opinion mantle convection as used as a concept in the theory of plate tectonics is physically impossible. His theory includes the effect of solar wind (geomagnetic storms) as cause for the reversals of the Earth magnetic field. The question of mass increase is not addressed. + +=== Other === +A handful of studies consider obituary of the expanding Earth theory as a whole must be considered premature at this time, and point to recent space geodetic and gravimetric studies as evidence. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fc13b99c2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Expanding Earth" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:37.253793+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Main arguments against Earth expansion == +The hypothesis had never developed a plausible and verifiable mechanism of action. During the 1960s, the theory of plate tectonics— based initially on the assumption that Earth's size remains constant, and relating the subduction zones to burying of lithosphere at a scale comparable to seafloor spreading—became the accepted explanation in the Earth Sciences. +The scientific community finds that significant evidence contradicts the Expanding Earth theory, and that the evidence used for it is explained better by plate tectonics: + +Measurements with modern high-precision geodetic techniques and modeling of the measurements by the horizontal motions of independent rigid plates at the surface of a globe of free radius, were proposed as evidence that Earth is not currently increasing in size to within a measurement accuracy of 0.2 mm per year. The main author of the study stated "Our study provides an independent confirmation that the solid Earth is not getting larger at present, within current measurement uncertainties". +The motions of tectonic plates and subduction zones measured by a large range of geological, geodetic and geophysical techniques helps verify plate tectonics. +Imaging of lithosphere fragments within the mantle is evidence for lithosphere consumption by subduction. +Paleomagnetic data has been used to calculate that the radius of Earth 400 million years ago was 102 ± 2.8 percent of the present radius. +Examinations of data from the Paleozoic and Earth's moment of inertia suggest that there has not been any significant change of Earth's radius during the last 620 million years. + +== See also == +Geophysical global cooling - a converse hypothesis +Category:Plate tectonics +Timeline of the development of tectonophysics (before 1954) +Timeline of the development of tectonophysics (after 1952) +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience + +== Notes == + +=== Bibliography === +Carey, S.W.; 1976: "The Expanding Earth", Developments in Geotectonics (10), Elsevier, ISBN 0-444-41485-1; digital edition 2013: ASIN B01E3II6VY. +Carey, S.W.;1988: "Theories of the Earth and Universe: A History of Dogma in the Earth Sciences", Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-804-71364-2. +Duff, D.; 1993: Holmes' principles of physical geology, Chapman & Hall (4th ed.), ISBN 0-412-40320-X. +Fowler, C.M.R.; 1990: The Solid Earth, an introduction to Global Geophysics, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-38590-3. +Stanley, S.M.; 1999: Earth System History, W.H. Freeman & Co, ISBN 0-7167-2882-6. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7d1a2c367 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Extrasensory perception" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:38.440536+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke University botanist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, psychometry, clairvoyance and their trans-temporal operation as precognition or retrocognition. +Second sight is an alleged form of extrasensory perception, whereby a person perceives information, in the form of a vision, about future events before they happen (precognition), or about things or events at remote locations (remote viewing). There is no good evidence that second sight exists. Reports of second sight are known only from anecdotes. Second sight and ESP are classified as pseudosciences. + +== History == + +In the 1930s, at Duke University in North Carolina, J. B. Rhine and his wife Louisa E. Rhine conducted an investigation into extrasensory perception. While Louisa Rhine concentrated on collecting accounts of spontaneous cases, J. B. Rhine worked largely in the laboratory, carefully defining terms such as ESP and psi (parapsychology) and designing experiments to test them. A simple set of black and white cards was developed, originally called Zener cards – now called ESP cards. They bear the symbols circle, square, wavy lines, cross, and star. There are five of each type of card in a pack of 25. +In a telepathy experiment, the "sender" looks at a series of cards while the "receiver" guesses the symbols. To try to observe clairvoyance, the pack of cards is hidden from everyone while the receiver guesses. To try to observe precognition, the order of the cards is determined after the guesses are made. Later he used dice to test for psychokinesis. +The parapsychology experiments at Duke evoked criticism from academics and others who challenged the concepts and evidence of ESP. A number of psychological departments attempted, unsuccessfully, to repeat Rhine's experiments. W. S. Cox (1936) from Princeton University with 132 subjects produced 25,064 trials in a playing card ESP experiment. Cox concluded "There is no evidence of extrasensory perception either in the 'average man' or of the group investigated or in any particular individual of that group. The discrepancy between these results and those obtained by Rhine is due either to uncontrollable factors in experimental procedure or to the difference in the subjects." Four other psychological departments failed to replicate Rhine's results. +In 1938, the psychologist Joseph Jastrow wrote that much of the evidence for extrasensory perception collected by Rhine and other parapsychologists was anecdotal, biased, dubious and the result of "faulty observation and familiar human frailties". Rhine's experiments were discredited due to the discovery that sensory leakage or cheating could account for all his results such as the subject being able to read the symbols from the back of the cards and being able to see and hear the experimenter to note subtle clues. +In the 1960s, parapsychologists became increasingly interested in the cognitive components of ESP, the subjective experience involved in making ESP responses, and the role of ESP in psychological life. This called for experimental procedures that were not limited to Rhine's favored forced-choice methodology. Such procedures have included dream telepathy experiments, and the ganzfeld experiments (a mild sensory deprivation procedure). +Second sight may have originally been so called because normal vision was regarded as coming first, while supernormal vision is a secondary thing, confined to certain individuals. An dà shealladh or "the two sights", meaning "the sight of the seer", is the way Gaels refer to "second sight", the involuntary ability of seeing the future or distant events. There are many Gaelic words for the various aspects of second sight, but an dà shealladh is the one mostly recognized by non-Gaelic speakers, even though, strictly speaking, it does not really mean second sight, but rather "two sights". + +== Skepticism == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5552c658c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Extrasensory perception" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:38.440536+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Parapsychology is the study of paranormal psychic phenomena, including ESP. Parapsychology has been criticized for continuing investigation despite being unable to provide convincing evidence for the existence of any psychic phenomena after more than a century of research. The scientific community rejects ESP due to the absence of an evidence base, the lack of a theory which would explain ESP and the lack of positive experimental results; it considers ESP to be pseudoscience. +The scientific consensus does not view extrasensory perception as a scientific phenomenon. Skeptics have pointed out that there is no viable theory to explain the mechanism behind ESP, and that there are historical cases in which flaws have been discovered in the experimental design of parapsychological studies. +There are many criticisms pertaining to experiments involving extrasensory perception, particularly surrounding methodological flaws. These flaws are not unique to a single experimental design, and are effective in discrediting much of the positive research surrounding ESP. Many of the flaws seen in the Zener cards experiment are present in the Ganzfeld experiment as well. First is the stacking effect, an error that occurs in ESP research. Trial-by-trial feedback given in studies using a "closed" ESP target sequence (e.g., a deck of cards) violates the condition of independence used for most standard statistical tests. Multiple responses for a single target cannot be evaluated using statistical tests that assume independence of responses. This increases the likelihood of card counting and, in turn, increases the chances for the subject to guess correctly without using ESP. Another methodological flaw involves cues through sensory leakage, for example, when the subject receives a visual cue. This could be the reflection of a Zener card in the holder's glasses. In this case, the subject is able to guess the card correctly because they can see it in the reflection, not because of ESP. Finally, poor randomization of target stimuli could be happening. Poor shuffling methods can make the orders of the cards easier to predict, or the cards could have been marked and manipulated, again, making it easier to predict which cards come next. The results of a meta-analysis found that when these errors were corrected and accounted for, there was still no significant effect of ESP. Many of the studies only appeared to have significant occurrence of ESP, when in fact, this result was due to the many methodological errors in the research. + +=== Dermo-optical perception === + +In the early 20th century, Joaquin María Argamasilla, known as the "Spaniard with X-ray Eyes", claimed to be able to read handwriting or numbers on dice through closed metal boxes. Argamasilla managed to fool Gustav Geley and Charles Richet into believing he had genuine psychic powers. In 1924, he was exposed by Harry Houdini as a fraud. Argamasilla peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted the edge of the box, so he could look inside it without others noticing. +Science writer Martin Gardner has written that the ignorance of blindfold deception methods has been widespread in investigations into objects at remote locations from persons who claim to possess second sight. Gardner documented various conjuring techniques psychics such as Rosa Kuleshova, Lina Anderson and Nina Kulagina have used to peek from their blindfolds to deceive investigators into believing they used second sight. + +== See also == + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Georges Charpak, Henri Broch, and Bart K. Holland (2004). Debunked! ESP, Telekinesis, and Other Pseudoscience. Johns Hopkins University. ISBN 0-8018-7867-5. +Milbourne Christopher (1970). ESP, Seers & Psychics: What the Occult Really Is. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. ISBN 0-690-26815-7 +Henry Gordon (1988). Extrasensory Deception: ESP, Psychics, Shirley MacLaine, Ghosts, UFOs. Macmillan of Canada. ISBN 0-7715-9539-5. +Donald Hebb (1980). "Extrasensory Perception: A Problem". In Essays on Mind. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 978-0-898-59017-3. +Paul Kurtz (1985). A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-300-5. +Targ, Russell (2012). The Reality of ESP: a physicist's proof of psychic abilities. Quest Books. ISBN 978-0-8356-0884-8. +Richard Wiseman. (1997). Deception and Self-Deception: Investigating Psychics. Prometheus Press. ISBN 978-1-57392-121-3. + +== External links == +FBI file on Extrasensory perception \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4865768aa --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis" +chunk: 1/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:39.670231+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis or extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), synonymous with interplanetary aircraft and alien UFO technologies, proposes that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being physical spacecraft occupied by intelligent extraterrestrial organisms (non-human aliens) from other planets, or probes designed by extraterrestrials. +The scientific community has shown very little support for the ETH, and has largely accepted the explanation that reports of UFOs are the result of people misinterpreting common objects or phenomena, or are the work of hoaxers. + +== Usage of the term == +The term extraterrestrial hypothesis in printed material was used by Janine and Jacques Vallée in their 1966 book. It was used in a publication by French engineer Aimé Michel in 1967, by James E. McDonald (University of Arizona) in March 1968 and again by McDonald and James Harder (University of Berkeley) in July 1968. Skeptic Philip J. Klass used it in his 1968 book UFOs--Identified. Some UFO historians credit Edward Condon c.1969 with popularizing the term and its abbreviation ETH. + +== Chronology == + +=== Antecedent pre-UFO extraterrestrialism === +The concept of a Universe decentralized from Earth renaissanced from classical origin by Nicolas Copernicus (1543) gave impetus to debate on extraterrestrial life and a plurality of worlds, to which Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) contributed. + +=== Introduction === +Although the modern extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH) owes much to the flying saucer sightings of the 1940s–1960s, its origins can be traced back to a number of earlier events, such as the now-discredited Martian canals and ancient Martian civilization promoted by astronomer Percival Lowell, popular culture including the writings of H. G. Wells and fellow science fiction pioneers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, who likewise wrote of Martian civilizations. +In the early part of the twentieth century, Charles Fort collected accounts of anomalous physical phenomena from newspapers and scientific journals, including many reports of extraordinary aerial objects. These were published in 1919 in The Book of the Damned. In this and two subsequent books, New Lands (1923) and Lo! (1931), Fort theorized that visitors from other worlds were observing Earth. Fort's reports of aerial phenomena were frequently cited in American newspapers when the UFO phenomenon first attracted widespread media attention in June and July 1947. +The modern ETH—specifically, the implicit linking of unidentified aircraft and lights in the sky to alien life—took root during the late 1940s and took its current form during the 1950s. It drew on pseudoscience, as well as popular culture. Unlike earlier speculation of extraterrestrial life, interest in the ETH was also bolstered by many unexplained sightings investigated by the U.S. government and governments of other countries, as well as private civilian groups, such as NICAP and APRO. + +=== 19th century === + +==== Historical reports and speculation ==== +A news article published November 25, 1896 retells (Colonel H. G. Shaw) of an experience of "strange beings" and "an immense airship" en route from Lodi, California. Shaw concluded the beings were in fact from Mars. Amongst other reports of "airships" from November 1896 (including December) - 1897 (only mid-March - April): containing people (sometimes with a dog, listening to music, landing to make repairs), the Dallas Morning News reported of April 17, 1897 in Aurora, Texas: an airship "much nearer the earth than ever before" destroyed in a crash, the consequently dead occupant subsequently described by a United States signal service office as “a native of the planet Mars”. Later, there was a more international airship wave in 1909–1912. An example of an extraterrestrial explanation at the time was a 1909 letter to a New Zealand newspaper suggesting "atomic powered spaceships from Mars". + +==== Early science fiction ==== +H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, published April 1897, is a story of alien invasion by craft from Mars. + +=== 20th century === +From the 1920s, the idea of alien visitation in space ships was commonplace in popular comic strips and radio and movie serials, such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. In particular, the Flash Gordon serials have the Earth being attacked from space by alien meteors, ray beams, and biological weapons. In 1938, a radio broadcast version of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles, using a contemporary setting for H. G. Wells' Martian invasion, created some public panic in the United States. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..844d37148 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis" +chunk: 2/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:39.670231+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== The 1947 flying saucer wave in America ==== +On June 24, 1947, at about 3:00 p.m. local time, pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unidentified aircraft flying near Mount Rainier. When no aircraft emerged that seemed to account for what he had seen, Arnold quickly considered the possibility of the objects being extraterrestrial. On July 7, 1947, two stories came out where Arnold was raising the topic of possible extraterrestrial origins, both as his opinion and those who had written to him. In an Associated Press story, Arnold said he had received quantities of fan mail eager to help solve the mystery. Some of them "suggested the discs were visitations from another planet." +When the 1947 flying saucer wave hit the United States, there was much speculation in the newspapers about what they might be in news stories, columns, editorials, and letters to the editor. For example, on July 10, U.S. Senator Glen Taylor of Idaho commented, "I almost wish the flying saucers would turn out to be space ships from another planet," because the possibility of hostility "would unify the people of the earth as nothing else could." On July 8, R. DeWitt Miller was quoted by UP saying that the saucers had been seen since the early nineteenth century. If the present discs weren't secret Army weapons, he suggested they could be vehicles from Mars, or other planets, or maybe even "things out of other dimensions of time and space." Other articles brought up the work of Charles Fort, who earlier in the twentieth century had documented numerous reports of unidentified flying objects that had been written up in newspapers and scientific journals. +Even if people thought the saucers were real, most were generally unwilling to leap to the conclusion that they were extraterrestrial in origin. Various popular theories began to quickly proliferate in press articles and interviews, such as secret military projects, Russian spy devices, hoaxes, optical illusions, and mass hysteria. According to journalist Edward R. Murrow, the ETH as a serious explanation for "flying saucers" did not earn widespread attention until about 18 months after Arnold's sighting. +These attitudes seem to be reflected in the results of the first U.S. poll of public UFO perceptions released by Gallup on August 14, 1947. The term "flying saucer" was familiar to 90% of the respondents. As to what people thought explained them, the poll further showed, that most people either held no opinion or refused to answer the question (33%), or generally believed that there was a mundane explanation. 29% thought they were optical illusions, mirages, or imagination; 15% a U.S. secret weapon; 10% a hoax; 3% a "weather forecasting device"; 1% of Soviet origin, and 9% had "other explanations", including fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, secret commercial aircraft, or phenomena related to atomic testing. + +==== Evolution of public opinion ==== +The early 1950s also saw a number of movies depicting flying saucers and aliens, including The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), and Forbidden Planet (1956). A poll published in Popular Science magazine in August 1951 reported that of the respondents who self-reported as UFO witnesses, 52% believed that they had seen a man-made aircraft, while only 4% believed that they had seen an alien craft; an additional 28% were uncertain, with more than half of these stating they believed they were either man-made aircraft, or "visitors from afar." In 1957, a poll conducted by the St. Louis Globe Democrat reported that 25% of respondents believed or were willing to believe that flying saucers may be objects from outer space, while 53% responded that they were not and 22% reported that they were uncertain. Many of the respondents who answered in the negative accepted the existence of flying saucers but believed they originated on Earth. + +==== Religion ==== + +Hunt describes the Aetherius Society founded by George King in 1955 as "probably the first and certainly the most enduring UFO cult". + +=== 21st century === +A Roper poll in 2002 reported that 56% of respondents thought UFOs were real, with 48% believing that UFOs had visited Earth. + +==== NASA ==== +In June 2021, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that he had directed NASA scientists to investigate Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. During an interview at the University of Virginia, Bill Nelson explored the possibility that UAP could represent extraterrestrial technology. + +NASA scientist Ravi Kopparapu advocates studying UAP. We need to frame the current UAP/UFO question with the same level of active inquiry, one involving experts from academia in disciplines including astronomy, meteorology and physics, as well as industry and government professionals with knowledge of military aircraft, remote sensing from the ground and satellite observations. Participants would need to be agnostic toward any specific explanations with a primary goal of collecting enough data — including visual, infrared, radar and other possible observations — to eventually allow us to deduce the identity of such UAP. Following this agnostic approach, and relying upon sound scientific and peer-reviewed methods, would go a long way toward lifting the taboo in mainstream science. +In August 2021, at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aviation, Kopparapu presented a paper from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 134th Meeting General Symposium that supported ETH. Kopparapu stated he and his colleagues found the paper "perfectly credible". + +=== Private or government studies === +Other private or government studies, some secret, have concluded in favor of the ET hypothesis, or have had members who disagreed in contravention with official conclusions reached by the committees and agencies to which they belonged. The following are examples of sources that have focused specifically on the topic: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3e29fc241 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis" +chunk: 3/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:39.670231+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A 1948 Top Secret USAF Europe document (at right) states that Swedish air intelligence informed them that at least some of their investigators into the ghost rockets and flying saucers concluded they possibly had extraterrestrial origins. +West Germany, in conjunction with other European countries, conducted a secret study from 1951 to 1954, also concluding that UFOs were extraterrestrial. This study was revealed by German rocketry pioneer Hermann Oberth, who headed the study and who also made many public statements supporting the ETH in succeeding years. At the study's conclusion in 1954, Oberth declared: "These objects (UFOs) are conceived and directed by intelligent beings of a very high order. They do not originate in our solar system, perhaps not in our galaxy." Soon afterwards, in an October 24, 1954, article in The American Weekly, Oberth wrote: "It is my thesis that flying saucers are real and that they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our earth for centuries..." +The CIA started their own internal scientific review the following day. Some CIA scientists were also seriously considering the ETH. An early memo from August was very skeptical, but also added: "...as long as a series of reports remains 'unexplainable' (interplanetary aspects and alien origin not being thoroughly excluded from consideration) caution requires that intelligence continue coverage of the subject." A report from later that month was similarly skeptical, but nevertheless concluded: "...sightings of UFOs reported at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge, at a time when the background radiation count had risen inexplicably. Here we run out of even 'blue yonder' explanations that might be tenable, and we still are left with numbers of incredible reports from credible observers." A December 1952 memo from the Assistant CIA Director of Scientific Intelligence (O/SI) was much more urgent: "...the reports of incidents convince us that there is something going on that must have immediate attention. Sightings of unexplained objects at great altitudes and traveling at high speeds in the vicinity of U.S. defense installation [sic] are of such nature that they are not attributable to natural phenomena or known types of aerial vehicles." Some of the memos also made it clear, that CIA interest in the subject was not to be made public, partly in fear of possible public panic. (Good, 331–335) +Extraterrestrial "believers" within Project Blue Book included Major Dewey Fournet, in charge of the engineering analysis of UFO motion, who later became a board member on the civilian UFO organization NICAP. Blue Book director Edward J. Ruppelt privately commented on other firm "pro-UFO" members in the USAF investigations, including some Pentagon generals, such as Charles P. Cabell, USAF Chief of Air Intelligence, who, angry at the inaction and debunkery of Project Grudge, dissolved it in 1951, established Project Blue Book in its place, and made Ruppelt director. In 1953, Cabell became deputy director of the CIA. Another defector from the official Air Force party line was consultant J. Allen Hynek, who started out as a staunch skeptic. After 20 years of investigation, he changed positions and generally supported the ETH. He became the most publicly known UFO advocate scientist in the 1970s and 1980s. +The first CIA Director, Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter, stated in a signed statement to Congress, also reported in The New York Times (February 28, 1960): "It is time for the truth to be brought out... Behind the scenes high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. However, through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense... I urge immediate Congressional action to reduce the dangers from secrecy about unidentified flying objects." In 1962, in his letter of resignation from NICAP, he told director Donald Keyhoe, "I know the UFOs are not U.S. or Soviet devices. All we can do now is wait for some actions by the UFOs." +In 1967, Greek physicist Paul Santorini, a Manhattan Project scientist, publicly stated that a 1947 Greek government investigation into the European Ghost rockets of 1946 under his lead quickly concluded that they were not missiles. Santorini claimed the investigation was then quashed by military officials from the U.S., who knew them to be extraterrestrial, because there was no defense against the advanced technology and they feared widespread panic should the results become public. +Although the 1968 Condon Report came to a negative conclusion (written by Condon), it is known that many members of the study strongly disagreed with Condon's methods and biases. Most quit the project in disgust, or were fired for insubordination. A few became ETH supporters. Perhaps the best known example is David Saunders, who in his 1968 book UFOs? Yes lambasted Condon for extreme bias, and for ignoring or misrepresenting critical evidence. Saunders wrote: "It is clear... that the sightings have been going on for too long to explain in terms of straightforward terrestrial intelligence. It's in this sense that ETI (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) stands as the 'least implausible' explanation of 'real UFOs'." +In 1999, the private French COMETA report (written primarily by military defense analysts) stated the conclusion regarding UFO phenomena, that a "single hypothesis sufficiently takes into account the facts and, for the most part, only calls for present-day science. It is the hypothesis of extraterrestrial visitors." The report noted issues with formulating the extraterrestrial hypothesis, likening its study to the study of meteorites, but concluded, that although it was far from the best scientific hypothesis, "strong presumptions exist in its favour". The report also concludes, that the studies it presents, "demonstrate the almost certain physical reality of completely unknown flying objects with remarkable flight performances and noiselessness, apparently operated by intelligent [beings] ... Secret craft definitely of earthly origins (drones, stealth aircraft, etc.) can only explain a minority of cases. If we go back far enough in time, we clearly perceive the limits of this explanation." +Jean-Jacques Velasco, the head of the official French UFO investigation SEPRA, wrote a book in 2005, saying, that 14% of the 5800 cases studied by SEPRA were 'utterly inexplicable and extraterrestrial' in origin. However, the CNES own report says 28% of sightings remain unidentified. Yves Sillard, the head of the new official French UFO investigation GEIPAN and former head of French space agency CNES, echoes Velasco's comments and adds, that the United States 'is guilty of covering up this information.' However, this is not the official public posture of SEPRA, CNES, or the French government. (The CNES placed their 5,800 case files on the Internet starting March 2007.) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2ca397799 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis" +chunk: 4/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:39.670231+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Critical responses and positions of the ETH == +People have had a long-standing curiosity about extraterrestrial life. Aliens are the subject of numerous urban legends, including claims that they have long been present on earth or that they may be able to assist humans in resolving certain issues. There is no scientific proof to back up these assertions, hence we cannot declare with certainty whether or not aliens exist. In spite of ardent believers that various UFO sightings are verifiable evidence for the ET hypothesis, no rigorous analysis has ever concluded as much. + +=== U.S. military investigation and debunkery === +On July 9, 1947, Army Air Forces Intelligence began a secret study of the best saucer reports, including that of Arnold's. A follow-up study by the Air Materiel Command intelligence and engineering departments at Wright Field, Ohio led to the formation of the U.S. Air Force's Project Sign at the end of 1947, the first official U.S. military UFO study. +In 1948, Project Sign concluded without endorsing any unified explanation for all UFO reports, and the ETH was rejected by USAF Chief of Staff General Hoyt Vandenberg, citing a lack of physical evidence. Vandenberg dismantled Project Sign, and with this official policy in place, subsequent public Air Force reports concluded, that there was insufficient evidence to warrant further investigation of UFOs. +In 1952, Life Magazine published "Have We Visitors From Space?" which popularized the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis and is thought to have triggered the 1952 UFO flap. Immediately following the great UFO wave of 1952 and the military debunking of radar and visual sightings, plus jet interceptions over Washington, D.C. in August, the CIA's Office of Scientific Investigation took particular interest in UFOs. Though the ETH was mentioned, it was generally given little credence. However, others within the CIA, such as the Psychological Strategy Board, were more concerned about how an unfriendly power such as the Soviet Union might use UFOs for psychological warfare purposes, exploit the gullibility of the public for the sensational, and clog intelligence channels. Under a directive from the National Security Council to review the problem, in January 1953, the CIA organized the Robertson Panel, a group of scientists who quickly reviewed the Blue Book's best evidence, including motion pictures and an engineering report that concluded that the performance characteristics were beyond that of earthly craft. After two days' review, all cases were claimed to have conventional explanations. An official policy of public debunkery was recommended using the mass media and authority figures in order to influence public opinion and reduce the number of UFO reports. + +=== Involvement of scientists === +The scientific community has shown very little support for the ETH, and has largely accepted the explanation that reports of UFOs are the result of people misinterpreting common objects or phenomena, or are the work of hoaxers. The physicist Stephen Hawking expressed skepticism about the ETH. In a 1969 lecture, U.S. astrophysicist Carl Sagan said: + +"The idea of benign or hostile space aliens from other planets visiting the Earth [is clearly] an emotional idea. There are two sorts of self-deception here: either accepting the idea of extraterrestrial visitation by space aliens in the face of very meager evidence because we want it to be true; or rejecting such an idea out of hand, in the absence of sufficient evidence, because we don't want it to be true. Each of these extremes is a serious impediment to the study of UFOs." +Similarly, British astrophysicist Peter A. Sturrock wrote + +"for many years, discussions of the UFO issue have remained narrowly polarized between advocates and adversaries of a single theory, namely the extraterrestrial hypothesis ... this fixation on the ETH has narrowed and impoverished the debate, precluding an examination of other possible theories for the phenomenon." +An informal poll done by Sturrock in 1973 of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics members found that about 10% of them believed that UFOs were vehicles from outer space. In another poll conducted in 1977, Sturrock asked members of the American Astronomical Society to assign probabilities to eight possible explanations for UFOs. The results were: + +The primary scientific arguments against ETH were summarized by astronomer and UFO researcher J. Allen Hynek during a presentation at the 1983 MUFON Symposium, where he outlined seven key reasons why he could not accept the ETH. + +Failure of sophisticated surveillance systems to detect incoming or outgoing UFOs +Gravitational and atmospheric considerations +Statistical considerations +Elusive, evasive and absurd behavior of UFOs and their occupants +Isolation of the UFO phenomenon in time and space: the Cheshire Cat effect +The space unworthiness of UFOs +The problem of astronomical distances +Hynek argued that: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1fca2856f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +title: "Extraterrestrial UFO hypothesis" +chunk: 5/5 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_UFO_hypothesis" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:39.670231+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Despite worldwide radar systems and Earth-orbiting satellites, UFOs are alleged to flit in and out of the atmosphere, leaving little to no evidence. +Space aliens are alleged to be overwhelmingly humanoid, and are allegedly able to exist on Earth without much difficulty often lacking "space suits", even though extra-solar planets would likely have different atmospheres, biospheres, gravity and other factors, and extraterrestrial life would likely be very different from Earthly life. +The number of reported UFOs and of purported encounters with UFO-inhabitants outstrips the number of expeditions that an alien civilization (or civilizations) could statistically be expected to mount. +The behavior of extraterrestrials reported during alleged abductions is often inconsistent and irrational. +UFOs are isolated in time and space: like the Cheshire Cat, they seem to appear and disappear at will, leaving only vague, ambiguous and mocking evidence of their presence +Reported UFOs are often far too small to support a crew traveling through space, and their reported flight behavior is often not representative of a craft under intelligent control (erratic flight patterns, sudden course changes). +The distance between planets makes interstellar travel impractical, particularly because of the amount of energy that would be required for interstellar travel using conventional means, (According to a NASA estimate, it would take 7×1019 joules of energy to send the then-current Space Shuttle on a one-way 50-year journey to the nearest star, an enormous amount of energy) and because of the level of technology that would be required to circumvent conventional energy/fuel/speed limitations using exotic means, such as Einstein-Rosen Bridges as ways to shorten distances from point A to point B. (see Faster-than-light travel). +According to the personal assessment of Hynek at the time, points 1 through 6 could be argued, but point 7 represented an "insurmountable" barrier to the validity of the ETH. + +=== NASA === +NASA frequently fields questions in regard to the ETH and UFOs. As of 2006, its official standpoint was that ETH has a lack of empirical evidence. + +"no one has ever found a single artifact, or any other convincing evidence for such alien visits". David Morrison. +"As far as I know, no claims of UFOs as being alien craft have any validity -- the claims are without substance, and certainly not proved". David Morrison +Despite public interest, up until 2021, NASA had considered the study of ETH to be irrelevant to its work because of the number of false leads that a study would provide, and the limited amount of usable scientific data that it would yield. + +=== CIA === +The CIA organized the January 1953 Robertson Panel of scientists to debunk the data collected by the Air Force's Project Blue Book. This included an engineering analysis of UFO maneuvers by Blue Book (including a motion picture film analysis by Naval scientists) that had concluded UFOs were under intelligent control and likely extraterrestrial. + +=== Official White House position === +In November 2011, the White House released an official response to two petitions asking the U.S. government to acknowledge formally that aliens have visited Earth and to disclose any intentional withholding of government interactions with extraterrestrial beings. According to the response, "The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race." Also, according to the response, there is "no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye." The response further noted that efforts, like SETI, the Kepler space telescope and the NASA Mars rover, continue looking for signs of life. The response noted "the odds are pretty high" that there may be life on other planets but "the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved." + +== Counter critique of the official position: Conspiracy theories == + +A frequent concept in ufology and popular culture is that the true extent of information about UFOs is being suppressed by some form of conspiracy of silence, or by an official cover-up that is acting to conceal information. +In 1968, American engineer James Harder argued that significant evidence existed to prove UFOs "beyond reasonable doubt", but that the evidence had been suppressed and largely neglected by scientists and the general public, thus preventing sound conclusions from being reached on the ETH. + +"Over the past 20 years a vast amount of evidence has been accumulating that bears on the existence of UFOs. Most of this is little known to the general public or to most scientists. But on the basis of the data and ordinary rules of evidence, as would be applied in civil or criminal courts, the physical reality of UFOs has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt." J A Harder +A survey carried out by Industrial Research magazine in 1971 showed that more respondents believed the government was concealing information about UFOs (76%) than believed in the existence of UFOs (54%), or in the ETH itself (32%). +On the History Channel UFO Hunters episode "The NASA Files" (2008), Former NASA astronauts have commented; Gordon Cooper wrote that NASA and the government "swept these and other sightings under the rug". Brian O'Leary stated "some of my fellow astronauts and scientists astronauts that did go up and who have observed things, very clearly, they were told—not to report it". + +== See also == + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== External links == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2b3479ce3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:40.858329+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was devised by Francine Shapiro in 1987. +EMDR involves talking about traumatic memories while engaging in side-to-side eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation. It is also used for some other psychological conditions. +EMDR is recommended for the treatment of PTSD by various government and medical bodies citing varying levels of evidence, including the World Health Organization, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and the US Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense. The American Psychological Association does not endorse EMDR as a first-line treatment, but indicates that it is probably effective for treating adult PTSD. +Systematic analyses published since 2013 generally indicate that EMDR treatment efficacy for adults with PTSD is equivalent to trauma-focused cognitive and behavioral therapies (TF-CBT), such as prolonged exposure therapy (PE) and cognitive processing therapy (CPT). However, bilateral stimulation does not substantially contribute to treatment effectiveness, if at all. The predominant therapeutic factors in EMDR and TF-CBT are exposure and various components of cognitive-behavioral therapy. +Because eye movements and other bilateral stimulation techniques do not uniquely contribute to EMDR treatment efficacy, EMDR has been characterized as a purple hat therapy, i.e., its effectiveness is due to the same therapeutic methods found in other evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD, namely exposure therapy and CBT techniques, without any contribution from its distinctive add-ons. + +== History == +EMDR was invented by Francine Shapiro in 1987. In a workshop, Shapiro related how the idea of the therapy came to her while she was taking a walk in the woods, and discerned she had been able to cope better with disturbing thoughts when also experiencing saccadic eye movements. Psychologist Gerald Rosen has expressed doubt about this description, saying that people are normally not aware of this type of eye movement. + +== Technique == +EMDR is typically undertaken in a series of sessions with a trained therapist. The number of sessions can vary depending on the progress made. A typical EMDR therapy session lasts from 60 to 90 minutes. +The person being treated is asked to recall an image, phrase, and emotion that represent a level of distress related to a trigger while generating one of several types of bilateral sensory input, such as side-to-side eye movements or hand tapping. The 2013 World Health Organization practice guideline says that "Like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with a trauma focus, EMDR aims to reduce subjective distress and strengthen adaptive beliefs related to the traumatic event. Unlike CBT with a trauma focus, EMDR does not involve (a) detailed descriptions of the event, (b) direct challenging of beliefs, (c) extended exposure or (d) homework." + +== Possible mechanisms == + +=== Incomplete processing of experiences in trauma === +Many proposals of EMDR efficacy assume, as Shapiro posited, that when a traumatic or very negative event occurs, the information processing of the experience in memory may be incomplete. The trauma disrupts normal adaptive information processing, leading to unprocessed information being dysfunctionally retained in memory networks. According to the 2013 World Health Organization practice guideline: "This therapy [EMDR] is based on the idea that negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours are the result of unprocessed memories." This proposed mechanism has no known scientific basis. + +=== Other mechanisms === +Several other possible mechanisms have been proposed: + +EMDR may affect working memory. If a patient performs a bilateral stimulation task while remembering the trauma, the amount of information they can recall is thought to be reduced, making the resulting negative emotions less intense and more bearable. This is seen by Robin Logie of the EMDR Association UK and Ireland as a "distancing effect". The client is then believed to re-evaluate the trauma and process it in a less-harmful environment. This explanation is plausible, given research showing that memories are more modifiable once recalled. +Horizontal eye movement is thought to trigger an "orienting response" in the brain, used in scanning the environment for threats and opportunities. +The idea that eye movement prompts communication between the two sides of the brain. This idea is not grounded in accepted neuroscience. + +=== Bilateral stimulation, including eye movement === +Bilateral stimulation is a generalization of the left- and right-repetitive eye movement technique first used by Shapiro. Alternative stimuli include auditory stimuli alternating between left- and right-sided speakers or headphones, and physical stimuli such as the therapist's hand tapping or tapping devices. +Most meta-analyses have found that including bilateral eye movements in EMDR makes little or no difference to its effect. Meta-analyses have also described a high risk of allegiance bias in EMDR studies. One 2013 meta-analysis with fewer exclusion criteria found a moderate effect. + +== Research == + +=== Effectiveness === +EMDR has been found to be as effective as other psychological interventions for treating PTSD, with no evidence of added benefit derived from eye movement. Men are more likely to drop out of an EMDR program that women. +A 2023 Cochrane systematic review analyzed psychosocial interventions for survivors of rape and sexual assault experienced during adulthood and concluded that EMDR is a "first-line treatment" for PTSD along with other trauma-focused psychotherapies, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure. + +=== Client experience === +A 2021 systematic review of 13 studies found that clients had mixed perceptions of the effectiveness of EMDR therapy. + +=== Treating conditions other than PTSD === +EMDR has been tested on a variety of other mental health conditions with mixed results. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2b1075986 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: "Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:40.858329+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis found EMDR to have a moderate benefit in treating depression, but the number and quality of the studies were low. +Positive effects have also been shown for certain anxiety disorders, but the number of studies was low and the risk of bias high. The American Psychological Association describes EMDR as "ineffective" for the treatment of panic disorder. +EMDR has been found to cause strong effects on dissociative identity disorder patients, leading to recommendations for adjusted use. +A 2023 systematic review of evidence found EMDR's effectiveness in treating mental health conditions of children and adolescents who have been sexually abused is limited. + +== Professional practice guidelines == +The Institute of Medicine's 2008 report on the treatment of PTSD found insufficient evidence to recommend EMDR, and criticized many of the available studies for methodological flaws including allegiance bias and insufficient controls. +The Dutch National Steering Committee on Mental Health Care has released multidisciplinary guidelines which describe "insufficient scientific evidence" to support EMDR in the acute period following a stressful event (2008), but recommend EMDR's use in chronic PTSD (2003). +The World Health Organization's 2013 report on stress-related conditions found insufficient evidence to support EMDR for acute symptoms of traumatic stress. Its 2023 guideline for mental, neurological and substance use disorders recommended EMDR with moderate evidence for adults and children in treating PTSD. +The Australian 2013 National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines recommend EMDR for the treatment of PTSD in adults with its highest grade of evidence, noting that "EMDR now includes most of the core elements of standard trauma-focussed CBT (TF-CBT)" and "the two variants of trauma-focussed therapy are not statistically different." +As of 2017, the American Psychological Association "conditionally recommends" EMDR for the treatment of PTSD in adults, meaning its use is suggested rather than recommended. +A 2017 joint report from the US Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense describes the evidence for EMDR in the treatment of PTSD as "strong." +The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's 2018 PTSD guidelines found low-to-very-low evidence of efficacy for EMDR in treating PTSD, but what was available justified recommending it for non-combat-related trauma. +The 2018 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies practice guidelines "strongly recommend" EMDR as an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress symptoms. + +== Criticism == +EMDR is controversial among scholars in the psychological community. It is used by some practitioners during trauma therapy and in the treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. +EMDR has been called a purple hat therapy on the grounds that its effectiveness stems from its underlying mainstream therapy (or the standard treatment), not from its distinctive features. +Some scholars have criticized Francine Shapiro for repeatedly increasing the length and expense of training and certification, allegedly in response to the results of controlled trials that cast doubt on EMDR's efficacy. This included requiring the completion of an EMDR training program in order to be qualified to administer EMDR properly after researchers using the initial written instructions found no difference between no-eye-movement control groups and EMDR-as-written experimental groups. Further changes in training requirements and/or the definition of EMDR included requiring level II training when researchers with level I training still found no difference between eye-movement experimental groups and no-eye-movement controls, and deeming "alternate forms of bilateral stimulation" (such as finger-tapping) as variants of EMDR by the time a study found no difference between EMDR and a finger-tapping control group. Such changes in definition and training for EMDR have been described as "ad hoc moves [made] when confronted by embarrassing data", argues Richard McNally. +EMDR adds a number of techniques that do not appear to contribute to therapeutic effectiveness (e.g., bilateral stimulation). EMDR is classified as one of the "power therapies" alongside thought field therapy, Emotional Freedom Techniques, and others—so called because these therapies are marketed as being superior to established the therapies which preceded them. +EMDR has been characterized as pseudoscience because the underlying theory and primary therapeutic mechanism are non-falsifiable and non-scientific. EMDR's founder and other practitioners have used untestable hypotheses to explain studies that show no effect. The results of the therapy are non-specific, especially if directed eye movements are irrelevant to the results. When these movements are removed, what remains is a broadly therapeutic interaction and deceptive marketing. According to neurologist and skeptic Steven Novella: + +[T]he false specificity of these treatments is a massive clinical distraction. Time and effort are wasted clinically in studying, perfecting, and using these methods, rather than focusing on the components of the interaction that actually work. +Furthermore, Novella argues that investigation into EMDR has been characterised by poor-quality studies rather than tightly controlled trials that could justify or falsify the mechanisms proposed to support it. Novella writes that the research quantity nevertheless means that EMDR has claimed a place among accepted treatments and is "not likely going away anytime soon, even though it is a house of cards built on nothing". +EMDR has been characterised as a modern-day mesmerism, with striking similarities, from the sole inventor who devised the system while out walking to the large business empire built on exaggerated claims. In the case of EMDR, these have included the suggestions that EMDR could drain violence from society and be useful in treating cancer and HIV/AIDS. Psychology historian Luis Cordón has compared the popularity of EMDR to that of other cult-like pseudosciences, facilitated communication and thought field therapy. +A parody website advertising "sudotherapy" created by a fictional "Fatima Shekel" appeared on the internet in the 1990s. Proponents of EMDR described the website as libelous, since the website contained an image of a pair of shifting eyes following a cat named "Sudo", and "Fatima Shekel" has the same initials as EMDR's founder, Francine Shapiro. However, no legal action took place against the website or its founders. + +== Society and culture == +Sandra Bullock used EMDR following a home invasion by a stalker in 2014. +In 2019, Jameela Jamil said she partook in EMDR therapy to treat her post traumatic stress disorder. +In 2021, Prince Harry took a course of EMDR and filmed a session for Oprah Winfrey during a mental health television documentary. +In 2022, BBC war correspondent Fergal Keane, who suffered from PTSD, credited his EMDR therapist with helping save his life. + +== See also == +Abreaction +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Treatments for PTSD + +== References == + +== External links == +EMDR Institute (US) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6c7ac0a3d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 1/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing of disease and disability can be brought about by religious faith through prayer or other rituals that, according to adherents, can stimulate a divine presence and power. Religious belief in divine intervention does not depend on empirical evidence of an evidence-based outcome achieved via faith healing. Virtually all scientists and philosophers dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience. +Claims that "a myriad of techniques" such as prayer, divine intervention, or the ministrations of an individual healer can cure illness have been popular throughout history. There have been claims that faith can cure blindness, deafness, cancer, HIV/AIDS, developmental disorders, anemia, arthritis, corns, defective speech, multiple sclerosis, skin rashes, total body paralysis, and various injuries. Recoveries have been attributed to many techniques commonly classified as faith healing. It can involve prayer, a visit to a religious shrine, or simply a strong belief in a supreme being. +Many Christians interpret the Christian Bible, especially the New Testament, as teaching belief in, and the practice of, faith healing. According to a 2004 Newsweek poll, 72 percent of Americans said they believe that praying to God can cure someone, even if science says the person has an incurable disease. Unlike faith healing, advocates of spiritual healing make no attempt to seek divine intervention, instead believing in divine energy. The increased interest in alternative medicine at the end of the 20th century has given rise to a parallel interest among sociologists in the relationship of religion to health. +Faith healing can be classified as a spiritual, supernatural, or paranormal topic, and, in some cases, belief in faith healing can be classified as magical thinking. The American Cancer Society states "available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments". "Death, disability, and other unwanted outcomes have occurred when faith healing was elected instead of medical care for serious injuries or illnesses." When parents have practiced faith healing but not medical care, many children have died that otherwise would have been expected to live. Similar results are found in adults. + +== In various belief systems == + +=== Christianity === + +==== Overview ==== + +Regarded as a Christian belief that God heals people through the power of the Holy Spirit, faith healing often involves the laying on of hands. It is also called supernatural healing, divine healing, and miracle healing, among other things. Healing in the Christian Bible is often associated with the ministry of specific individuals, including Elijah, Jesus, and Paul of Tarsus. +Christian physician Reginald B. Cherry views faith healing as a pathway of healing in which God uses both the natural and the supernatural to heal. Being healed has been described as a privilege of accepting Jesus's redemption on the cross. Pentecostal writer Wilfred Graves Jr. views the healing of the body as a physical expression of salvation. After relating a story of Jesus's exorcising an individual and healing ill individuals who approached him, the author of the book of Matthew states that the miracles were a fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah 53:5. +Christian writers who believe in faith healing do not necessarily believe that an individual's faith presently brings about the desired healing. "[Y]our faith does not effect your healing now. When you are healed rests entirely on what the sovereign purposes of the Healer are," argues Larry Keefauver. Keefauver cautions against allowing enthusiasm for faith healing to stir up false hopes: "Just believing hard enough, long enough or strong enough will not strengthen you or prompt your healing. Doing mental gymnastics to 'hold on to your miracle' will not cause your healing to manifest now." Those who actively lay hands on others and pray with them to be healed are usually aware that healing may not always follow immediately. Proponents of faith healing argue that it may come later, if at all, in this life. Keefauver argues that "the truth is that your healing may manifest in eternity, not in time". + +==== New Testament ==== +The New Testament relates that it was only after Jesus healed a blind man that his status was recognized, argues Bart D. Ehrman. Four of the seven miracles performed in the book of John that the author uses to indicate that Jesus was sent from God were acts of healing or resurrection. Jesus heals a Capernaumite official's son, heals a paralyzed man by a pool in Bethsaida, heals a man born blind, and resurrects Lazarus of Bethany. +Jesus told his followers to heal the sick and stated that signs such as healing are evidence of faith. The apostle Paul believed healing is one of the special gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that the possibility exists that certain persons may possess this gift to an extraordinarily high degree. The New Testament says that during Jesus's ministry and after his Resurrection, the apostles healed the sick and cast out demons, made lame men walk, raised the dead and performed other miracles. The apostles are described as men given supernatural powers by God, including the ability to heal. For example, in the book of Acts 3:1–10, Saint Peter is recounted healing a disabled man. + +==== Early Christian church ==== +Accounts or references to healing appear in the writings of many Ante-Nicene Fathers, although many of these mentions are very general and do not include specifics. + +==== Catholicism ==== + +The Roman Catholic Church recognizes two "not mutually exclusive" kinds of healing, one justified by science and one justified by faith: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..73c5c250f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 2/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +healing by human "natural means [...] through the practice of medicine" which emphasizes that the theological virtue of "charity demands that we not neglect natural means of healing people who are ill" and the cardinal virtue of prudence forewarns not "to employ a technique that has no scientific support (or even plausibility)". +healing by divine grace "interceded on behalf of the sick through the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, asking for healing through the power of the Holy Spirit, whether in the form of the sacramental laying on of hands and anointing with oil or of simple prayers for healing, which often include an appeal to the saints for their aid". +The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the Holy Spirit gives to some a special charism of healing" but also that "the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all illnesses" by which it cites Paul the Apostle as a biblical example of someone who found meaning in their own suffering. +In 2000, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued "Instruction on prayers for healing," with specific norms regarding prayer meetings for healing, which presents the Catholic Church's doctrines on sickness and healing. +It accepts "that there may be means of natural healing that have not yet been understood or recognized by science", but it rejects superstitious practices which are neither compatible with Christian teaching nor compatible with scientific evidence. +Faith healing is reported by Catholics as the result of intercessory prayer to a saint or to a person with the gift of healing. According to U.S. Catholic magazine, "Even in this skeptical, postmodern, scientific age – miracles really are possible." According to a Newsweek poll, three-fourths of American Catholics say they pray for "miracles" of some sort. +According to John Cavadini, when healing is granted, "The miracle is not primarily for the person healed, but for all people, as a sign of God's work in the ultimate healing called 'salvation', or a sign of the kingdom that is coming." Some might view their own healing as a sign they are particularly worthy or holy, while others do not deserve it. +The Catholic Church has a special Congregation dedicated to the careful investigation of the validity of alleged miracles attributed to prospective saints. Pope Francis tightened the rules on money and miracles in the canonization process. Since Catholic Christians believe the lives of canonized saints in the Church will reflect Christ's, many have come to expect healing miracles. While the popular conception of a miracle can be wide-ranging, the Catholic Church has a specific definition for the kind of miracle formally recognized in a canonization process. +According to Catholic Encyclopedia, it is often said that cures at shrines and during Christian pilgrimages are mainly due to psychotherapy – partly to confident trust in Divine providence, and partly to the strong expectancy of cure that comes over suggestible persons at these times and places. +Among the best-known accounts by Catholics of faith healings are those attributed to the miraculous intercession of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Lourdes at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France and the remissions of life-threatening disease claimed by those who have applied for aid to Saint Jude, who is known as the "patron saint of lost causes". +As of 2004, Catholic medics have asserted that there have been 67 miracles and 7,000 unexplainable medical cures at Lourdes since 1858. In a 1908 book, it says these cures were subjected to intense medical scrutiny and were only recognized as authentic spiritual cures after a commission of doctors and scientists, called the Lourdes Medical Bureau, had ruled out any physical mechanism for the patient's recovery. + +==== Evangelicalism ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9b52af353 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 3/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In some Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelical churches, a special place is thus reserved for faith healings with laying on of hands during worship services or for campaigns of evangelization. Faith healing or divine healing is considered to be an inheritance of Jesus acquired by his death and resurrection. Biblical inerrancy ensures that the miracles and healings described in the Bible are still relevant and may be present in the life of the believer. +At the beginning of the 20th century, the new Pentecostal movement drew participants from the Holiness movement and other movements in America that already believed in divine healing. By the 1930s, several faith healers drew large crowds and established worldwide followings. +The first Pentecostals in the modern sense appeared in Topeka, Kansas, in a Bible school conducted by Charles Fox Parham, a holiness teacher and former Methodist pastor. Pentecostalism achieved worldwide attention in 1906 through the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles led by William Joseph Seymour. +Smith Wigglesworth was also a well-known figure in the early 20th century. A former English plumber turned evangelist, Wigglesworth lived simply and read nothing but the Bible from the time his wife taught him to read. He traveled around the world preaching about Jesus and performing faith healings. Wigglesworth claimed to raise several people from the dead in Jesus' name in his meetings. +During the 1920s and 1930s, Aimee Semple McPherson was a controversial faith healer of growing popularity during the Great Depression. Subsequently, William M. Branham has been credited with initiating the post-World War II healing revivals. The healing revival he began led many to emulate his style and spawned a generation of faith healers. Because of this, Branham has been recognized as the "father of modern faith healers". According to writer and researcher Patsy Sims, "the power of a Branham service and his stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement". By the late 1940s, Oral Roberts, who was associated with and promoted by Branham's Voice of Healing magazine also became well known, and he continued with faith healing until the 1980s. Roberts discounted faith healing in the late 1950s, stating, "I never was a faith healer and I was never raised that way. My parents believed very strongly in medical science and we have a doctor who takes care of our children when they get sick. I cannot heal anyone – God does that." A friend of Roberts was Kathryn Kuhlman, another popular faith healer, who gained fame in the 1950s and had a television program on CBS. Also in this era, Jack Coe and A. A. Allen were faith healers who traveled with large tents for large open-air crusades. +Oral Roberts's successful use of television as a medium to gain a wider audience led others to follow suit. His former pilot, Kenneth Copeland, started a healing ministry. Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, and Peter Popoff became well-known televangelists who claimed to heal the sick. Richard Rossi is known for advertising his healing clinics through secular television and radio. Kuhlman influenced Benny Hinn, who adopted some of her techniques and wrote a book about her. + +==== Christian Science ==== +Christian Science claims that healing is possible through prayer based on an understanding of God and the underlying spiritual perfection of God's creation. The material world as humanly perceived is believed not to be the spiritual reality. Christian Scientists believe that healing through prayer is possible insofar as it brings the spiritual reality of health into human experience. Prayer does not change the spiritual creation but gives a clearer view of it, and the result appears in the human scene as healing: the human picture adjusts to coincide more nearly with the divine reality. Therefore, Christian Scientists do not consider themselves to be faith healers since faith or belief in Christian Science is not required on the part of the patient, and because they consider healings reliable and provable rather than random. +Although there is no hierarchy in Christian Science, practitioners devote themselves full-time to prayer for others on a professional basis and advertise in an online directory published by the church. Christian Scientists sometimes tell their stories of healing at weekly testimony meetings at local Christian Science churches, or publish them in the church's magazines including The Christian Science Journal printed monthly since 1883, the Christian Science Sentinel printed weekly since 1898, and The Herald of Christian Science a foreign language magazine beginning with a German edition in 1903 and later expanding to Spanish, French, and Portuguese editions. Christian Science Reading Rooms often have archives of such healing accounts. + +==== The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ==== +The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has had a long history of faith healings. Many members of the LDS Church have told their stories of healing within the LDS publication, the Ensign. The church believes healings come most often as a result of priesthood blessings given by the laying on of hands; however, prayer often accompanied with fasting is also thought to cause healings. Healing is always attributed to God's power. Latter-day Saints believe that the Priesthood of God, held by prophets (such as Moses) and worthy disciples of the Savior, was restored via heavenly messengers to the first prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith. +According to LDS doctrine, even though members may have the restored priesthood authority to heal in the name of Jesus Christ, all efforts should be made to seek the appropriate medical help. Brigham Young stated this effectively, while also noting that the ultimate outcome is still dependent on the will of God. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b42a750bd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 4/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and to ask my Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, to sanctify that application to the healing of my body. +But suppose we were traveling in the mountains, ... and one or two were taken sick, without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within our reach, what should we do? According to my faith, ask the Lord Almighty to ... heal the sick. This is our privilege, when so situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves. Then the Lord and his servants can do all. But it is my duty to do, when I have it in my power. + +We lay hands on the sick and wish them to be healed, and pray the Lord to heal them, but we cannot always say that he will. + +=== Islam === +A number of healing traditions exist among Muslims. Some healers are particularly focused on diagnosing cases of possession by jinn or demons. + +=== Buddhism === +Chinese-born Australian businessman Jun Hong Lu was a prominent proponent of the "Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door", claiming that practicing the three "golden practices" of reciting texts and mantras, liberation of beings, and making vows, laid a solid foundation for improved physical, mental, and psychological well-being, with many followers publicly attesting to have been healed through practice. + +=== Ancient Greek paganism === +The Ancient Greeks believed in several forms of divine healing. Religious healing of bodily illnesses was usually sought at temples of Asclepius, god of medicine, where patients would, after purifying ritual and prayer, sleep in the temple; of the people supposedly cured thereby, some were healed immediately, but often they would have a dream in which the god came to them and prescribed a treatment, which might be mundanely medical (e.g., a change of diet) or ritual. In the archaic period there were also priests of Apollo who supposedly cured plagues. However, religious healing was applied especially to mental illness, which was thought of as sent by a god and therefore curable by appeasing that god; the gods appealed to were most commonly Dionysus, or Cybele and the Korybantes, but might also include Hecate, Poseidon, Apollo, Ares, Pan, or the heroes. Such religious cures, especially those invoking the Korybantes, often involved special hymns, music, and dancing. + +=== Scientology === +Some critics of Scientology have referred to some of its practices as being similar to faith healing, based on claims made by L. Ron Hubbard in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and other writings. + +== Scientific investigation == + +Nearly all scientists dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience. Believers assert that faith healing makes no scientific claims and thus should be treated as a matter of faith that is not testable by science. Critics reply that claims of medical cures should be tested scientifically because, although faith in the supernatural is not in itself usually considered to be the purview of science, claims of reproducible effects are nevertheless subject to scientific investigation. +Scientists and doctors generally find that faith healing lacks biological plausibility or epistemic warrant, which is one of the criteria used to judge whether clinical research is ethical and financially justified. A Cochrane review of intercessory prayer found "although some of the results of individual studies suggest a positive effect of intercessory prayer, the majority do not". The authors concluded: "We are not convinced that further trials of this intervention should be undertaken and would prefer to see any resources available for such a trial used to investigate other questions in health care". +A review in 1954 investigated spiritual healing, therapeutic touch and faith healing. Of the hundred cases reviewed, none revealed that the healer's intervention alone resulted in any improvement or cure of a measurable organic disability. +In addition, at least one study has suggested that adult Christian Scientists, who generally use prayer rather than medical care, have a higher death rate than other people of the same age. + +== Criticism == +I have visited Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal, healing shrines of the Christian Virgin Mary. I have also visited Epidaurus in Greece and Pergamum in Turkey, healing shrines of the pagan god Asklepios. The miraculous healings recorded in both places were remarkably the same. There are, for example, many crutches hanging in the grotto of Lourdes, mute witness to those who arrived lame and left whole. There are, however, no prosthetic limbs among them, no witnesses to paraplegics whose lost limbs were restored. +Skeptics of faith healing offer primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural. The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc, meaning that a genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the faith healer or patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the placebo effect, through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the faith healer or faith-based remedy, not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed. In both cases the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases, however, are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities. +According to the American Cancer Society: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b79f6e5d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 5/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +... available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments... One review published in 1998 looked at 172 cases of deaths among children treated by faith healing instead of conventional methods. These researchers estimated that if conventional treatment had been given, the survival rate for most of these children would have been more than 90 percent, with the remainder of the children also having a good chance of survival. A more recent study found that more than 200 children had died of treatable illnesses in the United States over the past thirty years because their parents relied on spiritual healing rather than conventional medical treatment. +The American Medical Association considers that prayer as therapy should not be a medically reimbursable or deductible expense. +Belgian philosopher and skeptic Etienne Vermeersch coined the term Lourdes effect as a criticism of the magical thinking and placebo effect possibilities for the claimed miraculous cures as there are no documented events where a severed arm has been reattached through faith healing at Lourdes. Vermeersch identifies ambiguity and equivocal nature of the miraculous cures as a key feature of miraculous events. + +=== Negative impact on public health === +Reliance on faith healing to the exclusion of other forms of treatment can have a public health impact when it reduces or eliminates access to modern medical techniques. This is evident in both higher mortality rates for children and in reduced life expectancy for adults. Critics have also made note of serious injury that has resulted from falsely labelled "healings", where patients erroneously consider themselves cured and cease or withdraw from treatment. For example, at least six people have died after faith healing by their church and being told they had been healed of HIV and could stop taking their medications. It is the stated position of the AMA that "prayer as therapy should not delay access to traditional medical care". Choosing faith healing while rejecting modern medicine can and does cause people to die needlessly. + +=== Christian theological criticism of faith healing === +Christian theological criticism of faith healing broadly falls into two distinct levels of disagreement. +The first is widely termed the "open-but-cautious" view of the miraculous in the church today. This term is deliberately used by Robert L. Saucy in the book Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?. Don Carson is another example of a Christian teacher who has put forward what has been described as an "open-but-cautious" view. In dealing with the claims of Warfield, particularly "Warfield's insistence that miracles ceased", Carson asserts, "But this argument stands up only if such miraculous gifts are theologically tied exclusively to a role of attestation; and that is demonstrably not so." However, while affirming that he does not expect healing to happen today, Carson is critical of aspects of the faith healing movement, "Another issue is that of immense abuses in healing practises.... The most common form of abuse is the view that since all illness is directly or indirectly attributable to the devil and his works, and since Christ by his cross has defeated the devil, and by his Spirit has given us the power to overcome him, healing is the inheritance right of all true Christians who call upon the Lord with genuine faith." +The second level of theological disagreement with Christian faith healing goes further. Commonly referred to as cessationism, its adherents either claim that faith healing will not happen today at all, or may happen today, but it would be unusual. Richard Gaffin argues for a form of cessationism in an essay alongside Saucy's in the book Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? In his book Perspectives on Pentecost Gaffin states of healing and related gifts that "the conclusion to be drawn is that as listed in 1 Corinthians 12(vv. 9f., 29f.) and encountered throughout the narrative in Acts, these gifts, particularly when exercised regularly by a given individual, are part of the foundational structure of the church... and so have passed out of the life of the church." Gaffin qualifies this, however, by saying "At the same time, however, the sovereign will and power of God today to heal the sick, particularly in response to prayer (see e.g. James 5:14, 15), ought to be acknowledged and insisted on." +According to the Catholic apologist Trent Horn, while the Bible teaches believers to pray when they are sick, this is not to be viewed as an exclusion of medical care, citing Sirach 38:9,12-14: + +"when you are sick do not be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you...And give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; let him not leave you, for there is need of him. There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians, for they too will pray to the Lord, that he should grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ab6afcf34 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 6/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Fraud === +Skeptics of faith healers point to fraudulent practices either in the healings themselves (such as plants in the audience with fake illnesses), or concurrent with the healing work supposedly taking place and claim that faith healing is a quack practice in which the "healers" use well known non-supernatural illusions to exploit credulous people in order to obtain their gratitude, confidence and money. James Randi's The Faith Healers investigates Christian evangelists such as Peter Popoff, who claimed to heal sick people on stage in front of an audience. Popoff pretended to know private details about participants' lives by receiving radio transmissions from his wife who was off-stage and had gathered information from audience members prior to the show. According to this book, many of the leading modern evangelistic healers have engaged in deception and fraud. The book also questioned how faith healers use funds that were sent to them for specific purposes. Physicist Robert L. Park and doctor and consumer advocate Stephen Barrett have called into question the ethics of some exorbitant fees. +There have also been legal controversies. For example, in 1955 at a Jack Coe revival service in Miami, Florida, Coe told the parents of a three-year-old boy that he healed their son who had polio. Coe then told the parents to remove the boy's leg braces. However, their son was not cured of polio and removing the braces left the boy in constant pain. As a result, through the efforts of Joseph L. Lewis, Coe was arrested and charged on February 6, 1956, with practicing medicine without a license, a felony in the state of Florida. A Florida Justice of the Peace dismissed the case on grounds that Florida exempts divine healing from the law. Later that year Coe was diagnosed with bulbar polio, and died a few weeks later at Dallas' Parkland Hospital on December 17, 1956. + +=== Miracles for sale === +TV personality Derren Brown produced a show on faith healing entitled Miracles for Sale which arguably exposed the art of faith healing as a scam. In this show, Derren trained a scuba diver trainer picked from the general public to be a faith healer and took him to Texas to successfully deliver a faith healing session to a congregation. + +== United States law == +The 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) required states to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and child abuse laws in order to receive federal money. The CAPTA amendments of 1996 42 U.S.C. § 5106i state: + +(a) In General. – Nothing in this Act shall be construed – +"(1) as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide a child any medical service or treatment against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian; and "(2) to require that a State find, or to prohibit a State from finding, abuse or neglect in cases in which a parent or legal guardian relies solely or partially upon spiritual means rather than medical treatment, in accordance with the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian. + +"(b) State Requirement. – Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State shall, at a minimum, have in place authority under State law to permit the child protective services system of the State to pursue any legal remedies, including the authority to initiate legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to provide medical care or treatment for a child when such care or treatment is necessary to prevent or remedy serious harm to the child, or to prevent the withholding of medically indicated treatment from children with life threatening conditions. Except with respect to the withholding of medically indicated treatments from disabled infants with life threatening conditions, case by case determinations concerning the exercise of the authority of this subsection shall be within the sole discretion of the State. +Thirty-one states have child-abuse religious exemptions. These are Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming. In six of these states, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio and Virginia, the exemptions extend to murder and manslaughter. Of these, Idaho is the only state accused of having a large number of deaths due to the legislation in recent times. In February 2015, controversy was sparked in Idaho over a bill believed to further reinforce parental rights to deny their children medical care. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..35bdd2178 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Faith healing" +chunk: 7/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_healing" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:41.997043+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Criminal convictions related to faith healing === +In 2008, 15-month-old Ava Worthington of Oregon died of bronchial pneumonia and a bloodstream infection after her parents Raylene and Carl Worthington, members of Followers of Christ Church, allowed a cystic growth to grow on her neck for months while anointing her, giving her diluted wine, praying, and fasting over her. Her father was charged with manslaughter and eventually convicted of criminal mistreatment in 2009. +In 2008, 11-year-old Kara Neumann of Wisconsin died of diabetic ketoacidosis stemming from undiagnosed juvenile-onset diabetes after her parents Leilani and Dale Neumann refused to take her to the hospital and prayed over her instead. Both parents, nondenominational Pentecostals, were convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in 2009. +In 2009, newborn David Hickman of Oregon died of staph pneumonia after he was born at home to parents Dale and Shannon Hickman. The Hickmans watched the baby turn gray and struggle to breathe and did not seek medical intervention. Members of the Followers of Christ Church, both Hickmans were convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 2017 and were sentenced 6 years and 3 months in prison. +In 2012, 16-year-old Austin Sprout Creswell of Oregon died of appendicitis after his parents Russel and Brandi Bellew prayed over him over the course of a week while his appendix deteriorated instead of seeking medical treatment. The Bellews, members of the General Assembly and Church of the First Born, pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide in 2012. +In 2013, 12-year-old Syble Rossiter of Oregon died of Type 1 diabetes complications after her parents Travis and Wenona Rossiter refused to treat her condition. Syble's parents, members of the General Assembly and Church of the First Born, were both convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014. +In 2022, 8-year-old Elizabeth Struhs of Australia died of diabetic ketoacidosis after her parents Jason and Kerrie Struhs withheld insulin from their daughter for almost a week in accordance with their religious group's principles, choosing to pray and sing for her instead. Jason, Kerrie, and the rest of their religious sect known as The Saints were convicted of manslaughter in 2025. +In 2023, 2-day old Hayden Edwards of Oregon died of acute bilirubin encephalopathy after his parents Blair and Taylor Edwards prayed over him after he suffered intermittent breathing problems over the course of a few hours; instead of seeking medical help, his parents, members of the Followers of Christ Church, prayed over him and anointed him with oil. Both parents pled guilty to criminal mistreatment in 2025. + +== See also == + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Bibliography == + +== External links == + Media related to Faith healing at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Buddha_Society_(Singapore)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Buddha_Society_(Singapore)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f6b736759 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Buddha_Society_(Singapore)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Buddha Society (Singapore)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Buddha_Society_(Singapore)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:44.315962+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Falun Buddha Society (Singapore) (Chinese: 新加坡法輪佛學會) is a religious organization in Singapore. Falun Gong, which originated in mainland China, was introduced to Singapore in 1994, leading to the establishment of the first Falun Buddha Society outside of China. Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore typically engage in activities aimed at informing the public about Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) and its core principles. They are often seen conducting related activities in sports stadiums, Singapore Botanic Gardens, and various public parks, with some local residents also participating. + + +== History == +In July 1996, the Falun Buddha Society (Singapore) was officially established as a legally registered association, becoming the first Falun Buddha Society outside of China. +As of 2001, Falun Gong had approximately 1,000 members in Singapore. +In 2004, the Singapore edition of The Epoch Times, a Falun Gong-affiliated media outlet, was launched. +As of 2020, Falun Gong in Singapore had approximately 500 to 1,000 members. +As of March 2021, the Falun Buddha Society of Singapore maintained 26 main practice sites. + + +== Controversies == +Between 2000 and 2006, Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore were prosecuted six times under various charges. The Singapore government has been accused by associates of Falun Gong of “discriminating” against practitioners by allegedly rejecting applications for citizenship, permanent residency, and work permits, delaying student pass renewals, and pressuring practitioners to resign from their jobs. +In July 1999, some local community centers and clubs in Singapore began suspending activities related to Falun Gong. +On 31 December 2000, about 60 Falun Gong practitioners gathered at MacRitchie Reservoir for a candlelight vigil. The Singapore police detained 15 individuals, and on 2 January 2001, charged them with “unlawful assembly.” Seven were sentenced to imprisonment and eight were fined S$1,000. On 19 March 2001, the Singapore Buddhist Federation issued a statement requesting Falun Gong to stop using Buddhist terminology. +In November 2001, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore held an exhibition titled “Anti-Falun Gong Cult Photo Exhibition” at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event was opened by Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jiuheng, and prompted a protest by over a dozen Falun Gong practitioners. +In July 2006, nine Falun Gong members were believed to be involved in unlawful activities for engaging in unauthorised actions outside the Chinese embassy (Falun Gong sources claimed it was due to their distribution of materials encouraging people to quit the Chinese Communist Party). Another three members were charged for meditating and staging a hunger strike in protest. +On 5 October 2009, five Falun Gong practitioners were arrested near Merlion Park by police, who accused them of offenses including “vandalism” and “inciting others.” Their display boards and materials were confiscated. The individuals were later charged in court. Between 5 and 7 May 2010, seven Falun Gong practitioners, including Huang Caihua and Cai Yongshui, were charged in court by the Central Police Division. Huang faced seven charges, while others were charged with vandalism and incitement-related offenses. +In August 2015, a 21-year-old Chinese national, Gao Bin, vandalised an MRT viaduct pillar along Geylang East Avenue 1 in Singapore by writing pro-Falungong and anti-Chinese Communist Party messages in Chinese using a black marker. The graffiti included a message such as "Falun Dafa is good. Chinese Communist Party is going to fall, faster leave the party, to save yourselves," along with a phone number, and caused $300 in damage to the rail operator SMRT. A week later, Gao committed a similar offence on a Land Transport Authority control box along Lorong 22 Geylang. He told police that his intent was to raise awareness among his fellow Chinese citizens. Four other similar vandalism cases from the same month were taken into consideration, involving property belonging to Singapore Power, SingTel, and SMRT. The total damage caused was assessed at $728.11. Gao, who was studying English at a private school in Singapore, stated he was unable to pay for the damages. He was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment and six strokes of the cane. Under Singapore law, each count of vandalism carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to $2,000, and between three and eight strokes of the cane. +On 5 July 2023, Singapore police found 59-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Peh Teck Ho conducting a public assembly without a permit along Science Park Road in Jurong, during which he displayed a placard promoting Falun Gong. On 13 May 2025, Peh was charged with two offenses under the Public Order Act and three offenses under the Vandalism Act, and was fined S$1,000. The court stated that the offense stemmed from organizing a public assembly without the required permit. + + +== See also == +Falun Gong outside mainland China + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5c375cb2a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 1/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a new religious movement founded by Li Hongzhi in China in the early 1990s. Falun Gong has its global headquarters in Dragon Springs, a 173-hectare (427-acre) compound in Deerpark, New York, United States, near the residence of Li. +Falun Gong emerged from the qigong movement in China in 1992, combining meditation, qigong exercises, and moral teachings rooted in Buddhist and Taoist traditions. While initially supported by some government agencies in China, Falun Gong's rapid growth and independence from state control led several top officials in China to perceive it as a threat, resulting in periodic acts of harassment in the late 1990s. On 25 April 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered peacefully outside the central government compound in Beijing, seeking official recognition of the right to practice their faith without interference. +In July 1999, the government of China implemented a ban on Falun Gong, categorizing it as an "illegal organization". Mass arrests, widespread torture and abuses followed. In 2008, U.S. government reports cited estimates that as much as half of China's labor camp population was made up of Falun Gong practitioners. In 2009, human rights groups estimated that at least 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners had died from persecution by that time. A 2022 United States Department of State report on religious freedom in China stated that "Falun Gong practitioners reported societal discrimination in employment, housing, and business opportunities". According to the same report: "Prior to the government's 1999 ban on Falun Gong, the government [of China] estimated there were 70 million adherents. Falun Gong sources claims that tens of millions continue to practice privately, and Freedom House estimates there are between 7 to 20 million practitioners." +Led by Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe Shen Yun. The Falun Gong also operates the Epoch Media Group, which is known for its subsidiaries, New Tang Dynasty Television and The Epoch Times newspaper. The latter has been broadly noted as a politically far-right media entity, and it has received significant attention in the United States for promoting conspiracy theories, such as QAnon and anti-vaccine misinformation, and producing advertisements for U.S. President Donald Trump. It has also drawn attention in Europe for promoting far-right politicians, primarily in France and Germany. The media have noted Falun Gong's opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its negative views on homosexuality and feminism, and its objections to evolution. + +== Beliefs and practices == + +Falun Gong is based around the teachings of its founder and leader: Li Hongzhi. According to NBC News, "To his followers, Li is a God-like figure who can levitate, walk through walls and see into the future. His ultra-conservative and controversial teachings include a rejection of modern science, art and medicine, and a denunciation of homosexuality, feminism and general worldliness." +According to David Ownby, then-employed as an anthropology professor at the Canadian state-run University of Montreal, Li both appreciates “what modern science has accomplished” and recognizes “its limitations." Ownby also noted that many leadership positions among Falun Gong practitioners are occupied by women. Like most qigong practices, Falun Gong's concept of healing through both physical exercises and moral cultivation aligns with Chinese traditions. Practitioners are not encouraged to rely on Western medicine, but are not prohibited from using it. Many do seek out doctors and hospitals. Li instructs his followers to downplay his controversial teachings when speaking to outsiders. +According to Yanfei Sun, a sociologist at China's state-run Zhejiang University, Li asserts that he possesses the ultimate truth of the universe, that he can assume incarnations to protect his followers, and that he can install a spinning wheel of energy in the abdomen of Falun Gong practitioners. Sun further stated that Li's teachings are syncretic, borrowing from existing traditions including Buddhism and Daoism. In particular, Falun Gong borrows heavily from Buddhist cosmology and soteriology but applies Li's idiosyncratic interpretation. According to Sun, Li asserts that the teachings of Buddhism and Daoism are confined to the Milky Way Galaxy, whereas Falun Gong's teachings are of the highest, universe-wide order. + +=== Central teachings === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e4fb19a1c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 2/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +According to the Falun Gong, the Falun Gong aspires to enable the practitioner to ascend spiritually through moral rectitude and the practice of a set of exercises and meditation. The three stated tenets of the belief are truthfulness (Chinese: 真; pinyin: Zhēn), compassion (Chinese: 善; pinyin: Shàn), and forbearance (Chinese: 忍; pinyin: Rěn). These principles have been repeated by Falun Gong members to outsiders as a tactic for evading deeper inquiry, and followers have been instructed by Li to lie about the practice. Together these principles are regarded as the fundamental nature of the cosmos, the criteria for differentiating right from wrong, and are held to be the highest manifestations of the Tao. Adherence to and cultivation of these virtues is regarded as a fundamental part of Falun Gong practice. According to Li, humanity was once in harmony with these concepts (which are the fundamental characteristics of the universe) but descended to the ordinary level, in which humanity is a state characterized by unpleasantness, filthiness, and degradation. +In Zhuan Falun (轉法輪), the foundational text published in 1995, Li Hongzhi writes, "It doesn't matter how mankind's moral standard changes [...] The nature of the cosmos doesn't change, and it is the only standard for determining who's good and who's bad. So to be a cultivator you have to take the nature of the cosmos as your guide for improving yourself." +Practice of Falun Gong consists of two features: performance of the exercises, and the refinement of one's xinxing (moral character, temperament). In Falun Gong's central text, Li states that xinxing "includes virtue (which is a type of matter), it includes forbearance, it includes awakening to things, it includes giving up things—giving up all the desires and all the attachments that are found in an ordinary person—and you also have to endure hardship, to name just a few things." The elevation of one's moral character is achieved, on the one hand, by aligning one's life with truth, compassion, and tolerance; and on the other, by abandoning desires and "negative thoughts and behaviors, such as greed, profit, lust, desire, killing, fighting, theft, robbery, deception, jealousy, etc." +Among the central concepts found in the teachings of Falun Gong is the existence of 'Virtue' (Chinese: 德; pinyin: Dé) and 'Karma' (Chinese: 業; pinyin: Yè). The former is generated through doing good deeds and suffering, while the latter is accumulated through doing wrong deeds. A person's ratio of karma to virtue is said to determine their fortunes in this life or the next. While virtue engenders good fortune and enables spiritual transformation, an accumulation of karma results in suffering, illness, and alienation from the nature of the universe. In Falun Gong teachings, karma accumulates as a black substance in the body. Spiritual elevation is achieved through the elimination of negative karma and the accumulation of virtue. Through cultivating truthfulness, compassion, forbearance and practicing qigong, practitioners can turn the black substance into a white substance, eliminating the root cause of illness and leading to Consummation. (yuanman). Practitioners believe that through a process of moral cultivation, one can achieve Tao and obtain special powers and a level of divinity. +Falun Gong's teachings posit that human beings are originally and innately good—even divine—but that they descended into a realm of delusion and suffering after developing selfishness and accruing karma. The practice holds that reincarnation exists, with the cycle of rebirth shaped by the accumulation of karma—a concept somewhat analogous to the Christian notion of "reaping what one sows." This perspective helps explain the perceived unfairness of differences among individuals, such as between the rich and the poor, while also encouraging moral behavior despite these inequalities. To re-ascend and return to the "original, true self", Falun Gong practitioners are supposed to assimilate themselves to the qualities of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, let go of "attachments and desires" and suffer to repay karma. +Traditional Chinese cultural thought and opposition to modernity are two focuses of Li Hongzhi's teachings. Falun Gong echoes traditional Chinese beliefs that humans are connected to the universe through mind and body, and Li seeks to challenge "conventional mentalities", concerning the nature and genesis of the universe, time-space, and the human body. The practice draws on East Asian mysticism and traditional Chinese medicine, but claims to have the power to heal incurable illnesses. Falun Gong describes modern science as too limited, and views traditional Chinese research and practice as valid. +Li says that he is a being who has come to help humankind from the destruction it could face as the result of rampant evil. When asked if he was a human being, Li replied "You can think of me as a human being." In Zhuan Falun, Li states that he cultivated supernatural powers starting at age eight. Zhuan Falun also promises practitioners supernatural powers such as "see[ing] through a wall or into a human body". Meanwhile, it states that these powers are byproducts of virtue cultivation, and should neither be sought after nor misused. + +=== Exercises === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-10.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-10.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..30ee37b12 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-10.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 11/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Tianjin and Zhongnanhai protests === +By the late 1990s, the Chinese government's relationship to the growing Falun Gong movement had become increasingly tense. Reports of discrimination and surveillance by the Public Security Bureau were escalating, and Falun Gong practitioners were routinely organizing sit-in demonstrations responding to media articles they deemed to be unfair. The conflicting investigations launched by the Ministry of the Public Security on one side and the State Sports Commission and Qiao Shi on the other spoke of the disagreements among China's elites on how to regard the growing practice. +In April 1999, an article critical of Falun Gong was published in Tianjin Normal University's Youth Reader magazine. The article was authored by physicist He Zuoxiu who, as Porter and Gutmann indicate, is a relative of Politburo member and public security secretary Luo Gan. The article cast qigong, and Falun Gong in particular, as superstitious and harmful for youth. Falun Gong practitioners responded by picketing the offices of the newspaper requesting a retraction of the article. Unlike past instances in which Falun Gong protests were successful, on 22 April the Tianjin demonstration was broken up by the arrival of three hundred riot police. Some of the practitioners were beaten, and forty-five arrested. Other Falun Gong practitioners were told that if they wished to appeal further, they needed to take the issue up with the Ministry of Public Security and go to Beijing to appeal. +The Falun Gong community quickly mobilized a response, and on the morning of 25 April, upwards of 10,000 practitioners gathered near the central appeals office to demand an end to the escalating harassment against the movement, and request the release of the Tianjin practitioners. According to Benjamin Penny, practitioners sought redress from the leadership of the country by going to them and, "albeit very quietly and politely, making it clear that they would not be treated so shabbily". They sat or read quietly on the sidewalks surrounding the Zhongnanhai. +Five Falun Gong representatives met with Premier Zhu Rongji and other senior officials to negotiate a resolution. The Falun Gong representatives were assured that the regime supported physical exercises for health improvements and did not consider the Falun Gong to be anti-government. +President Jiang Zemin was alerted to the demonstration by Luo Gan, and was reportedly angered by the audacity of the demonstration—the largest since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Jiang called for resolute action to suppress the group, and reportedly criticized Premier Zhu for being "too soft" in his handling of the situation. That evening, Jiang composed a letter indicating his desire to see Falun Gong "defeated". In the letter, Jiang expressed concerns over the size and popularity of Falun Gong, and in particular about the large number of senior CCP members found among Falun Gong practitioners. He believed it possible foreign forces were behind Falun Gong's protests (Li Hongzhi had emigrated to the United States), and expressed concern about their use of the internet to coordinate a large-scale demonstration. Jiang also intimated that Falun Gong's moral philosophy was at odds with the atheist values of Marxist–Leninism, and therefore constituted a form of ideological competition. +Jiang is held by Falun Gong to be personally responsible for this decision to persecute Falun Gong. Peerman cited reasons such as suspected personal jealousy of Li Hongzhi; Saich points to Jiang's anger at Falun Gong's widespread appeal, and ideological struggle as causes for the crackdown that followed. Willy Wo-Lap Lam suggests Jiang's decision to suppress Falun Gong was related to a desire to consolidate his power within the Politburo. According to Human Rights Watch, senior officials were far from unified in their support for the crackdown. +After the 1999 anti-Falun Gong campaign, the state imposed stricter controls on the remaining permitted qigong groups. The qigong fever social phenomenon declined as a result. + +== Persecution == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-11.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-11.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..41c0de629 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-11.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 12/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +On 20 July 1999, security forces abducted and detained thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who they identified as leaders. Two days later, on 22 July, the PRC Ministry of Civil Affairs outlawed the Falun Dafa Research Society as an illegal organization that was "engaged in illegal activities, advocating superstition and spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances, and jeopardizing social stability". The same day, the Ministry of Public Security issued a circular forbidding citizens from practicing Falun Gong in groups, possessing Falun Gong's teachings, displaying Falun Gong banners or symbols, or protesting against the ban. +The aim of the ensuing campaign was to "eradicate" the group through a combination of means which included the publication and distribution of propaganda which denounced it and the imprisonment and coercive thought reform of its practitioners, sometimes resulting in deaths. In October 1999, four months after the imposition of the ban, legislation was passed in order to outlaw "heterodox religions" and sentence Falun Gong devotees to prison terms. +Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are estimated to have been extrajudicially imprisoned, and practitioners who are currently in detention are reportedly subjected to forced labor, psychiatric abuse, torture, and other coercive methods of thought reform at the hands of Chinese authorities. The U.S. Department of State and Congressional-Executive Commission on China cite estimates that as much as half of China's reeducation-through-labor camp population is made up of Falun Gong practitioners. Researcher Ethan Gutmann estimates that Falun Gong practitioners represent an average of 15 to 20 percent of the total "laogai" population, a population which includes practitioners who are currently being held in re-education through labor camps as well as practitioners who are currently being held in prisons and other forms of administrative detention. Former detainees of the labor camp system have reported that Falun Gong practitioners comprise one of the largest groups of prisoners; in some labor camp and prison facilities, they comprise the majority of the detainees, and they are often said to receive the longest sentences and the worst treatment. A 2013 report on labor reeducation camps by Amnesty International found that in some cases, Falun Gong practitioners "constituted on average from one third to 100 per cent of the total population" of certain camps. +According to Johnson, the campaign against Falun Gong extends to many aspects of society, including the media apparatus, the police force, the military, the education system, and workplaces. An extra-constitutional body, the "610 Office" was created to oversee the effort. Human Rights Watch (2002) commented that families and workplace employees were urged to cooperate with the government. Scholar Andrew Junker noted in 2019 that "Falun Gong ranks as one of, and by some measures perhaps the most, severely persecuted groups in the reform era." + +=== Causes === +Observers have attempted to explain the CCP's rationale for banning Falun Gong as stemming from a variety of factors. Many of these explanations centre on institutional causes, such as Falun Gong's size and popularity, its independence from the state, and internal politics within the Chinese government. Other scholars have noted that Chinese authorities were troubled by Falun Gong's moral and spiritual content, which put it at odds with aspects of the official Marxist ideology. Still others have pointed to China's history of bloody sectarian revolts as a possible factor leading to the crackdown. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-12.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-12.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6f4459337 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-12.md @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 13/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Xinhua News Agency, the official news organization of the Chinese government, declared that Falun Gong is "opposed to the Communist Party of China and the central government, preaches idealism, theism and feudal superstition". Xinhua also asserted that "the so-called 'truth, kindness and forbearance' principle preached by [Falun Gong] has nothing in common with the socialist ethical and cultural progress we are striving to achieve", and it also argued that it was necessary to crush Falun Gong in order to preserve the "vanguard role and purity" of the Chinese Communist Party. Other articles which appeared in the state-run media in the first days and weeks after the ban was imposed posited that Falun Gong must be defeated because its "theistic" philosophy was at odds with the Marxist–Leninist paradigm and the secular values of materialism. +Willy Wo-Lap Lam writes that Jiang Zemin's campaign against Falun Gong may have been used to promote allegiance to himself; Lam quotes one party veteran as saying "by unleashing a Mao-style movement [against Falun Gong], Jiang is forcing senior cadres to pledge allegiance to his line". The Washington Post reported that sources indicated not all of the Politburo Standing Committee shared Jiang's view that Falun Gong should be eradicated, and Jiang alone made the decision of crackdown. +Human Rights Watch commented that the crackdown on Falun Gong reflects historical efforts by the CCP to eradicate religion, which the government believes is inherently subversive. The Chinese government protects five "patriotic", state-sanctioned religious groups. Unregistered religions that fall outside the state-sanctioned organizations are thus vulnerable to suppression. The Globe and Mail wrote: "any group that does not come under the control of the Party is a threat". Craig S. Smith of The New York Times wrote that the CCP feels increasingly threatened by any belief system that challenges its ideology and has an ability to organize itself. That Falun Gong, whose belief system represented a revival of traditional Chinese religion, was being practiced by a large number of Communist Party members and members of the military was seen as particularly disturbing to Jiang; according to Julia Ching, "Jiang accepts the threat of Falun Gong as an ideological one: spiritual beliefs against militant atheism and historical materialism. He [wished] to purge the government and the military of such beliefs." +Yuezhi Zhao points to several other factors that may have led to a deterioration of the relationship between Falun Gong and the Chinese state and media. These included infighting within China's qigong establishment, the influence of qigong opponents among leaders of China, and the struggles from mid-1996 to mid-1999 between Falun Gong and the Chinese power elite over the status and treatment of the movement. According to Zhao, Falun Gong practitioners have established a "resistance identity"—one that stands against prevailing pursuits of wealth, power, scientific rationality, and "the entire value system associated with China's project of modernization". In China the practice represented an indigenous spiritual and moral tradition, a cultural revitalization movement, and it was a sharp contrast to "Marxism with Chinese characteristics". +Vivienne Shue similarly writes that Falun Gong presented a comprehensive challenge to the CCP's legitimacy. Shue argues that Chinese rulers have historically derived their legitimacy from their claim to possess an exclusive connection to the "Truth". In imperial China, truth was based on a Confucian and Daoist cosmology, where in the case of the Communist Party, the truth is represented by Marxist–Leninism and historical materialism. Falun Gong challenged the Marxist–Leninism paradigm, reviving an understanding which is based on more traditionally Buddhist or Daoist conceptions. David Ownby contends that Falun Gong also challenged the Communist Party's hegemony over the Chinese nationalist discourse: "[Falun Gong's] evocation of a different vision of Chinese tradition and its contemporary values are now so threatening to the state and the party because it denies them the sole right to define the meaning of Chinese nationalism, and it even denies them the sole right to define the meaning of Chineseness." +Maria Chang commented that since the overthrow of the Qin dynasty, "Millenarian movements had exerted a profound impact on the course of Chinese history", culminating in the Chinese Communist Revolution, which brought the CCP to power. Patsy Rahn (2002) describes a paradigm of conflict between Chinese sectarian groups and the rulers who they often challenge. According to Rahn, the history of this paradigm goes back to the collapse of the Han dynasty: "The pattern of a ruling power keeping a watchful eye on sectarian groups, at times threatened by them, at times raising campaigns against them, began as early as the second century and continued throughout the dynastic period, through the Mao era and into the present." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-13.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-13.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fcd4e7506 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-13.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 14/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Conversion programs === +According to James Tong, the regime aimed at both coercive dissolution of the Falun Gong denomination and "transformation" of the practitioners. By 2000, the CCP escalated its campaign by sentencing practitioners who returned to Falun Dafa activities after previous detention to "re-education through labor" in an effort to have them renounce their beliefs and "transform" their thoughts. Terms were also arbitrarily extended by police, while some practitioners had ambiguous charges levied against them, such as "disrupting social order", "endangering national security", or "subverting the socialist system". According to Bejesky, the majority of long-term Falun Gong detainees are processed administratively through this system instead of the criminal justice system. Upon completion of their re-education sentences, those practitioners who refused to recant were then incarcerated in "legal education centers" set up by provincial authorities to "transform minds". +Much of the conversion program relied on Mao-style techniques of indoctrination and thought reform, where Falun Gong practitioners were organized to view anti-Falun Gong television programs and enroll in Marxism and materialism study sessions. Traditional Marxism and materialism were the core content of the sessions. According to Yanfei Sun of China’s state-run Zhejiang University, conversion programs also included study of Buddhist writings and the Confucian primer The Codes of Conduct for Students and Children. +The government-sponsored image of the conversion process emphasizes psychological persuasion and a variety of "soft-sell" techniques; this is the "ideal norm" in regime reports, according to Tong. Falun Gong reports, on the other hand, depict "disturbing and sinister" forms of coercion against practitioners who fail to renounce their beliefs. Among them are cases of severe beatings; psychological torment, corporal punishment and forced intense, heavy-burden hard labor and stress positions; solitary confinement in squalid conditions; "heat treatment" including burning and freezing; electric shocks delivered to sensitive parts of the body that may result in nausea, convulsions, or fainting; "devastative" forced feeding; sticking bamboo strips into fingernails; deprivation of food, sleep, and use of toilet; rape and gang rape; asphyxiation; and threat, extortion, and termination of employment and student status. +The cases appear verifiable, and the great majority identify (1) the individual practitioner, often with age, occupation, and residence; (2) the time and location that the alleged abuse took place, down to the level of the district, township, village, and often the specific jail institution; and (3) the names and ranks of the alleged perpetrators. Many such reports include lists of the names of witnesses and descriptions of injuries, Tong says. The publication of "persistent abusive, often brutal behavior by named individuals with their official title, place, and time of torture" suggests that there is no official will to cease and desist such activities. + +=== Deaths === +Due to the difficulty in corroborating reports of torture deaths in China, estimates of the number of Falun Gong practitioners who have been killed as a result of the persecution vary widely. In 2009, The New York Times reported that, according to human rights groups, the repressions had claimed "at least 2,000" lives. Amnesty International said at least 100 Falun Gong practitioners had reportedly died in the 2008 calendar year, either in custody or shortly after their release. Investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann estimated 65,000 Falun Gong were killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008 based on extensive interviews, while researchers David Kilgour and David Matas reported, "the source of 41,500 transplants for the six-year period 2000 to 2005 is unexplained". +Chinese authorities do not publish statistics on Falun Gong practitioners killed amidst the crackdown. In individual cases, however, authorities have denied that deaths in custody were due to torture. + +=== Forced organ harvesting allegations === + +In 2006, allegations emerged that a large number of Falun Gong practitioners had been killed to supply China's organ transplant industry. These allegations prompted an investigation by former Canadian Secretary of State David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas. +The Kilgour-Matas report was published in July 2006, and concluded that "the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular hospitals but also detention centers and 'people's courts', since 1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience." The report, which was based mainly on circumstantial evidence, called attention to the extremely short wait times for organs in China—one to two weeks for a liver compared with 32.5 months in Canada—implying it was indicative of organs being procured on demand. It also tracked a significant increase in the number of annual organ transplants in China beginning in 1999, corresponding with the onset of the persecution of Falun Gong. Despite very low levels of voluntary organ donation, China performs the second-highest number of transplants per year. Kilgour and Matas also presented self-accusatory material from Chinese transplant center web sites advertising the immediate availability of organs from living donors, and transcripts of interviews in which hospitals told prospective transplant recipients that they could obtain Falun Gong organs. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-14.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-14.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..75dca2518 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-14.md @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 15/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In May 2008 two United Nations Special Rapporteurs reiterated requests for the Chinese authorities to respond to the allegations, and to explain a source for the organs that would account for the sudden increase in organ transplants in China since 2000. Chinese officials have responded by denying the organ harvesting allegations, and insisting that China abides by World Health Organization principles that prohibit the sale of human organs without written consent from donors. Responding to a U.S. House of Representatives Resolution calling for an end to abusing transplant practices against religious and ethnic minorities, a Chinese embassy spokesperson said "the so-called organ harvesting from death-row prisoners is totally a lie fabricated by Falun Gong." In August 2009, Manfred Nowak, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, said, "The Chinese government has yet to come clean and be transparent ... It remains to be seen how it could be possible that organ transplant surgeries in Chinese hospitals have risen massively since 1999, while there are never that many voluntary donors available." +In 2014, investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann published the result of his own investigation. Gutmann conducted extensive interviews with former detainees in Chinese labor camps and prisons, as well as former security officers and medical professionals with knowledge of China's transplant practices. He reported that organ harvesting from political prisoners likely began in Xinjiang province in the 1990s, and then spread nationwide. Gutmann estimates that some 64,000 Falun Gong prisoners may have been killed for their organs between 2000 and 2008. +In a 2016 report, David Kilgour found that he had underestimated. In the new report he found that the government's official estimates for the volume of organs harvested since the persecution of Falun Gong began to be 150,000 to 200,000. Media outlets have extrapolated from this study a death toll of 1.5 million. Ethan Gutmann estimated from this update that 60,000 to 110,000 organs are harvested in China annually, observing that it is (paraphrasing) "difficult but plausible to harvest 3 organs from a single body" and also calls the harvest "a new form of genocide using the most respected members of society". +In June 2019, the China Tribunal— a non-governmental tribunal set up by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China—concluded that detainees including imprisoned followers of the Falun Gong movement are still being killed for organ harvesting. The Tribunal, chaired by British barrister Geoffrey Nice, said it was "certain that Falun Gong as a source—probably the principal source—of organs for forced organ harvesting". +In June 2021, the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council voiced concerns over having "received credible information that detainees from ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities may be forcibly subjected to blood tests and organ examinations such as ultrasound and x-rays, without their informed consent; while other prisoners are not required to undergo such examinations." The press release stated that UN's human rights experts "were extremely alarmed by reports of alleged 'organ harvesting' targeting minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims and Christians, in detention in China." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-15.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-15.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6d82d825d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-15.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 16/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Media campaign === +The Chinese government's campaign against Falun Gong was driven by large-scale propaganda through television, newspapers, radio and internet. The propaganda campaign focused on allegations that Falun Gong jeopardized social stability, was deceiving and dangerous, was anti-science and threatened progress, and argued that Falun Gong's moral philosophy was incompatible with a Marxist social ethic. +China scholars Daniel Wright and Joseph Fewsmith stated that for several months after Falun Gong was outlawed, China Central Television's evening news contained little but anti-Falun Gong rhetoric, and that the government operation was "a study in all-out demonization". Falun Gong was compared to "a rat crossing the street that everyone shouts out to squash" by Beijing Daily; other officials said it would be a "long-term, complex and serious" struggle to "eradicate" Falun Gong. +State propaganda initially used the appeal of scientific rationalism to argue that Falun Gong's worldview was in "complete opposition to science" and communism. For example, the People's Daily asserted on 27 July 1999, that the fight against Falun Gong "was a struggle between theism and atheism, superstition and science, idealism and materialism". Other editorials declared that Falun Gong's "idealism and theism" are "absolutely contradictory to the fundamental theories and principles of Marxism", and that the "'truth, kindness and forbearance' principle preached by [Falun Gong] has nothing in common with the socialist ethical and cultural progress we are striving to achieve." Suppressing Falun Gong was presented as a necessary step to maintaining the "vanguard role" of the CCP in Chinese society. +Despite Party efforts, initial charges leveled against Falun Gong failed to elicit widespread popular support for the persecution of the group. In the months following July 1999, the rhetoric in the state-run press escalated to include charges that Falun Gong was colluding with foreign, "anti-China" forces. In October 1999, three months after the persecution began, the People's Daily newspaper claimed Falun Gong as a xiejiao (邪教). A direct translation of that term is "heretical teaching", but during the anti-Falun Gong propaganda campaign was rendered as "evil cult" in English. According to a Washington Post report, it was Jiang Zemin who issued the order to label Falun Gong a "cult". In mainland China, the term xiejiao has been used to target religious organizations that do not submit to CCP authority. +Ian Johnson argued that applying the 'cult' label to Falun Gong effectively "cloaked the government's crackdown with the legitimacy of the West's anticult movement". He wrote that Falun Gong does not satisfy common definitions of a cult: "its members marry outside the group, have outside friends, hold normal jobs, do not live isolated from society, do not believe that the world's end is imminent and do not give significant amounts of money to the organisation ... it does not advocate violence and is at heart an apolitical, inward-oriented discipline, one aimed at cleansing oneself spiritually and improving one's health." David Ownby similarly wrote that "the entire issue of the supposed cultic nature of Falun Gong was a red herring from the beginning, cleverly exploited by the Chinese state to blunt the appeal of Falun Gong". According to John Powers and Meg Y. M. Lee, because the Falun Gong was categorized in the popular perception as an "apolitical, qigong exercise club", it was not seen as a threat to the government. The most critical strategy in the Falun Gong suppression campaign, therefore, was to convince people to reclassify the Falun Gong into a number of "negatively charged religious labels", like "evil cult", "sect", or "superstition". The group's silent protests were reclassified as creating "social disturbances". In this process of relabelling, the government was attempting to tap into a "deep reservoir of negative feelings related to the historical role of quasi-religious cults as a destabilising force in Chinese political history". +A turning point in the propaganda campaign came on the eve of Chinese New Year on 23 January 2001, when five people attempted to set themselves ablaze on Tiananmen Square. The official Chinese press agency, Xinhua News Agency, and other state media asserted that the self-immolators were practitioners, though the Falun Dafa Information Center disputed this, on the grounds that the movement's teachings explicitly forbid suicide and killing, further alleging that the event was "a cruel (but clever) piece of stunt-work". The incident received international news coverage, and video footage of the burnings were broadcast later inside China by China Central Television (CCTV). The broadcasts showed images of a 12-year-old girl, Liu Siying, burning, and interviews with the other participants in which they stated a belief that self-immolation would lead them to paradise. But one of the CNN producers on the scene did not even see a child there. Falun Gong sources and other commentators pointed out that the main participants' account of the incident and other aspects of the participants' behavior were inconsistent with Falun Gong's teachings. Media Channel and the International Education Development (IED) agree that the supposed self-immolation incident was staged by CCP to "prove" that Falun Gong brainwashes its followers to commit suicide and has therefore to be banned as a threat to the nation. IED's statement at the 53rd UN session describes China's violent assault on Falun Gong practitioners as state terrorism and that the self-immolation "was staged by the government". Washington Post journalist Phillip Pan wrote that the two self-immolators who died were not actually Falun Gong practitioners. On 21 March 2001, Liu Siying suddenly died after appearing very lively and being deemed ready to leave the hospital to go home. Time reported that prior to the self-immolation incident, many Chinese had felt that Falun Gong posed no real threat, and that the state's crackdown had gone too far. After the event, however, the mainland Chinese media campaign against Falun Gong gained significant traction. As public sympathy for Falun Gong declined, the government began sanctioning "systematic use of violence" against the group. +In February 2001, the month following the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident, Jiang Zemin convened a rare Central Work Conference to stress the importance of continuity in the anti-Falun Gong campaign and unite senior party officials behind the effort. Under Jiang's leadership, the crackdown on Falun Gong became part of the Chinese political ethos of "upholding stability"—much the same rhetoric employed by the CCP during 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Jiang's message was echoed at the 2001 National People's Congress, where the Falun Gong's eradication was tied to China's economic progress. Though less prominent on the national agenda, the persecution of Falun Gong has carried on after Jiang was retired; successive, high-level "strike hard" campaigns against Falun Gong were initiated in both 2008 and 2009. In 2010, a three-year campaign was launched to renew attempts at the coercive "transformation" of Falun Gong practitioners. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-16.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-16.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..88b8d695e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-16.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 17/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== In the education system ==== +Anti-Falun Gong propaganda efforts have also permeated the Chinese education system. Following Jiang's 1999 ban of Falun Gong, then-Minister of Education Chen Zhili launched an active campaign to promote the CCP's line on Falun Gong within all levels of academic institutions, including graduate schools, universities and colleges, middle schools, primary schools, and kindergartens. Her efforts included a "Cultural Revolution-like pledge" in Chinese schools that required faculty members, staff, and students to publicly denounce Falun Gong. Teachers who did not comply with Chen's program were dismissed or detained; uncooperative students were refused academic advancement, expelled from school, or sent to "transformation" camps to alter their thinking. Chen also worked to spread the anti-Falun Gong academic propaganda movement overseas, using domestic educational funding to donate aid to foreign institutions, encouraging them to oppose Falun Gong. + +=== Falun Gong's response to the persecution === + +Falun Gong's response to the persecution in China began in July 1999 with appeals to local, provincial, and central petitioning offices in Beijing. It soon progressed to larger demonstrations, with hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners traveling daily to Tiananmen Square to perform Falun Gong exercises or raise banners in defense of the practice. These demonstrations were invariably broken up by security forces, and the practitioners involved were arrested—sometimes violently—and detained. By 25 April 2000, a total of more than 30,000 practitioners had been arrested on the square; seven hundred Falun Gong followers were arrested during a demonstration in the square on 1 January 2001. Public protests continued well into 2001. Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Ian Johnson wrote that "Falun Gong faithful have mustered what is arguably the most sustained challenge to authority in 50 years of Communist rule." Jiang Zemin reportedly described Falun Gong as the biggest political issue in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. +Falun Gong asserted that its struggle with the CCP amounted to a struggle of good versus evil. Falun Gong called on Chinese to denounce affiliations with the CCP, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers. Falun Gong instructed its adherents in China to "tell the truth" (jiang zhenxiangh), which would advance their progress towards Consummation and fulfill their roles in saving humankind. The primary means of "telling the truth" included circulating pamphlets and video to publicize the persecution and suppression of Falun Gong by the state. +By late 2001, demonstrations in Tiananmen Square had become less frequent, and the practice was driven deeper underground. As public protest fell out of favor, practitioners established underground "material sites", which would produce literature and DVDs to counter the portrayal of Falun Gong in the official media. Practitioners then distribute these materials, often door-to-door. Falun Gong sources estimated in 2009 that over 200,000 such sites exist across China today. The production, possession, or distribution of these materials is frequently grounds for security agents to incarcerate or sentence Falun Gong practitioners. +In 2002, Falun Gong activists in China tapped into television broadcasts, replacing regular state-run programming with their own content. One of the more notable instances occurred in March 2002, when Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun intercepted eight cable television networks in Jilin Province, and for nearly an hour, televised a program titled "Self-Immolation or a Staged Act?". All six of the Falun Gong practitioners involved were captured over the next few months. Two were killed immediately, while the other four were all dead by 2010 as a result of injuries sustained while imprisoned. +Outside China, Falun Gong practitioners established international media organizations to gain wider exposure for their cause and challenge narratives of the Chinese state-run media. These include The Epoch Times newspaper, New Tang Dynasty Television, and Sound of Hope radio station. According to Zhao, through The Epoch Times it can be discerned how Falun Gong is building a "de facto media alliance" with China's democracy movements in exile, as demonstrated by its frequent printing of articles by prominent overseas Chinese critics of the PRC government. In 2004, The Epoch Times published a collection of nine editorials that presented a critical history of the Chinese Communist Party. This catalyzed the Tuidang movement, which encourages Chinese citizens to renounce their affiliations to the Chinese Communist Party, including ex post facto renunciations of the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. The Epoch Times claims that tens of millions have renounced the Chinese Communist Party as part of the movement, though these numbers have not been independently verified. +In 2006, Falun Gong practitioners in the United States formed Shen Yun Performing Arts, a dance and music company that tours internationally. During Shen Yun's 2024 season, the company's eight touring troupes performed over 800 shows on five continents. By 2024, Shen Yun accumulated $266 million in assets mainly through ticket sales and by keeping its costs down through numerous volunteer hours and sometimes personal savings of Falun Gong adherents. +Falun Gong software developers in the United States are also responsible for the creation of several popular censorship-circumvention tools employed by internet users in China. +Falun Gong practitioners outside China have filed dozens of lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Bo Xilai, and other Chinese officials alleging genocide and crimes against humanity. According to International Advocates for Justice, Falun Gong has filed the largest number of human rights lawsuits in the 21st century and the charges are among the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws. As of 2006, 54 civil and criminal lawsuits were under way in 33 countries. In many instances, courts have refused to adjudicate the cases on the grounds of sovereign immunity. In late 2009, however, separate courts in Spain and Argentina indicted Jiang and Luo on charges of "crimes of humanity" and genocide, and asked for their arrest—the ruling is acknowledged to be largely symbolic and unlikely to be carried out. The court in Spain also indicted Bo Xilai, Jia Qinglin and Wu Guanzheng. +Falun Gong practitioners and their supporters also filed a lawsuit in May 2011 against the technology company Cisco Systems, alleging that the company helped design and implement a surveillance system for the Chinese government to suppress Falun Gong. Cisco denied customizing their technology for this purpose. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the lawsuit in September 2014. In July 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and ruled the lawsuit may proceed to trial. Cisco filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2025. +Sociologist Andrew Junker described Falun Gong's nonviolent resistance to the persecution as the "most well-organized and tenacious grassroots Chinese protest movement ever to challenge the CCP". He argued that Falun Gong's more effective and enduring mobilization, compared to the pro-democracy movement (minyun), is due in part to its decentralized organizational structure and emphasis on individual initiative. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-17.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-17.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e5a9041fc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-17.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 18/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Falun Gong outside China == + +Li Hongzhi began teaching Falun Gong internationally in March 1995. His first stop was in Paris where, at the invitation of the Chinese ambassador, he held a lecture seminar at the PRC embassy. This was followed by lectures in Sweden in May 1995. Between 1995 and 1999, Li gave lectures in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, and Singapore. +Falun Gong's growth outside China largely corresponded to the migration of students from mainland China to the West in the early-to-mid-1990s. Falun Gong associations and clubs began appearing in Europe, North America and Australia, with activities centered mainly on university campuses. +Translations of Falun Gong teachings began appearing in the late 1990s. As the practice began proliferating outside China, Li was beginning to receive recognition in the United States and elsewhere in the western world. In May 1999, Li was welcomed to Toronto with greetings from the city's mayor and the provincial lieutenant governor, and in the two months that followed also received recognition from the cities of Chicago and San Jose. +Although the practice was beginning to attract an overseas constituency in the 1990s, it remained relatively unknown outside China until the Spring of 1999, when tensions between Falun Gong and the CCP became a subject of international media coverage. With the increased attention, the practice gained a greater following outside China. Following the launch of the CCP's suppression campaign against Falun Gong, the overseas presence became vital to the practice's resistance in China and its continued survival. Falun Gong practitioners overseas have responded to the persecution in China through regular demonstrations, parades, and through the creation of media outlets, performing arts companies, and censorship-circumvention software mainly intended to reach mainland Chinese audiences. +In its study of transnational repression committed by governments, Freedom House has reported that practitioners of Falun Gong have been targeted by the Chinese government's transnational repression campaign. According to The Diplomat, Xi Jinping reportedly directed CCP officials in 2022 to intensify efforts to "completely, and on an international scale, suppress Falun Gong's momentum" by shaping global public opinion and using legal warfare against Falun Gong organizations abroad, including in the United States. +In 2023, two unregistered PRC agents, were indicted for bribing an IRS official to manipulate the IRS whistleblower program against Shen Yun Performing Arts in order to strip its tax-exempt status. Both were sentenced in 2024. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-18.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-18.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..62ddeca78 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-18.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 19/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== International reception == +Since 1999, numerous Western governments and human rights organizations have expressed condemnation of the Chinese government's suppression of Falun Gong. Since 1999, members of the United States Congress have made public pronouncements and introduced several resolutions in support of Falun Gong. In 2010, U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 605 called for "an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners", condemned the Chinese authorities' efforts to distribute "false propaganda" about the practice worldwide, and expressed sympathy to persecuted Falun Gong practitioners and their families. +Adam Frank writes that in reporting on the Falun Gong, the Western tradition of casting the Chinese as "exotic" took dominance, and that while the facts were generally correct in Western media coverage, "the normalcy that millions of Chinese practitioners associated with the practice had all but disappeared." David Ownby wrote that alongside these tactics, the "cult" label applied to Falun Gong by the Chinese authorities never entirely went away in the minds of some Westerners, and the stigma still plays a role in wary public perceptions of Falun Gong. +To counter the support of Falun Gong in the West, the Chinese government expanded their efforts against the group internationally. This included visits to newspaper officers by diplomats to "extol the virtues of Communist China and the evils of Falun Gong", linking support for Falun Gong with "jeopardizing trade relations", and sending letters to local politicians telling them to withdraw support for the practice. According to Perry Link, pressure on Western institutions also takes more subtle forms, including academic self-censorship, whereby research on Falun Gong could result in a denial of visa for fieldwork in China; or exclusion and discrimination from business and community groups who have connections with China and fear angering Chinese government. +Although the persecution of Falun Gong has drawn condemnation outside China, some observers assert that Falun Gong has failed to attract the level of sympathy and sustained attention afforded to other Chinese dissident groups. +Ethan Gutmann, a journalist reporting on China since the early 1990s, has attempted to explain this apparent dearth of public sympathy for Falun Gong as stemming, in part, from the group's shortcomings in public relations. Unlike the democracy activists or Tibetans, who have found a comfortable place in Western perceptions, "Falun Gong marched to a distinctly Chinese drum", Gutmann writes. Moreover, practitioners' attempts at getting their message across carried some of the uncouthness of Communist Party culture, including a perception that practitioners tended to exaggerate, create "torture tableaux straight out of a Cultural Revolution opera", or "spout slogans rather than facts". Gutmann also says that media organizations and human rights groups also self-censor on the topic, given the PRC governments vehement attitude toward the practice, and the potential repercussions that may follow for making overt representations on Falun Gong's behalf. +Richard Madsen writes that Falun Gong lacks robust backing from the American constituencies that usually support religious freedom. For instance, Falun Gong's conservative moral beliefs have alienated some liberal constituencies in the West (e.g. its teachings against promiscuity and homosexual behavior). He also states that Christian conservatives do not support Falun Gong while they do support Chinese Christians. Madsen charges that the American political center does not want to push the human rights issue so hard that it would disrupt commercial and political relations with China. Thus, Falun Gong practitioners have largely had to rely on their own resources in responding to suppression. +In August 2007, the newly reestablished Rabbinic Sanhedrin deliberated persecution of the movement by the Chinese government at the request of Falun Gong. +Sociologist Andrew Junker stated that "secularist biases" and the risk of "severe professional sanction" by the Chinese government are two primary factors that distort Western scholars' understanding of Falun Gong. He wrote: "The combined result of these two factors is a kind of blindness. As we try to stand outside the historical episode of Falun Gong and peer in, it is as if one of our eyes has been poked out by the Chinese state, whereas we cover the other eye with our own hand." + +== See also == + +Freedom of religion in China +Human rights in China +List of new religious movements + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Bibliography == + +== External links == + +Official website \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9a78beb2e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 3/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In addition to its moral philosophy, Falun Gong consists of four standing exercises and one sitting meditation. The exercises are regarded as secondary to moral elevation, though are still an essential component of Falun Gong cultivation practice. +The first exercises, called "Buddha Stretching a Thousand Arms", are intended to facilitate the free flow of energy through the body and open up the meridians. The second exercise, "Falun Standing Stance", involves holding four static poses—each of which resembles holding a wheel—for an extended period. The objective of this exercise is to "enhances wisdom, increases strength, raises a person's level, and strengthens divine powers". The third, "Penetrating the Cosmic Extremes", involves three sets of movements, which aim to enable the expulsion of bad energy (e.g., pathogenic or black qi) and the absorption of good energy into the body. Through practice of this exercise, the practitioner aspires to cleanse and purify the body. The fourth exercise, "Falun Cosmic Orbit", seeks to circulate energy freely throughout the body. Unlike the first through fourth exercises, the fifth exercise is performed in the seated lotus position. Called "Reinforcing Supernatural Powers", it is a meditation intended to be maintained as long as possible. +Falun Gong exercises can be practiced individually or in group settings, and can be performed for varying lengths of time in accordance with the needs and abilities of the individual practitioner. Porter writes that practitioners of Falun Gong are encouraged to read Falun Gong books and practice its exercises on a regular basis, preferably daily. Falun Gong exercises are practiced in group settings in parks, university campuses, and other public spaces in over 70 countries worldwide, and are taught for free by volunteers. In addition to five exercises, in 2001 another meditation activity was introduced called "sending righteous thoughts", which is intended to reduce persecution on the spiritual plane. +Discussions of supernatural skills also feature prominently within the qigong movement, and the existence of these skills gained a level of mainstream acceptance in China's scientific community in the 1980s.Falun Gong's teachings hold that practitioners can acquire supernatural skills through a combination of moral cultivation, meditation and exercises. These include—but are not limited to—precognition, clairaudience, telepathy, and divine sight (via the opening of the third eye or celestial eye). However, Falun Gong stresses that these powers can be developed only as a result of moral practice, and should not be pursued or casually displayed. According to David Ownby, Falun Gong teaches that "pride in one's abilities, or the desire to show off, are marks of dangerous attachments", and Li warns his followers not to be distracted by the pursuit of such powers. + +=== Social practices === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b3ea6893e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 4/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Falun Gong differentiates itself from Buddhist monastic traditions in that it places great importance on participation in the secular world. Falun Gong practitioners are required to maintain regular jobs and family lives, to observe the laws of their respective governments, and are instructed not to distance themselves from society. An exception is made for Buddhist Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunīs, who are permitted to continue a monastic lifestyle while practicing Falun Gong. +As part of its emphasis on ethical behavior, Falun Gong's teachings prescribe a strict personal morality for practitioners. They are expected to do good deeds, and conduct themselves with patience and forbearance when encountering difficulties. For instance, Li stipulates that a practitioner of Falun Gong must "not hit back when attacked, not talk back when insulted." In addition, they must "abandon negative thoughts and behaviors", such as greed, deception, jealousy, etc. The teachings contain injunctions against smoking and the consumption of alcohol, as these are considered addictions that are detrimental to health and mental clarity. Practitioners of Falun Gong are forbidden to kill living things—including animals for the purpose of obtaining food—though they are not required to adopt a vegetarian diet. +In addition to these things, practitioners of Falun Gong must abandon a variety of worldly attachments and desires. In the course of cultivation practice, the student of Falun Gong aims to relinquish the pursuit of fame, monetary gain, sentimentality, and other entanglements. Li's teachings repeatedly emphasize the emptiness of material pursuits; although practitioners of Falun Gong are not encouraged to leave their jobs or eschew money, they are expected to give up the psychological attachments to these things. +Falun Gong doctrine counsels against participation in political or social issues. Excessive interest in politics is viewed as an attachment to worldly power and influence, and Falun Gong aims for transcendence of such pursuits. According to Hu Ping, "Falun Gong deals only with purifying the individual through exercise, and does not touch on social or national concerns. It has not suggested or even intimated a model for social change. Many religions [...] pursue social reform to some extent [...] but there is no such tendency evident in Falun Gong." +Sexual desire and lust are treated as attachments to be discarded, though Falun Gong students are still generally expected to marry and have families. All sexual relations outside the confines of monogamous, heterosexual marriage are regarded as immoral. +Li Hongzhi taught that homosexuality makes one "unworthy of being human", creates bad karma, and is comparable to organized crime. He also taught that "disgusting homosexuality shows the dirty abnormal psychology of the gay who has lost his ability of reasoning", and that homosexuality is a "filthy, deviant state of mind". Li additionally stated in a 1998 speech in Switzerland that the gods' "first target of annihilation would be homosexuals". Although gay, lesbian, and bisexual people may practice Falun Gong, founder Li stated that they must "give up the bad conduct" of all same-sex sexual activity. +Falun Gong's cosmology includes the belief that different ethnicities each have a correspondence to their own heavens, and that individuals of mixed race lose some aspect of this connection. Falun Gong's teachings include belief in reincarnation and that one's soul (original spirit) always maintains single racial identity despite having a body of mixed race. Investigative journalist Ethan Gutmann noted that interracial marriage is common in the Falun Gong community. + +=== Texts === +Li Hongzhi authored the first book of Falun Gong teachings in April 1993; titled China Falun Gong, or simply Falun Gong, it is an introductory text that discusses qigong, Falun Gong's relationship to Buddhism, the principles of cultivation practice, and the improvement of moral character (xinxing). The book also provides illustrations and explanations of the exercises and meditation. +The main body of teachings is articulated in the book Zhuan Falun, published in Chinese in January 1995. The book is divided into nine "lectures", and was based on edited transcriptions of the talks Li gave throughout China in the preceding three years. Falun Gong texts have since been translated into an additional 40 languages. +The Falun Gong teachings use numerous untranslated Chinese religious and philosophical terms, and make frequent allusion to characters and incidents in Chinese folk literature and concepts drawn from Chinese folk religion. This, coupled with the literal translation style of the texts, which imitate the colloquial style of Li's speeches, can make Falun Gong scriptures difficult to approach for Westerners. + +=== Symbols === +The main symbol of the practice is the Falun (Dharma wheel, or Dharmacakra in Sanskrit). In Buddhism, the Dharmacakra represents the completeness of the doctrine. To "turn the wheel of dharma" (Zhuan Falun) means to preach the Buddhist doctrine, and is the title of Falun Gong's main text. Despite the invocation of Buddhist language and symbols, the law wheel as understood in Falun Gong has distinct connotations, and is held to represent the universe. It is conceptualized by an emblem consisting of one large and four small (counter-clockwise) swastika symbols, representing the Buddha, and four small Taiji (yin-yang) symbols of the Daoist tradition. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..980ed8673 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 5/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Dharma-ending period === +Li situates his teaching of Falun Gong amidst the "Dharma-ending period" (Mo Fa, 末法), described in Buddhist scriptures as an age of moral decline when the teachings of Buddhism would need to be rectified. The current era is described in Falun Gong's teachings as the "Fa rectification" period (zhengfa, which might also be translated as "to correct the dharma"), a time of cosmic transition and renewal. The process of Fa rectification is necessitated by the moral decline and degeneration of life in the universe, and in the post-1999 context, the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government has come to be viewed as a tangible symptom of this moral decay. Through the process of the Fa rectification, life will be reordered according to the moral and spiritual quality of each, with good people being saved and ascending to higher spiritual planes, and bad ones being eliminated or cast down. In this paradigm, Li assumes the role of rectifying the Dharma by disseminating through his moral teachings. +Some scholars, such as Maria Hsia Chang and Susan Palmer, have described Li's rhetoric about the "Fa rectification" and providing salvation "in the final period of the Last Havoc" as apocalyptic. However, Benjamin Penny, a professor of Chinese history at the Australian National University, argues that Li's teachings are better understood in the context of a "Buddhist notion of the cycle of the Dharma or the Buddhist law". Richard Gunde wrote that, unlike apocalyptic groups in the West, Falun Gong does not fixate on death or the end of the world, and instead "has a simple, innocuous ethical message". Li Hongzhi does not discuss a "time of reckoning", and has rejected predictions of an impending apocalypse in his teachings. + +=== Extraterrestrials === +According to Yanfei Sun, Falun Gong incorporates beliefs about extraterrestrials and prehistorical civilizations; these parascientific beliefs had come to China from the West at the time that Falun Gong was developing. +Li in the 1990s repeated claims that aliens were responsible for scientific inventions through the manipulation of scientists. For example, in a 1999 interview with Time, Li attributed the invention of computers and airplanes to extraterrestrials, as well as war and violence. However, his position on aliens seemed fairly inconsistent to observers Graeme Lang and Lu Yunfeng. In the Time interview, Li believed that aliens were attempting to replace humans through a cloning process, in which human bodies would be cloned with no soul, so that the aliens can replace the soul and inhabit human bodies (which to him are perfect). +Li Hongzhi alleged that extraterrestrials disguise themselves as humans to corrupt and manipulate humanity. According to an ABC investigation, while some practitioners stated that this was metaphorical, a former member said she was taught it as literal truth. + +== Categorization == +Scholars describe Falun Gong as a new religious movement. While commonly described by scholars as a new religious movement, adherents may reject this term. Yuezhi Zhao describes Falun Gong as "a multifaceted and totalizing movement that means different things to different people, ranging from a set of physical exercises and a praxis of transformation to a moral philosophy and a new knowledge system." +In the cultural context of China, Falun Gong is generally described either as a system of qigong, or a type of "cultivation practice" (xiulian), a process by which an individual seeks spiritual perfection, often through both physical and moral conditioning. Varieties of cultivation practice are found throughout Chinese history, spanning Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian traditions. Benjamin Penny writes "the best way to describe Falun Gong is as a cultivation system. Cultivation systems have been a feature of Chinese life for at least 2,500 years." Qigong practices can also be understood as a part of a broader tradition of "cultivation practice". +In the West, Falun Gong is frequently classified as a religion on the basis of its theological and moral teachings, its concerns with spiritual cultivation and transformation, and its extensive body of scripture. Falun Gong practitioners themselves have sometimes disavowed this classification, however. This rejection reflects the relatively narrow definition of "religion" in contemporary China. According to David Ownby, religion in China has been defined since 1912 to refer to "world-historical faiths" that have "well-developed institutions, clergy, and textual traditions"—namely, Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. Moreover, if Falun Gong had described itself as a religion in China, it likely would have invited immediate suppression. These historical and cultural circumstances notwithstanding, the practice has often been described as a form of Chinese religion. + +== Media influence operations == + +The performance arts group Shen Yun and the media organization The Epoch Times are the major outreach organizations of Falun Gong. Both promote the spiritual and political teachings of Falun Gong. They and a variety of other organizations such as New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD) operate as extensions of Falun Gong. These extensions promote the new religious movement and its teachings. In the case of The Epoch Times, they also promote conspiracy theories such as QAnon and anti-vaccine misinformation and far-right politics in both Europe and the United States. Around the time of the 2016 United States presidential election, The Epoch Times began running articles supportive of Donald Trump and critical of his opponents. Falun Gong extensions have also been active in promoting the European radical right. +The exact financial and structural connections between Falun Gong, Shen Yun and The Epoch Times remains unclear. According to NBC News: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..04a3a9a26 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 6/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Epoch Media Group, along with Shen Yun, a dance troupe known for its ubiquitous advertising and unsettling performances, make up the outreach effort of Falun Gong, a relatively new spiritual practice that combines ancient Chinese meditative exercises, mysticism and often ultraconservative cultural worldviews. Falun Gong's founder has referred to Epoch Media Group as "our media", and the group's practice heavily informs The Epoch Times' coverage, according to former employees who spoke with NBC News. +The Epoch Times, digital production company NTD and the heavily advertised dance troupe Shen Yun make up the nonprofit network that Li calls "our media". Financial documents paint a complicated picture of more than a dozen technically separate organizations that appear to share missions, money and executives. Though the source of their revenue is unclear, the most recent financial records from each organization paint a picture of an overall business thriving in the Trump era. +According to scholar James R. Lewis writing in 2018, Falun Gong adherents have attempted to control English Wikipedia articles covering the group and articles related to it. Lewis highlights Falun Gong's extensive internet presence, and how editors who have to date contributed to English Wikipedia entries associated with Falun Gong to the point where "Falun Gong followers and/or sympathizers de facto control the relevant pages on Wikipedia", and how this is particularly important for Falun Gong as an organization due to the search engine optimization results of these entries, and how the entries can influence other media entities. Lewis notes also how this fits in as part of Falun Gong's general media strategy, such as Falun Gong media like The Epoch Times, New Tang Dynasty, Sound of Hope Radio, and, as Lewis discusses, the Rachlin media group. Lewis reports that the Rachlin media group is the Falun Gong's de facto PR firm operated by Gail Rachlin, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Centre. Lewis says that Amnesty International does not independently verify its reports from Falun Gong groups, accepting material directly from Falun Gong organizations as fact. According to Lewis, "[Falun Gong] has thus been able to influence other media via its presence on the web, through its direct press releases, and through its own media." + +== Internet circumvention software == +In the early 2000s, Falun Gong adherents in the United States developed Ultrasurf and Freegate, freeware intended to circumvent Chinese government internet censorship. According to NPR: + +Adherents of Falun Gong first developed Ultrasurf nearly two decades ago to get around censors in China and elsewhere. Early on, Ultrasurf seemed a highly promising tool in aiding activists and journalists to talk securely online. It earlier received development money from the State Department and the predecessor agency to USAGM. +A Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society report on the circumvention landscape in 2007 found Ultrasurf's performance to be "the best of any tool tested in filtering countries, the only tool to display okay speed for both image heavy and simple, text oriented sites." A Wired article described Ultrasurf as "one of the most important free-speech tools on the Internet, used by millions from China to Saudi Arabia." +Beyond China, Freegate gained popularity among Iranian protesters soon after its Farsi version was introduced in July 2008. During the Green Movement protests surrounding the 2009 election, its servers were overwhelmed by Iranian Internet users. +In 2010, the United States Department of State under the Obama administration offered a $1.5 million grant to the Global Internet Freedom Consortium founded by Falun Gong adherents that developed Ultrasurf and Freegate, drawing opposition from the Chinese government. A 2011 Center for a New American Security report recognized the need for the US government to fund high-performing technologies like Ultrasurf and Freegate, despite the stress it might cause on the U.S.-China relationship, but recommended the US government diversify the technologies it funds. +In recent years, Ultrasurf has been a major point of contention in large part because it is not open source, meaning that it cannot be reviewed by outside engineers for vulnerabilities and back doors. Additionally, as reported by The Verge, since the 2000s, the software has drawn criticism "for its content filtering (which blocks pornography) and its ability to surveil user traffic, which is often impossible by design in competing tools". +Although it receives public funding, both its creators and owners have rejected attempts at allowing outside parties to review its effectiveness and utility. A 2020 audit by the U.S. State Department concluded that "censoring Ultrasurf nation-wide would have been trivial for a moderate-budget adversary". +After conservative documentary filmmaker Michael Pack was appointed CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) during the Trump administration in 2020, Pack tied up $19 million in federal funds from other projects for the Ultrasurf project. Numerous other projects, including other secure communication projects, lost funding during this period. Ultrasoft eventually received $249,000 of the allotted funds. Once receiving funding, only "four people abroad used it to access Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, a key purpose for its subsidy" during December 2020 and January 2021. +Two days before U.S. President Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration, Pack appointed a columnist from the Epoch Times to the board of directors for the networks his agency oversaw. This columnist had claimed the January 6 insurrection was a "false flag operation". During his eight months in office, Pack regularly appeared in the Epoch Times, where he also discussed Ultrasurf. +As of 2020, Pack, along with other USAGM officials he did not fire during his time there, faced a criminal inquiry in response to whistleblower allegations that the "concerted effort to divert funds to the Falun Gong software Ultrasurf was a criminal conspiracy". + +== Organization == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..06e3bfdba --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 7/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Spiritual authority is vested exclusively in the teachings of Li Hongzhi. Volunteer "assistants" or "contact persons" do not hold authority over other practitioners, regardless of how long they have practiced Falun Gong. Li stipulates that practitioners of Falun Gong cannot collect money or charge fees, conduct healings, or teach or interpret doctrine for others. There is no system of membership within the practice and no rituals of worship. Falun Gong operates through a global, networked, and largely virtual online community. In particular, electronic communications, email lists and a collection of websites are the primary means of coordinating activities and disseminating Li's teachings. +Outside Mainland China, the organisation stated that they have followers in more than 100 countries. Li's teachings are principally spread through the Internet. In most mid- to large-sized cities, Falun Gong practitioners organize regular group meditation or study sessions in which they practice Falun Gong exercises and read Li's writings. The exercise and meditation sessions are described as informal groups of practitioners who gather in public parks—usually in the morning—for one to two hours. Group study sessions typically take place in the evenings in private residences or university or high school classrooms, and are described by David Ownby as "the closest thing to a regular 'congregational experience'" that Falun Gong offers. Individuals who are too busy, isolated, or who simply prefer solitude may elect to practice privately. When there are expenses to be covered (such as for the rental of facilities for large-scale conferences), costs are borne by self-nominated and relatively affluent individual members of the community. + +=== Within China === + +In 1993, the Beijing-based Falun Dafa Research Society was accepted as a branch of the state-run China Qigong Research Society (CQRS), which oversaw the administration of the country's various qigong schools, and sponsored activities and seminars. As per the requirements of the CQRS, Falun Gong was organized into a nationwide network of assistance centers, "main stations", "branches", "guidance stations", and local practice sites, mirroring the structure of the qigong society or even of the CCP itself. Falun Gong assistants were self-selecting volunteers who taught the exercises, organized events, and disseminated new writings from Li Hongzhi. The Falun Dafa Research Society provided advice to students on meditation techniques, translation services, and coordination for the practice nationwide. +Following its departure from the CQRS in 1996, Falun Gong came under increased scrutiny from authorities and responded by adopting a more decentralized and loose organizational structure. In 1997, the Falun Dafa Research Society was formally dissolved, along with the regional "main stations". Yet practitioners continued to organize themselves at local levels, being connected through electronic communications, interpersonal networks and group exercise sites. Both Falun Gong sources and Chinese government sources claimed that there were some 1,900 "guidance stations" and 28,263 local Falun Gong exercise sites nationwide by 1999, though they disagree over the extent of vertical coordination among these organizational units. In response to the persecution that began in 1999, Falun Gong was driven underground, the organizational structure grew yet more informal within China, and the internet took precedence as a means of connecting practitioners. +Following the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Chinese authorities sought to portray Falun Gong as a hierarchical and well-funded organization. James Tong writes that it was in the government's interest to portray Falun Gong as highly organized in order to justify its repression of the group: "The more organized the Falun Gong could be shown to be, then the more justified the regime's repression in the name of social order was." He concluded that Party's claims lacked "both internal and external substantiating evidence", and that despite the arrests and scrutiny, the authorities never "credibly countered Falun Gong rebuttals". + +=== Dragon Springs compound === +Falun Gong operates out of Dragon Springs, a 160-hectare (400-acre) compound located in Deerpark, New York. Falun Gong founder and leader Li Hongzhi resides near the compound, along with "hundreds" of Falun Gong adherents. Members of Falun Gong extension Shen Yun live and rehearse in the compound, which also contains schools and temples. The compound is registered as a church, Dragon Springs Buddhist, which gives it tax exemptions and greater privacy. Scholar Andrew Junker noted that in 2019, near Dragon Springs, in Middletown, was an office for the Falun Gong media extension The Epoch Times, which published a special local edition. +The compound has been a point of controversy among former residents. According to NBC News: + +[F]our former compound residents and former Falun Gong practitioners who spoke to NBC News ... said that life in Dragon Springs is tightly controlled by Li, that internet access is restricted, the use of medicines is discouraged, and arranged relationships are common. Two former residents on visas said they were offered to be set up with U.S. residents at the compound. +Tiger Huang, a former Dragon Springs resident who was on a United States student visa from Taiwan, said she was set up on three dates on the compound, and she believed her ability to stay in the United States was tied to the arrangement. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d5735d530 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 8/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +"The purpose of setting up the dates was obvious", Huang said. Her now-husband, a former Dragon Springs resident, confirmed the account. Huang said she was told by Dragon Springs officials her visa had expired and was told to go back to Taiwan after months of dating a nonpractitioner in the compound. She later learned that her visa had not expired when she was told to leave the country. +Acquired by Falun Gong in 2000, the site is closed to visitors and features guarded gates, has been a point of contention for some Deer Park residents concerned. In 2019, Falun Gong requested to expand the site, wishing to add a 920-seat concert hall, a new parking garage, a wastewater treatment plant and a conversion of meditation space into residential space large enough to bring the total residential capacity to 500 people. These plans met with opposition from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network regarding the wastewater treatment facility and the elimination of local wetlands, impacting local waterways such as the Basher Kill and Neversink River. Local residents opposed the expansion because it would increase traffic and reduce the rural character of the area. Falun Gong adherents living in the area have claimed that they have experienced discrimination from local residents. +After visiting in 2019, Junker noted that "the secrecy of Dragon Springs was obvious and a source of tension for the town". Junker adds that Dragon Springs's website says its restricted access is for security reasons, and that the site claims the compound contains orphans and refugees. + +== Demography == +Prior to July 1999, official Chinese government estimates placed the number of Falun Gong practitioners at 70 million nationwide, rivalling membership in the CCP. By the time of the persecution on 22 July 1999, most Chinese government numbers said the population of Falun Gong was between 2 and 3 million, though some publications maintained an estimate of 40 million. The Falun Gong organization estimated in the same period that the total number of practitioners in China was between 70 and 80 million, though sociologist David A. Palmer notes these numbers were likely highly inflated and gives a more reasonable estimate of 10 million. Other sources have estimated the Falun Gong population in China to have peaked between 10 and 70 million practitioners. The number of Falun Gong practitioners still practicing in China today is difficult to confirm, though the NGO Freedom House estimates that 7 to 20 million continue to practice privately. +Demographic surveys conducted in China in 1998 found a population that was mostly female and elderly. Of 34,351 Falun Gong practitioners surveyed, 27% were male and 73% female. Only 38% were under 50 years old. Falun Gong attracted a range of other individuals, from young college students to bureaucrats, intellectuals and Party officials. Surveys in China from the 1990s found that between 23 and 40% of practitioners held university degrees at the college or graduate level—several times higher than the general population. +Falun Gong is practiced by tens, and possibly hundreds, of thousands outside China, with the largest communities found in Taiwan and North American cities with large Chinese populations, such as New York and Toronto. Demographic surveys by Palmer and Ownby in these communities found that 90% of practitioners are ethnic Chinese. The average age was approximately 40. Among survey respondents, 56% were female and 44% male; 80% were married. The surveys found the respondents to be highly educated: 9% held PhDs, 34% had master's degrees, and 24% had a bachelor's degree. +As of 2008, the most commonly reported reasons for being attracted to Falun Gong were intellectual content, cultivation exercises, and health benefits. Non-Chinese Falun Gong practitioners tend to fit the profile of "spiritual seekers"—people who had tried a variety of qigong, yoga, or religious practices before finding Falun Gong. According to sociologist Richard Madsen, who specializes in studying modern Chinese culture, Chinese scientists with doctorates from prestigious American universities who practice Falun Gong claim that modern physics (for example, superstring theory) and biology (specifically the pineal gland's function) provide a scientific basis for their beliefs. From their point of view, "Falun Dafa is knowledge rather than religion, a new form of science rather than faith". + +== History inside China == + +Falun Gong developed during the China's qigong fever. Qigong practice had become a national phenomenon, and in the 1980s and 1990s people would gather in parks and other public places to practice qigong. Some gatherings hosted thousands of people. Qigong masters traveled around the country giving lectures, providing training, and establishing networks of qigong practice. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1a17cab75 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 9/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== 1992–1996 === +Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong to the public on 13 May 1992, in Changchun, Jilin Province. Several months later, in September 1992, Falun Gong was admitted as a branch of qigong under the administration of the state-run China Qigong Scientific Research Society (CQRS). Li was recognized as a qigong master, and was authorized to teach his practice nationwide. Like many qigong masters at the time, Li toured major cities in China from 1992 to 1994 to teach the practice. He was granted a number of awards by PRC governmental organizations. +According to academic David Ownby, Li became an "instant star of the qigong movement", and Falun Gong was embraced by the government as an effective means of lowering health care costs, promoting Chinese culture, and improving public morality. In December 1992, for instance, Li and several Falun Gong students participated in the Asian Health Expo in Beijing, where he reportedly "received the most praise [of any qigong school] at the fair, and achieved very good therapeutic results", according to the fair's organizer. The event helped cement Li's popularity, and journalistic reports of Falun Gong's healing powers spread. In 1993, Li received a letter of appreciation from the Ministry of Public Security for providing treatment to around 100 police officers injured while on duty. +Falun Gong had differentiated itself from other qigong groups in its emphasis on morality, low cost, and health benefits. It rapidly spread via word-of-mouth, attracting a wide range of practitioners from all walks of life, including numerous members of the Chinese Communist Party. +From 1992 to 1994, Li did charge fees for the seminars he was giving across China, though the fees were considerably lower than those of competing qigong practices, and the local qigong associations received a substantial share. Li justified the fees as being necessary to cover travel costs and other expenses, and on some occasions, he donated the money earned to charitable causes. In 1994, Li ceased charging fees altogether, thereafter stipulating that Falun Gong must always be taught for free, and its teachings made available without charge (including online). Although some observers believe Li continued to earn substantial income through the sale of Falun Gong books, others dispute this, asserting that most Falun Gong books in circulation were bootleg copies. +With the publication of the books Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun, Li made his teachings more widely accessible. Zhuan Falun, published in January 1995 at an unveiling ceremony held in the auditorium of the Ministry of Public Security, became a best-seller in China. With its presentation of Li's religious teachings, Zhuan Falun marked Falun Gong's transition to a new religious movement. +In 1995, Chinese authorities began looking to Falun Gong to solidify its organizational structure and ties to the party-state. Li was approached by the Chinese National Sports Committee, Ministry of Public Health, and China Qigong Science Research Association (CQRS) to jointly establish a Falun Gong association. Li declined the offer. The same year, the CQRS issued a new regulation mandating that all qigong denominations establish a Chinese Communist Party branch. Li again refused. +Tensions continued to mount between Li and the CQRS in 1996. In the face of Falun Gong's rise in popularity—a large part of which was attributed to its low cost—competing qigong masters accused Li of undercutting them. According to Schechter, the qigong society under which Li and other qigong masters belonged asked Li to hike his tuition, but Li emphasized the need for the teachings to be free of charge. +In March 1996, Falun Gong withdrew from the CQRS in response to mounting disagreements, after which time it operated outside the official sanction of the state. Falun Gong representatives attempted to register with other government entities, but were rebuffed. Li and Falun Gong were then outside the circuit of personal relations and financial exchanges through which masters and their qigong organizations could find a place within the state system, and also the protections this afforded. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-9.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..6f010b4dd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong-9.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong" +chunk: 10/19 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:45.563084+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== 1996–1999 === +Falun Gong's departure from the state-run CQRS corresponded to a wider shift in the government's attitudes towards qigong practices. As qigong's detractors in government grew more influential, authorities began attempting to rein in the growth and influence of these groups, some of which had amassed tens of millions of followers. In the mid-1990s the state-run media began publishing articles critical of qigong. +Falun Gong was initially shielded from the mounting criticism, but following its withdrawal from the CQRS in March 1996, it lost this protection. On 17 June 1996, the Guangming Daily, an influential state-run newspaper, published a polemic against Falun Gong in which its central text, Zhuan Falun, was described as an example of "feudal superstition". The author wrote that the history of humanity is a "struggle between science and superstition", and called on Chinese publishers not to print "pseudo-scientific books of the swindlers". The article was followed by at least twenty more in newspapers nationwide. Soon after, on 24 July, the CCP's Central Propaganda Department banned all publication of Falun Gong books (though the ban was not consistently enforced). The state-administered Buddhist Association of China also began issuing criticisms of Falun Gong, urging lay Buddhists not to take up the practice. +The criticisms of Falun Gong were part of a larger movement opposing qigong organizations in the state-run media. Falun Gong was not the only target of the media criticism, nor the only group to protest, but it was the most mobilized and steadfast response. Thousands of Falun Gong followers wrote to Guangming Daily and to the CQRS to complain against the measures, claiming that they violated Hu Yaobang's 1982 'Triple No' directive, which prohibited the media from either encouraging or criticizing qigong practices. In other instances, Falun Gong practitioners staged peaceful demonstrations outside media or local government offices to request retractions of perceived unfair coverage. Many of Falun Gong's protests against negative media portrayals were successful, resulting in the retraction of several newspaper stories critical of the practice. This contributed to practitioners' belief that the media claims against them were false or exaggerated, and that their stance was justified. +In June 1998, He Zuoxiu, an outspoken critic of qigong and a fierce defender of Marxism, appeared on a talk show on Beijing Television and openly disparaged qigong groups, making particular mention of Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners responded with peaceful protests and by lobbying the station for a retraction. The reporter responsible for the program was reportedly fired, and a program favorable to Falun Gong was aired several days later. Falun Gong practitioners also mounted demonstrations at 14 other media outlets. +In 1997, The Ministry of Public Security launched an investigation into whether Falun Gong should be deemed xie jiao (邪教, "heretical teaching"). The report concluded that "no evidence has appeared thus far". The following year, however, on 21 July 1998, the Ministry of Public Security issued Document No. 555, "Notice of the Investigation of Falun Gong". The document asserted that Falun Gong is a "heretical teaching", and mandated that another investigation be launched to seek evidence in support of the conclusion. Falun Gong practitioners reported having phone lines tapped, homes ransacked and raided, and Falun Gong exercise sites disrupted by public security agents. +In this time period, even as criticism of qigong and Falun Gong mounted in some circles, the practice maintained a number of high-profile supporters in the government. In 1998, Qiao Shi, the recently retired chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, initiated his own investigation into Falun Gong. After months of investigations, his group concluded that "Falun Gong has hundreds of benefits for the Chinese people and China, and does not have one single bad effect." In May of the same year, China's National Sports Commission launched its own survey of Falun Gong. Based on interviews with over 12,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Guangdong province, they stated that they were "convinced the exercises and effects of Falun Gong are excellent. It has done an extraordinary amount to improve society's stability and ethics." +The practice's founder, Li Hongzhi, was largely absent from the country during the period of rising tensions with the government. In March 1995, Li had left China to first teach his practice in France and then other countries, and in 1998 obtained permanent residency in the United States. +By 1999, estimates provided by the State Sports Commission suggested there were 70 million Falun Gong practitioners in China. An anonymous employee of China's National Sports Commission, was at this time quoted in an interview with U.S. News & World Report as speculating that if 100 million had taken up Falun Gong and other forms of qigong there would be a dramatic reduction of health care costs and that "Premier Zhu Rongji is very happy about that." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b709ade28 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 1/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Falun Gong, a new religious movement that combines meditation with the moral philosophy articulated by founder Li Hongzhi, first began spreading widely in China in 1992. Li's first lectures outside mainland China took place in Paris in 1995. At the invitation of the Chinese ambassador to France, he lectured on his teachings and practice methods to the embassy staff and others. From that time on, Li gave lectures in other major cities in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America. He has resided permanently in the United States since 1998. Falun Gong is now practiced in some 70 countries worldwide, and the teachings have been translated to over 40 languages. The international Falun Gong community is estimated to number in the hundreds of thousands, though participation estimates are imprecise on account of a lack of formal membership. +Led by Li Hongzhi, who is viewed by adherents as a deity-like figure, Falun Gong practitioners operate a variety of organizations in the United States and elsewhere, including the dance troupe Shen Yun. They are known for their opposition to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), espousing anti-evolutionary views, opposition to homosexuality and feminism, and rejection of modern medicine, among other views described as "ultra-conservative". +The Falun Gong also operates the Epoch Media Group, which is known for its subsidiaries, New Tang Dynasty Television and The Epoch Times newspaper. The latter has been broadly noted as a politically far-right media entity, and it has received significant attention in the United States for promoting conspiracy theories, such as QAnon and anti-vaccine misinformation, and producing advertisements for U.S. President Donald Trump. It has also drawn attention in Europe for promoting far-right politicians, primarily in France and Germany. +Since 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted Falun Gong in mainland China. In response, Falun Gong practitioners around the world have conducted activities aimed at raising awareness about related human rights issues. These include lobbying, passing out of flyers, participating in sit-ins in front of Chinese embassies and consulates, and staging parades and demonstrations. They have established media outlets, have founded advocacy and research organizations to report information on the persecution in China, and launched lawsuits against the alleged architects and participants of the persecution campaign. +Several foreign governments, the United Nations, and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed their concerns over allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Nonetheless, some observers have noted that Falun Gong has failed to attract the level of sympathy and sustained international attention afforded to Tibetans, Chinese Christians or democracy activists. This has been attributed to the group's unsophisticated PR skills, the impact of the CCP's propaganda against the practice, or the foreign nature of its teachings, which identify with Buddhist and Daoist traditions. + +== History == +From 1992 to 1994, Li Hongzhi traveled throughout China giving week-long seminars on Falun Gong's spiritual philosophy and exercises and meditation practices. In late 1994, he declared that he had finished his work of teaching the practice in China, and the content of his lectures was compiled in the book Zhuan Falun, published in January 1995. Later that year, Li left China and began teaching the practice overseas, beginning with a stop at the Chinese embassy in Paris in March 1995, followed by lectures in Sweden in May 1995. Between 1995 and 1999, Li gave lectures in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, and Singapore. Falun Gong associations and clubs began appearing in Europe, North America and Australia, with activities centered mainly on university campuses. +As the practice began proliferating outside China, Li was the recipient of a measure of recognition in the United States and elsewhere in the western world. In August 1994, the city of Houston named Li as an honorary citizen and goodwill ambassador for his "unselfish public service for the benefit and welfare of mankind." In May 1999, Li was welcomed to Toronto with greetings from the mayor and the provincial governor general, and in the two months that followed also received recognition from the cities of Chicago and San Jose. +Translations of Falun Gong teachings began appearing in the late 1990s. Although the practice was beginning to attract an overseas constituency, it remained relatively unknown in the Western world until the Spring of 1999, when tensions between Falun Gong and CCP authorities became a subject of international media coverage. With the increased attention, the practice gained a greater following outside China. Following the launch of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, the overseas presence became vital to the practice's resistance in China and its continued survival. + +== Organization == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9d8ced45e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 2/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Falun Gong embraces a minimal organizational structure, and does not have a rigid hierarchy, physical places of worship, fees, or formal membership. As a matter of doctrinal significance, Falun Gong is intended to be "formless," having little to no material or formal organization. Practitioners of Falun Gong are forbidden to solicit donations or charge fees for the practice, and are similarly forbidden to teach or interpret the teachings for others. +In the absence of membership or initiation rituals, a Falun Gong practitioner can be anyone who chooses to identify themselves as such. Students participate in the practice and follow its teachings as much or as little as they like, and practitioners do not instruct others on what to believe or how to behave. +Falun Gong can be said to be highly centralized in the sense that neither spiritual nor practical authority is dispersed. Li Hongzhi's spiritual authority within the practice is absolute, yet the organization of Falun Gong works against totalistic control. Li does not intervene in the personal lives of practitioners, who have little to no contact with Li, except through the study of his teachings. Volunteer "assistants" or "contact persons" coordinate local activities, but they do not hold authority over other practitioners, regardless of how long they have practiced Falun Gong; they cannot collect money, conduct healings, or teach or interpret doctrine for others. +Falun Gong's nebulous structure and lack of membership makes it difficult to gauge the scope and size of Falun Gong communities outside China. Local groups post their practice site times on Falun Gong websites, but do not attempt to keep up with how many practitioners there are in certain areas. University of Montreal historian David Ownby notes that there are no "mid- or upper-level tiers of the organization where one might go for such information." He says that practitioners are not "members" of an "organization", and do not fill out any forms at any point. +To the extent that organization is achieved in Falun Gong, it is accomplished partly through a global, networked, and often virtual community. In particular, electronic communications, email lists and a collection of websites are the primary means of coordinating activities and disseminating Li Hongzhi's teachings. In addition to disseminating teachings, the internet serves to forge and maintain community, and is used as a medium for raising awareness of the persecution in China. Practitioners maintain hundreds of websites around the world. Most contain content in both Chinese and English, while others include German, French, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, and other languages. +Falun Gong's reliance on the internet as a means of organizing has led to the group's characterization by some observers as "a virtual religious community," though other scholars are wary about overstating the significance of the internet. Scott Lowe, for instance, believes that the Internet is not a significant factor in attracting people to the practice; instead, the influence of family and friends, as well as the prospect of better health, seem far more important in establishing initial interest. +Although the spiritual practice of Falun Gong has little clear organization, practitioners of Falun Gong have organized considerably among themselves since 1999, establishing their own research and advocacy organizations, media groups, and arts companies. + +== Group exercise and study == +Outside mainland China, a network of volunteer "contact persons," regional Falun Dafa Associations and university clubs exists in approximately 70 countries. In most mid- to large-sized cities, Falun Gong practitioners organize regular group meditation or study sessions in which they practice Falun Gong exercises and read (or re-read) Li Hongzhi's writings. The exercise and meditation sessions are described as informal groups of practitioners who gather in public parks—usually in the morning—for one to two hours. Group study sessions typically take place in the evenings in private residences or university or high school classrooms, and are described by David Ownby as "the closest thing to a regular 'congregational experience'" that Falun Gong offers. Individuals who are too busy, isolated, or who simply prefer solitude may elect to practice privately. +Large Falun Gong "experience-sharing" conferences are also held every several months in major metropolitan areas, in which Falun Gong students read prepared testimonials detailing their experiences in the practice. These conferences, which can attract audiences of thousands, also provide a venue for Li Hongzhi to address practitioners. + +== Evangelism == + +Practitioners of Falun Gong are encouraged to engage in Hong Fa activities, meaning "making known the way." The Chinese term "Hong Fa" may be interpreted to refer to proselytizing, yet because Falun Gong espouses a belief that individuals are either predestined or not to obtain the practice, practitioners of Falun Gong do not actively attempt to convert people. Hong Fa activities include handing out flyers in the subway or at the mall, leaving Falun Gong literature in stores, libraries, etc., and participating in activities such as marches, parades, and Chinese cultural events. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8d2542662 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 3/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Demographics == +Ownby confirms estimates that Falun Gong is practiced by hundreds of thousands of people outside China, with the largest communities found in Taiwan and in North American cities with large Chinese populations, such as New York City, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Toronto. Demographic surveys by sociologist Susan Palmer and David Ownby in North American communities found that 90% of practitioners were ethnic Chinese (in Europe, there are proportionally more Caucasians). The average age was approximately 42. Among survey respondents, 56% were female and 44% male; 80% were married. The surveys found the respondents to be highly educated: 9% held PhDs, 34% had master's degrees, and 24% had a bachelor's degree. +Most of the Falun Gong practitioners in North America were among the Chinese students who emigrated in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In Craig Burgdoff's ethnographic research of Ohio practitioners, he found that 85–90% were Chinese graduate students or their family members. Similar results for North American practitioners were borne out by Scott Lowe, a professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In a 2003 Internet survey, Lowe found that the Chinese respondents living in Western nations were "uniformly well educated, clearly representing the expatriate elite", with all respondents holding a master's degree or higher. Respondents from Singapore and Malaysia had a more mixed educational profile, with a minority holding university degrees. +The preponderance of North American practitioners learned Falun Gong after leaving China. Ownby suggests that Falun Gong appealed to a broad spectrum of social groups, "including university professors and students, high party and government officials, well-educated cadres and members of the comfortable middle class, and [...] the old, the infirm, the unemployed, and the desperate." In contrast to the typical mainland Chinese practitioner, who is likely to be a female retiree, Ownby's survey at practitioners' conferences in Montreal, Toronto, and Boston between 1999 and 2002 found the average Chinese practitioner in North America to be "young, urban, dynamic". Non-Chinese Falun Gong practitioners tend to fit the profile of non-conformists and "spiritual seekers" — people who had tried a variety of qigong, yoga, or religious practices before finding Falun Gong. This stands in contrast to the standard profile of Chinese, whom Ownby described as "the straightest of straight arrows". + +== Reasons for practicing Falun Gong == + +In surveys of the Falun Gong practitioners in North America, the most commonly reported reasons for being attracted to the practice were the teachings, cultivation exercises, and health benefits. In a study conducted by David Ownby, close to 30% of practitioners said they were attracted to Falun Dafa for its "intellectual content", 27% for "spiritual enlightenment", 20% for "health benefits", 15% the exercises, 7% for Li Hongzhi himself, and 2% for the community. The "intellectual content", according to Ownby, refers to the value of Falun Dafa doctrine in describing the "functioning of the moral and physical universe." +Scott Lowe's survey found that Falun Gong's spiritual teachings and promise of good health were the most common reasons for people to have taken up the practice. In Lowe's survey, 22 respondents gave "Master Li's philosophy and his answers to life's most difficult questions" as their primary attraction to the practice, while another twenty were attracted for health benefits. Nine were drawn by the moral principles, twelve by the books, ten by the exercises, and small numbers of others by a variety of other factors. Several respondents apparently realized that other forms of qigong were "shallow, exoteric, and superficial," while they came to believe that Falun Gong is the "most complete, efficacious, and comprehensive system of spiritual cultivation on the planet." +In Lowe's survey, the practitioners were asked if their attraction to and focus on Falun Gong practice had changed over time. Ten claimed that they had no change, since they started Falun Gong with the intention of gaining enlightenment, which is the goal of practice. Others, over time, put less emphasis on the health improvements they experienced, which they came to see "as a relatively trivial result of cultivation." Twenty-six respondents said they felt a newfound sense of moral certitude and spiritual growth, while ten "discovered a firm determination to carry their cultivation through to the end goal of enlightenment or consummation, no matter what obstacles might appear in their path." + +== Overseas responses to persecution in China == + +In July 1999, the CCP initiated a campaign to persecute Falun Gong, including through the use of extralegal imprisonment, torture and other coercive measures, and propaganda. Falun Gong communities inside and outside China have adopted a variety of approaches to resist and mitigate the persecution in China. These tactics range from engagement with the media, lobbying of governments and NGOs, public protests and demonstrations, and attempts to seek legal redress. As the persecution in China progressed, overseas Falun Gong efforts increasingly tied their pleas for relief to Western human rights discourse, emphasizing the implications for freedom of speech, assembly, and conscience. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..867d79b06 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 4/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Legal initiatives === +Lawyers acting on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners have filed dozens of largely symbolic lawsuits around the world against CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin, CCP Political and Legal Affairs chief Luo Gan, and other Chinese officials alleging genocide and crimes against humanity. According to International Advocates for Justice, Falun Gong has filed the largest number of human rights lawsuits in the 21st century and the charges are among the most severe international crimes defined by international criminal laws. As of 2006, 54 civil and criminal lawsuits were under way in 33 countries. +In some instances, courts have refused to adjudicate Falun Gong cases against Chinese officials on the grounds of sovereign immunity. In November 2009, however, Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan were indicted by a Spanish court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for their involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong. One month later, an Argentine judge concluded that Jiang and Luo had adopted a "genocidal strategy" in pursuing the eradication of Falun Gong, and asked Interpol to seek their arrest. +In May 2011, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners against technology giant Cisco. The suit alleges, based mainly on internal Cisco documents, that the technology company "designed and implemented a surveillance system for the Chinese Communist Party, knowing it would be used to root out members of the Falun Gong religion and subject them to detention, forced labor and torture." Cisco denies customizing its products to facilitate censorship or repression. + +In addition to high-profile lawsuits against Chinese officials and corporations, Falun Gong practitioners have filed a number of complaints and civil suits alleging discrimination outside China, most of them centered within the Chinese diaspora community. Several complaints have been made after Falun Gong groups were barred from participating in parades or events, with mixed results. In Canada and in New York, Falun Gong practitioners won judgments against Chinese businesses or community organizations for discriminating against them on the basis of their religious creed. +Practitioners of Falun Gong have been involved in a number of defamation cases against Chinese-language media outlets or agents of the Chinese government. In 2004, a Canadian Falun Gong practitioner Joel Chipkar won a libel case against Pan Xinchun, an officer at the Chinese consulate in Toronto, who had called Chipkar a member of a "sinister cult" in a newspaper article. Pan was ordered to pay $10,000 in damages to Chipkar, but left the country before paying. In 2008, the Appeals Court of Quebec, Canada, ruled that a Chinese language newspaper "Les Presses Chinoises" had defamed Falun Gong when it depicted the practice as dangerous and perverse. The court did not award damages, however, on the basis that the defamation targeted the group, rather than the individual plaintiffs + +=== Media organizations === +In the early 2000s, Falun Gong practitioners in the United States began establishing their own Chinese-language media organizations to gain wider exposure for their cause and challenge the narratives of the dominant Chinese state-run media. These include The Epoch Times newspaper, New Tang Dynasty Television, and Sound of Hope radio station. In addition to carrying content related to Falun Gong, they became vocal critics of CCP policies more generally, carrying reports on other human rights issues in China, on corruption, environment and public health issues, and other topics. According to communications professor Yuezhi Zhao, these media organizations are an example of how Falun Gong entered into a "de facto media alliance" with China's democracy movements in exile, as demonstrated by its frequent printing of articles by prominent overseas Chinese critics of the mainland Chinese government. +Although initially created to address the needs of the Chinese-language media market, the media organizations have expanded into dozens of additional languages; The Epoch Times publishes in 21 languages and 33 countries, and NTD Television has a satellite or cable presence in North America, Europe, and Asia, and produces programs in 18 languages. The organizations maintain that they are not formally affiliated with Falun Gong, which lacks both a centralized organization and funds. However, most of their staff are Falun Gong practitioners, and many contribute on a volunteer basis. + +=== Demonstrations and sit-ins === + +After the launch of the persecution campaign in 1999, practitioners outside China began holding frequent protests, rallies, and appeals. These include large-scale marches, demonstrations, and vigils to coincide with notable anniversaries, such as April 25, 1999, and July 20, 1999. Marches typically involve participants holding signs and banners, devoting different sections of the parade to different aspects of the persecution. There is usually a section involving participants wearing only white (symbolizing mourning) and holding photos of those killed in China. +Practitioners also stage sit-ins and demonstrations outside Chinese embassies and consulates. Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada continue to stage the world's longest, continuous protest against the persecution. It which runs twenty-four hours a day at the entrance to the PRC consulate on Granville Street. In June 2006, it was announced by the mayor of Vancouver that the protest signs and structures must be taken down in accordance with a by-law against building permanent structures on public property. In 2010, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that the city's order to remove the protest structures was unconstitutional, and the structure was restored. +Anniversaries of significant dates in the persecution are marked with protests by Falun Gong communities around the world. In Washington DC, for instance, the anniversary of 20 July 1999 is marked by a rally at the U.S. capitol attended by several thousand practitioners. Diplomatic visits by high-ranking Chinese officials are also met with demonstrations by Falun Gong practitioners. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9d2407bcb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 5/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Parades === +In contrast to marches, which focus on bringing attention to the persecution in China, celebratory Falun Gong parades usually incorporate traditional-style Chinese dances, costumes, song, exercise demonstrations, drumming, floats, and banners. Practitioners regularly hold parades or public exhibitions of Chinese cultural performances to coincide with May 13, the anniversary of the practice's first public teaching in China. Practitioners also utilize various parade venues around the world to publicize their group and its message. + +=== Arts and culture === +A number of Falun Gong practitioners and organizations outside China are engaged in the promotion of classical visual and performing arts. Practitioners frame Falun Gong as being part of the wider cultural tradition that gave rise to Chinese arts, which they describe as having been persecuted and attacked under CCP rule. +Falun Gong devotees trained in the visual arts have held exhibitions of their works as a means of representing their beliefs and practice, and raising awareness of the persecution in China. These include Zhang Cuiying, an Australian painter who was imprisoned in China for practicing Falun Gong, and Zhang Kunlun, a Canadian citizen and former professor who was also imprisoned in China. Zhang Kunlun is part of a collective of twelve Falun Gong visual artists whose exhibit "The Art of Zhen Shan Ren" travels internationally. + +In 2006, Falun Gong practitioners with backgrounds in classical Chinese dance and music established Shen Yun Performing Arts in New York state. Shen Yun comprises three separate companies of dancers and musicians that tour internationally. Its stated mission is "reviving 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture." Shen Yun's performance programs consists of classical Chinese dance, ethnic folk dance, solo musicians, and narrative dances that portray Falun Gong. Local productions of Shen Yun are often presented by the host city's Falun Dafa Association. +New Tang Dynasty, the television station founded by Chinese-American practitioners of Falun Gong, organizes a variety of cultural outreach programs as part of its mission to promote "appreciation and awareness of traditional Chinese culture." +In 2008, the station began organizing a series of annual competitions open to ethnic Chinese participants in fields of classical Chinese dance, martial arts, traditional clothing design, painting, music, photography, and Chinese cooking. + +=== Research and advocacy organizations === +Supporters and practitioners of Falun Gong have established a number of research and advocacy organizations involved in reporting on human rights abuses in China and presenting this information to Western governments, NGOs, and multilateral organizations. These include the Falun Dafa Information Center, a volunteer-run organization which presents itself as the "official source on Falun Gong and the human rights crisis in China," and functions largely as a press office, publishing press releases and annual reports. The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group conducts similar research and issues reports on the persecution in China, often presenting these findings to the United Nations. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) is as a research organization dedicated to investigating "the criminal conduct of all institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong." Falun Gong supporters and sympathizers have also founded groups such as Friends of Falun Gong and the committee to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong(CIPFG). + +=== Circumvention tools === +Roughly coinciding with the launch of the persecution in 1999, Chinese authorities began establishing and fortifying a system of internet censorship and surveillance, sometimes referred to as the "golden shield." Since that time, information relating to Falun Gong has consistently been among the primary targets of censorship and monitoring on the internet, with several Falun Gong practitioners reportedly being captured and sent to prison or labor camps for downloading or distributing information online. +In 2000, North American Falun Gong computer scientists began developing circumvention and annonymizing tools to enable those in mainland China to access information on Falun Gong. Their software tools, such as Freegate and GPass, have since become a popular means of evading government controls of the internet in several other countries. + +=== Other initiatives and campaigns === + +Practitioners of Falun Gong have launched a number of other campaigns to bring attention to the treatment of Falun Gong in China. Notable examples include the Human Rights Torch Relay, which toured to over 35 countries in 2007 and 2008 ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The relay was intended to draw attention to a range of human rights issues in China in connection with the Olympics, especially those related to Falun Gong and Tibet, and received support from hundreds of elected officials, past Olympic medallists, human rights groups and other concerned organizations. +Some practitioners of Falun Gong both inside and outside China are also involved in the promotion of the Tuidang movement, a dissident phenomenon catalyzed by an editorial series in The Epoch Times in late 2004. The movement encourages Chinese citizens to renounce their affiliations to the CCP, including ex post facto renunciations of the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. Practitioners of Falun Gong outside China make phone calls or faxes to mainland China to inform citizens of the movement and solicit renunciation statements. + +== Attempts at persecution overseas by the Chinese Communist Party == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..090d7d31b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 6/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s campaign against Falun Gong has extended to diaspora communities, including through the use of media, espionage and monitoring of Falun Gong practitioners, harassment and violence against practitioners, diplomatic pressure applied to foreign governments, and hacking of overseas websites. According to a defector from the Chinese consulate in Sydney, Australia, "The war against Falun Gong is one of the main tasks of the Chinese mission overseas." +In 2004 the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution condemning the attacks on Falun Gong practitioners in the United States by agents of the CCP. The resolution reported that party affiliates have "pressured local elected officials in the United States to refuse or withdraw support for the Falun Gong spiritual group," that Falun Gong spokespeople have had their houses have been broken into, and individuals engaged in peaceful protest actions outside embassies have been physically assaulted. +The overseas campaign against Falun Gong is described in documents issued by China's Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO). In a report from a 2007 meeting of OCAO directors at the national, provincial, and municipal level, the office stated that it "coordinates the launching of anti-'Falun Gong' struggles overseas." OCAO exhorts overseas Chinese citizens to participate in "resolutely implementing and executing the Party line, the Party's guiding principles, and the Party's policies," and to "aggressively expand the struggle" against Falun Gong, ethnic separatists, and Taiwanese independent activists abroad. Other party and state organs believed to be involved in the overseas campaign include the Ministry of State Security (MSS),610 Office, and People's Liberation Army, among others. + +=== Surveillance and espionage === +In 2005, Chen Yonglin, a political consul from the Chinese consulate in Sydney, and Jennifer Zeng, a Falun Gong victim of torture from China, both sought asylum in Australia while making claims that Chinese agents were engaged in large-scale operations to monitor, intimidate, and undermine support for Falun Gong outside China. Chen alleged that his primary function at the consulate involved efforts to monitor and harass Falun Gong and to minimize support for the practice from Australian media and elected officials. Zeng stated that "espionage and intimidation against [Falun Gong] practitioners overseas is so common that many of us have become accustomed to it." +Hao Fengjun, another defector to Australia, had worked for the 610 Office of Tianjin city and claims that his job involved the collection and analysis of intelligence reports on Falun Gong from Europe, Australia, and North America. The implication was that local 610 offices are involved in the espionage efforts abroad. Another defector from China's Ministry of State Security—which conducts both domestic and international intelligence—claimed that the repression and monitoring of underground Christians and Falun Gong practitioners is a major focus of the ministry. +In 2005, a Ministry of State Security (MSS) agent working with the Chinese embassy in Berlin recruited a German Falun Gong practitioner Dr. Dan Sun to act as an informant. The MSS agent reportedly arranged a meeting for Sun with two men who purported to be scholars of Chinese medicine interested in researching Falun Gong, and Sun agreed to pass information to them, ostensibly hoping to further their understanding of the practice. The men were in fact high-ranking agents of the 610 Office in Shanghai. According to Der Spiegel, the case demonstrated "how important fighting [Falun Gong] is to the [Chinese] government," and "points to the extremely offensive approach that is sometimes being taken by the Chinese intelligence agencies." +In November 2024, Ping Li, a 59-year-old Florida resident, was sentenced to four years in prison for acting as an unregistered PRC agent. Li provided China's MSS with corporate information about his former employers and personal details about a Florida resident affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d1038c8dc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 7/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Blacklisting === +Chinese authorities reportedly maintain lists of high-profile overseas Falun Gong practitioners, and they use these blacklists to impose travel and visa restrictions on practitioners. Chen Yonglin, the defector from the Chinese consulate in Sydney, said in 2005 that approximately 800 Australian Falun Gong practitioners had been blacklisted (Chen claimed he sought to remove most of these names). +In order to prevent potential protests during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, authorities imposed a blacklist on overseas Falun Gong practitioners, preventing them from traveling to China. Chinese authorities tolerated Bibles and other religious items at the Olympics, with the exception of Falun Gong materials. Ahead of the Olympic Games, Chinese public security bodies reportedly requested lists of Japanese Falun Gong practitioners from the government of Japan. The request was denied. +In June 2002, when Jiang Zemin visited Iceland, Icelandic authorities complied with requests from the Chinese government to deny entry to Falun Gong practitioners who sought to enter the country to protest. Using a blacklist provided by China, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners were turned away by the national airline or detained if they managed to make it to the country. The blacklisting ignited protests by Icelandic citizens and members of parliament. In 2011, Iceland's foreign minister Össur Skarphéðinsson issued an apology for violating Falun Gong practitioners' freedom of expression and movement. +In August 2010, an airline hostess from the Australian airline, Qantas, was demoted to short haul flights after being threatened by Chinese officials in Beijing, in spite of having flown there several times before. +Although Falun Gong is practiced freely within Hong Kong, Falun Gong practitioners from abroad have also reported being blacklisted from entering the territory. In 2001, Hong Kong officials admitted that they had used a blacklist to deny entry to approximately 100 Falun Gong practitioners during a visit by then-General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin. In 2004, a Canadian Falun Gong practitioner on a book tour was denied entry to the territory, and in 2008, two Falun Gong practitioners from the United States and Switzerland were separately denied entry while on professional and research trips. +In 2003, 80 Taiwanese practitioners were blocked from entering Hong Kong, and again in 2007, hundreds more Taiwanese were blocked from entering Hong Kong or detained at the airport, These events set off a six-year human rights case that tested the integrity of the one country, two systems arrangement. In 2009, Falun Gong's case against the Hong Kong immigration department was dismissed. Months later, Hong Kong immigration officials denied visas to several members of the Falun Gong-affiliated Shen Yun dance company, which was scheduled to perform in the territory in January 2010. Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho said the denial of the visas was a worrying new erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms, and damaged the reputation of Hong Kong as a liberal and open society. + +=== Disruption, monitoring of electronic communications === +Since 1999, Falun Gong practitioners outside China have reported having their telephone lines tapped and electronic correspondence monitored. Falun Gong websites based outside China were the earliest targets of Chinese denial of service attacks, according to Chinese internet expert Ethan Gutmann. In 2011, dated stock footage aired on China Central Television of People's Liberation Army staff carrying out attacks on U.S.-based Falun Gong websites. + +=== Violence === +In isolated instances, violence against practitioners of Falun Gong has reportedly been committed by agents of the Chinese government abroad, though the connection to Chinese authorities is sometimes tenuous or difficult to verify. +In September 2001, five Falun Gong practitioners were assaulted while demonstrating outside the Chinese consulate in Chicago. The assailants, who were later convicted of battery, were members of a Chinese-American association with connections to the Chinese consulate. +In 2002, 25-year-old Ottawa practitioner Leon Wang reported being kicked, dragged, and beaten inside the Chinese embassy after he was caught taking pictures of an anti-Falun Gong exhibit being held there. The embassy responded that Wang had "sneaked in . . . and disrupted its normal functioning" of the event. +In June 2004, Australian Falun Gong practitioner David Liang was injured in a drive-by shooting while in South Africa. The purpose of his visit was to protest outside the South Africa-China Binational Commission (BNC) meetings and to launch a lawsuit against high-ranking Chinese officials for their involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong. Practitioners allege that the drive-by shooting was an assassination attempt, and noted that the assailants made no attempt to rob them. Chinese Embassy officials denied involvement. In December 2005, Argentine Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit against former 610 Office chief and Politburo member Luo Gan while he visited the country. During Luo's visit, practitioners were beaten by Chinese assailants in Buenos Aires's Congress Square. Police were reportedly ordered not to intervene. Amnesty International's Argentina director suggested the assaults may have been "connected to officials of the Chinese government." +In the spring and summer of 2008, practitioners of Falun Gong in New York became the targets of sustained violence within the largely ethnic Chinese neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. Groups of Chinese reportedly punched, assaulted, and threw rocks at Falun Gong practitioners, leading to multiple arrests. The Chinese consul general in New York, Peng Keyu, was reportedly involved in inciting the violence against Falun Gong and providing "guidance" to the assailants. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7326fbfb3 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 8/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Diplomatic and commercial pressure === +Representatives of the party-state, typically acting through China's overseas diplomatic mission, have applied diplomatic and commercial pressure on foreign governments, media organizations, and private enterprises with regards to Falun Gong. +In North America, Chinese agents have reportedly visited newspaper offices to "extol the virtues of Communist China and the evils of Falun Gong." There have also been instances where international media organizations have cancelled programing or print articles about Falun Gong in response to requests from the Chinese government. In 2008, for instance, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation succumbed to pressure from the Chinese embassy in Ottawa to pull a documentary on Falun Gong hours before it was set to air. In 2009–2010, the Washington Post commissioned a feature article on Falun Gong. The article was killed "immediately after the Chinese embassy became aware of it," according to the journalist. +Chinese diplomats also exhort politicians not to support or recognize Falun Gong, and threaten that expressions of support for Falun Gong will jeopardize trade relations with China. In 2002, the Wall Street Journal reported that hundreds of American municipalities had received letters from Chinese diplomatic missions urging them to shun or persecute Falun Gong, using approaches that "combine gross disinformation with scare tactics and, in some cases, slyly implied diplomatic and commercial pressure." +According to Perry Link, pressure on Western institutions also takes more subtle forms, including academic self-censorship, whereby research on Falun Gong is avoided because it could result in a denial of visas for fieldwork in China. Ethan Gutmann also noted that media organizations and human rights groups also self-censor on the topic, given the PRC government's attitude toward the practice, and the potential repercussions that may follow for making overt representations on Falun Gong's behalf. +Governments and private enterprises have also come under pressure from China to censor media organizations operated by Falun Gong practitioners. In 2008, for instance, French satellite provider Eutelsat suspended its Asian broadcasts of New Tang Dynasty Television in response to pressure from China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The move was viewed as a quid pro quo attempt to secure access to the Chinese market. +In 2011, under pressure from Chinese authorities, the Vietnamese government tried two Falun Gong practitioners who had been operating a shortwave radio station and broadcasting information into China. The pair was charged with unlicensed broadcasting, and sentenced to 2 and 3 years in prison. Earlier in the same year, another radio station operated by Falun Gong practitioners in Indonesia, Radio Erabaru, was shuttered under diplomatic pressure from China. +Falun Gong has been banned in Russia since 2020, after a court in Khakassia deemed it an "extremist organization", and extending the ban to the entire Russian Federation. Earlier that year, several Falun Gong-related organizations were designated as 'undesirable' in Russia. + +=== Abuse of legal systems === + +According to The Diplomat, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, reportedly directed CCP officials in 2022 to intensify efforts to "completely, and on an international scale, suppress Falun Gong's momentum" by shaping global public opinion and using legal warfare against Falun Gong organizations abroad, including in the United States. +In May 2023, Los Angeles residents John Chen and Lin Feng were indicted and charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly engaging in a CCP 610 Office-directed scheme to strip the tax-exempt status of an entity run by Falun Gong practitioners. The two were charged with acting as unregistered foreign agents, money laundering, and bribery. After Chen filed a defective whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the two paid $5,000 in cash bribes to a purported IRS official who was an undercover agent, and promised to pay substantially more for the official's assistance in advancing the complaint. Chen was sentenced to 20 months in prison in November 2024 and Feng received a 16-month sentence in September 2024. + +== International reception and response == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..52a482aba --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Falun Gong outside mainland China" +chunk: 9/9 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong_outside_mainland_China" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:46.820716+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Western governments and human rights organizations have expressed condemnation of the suppression in China and sympathized with Falun Gong's plight. Since 1999, members of the United States Congress have made public pronouncements and introduced several resolutions in support of Falun Gong. In 2010, House Resolution 605 described Falun Gong as a set of "spiritual, religious, and moral teachings for daily life, meditation, and exercise, based upon the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance," called for "an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners," condemned the Chinese authorities' efforts to distribute "false propaganda" about the practice worldwide, and expressed sympathy to persecuted Falun Gong practitioners and their families. +United Nations Special Rapporteurs on Torture, Extrajudicial executions, Violence against Women and Freedom of Religion or Belief have issued numerous reports condemning the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and relayed hundreds of cases of concern to Chinese authorities. In 2003, for instance, The Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings wrote that reports from China "describe harrowing scenes in which detainees, many of whom are followers of the Falun Gong movement, die as a result of severe ill-treatment, neglect or medical attention. The cruelty and brutality of these alleged acts of torture defy description." In 2010, the special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief condemned the defamation against minority religious groups, singling out the governments of Iran and China for their treatment of the Baháʼí Faith and Falun Gong, respectively. "Small communities, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baháʼís, Ahmadis, Falun Gong and others are sometimes stigmatized as "cults" and frequently meet with societal prejudices which may escalate into fully fledged conspiracy theories," said the rapporteur at the UN general assembly. +Although the persecution of Falun Gong has drawn considerable condemnation outside China, some observers note that Falun Gong has failed to attract the level of sympathy and sustained attention afforded to other Chinese dissident groups. Katrina Lantos Swett, vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, notes that most Americans are aware of the persecution of "Tibetan Buddhists and unregistered Christian groups or pro-democracy and free speech advocates such as Liu Xiaobo and Ai Weiwei," and yet "know little to nothing about China's assault on the Falun Gong." +From 1999 to 2001, Western media reports on Falun Gong—and in particular, the mistreatment of practitioners—were frequent, if mixed. By the latter half of 2001, however, the volume of media reports declined precipitously, and by 2002, coverage of Falun Gong by major news organizations like the New York Times and Washington Post had almost completely ceased, particularly from within China. In a study of media discourse on Falun Gong, researcher Leeshai Lemish found that Western news organizations also became less balanced, and more likely to uncritically present the narratives of the CCP, rather than those of Falun Gong or human rights groups. +Adam Frank writes that foreign media adopted a variety of frames in reporting on Falun Gong, including linking Falun Gong to historical antecedents in China, reporting on human rights violations against the group, and practice-based reporting on the experience of Falun Gong. Ultimately, Frank writes that in reporting on the Falun Gong, the Western tradition of casting the Chinese as "exotic" took dominance, and that "the facts were generally correct, but the normalcy that millions of Chinese practitioners associated with the practice had all but disappeared." David Ownby observes that sympathy for Falun Gong is further undermined by the impact of the "cult" label applied to the practice by the Chinese authorities, which never entirely went away in the minds of some Westerners, and the stigma of which still plays a role in public perceptions of Falun Gong. +Ethan Gutmann, a journalist reporting on China since the early 1990s, has attempted to explain the apparent dearth of public sympathy for Falun Gong as stemming, in part, from the group's shortcomings in public relations. Unlike the democracy activists or Tibetans, who have found a comfortable place in Western perceptions, "Falun Gong marched to a distinctly Chinese drum," according to Gutmann. This, coupled with western skepticism of persecuted refugees, has resulted in a perception that Falun Gong practitioners tended to exaggerate, or "spout slogans rather than facts." Gutmann also observes that Falun Gong also lacks robust backing from the American constituencies that usually support religious freedom: liberals are wary of Falun Gong's conservative morality, Christian conservatives don't accord the practice the same space as persecuted Christians, and the political center is wary of disrupting commercial and political relations with the Chinese government. Thus, Falun Gong practitioners have largely had to rely on their own resources in responding to the persecution. +A response by the U.S. government came on July 20, 2020—the 21st anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong in China—where then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the CCP to "immediately end its depraved abuse and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, release those imprisoned due to their beliefs [...] and address the whereabouts of missing practitioners". He further stated that "Twenty-one years of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is far too long, and it must end". +In November 2020, a Siberian Appeals Court banned Falun Gong in the region under Russia's extremisms laws that also targeted multiple other spiritual groups. This followed the Supreme Court of Khakassia's refusal to designate Falun Gong as extremist and the region's deputy prosecutor general's appeal to overturn the decision. Thus since November 2020, Falun Gong has been banned throughout the entirety of the Russian Federation. An international human rights organization based in Belgium, Human Rights Without Frontiers, considers the ban a "grave grave violation of religious freedom". + +== See also == +Teachings of Falun Gong +History of Falun Gong +Falun Gong in Hong Kong +Falun Buddha Society (Singapore) + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Constellations-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Constellations-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..702dd7f99 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Constellations-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Family Constellations" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Constellations" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:48.004278+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Family Constellations, also known as Systemic Constellations and Systemic Family Constellations, is a pseudoscientific therapeutic method which draws on elements of family systems therapy, existential phenomenology and Zulu beliefs and attitudes to family. +Family Constellations diverges significantly from conventional forms of cognitive, behaviour and psychodynamic psychotherapy. The method has been described by physicists as an example of quantum mysticism, and its founder Bert Hellinger incorporated the existing pseudoscientific concept of morphic resonance into his explanation of it. Positive outcomes from the therapy have been attributed to conventional explanations such as suggestion, empathy, and the placebo effect. +Practitioners claim that present-day problems and difficulties may be influenced by traumas suffered in previous generations of the family, even if those affected are unaware of the original event. Hellinger referred to the relation between present and past problems that are not caused by direct personal experience as systemic entanglements, said to occur when unresolved trauma has afflicted a family through an event such as murder, suicide, death of a mother in childbirth, early death of a parent or sibling, war, natural disaster, emigration, or abuse. +A constellation session is a one-time event, with no follow-up. It may take place in front of a large audience. +The term “Family Constellations” was first used by Alfred Adler to describe the relational position of an individual within a family system and the influence of family dynamics on psychological development. +The contemporary therapeutic approach known as Family Constellations was later developed by Bert Hellinger in the late 20th century. Hellinger’s method integrates elements of family systems therapy, existential phenomenology, and group-based therapeutic techniques, and was also influenced by his experiences with Zulu cultural practices during his time as a missionary in South Africa. +His approach proposes that psychological difficulties may be linked to unresolved issues or traumas within previous generations of a family, a concept he described as “systemic entanglements.” + + +== Criticism == +Małgorzata Talarczyk of The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, +Poznań University of Medical Sciences in Poland has criticized the family constellation method as not meeting many of aspects of the Polish Code of Ethics for Psychiatrists. In particular, she found that it was inadequate in the areas of "the process, contract, diagnosis, supervision, confidentiality, alternativeness." Thus it is difficult to consider it as "psychotherapy". + + +== See also == +Internal Family Systems Model + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Boszormenyi-Nagy, Ivan; Spark, G. M. (1973). Invisible loyalties: Reciprocity in intergenerational family therapy. Harper & Row. +Singer; Lalich, Janja (1996). Crazy Therapies. Jossey-Bass. +Konkolÿ Thege, Barna; Petroll, Carla; Rivas, Carlos; Scholtens, Salome (2 February 2021). "The Effectiveness of Family Constellation Therapy in Improving Mental Health: A Systematic Review" (PDF). Family Process. 60 (2). Wiley: 409–423. doi:10.1111/famp.12636. ISSN 0014-7370. PMID 33528854. S2CID 231752236. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FasciaBlaster-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FasciaBlaster-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..09650af29 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FasciaBlaster-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +title: "FasciaBlaster" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FasciaBlaster" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:49.154294+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The FasciaBlaster is a device invented by entrepreneur Ashley Black primarily as a self-massage method to help reduce cellulite. There is no evidence it is effective, and claims made by Black about fascia have been characterized as pseudoscience. The FasciaBlaster is marketed as expected to cause bruising, and some users have reported various injuries in addition to bruising following use. + + +== Overview == +The FasciaBlaster is a hand-held bar with plastic claw-like parts intended to be applied to the skin and then used to massage the fascia underneath the skin, to reduce cellulite and stiffness. +The device was invented by entrepreneur Ashley Black. As of 2017, Black was not a licensed physical therapist. She initially marketed the tool as the Lumpbuster in 2012 for her work as a health and wellness trainer. +Black has marketed bruises caused by the FasciaBlaster as an indication of treatment effectiveness, and has described the bruising injuries from the device as similar to the pseudoscientific practice known as cupping. A physiotherapist speaking with the Evening Standard in 2018 about the FasciaBlaster stated "anything that causes pain should only be used under the guidance of a doctor, physiotherapist or other trained medical professional." +The FasciaBlaster was featured on Today in March 2017, where it was noted that Black advises bruising can be expected, and in 2018, the device was used on Kourtney Kardashian in an episode trailer for Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Model Toni Garrn described "lots of bruising" in 2017 while also praising "immediate results" after working with Black. A 2020 review in Essence magazine noted "immediate results" as well as "soreness and bruising" after Black used the tool on the reviewer. A 2017 review of three months of self-use by a reviewer for the Santa Monica Observer described "many many jaw dropping bruises" and warned "they also might last twice as long as a "normal" bruise." +Some users have reported various injuries after use of the FasciaBlaster, including severe bruising, and have submitted complaints to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. FDA complaints reviewed by BuzzFeed News in 2017 also included reports of inflammation and changes in menstruation. On Facebook, user complaints in 2017 included "severe bruising, weight gain, sagging skin, increased cellulite, nausea, and menstruation changes." +On May 22, 2017, the Terms of Use Agreement was updated on the fasciablaster.com website to include warnings that the device can cause "vomiting, hormone changes, increased sensitivity, headaches, acute inflammation, changes in cycle, reoccurrence of pre-existing condition, weight gain and other toxicity-associated symptoms," in addition to prior warnings that included "rashes, bumps, redness, irritation, itching" and "bruising." + + +== Lack of evidence for "fascia blasting" == +According to The New York Times in 2023, "If you choose to use a self-massaging device, don’t overdo it: No evidence supports the recent trend of "fascia blasting," or aggressively manipulating fascia through the skin, which can lead to bruising." In 2017, a chief of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery at Stanford Health Care told BuzzFeed News, "A bruise does not equal fascia being broken up," and an assistant professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine said "Bruises are pathologic, or an indication of tissue injury, and shouldn’t be the goal of a treatment." +Ashley Diana Black International Holdings, LLC contributed funding to a study published in Cogent Medicine in 2019 that was conducted by the Applied Science and Performance Institute (ASPI) of Tampa, Florida, which studied 33 women who used the FasciaBlaster five days a week over 12 weeks, and concluded the tool "may be a viable method in treating cellulite" while also noting some subjects reported "mild symptoms of irritability, nausea, headaches, and bruising." +Before the ASPI study appeared in Cogent Medicine, it was posted on the Ashley Black Guru website, with pictures of subjects and claims of FasciaBlaster effectiveness. Doctors who spoke with HuffPost after the study was published by Cogent Medicine in 2019 agreed the FasciaBlaster is not an effective cure for cellulite, and a plastic surgeon said, "It is clear that more research needs to be done in developing better treatments for cellulite." +In 2017, a sports medicine doctor said "the research is still in its infancy" when speaking with Harper's BAZAAR about the FasciaBlaster and the relationship between cellulite and fascia. According to medical experts who spoke with Buzzfeed News in 2017, various claims made by Black about bruises, fascia, and cellulite are lacking in scientific basis and evidence. A doctor from the Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology Laser and Cosmetic Center said temporary swelling after use of the device may cause the perception of a cellulite reduction. +According to Buzzfeed News in 2017, "Black has developed an entire pseudoscience around a real type of tissue, fascia, which connects muscle to skin and contributes to the appearance of cellulite." A 2018 consensus statement on fascial tissue research in sports medicine published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine noted a lack of validation for the efficacy of "manual therapies, such as massage" and stated, "While commercial and other interests often favour the promotion of premature positive conclusions about specific fascia-related treatments, strict application of scientific rigour is essential for the development of this promising field." + + +== Litigation == +In 2017, two proposed class action lawsuits began against Ashley Black, Ashley Diana Black International Holdings, L.L.C., ADB Interests, L.L.C., Ashley Black Company, ADB Innovations, L.L.C., Ashley Black Guru, and Ashley Black Fasciology, L.L.C., for various torts. The cases were consolidated into one case, Elson v. Black, in 2018. In Elson v. Black, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on January 5, 2023, reversed the dismissal of two claims in the class action lawsuit and returned the case to the trial court. +A lawsuit alleging defamation and other torts brought by ADB Interest, LLC and Ashley Black on May 25, 2017, against a FasciaBlaster user who complained of injury from the device on Facebook was dismissed, and damages and costs amounting to over $250,000 were awarded against ADB and Black in an anti-SLAPP repudiation under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The 2018 decision was upheld by the Texas Courts of Appeals in 2020. +In July 2017, ADB began lawsuits alleging business disparagement by two individuals who had participated in studies sponsored by ADB and then posted negative comments on Facebook about the FasciaBlaster after signing non-disclosure agreements, but ADB later dismissed the lawsuits. + + +== References == + + +== External links == +MAUDE Adverse Event Report: ASHLEY BLACK/ADB INTEREST, LLC FASCIABLASTER (Food and Drug Administration) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..65accee1f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Female hysteria" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:50.306581+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Female hysteria was once a common medical diagnosis for women. It was described as exhibiting a wide array of symptoms, including anxiety, shortness of breath, fainting, nervousness, exaggerated and impulsive sexual desire, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in the abdomen, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, sexually impulsive behavior, and a "tendency to cause trouble for others". It is no longer recognized by medical authorities as a medical disorder. Its diagnosis and treatment were routine for hundreds of years in Western Europe. +In extreme cases, the woman may have been forced to enter an insane asylum or to undergo surgical hysterectomy. +In Western medicine, hysteria was considered both common and chronic among women. Though it was categorized as a disease at the time, modern day analyses suggest that hysteria's symptoms can be explained by the normal fluctuations of women's sexuality. + +== Early history == + +The history of hysteria diagnoses can be traced to ancient times. Dating back to 1900 BC in ancient Egypt, the first descriptions of hysteria within the female body were found recorded on the Kahun Papyri. In this culture, the womb was thought capable of affecting much of the rest of the body, but "there is no warrant for the fanciful view that the ancient Egyptians believed that a variety of bodily complaints were due to an animate, wandering womb". In this time, the medical issue of uterine prolapse was also known. +In ancient Greece, wandering womb was described in the gynecological treatise of the Hippocratic Corpus, "Diseases of Women", which dates back to the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Plato's dialogue Timaeus compares a woman's uterus to a living creature that wanders throughout a woman's body, "blocking passages, obstructing breathing, and causing disease". Aretaeus of Cappadocia described the uterus as "an animal within an animal" (less emotively, "a living thing inside a living thing"), which causes symptoms by wandering around a woman's body putting pressure on other organs. +The standard cure for this "hysterical suffocation" was scent therapy, in which good smells were placed under a woman's genitals and bad odors at the nose. It was thought that fumigating the body with special fragrances would draw the uterus back to its natural spot in the female body. Foul smells applied to the nose would drive it down, and pleasant scents at the vulva would attract it. Sneezing could be also induced to drive the uterus back to its correct place. +The concept of a pathological "wandering womb" was later viewed as the source of the term hysteria, which stems from the Greek cognate of uterus, ὑστέρα (hystera), although the word hysteria does not feature in ancient Greek medicine: 'the noun is not used in this period'. +Timaeus also argued that the uterus is "sad and unfortunate" when it does not join with a male or bear a child; thus, participating in sexual intercourse was an accepted treatment. +While in the Hippocratic texts a wide range of women were susceptible – including in particular the childless – Galen in the 2nd century omitted childlessness as a factor and instead saw the most vulnerable group as "widows, and particularly those who previously menstruated regularly, had been pregnant and were eager to have intercourse, but were now deprived of all this" (On the Affected Parts, 6.5). He also denied that the womb could "move from one place to another like a wandering animal". His treatments included scent therapy and sexual intercourse, but also rubbing ointments into the external genitalia; this was to be performed by midwives rather than male physicians. +While most Hippocratic writers saw the retention of menstrual blood in the womb as a key problem, for Galen, even more serious was the retention of "female seed". This was believed to be thinner than male seed and could be retained in the womb. Hysteria was referred to as "the widow's disease", because the female semen was believed to turn venomous if not released through regular climax or intercourse. If the patient was married, this could be completed by intercourse with their spouse. + +== Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the early modern period == +Through the Middle Ages, another cause of dramatic symptoms could be found: demonic possession. It was thought that demoniacal forces were attracted to those who were prone to melancholy, particularly single women and the elderly. Undiagnosable or incurable patients who were subsequently thought to have been possessed by the devil often exhibited symptoms that would indicate mental illness in modern day. After the 17th century, the correlation of demonic possession and hysteria were gradually discarded and instead was described as behavioral deviance, a medical issue. +In the 16th and 17th centuries, hysteria was still believed to be due to the retention of humour or fluids in the uterus, sexual deprivation, or by the tendency of the uterus to wander around the female body causing irritability and suffocation. Marriage, and regular sexual encounters with her husband, were still the most highly recommended long-term course of treatment for a woman with hysteria to purge the uterus of any built-up fluid. Self treatment such as masturbation was not recommended and was also considered taboo. Semen was also thought to have healing properties, and physicians regarded all contraceptive practices as injurious to women. Giovanni Matteo Ferrari da Gradi cited marriage and childbearing as a cure for the disease. If pleasure was obtained from them, then hysteria could be cured. If a woman was unmarried, or widowed, manual stimulation by a midwife involving certain oils and scents was recommended to purge the uterus of any fluid retention. Lack of marriage was also thought to be the cause of most melancholy in single women, such as nuns or widows. Studies of the causes and effects of hysteria were continued in the 16th and 17th century by medical professionals such as Ambroise Pare, Thomas Sydenham, and Abraham Zacuto, who published their findings furthering medical knowledge of the disease, and informing treatment. Physician Abraham Zacuto writes in his Praxis Medica Admiranda from 1637: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fd38bdeeb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Female hysteria" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:50.306581+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Because of retention of the sexual fluid, the heart and surrounding areas are enveloped in a morbid and moist exudation: this is especially true of the more lascivious females, inclined to venery, passionate women who are most eager to experience physical pleasure; if she is of this type she cannot ever be relieved by any aid except that of her parents who are advised to find her a husband. Having done so the man's strong and vigorous intercourse alleviated the frenzy. +There was continued debate about whether it was morally acceptable for a physician to remove excess female seed through genital manipulation of the female patient; Pieter van Foreest (Forestus) and Giovanni Matteo da Grado (Gradus) insisted on using midwives as intermediaries, and regarded the treatment as the last resort. + +== 18th century == +In the 18th century, hysteria slowly became associated with mechanisms in the brain rather than the uterus. This is also when it was noted both men and women could contract hysteria. French physician Philippe Pinel freed hysteria patients detained in Paris' Salpêtrière sanatorium on the basis that kindness and sensitivity were needed to formulate good care. +Another French physician, Francois de Sauvages de La Croix believed some common signs of female hysteria were "tears and laughter, oscitation [yawning], pandiculation (stretching and yawning), suffocating angina (chest pain) or dyspnea (shortness of breath), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), delirium, a close and driving pulse, a swollen abdomen, cold extremities, and abundant and clear urine." +Anton Mesmer, a German physician, came up with the theory of “animal magnetism”, later referred to as mesmerism. Mesmer saw “animal magnetism” as energy that flowed through the nervous system. He would try to manipulate that “energy” to relieve his patients of hysteria. One of the methods he used was having his patients hold onto metal rods that were electrically charged. Mesmer's findings on "animal magnetism" were later discredited. + +== 19th century == + +Jean-Martin Charcot argued that hysteria derived from a neurological disorder and asserted that it was more common in men than women. Charcot's theories of hysteria being a physical condition of the mind and not of the body led to a more scientific and analytical approach to hysteria in the 19th century. He dispelled the beliefs that hysteria had anything to do with the supernatural and attempted to define it medically. Charcot's use of photography, and the resulting concretization of women's expressions of health and distress, continued to influence women's experiences of seeking healthcare. Though older ideas persisted during this era, over time female hysteria began to be thought of less as a physical ailment and more of a psychological one. +George Beard, a physician who cataloged an incomplete list including 75 pages of possible symptoms of hysteria, claimed that almost any ailment could fit the diagnosis. Physicians thought that the stress associated with the typical female life at the time caused civilized women to be both more susceptible to nervous disorders and to develop faulty reproductive tracts. One American physician expressed pleasure in the fact that the country was "catching up" to Europe in the prevalence of hysteria. +In 1875, Edward Hammond Clarke wrote “Sex in Education”, a book discussing his views on men and women's education. Clarke believed that if women were educated, the energy in their bodies would go to the brain instead of the reproductive organs, hindering childbirth. He cited clothing, food, exercise, and education as causes of “Leucorrhoea, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, chronic and acute ovaritis, prolapsis utari, hysteria, neuralgia”. Clarke believed that men came into the world fully developed, while women did not, and that imposing men's education on women would worsen their problem. His views were condemned by many women's organizations. +According to Pierre Roussel and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, femininity was a natural and essential desire for women: "Femininity is for both authors an essential nature, with defined functions, and the disease is explained by the non-fulfillment of natural desire." It was during the Industrial Revolution and the major development of cities and modern lifestyles that disruption of this natural appetite was thought to cause lethargy or melancholy, leading to hysteria. At the time female patients sought medical practitioners for the treatment of hysteria with massage. The rate of hysteria was so great in the industrial period that women were prone to carry smelling salts about their person in case they swooned, reminiscent of Hippocrates' theory of using odors to coerce the uterus back into place. For physicians, manual massage treatment was becoming laborious and time-consuming, and they were seeking a way to increase productivity. +Rachel Maines hypothesized that physicians from the classical era until the early 20th century commonly treated hysteria by manually stimulating the genitals of female patients to the point of orgasm, which was denominated "hysterical paroxysm", and that the inconvenience of this may have motivated the original development of and market for the vibrator. Other hysteria treatments included pregnancy, marriage, heterosexual sex, and the application of smelling oils on female genitals. Maines's theory that hysteria was treated by manually stimulating female patients' genitalia to orgasm is widely repeated in the literature on female anatomy and sexuality. However, some historians dispute Maines's claims regarding the prevalence of this treatment for hysteria and its relevance to the invention of the vibrator, describing them as a distortion or overgeneralization of the evidence. In 2018, Hallie Lieberman and Eric Schatzberg of Georgia Institute of Technology challenged Maines's claims for the use of electromechanical vibrators to treat hysteria in the 19th century. Maines stated that her theory of the prevalence of masturbation for hysteria and its relevance to the invention of the vibrator is a hypothesis and not proven fact. +Frederick Hollick was a firm believer that a main cause of hysteria was licentiousness present in women. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..231e9c231 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Female hysteria" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:50.306581+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== 20th century == +In the 1910s, psychiatrist L. E. Emerson was heavily involved in treating patients of hysteria at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. Emerson published case studies on his patients, who were often "young, single, native-born, and white" and either had been raped or had a lack of healthy sexual relationships. One of his more famous works was a case study of a woman called "Miss A". In the study, Emerson summarized the patient's experience with sexual violence, which he said that most women with hysteria had encountered. Miss A practiced self-harm, which Emerson deduced to be a release for the sexual assault she had previously experienced and a substitute for masturbation. Another case study was of Sally Hollis, a woman who often viewed her experience with sexual assault in terms of her own failures and female aggression. Believing the roots of hysteria lay in sexual conflict, Emerson noted the theme of lack of sexual knowledge amongst these women, viewing them as repressed. Their sexual ignorance ranged from lack of knowledge about menstruation to conception to the process of giving birth. +Some women purposefully sought out the "hysteric" diagnosis because they believed it could provide an answer to what they were experiencing. Most of the patients that Emerson saw were single because they were either young or had purposefully avoided men. Author Elizabeth Lunbeck wrote that these women typically fell into three categories. They either withdrew from the heterosexual sphere entirely despite wanting to participate; they experienced something that was sexually unwanted but would experience guilt over what happened like Sally Hollis; or they were haunted by their sexual traumas in the past. As hysteria was becoming a more prominent diagnosis amongst women, police began treating any report for sexual assault or rape with skepticism, with the common belief at the time being that "sexual assault is physically impossible without consent". + +== Freud and decline of diagnosis == + +During the early 20th century, the number of women diagnosed with female hysteria sharply declined. Some medical authors claim that the decline was due to gaining a greater understanding of the psychology behind conversion disorders such as hysteria. The understanding of the field of psychiatry was becoming more nuanced at the time, with Sigmund Freud's introduction of the theory of psychoanalysis and his other ideas surrounding women and their sexuality. +With so many possible symptoms, historically hysteria was considered a catch-all diagnosis that any unidentifiable ailment could be assigned. As diagnostic techniques improved, the number of ambiguous cases that might have been attributed to hysteria declined. For instance, before the introduction of electroencephalography, epilepsy was frequently confused with hysteria. +Sigmund Freud claimed that hysteria was not physical at all but rather an internal emotional condition brought on by trauma that could affect both men and women and prevented them from enjoying sex in the normal way. This would later lead to Freud's development of the Oedipus complex, which connotes femininity as a failure, or lack of masculinity. Although some earlier studies had posited that men were also prone to hysteria, over time, the condition was related mainly to issues of femininity as the continued study of hysteria took place only in women. +Many cases that had previously been labeled hysteria were reclassified by Freud as anxiety neuroses. It was Freud's theory that hysteria may have been related to the unconscious mind and separate from the conscious mind or the ego. He was convinced that deep conflicts in the mind, some concerning instinctual drives for sex and aggression, were driving the behavior of those with hysteria. The illness of hysteria is an "expression of the impossibility of the fulfillment of the sexual drive because of reminiscence of the Oedipal conflict". This hypothesis is a driving force behind the psychological theory of psychoanalysis, as a way to help patients that had been diagnosed with hysteria reduce internal conflicts causing physical and emotional suffering. +New theories relating to hysteria came from speculation; doctors and physicians could not connect symptoms to the disorder, causing it to decline rapidly as a diagnosis. Hysteria was officially removed from the DSM in 1980. +Today, female hysteria is no longer a recognized illness, but different manifestations of hysteria are recognized in other conditions such as schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, functional neurological symptom disorder, and anxiety attacks. + +== Relationship with women's rights and feminism == +In the 1980s, feminists began to reclaim the term "hysteria", using it as a symbol of the systematic oppression of women and reclaiming the term for themselves. The idea of hysteria became an embodiment of the oppressions against women, especially among sex-positive feminists, who believed sexual repression being considered hysteria was a form of oppression. The idea stemmed from the belief that hysteria was a kind of pre-feminist rebellion against the oppressive defined social roles placed upon women. Feminist writers such as Catherine Clément and Hélène Cixous wrote in The Newly Born Woman from a place of opposition to the theories proposed in psychoanalytical works. Clément, Cixous and other feminist writers pushed back against the notion that socially constructed femininities and hysteria are natural to being female. Feminist social historians of both sexes argue that hysteria is caused by women's oppressed social roles, rather than by their bodies or psyches. + +== Representation in creative works == + +=== Charlotte Perkins Gilman === + +"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman that demonstrates the mistreatment of hysteria and illuminates the deep-rooted misogynistic systems that existed at the time. Published in 1892, this piece is an early example of media in which medical care is interrogated through a feminist lens. In the story, the female protagonist is confined to an upstairs room at the instruction of her husband, who is a physician, which paradoxically worsens her condition. Over the course of her lengthy confinement, the protagonist becomes obsessed with the yellow wallpaper and believes she can see a woman inside it as her mental state deteriorates. + +=== Safe === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..410fba1b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Female hysteria" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:50.306581+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The 1995 film Safe explores the harmful effects of sexism in healthcare on the psychological and physical health of women and girls. It explores the connections between mental illness, the misdiagnosis of mental illness when physical conditions proved difficult to diagnose, feminism, and healthcare disparities that result from deep-rooted sexism in the medical industry. + +== See also == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Augsburg, Tanya (1996). Private Theatres Onstage (Hysteria and the Female Medical Subject). UMI. +Bronfen, Elisabeth (2014). The Knotted Subject: Hysteria and Its Discontents. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-6473-7. +Greenhalgh, Ally (6 December 2022). "Medicine and Misogyny: The Misdiagnosis of Women". Confluence. +Hedva, Johanna (2020). "Sick Woman Theory" (PDF). +Herman, Judith Lewis (1992). Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-08730-3. +Jackson, Zakiyyah Iman (2020). Becoming Human. doi:10.18574/nyu/9781479890040.001.0001. ISBN 978-1-4798-3455-6. S2CID 261359346. +Kapsalis, Terri (2008). The Hysterical Alphabet. WhiteWalls. ISBN 978-0-945323-16-7. +Katz, James D.; Seaman, Rachel; Diamond, Shari (May 2008). "Exposing Gender Bias in Medical Taxonomy: Toward Embracing a Gender Difference Without Disenfranchising Women". Women's Health Issues. 18 (3): 151–154. doi:10.1016/j.whi.2008.03.002. PMID 18457752. +Libbrecht, Katrien (1995). Hysterical Psychosis: A Historical Survey. London: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 1-56000-181-X. +Micale, Mark S. (1995). Approaching Hysteria: Disease and its Interpretations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03717-5. +Micale, Mark S. (2009). Hysterical Men: The Hidden History of Male Nervous Illness. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-04098-4. +Micklem, Niel (1996). The Nature of Hysteria. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12186-8. +Mickles, Kiana (October 2017). "Beyond J. Marion Sims: Black Women Have Been Fighting Discrimination in the Medical Industrial Complex for Centuries". CRWNMAG. +Showalter, Elaine (1987). The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture, 1830–1980. Virago. ISBN 978-0-86068-869-3. +Spurgas, Alyson K. (2020). Diagnosing Desire: Biopolitics and Femininity into the Twenty-first Century. Ohio State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8142-1451-0. +Suslovic, Brianna (2 January 2023). "Hysterical Solidarity: An Embodied Reflection on Contemporary Sexual and Reproductive Rights Concerns in the United States". Studies in Gender and Sexuality. 24 (1): 21–27. doi:10.1080/15240657.2022.2161284. S2CID 257535669. +Villines, Zawn (25 October 2021). "Gender Bias in Healthcare: Examples and Consequences". Medical News Today. + +== External links == +Erika Kinetz, "Is Hysteria Real? Brain Images Say Yes" (The New York Times) +Female Hysteria During Victorian Era: Its Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment/Cures \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..40986150d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Feng shui" +chunk: 1/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:51.449274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Feng shui ( or ) is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China. The term feng shui means, literally, "wind-water" (i.e., fluid). From ancient times, landscapes and bodies of water were thought to direct the flow of the universal qi – "cosmic current" or energy – through places and structures. More broadly, feng shui includes astronomical, astrological, architectural, cosmological, geographical, and topographical dimensions. +Historically, and in many parts of the contemporary Chinese world, feng shui has been used to determine the orientation of buildings, dwellings, and spiritually significant structures such as tombs. +Feng shui's global uptake during the modern era has been complex. Its host of modern detractors has been very diverse, ranging from 16th-century Jesuit missionaries to the Chinese communist revolutionaries of the 20th century. Regarding its adoption within contemporary Western societies, one scholar writes that "feng shui tends to be reduced to interior design for health and wealth. It has become increasingly visible through 'feng shui consultants' and corporate architects who charge large sums of money for their analysis, advice and design." In Western philosophy of science, feng shui is generally regarded as non-scientific, while some scientific skeptics have more narrowly classified it as a pseudoscience. + +== History == + +=== Origins === +The Yangshao and Hongshan cultures provide the earliest known evidence for the use of feng shui. Until the invention of the magnetic compass, feng shui relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and the universe. +In 4000 BC, the doors of dwellings in Banpo were aligned with the asterism Yingshi just after the winter solstice—this sited the homes for solar gain. During the Zhou era, Yingshi was known as Ding and was used, according to the Shijing, to determine the auspicious time for constructing a capital city. The late Yangshao site at Dadiwan (c. 3500–3000 BC) includes a palace-like building (F901) at its center. The building faces south and borders a large plaza. It stands on a north–south axis with another building that apparently housed communal activities. Regional communities may have used the complex. +A grave at Puyang (around 4000 BC) that contains mosaics—a Chinese star map of the Dragon and Tiger asterisms and Beidou (the Big Dipper, Ladle or Bushel)—is oriented along a north–south axis. The presence of both round and square shapes in the Puyang tomb, at Hongshan ceremonial centers and at the late Longshan settlement at Lutaigang, +suggests that gaitian cosmography (heaven-round, earth-square) existed in Chinese society long before it appeared in the Zhoubi Suanjing. +Cosmography that bears a resemblance to modern feng shui devices and formulas appears on a piece of jade unearthed at Hanshan and dated around 3000 BC. Archaeologist Li Xueqin links the design to the liuren astrolabe, zhinan zhen and luopan. +Beginning with palatial structures at Erlitou, all capital cities of China followed rules of feng shui for their design and layout. During the Zhou era, the Kaogong ji (Chinese: 考工記; "Manual of Crafts") codified these rules. The carpenter's manual Lu ban jing (魯班經; "Lu ban's manuscript") codified rules for builders. Graves and tombs also followed rules of feng shui from Puyang to Mawangdui and beyond. From the earliest records, the structures of the graves and dwellings seem to have followed the same rules. + +=== Early instruments and techniques === + +Some of the foundations of feng shui go back more than 3,500 years before the invention of the magnetic compass. It originated in Chinese astronomy. Some current techniques can be traced to Neolithic China, while others were added later (most notably the Han dynasty, the Tang, the Song, and the Ming). +The astronomical history of feng shui is evident in the development of instruments and techniques. According to the Zhouli, the original feng shui instrument may have been a gnomon. Chinese used circumpolar stars to determine the north–south axis of settlements. This technique explains why Shang palaces at Xiaotun lie 10° east of due north. In some of the cases, as Paul Wheatley observed, they bisected the angle between the directions of the rising and setting sun to find north. This technique provided the more precise alignments of the Shang walls at Yanshi and Zhengzhou. Rituals for using a feng shui instrument required a diviner to examine current sky phenomena to set the device and adjust their position in relation to the device. +The oldest examples of instruments used for feng shui are liuren astrolabes, also known as shi. These consist of a lacquered, two-sided board with astronomical sightlines. The earliest examples of liuren astrolabes have been unearthed from tombs that date between 278 BC and 209 BC. Along with divination for Da Liu Ren the boards were commonly used to chart the motion of Taiyi (Pole star) through the nine palaces. The markings on a liuren/shi and the first magnetic compasses are virtually identical. +The magnetic compass was used for feng shui since its invention. Traditional feng shui instrumentation consists of the luopan or the earlier south-pointing spoon (指南針 zhinan zhen)—though a conventional compass could suffice if one understood the differences. Not to be confused with the South-pointing chariot which was used for navigation. A feng shui ruler (a later invention) may also be employed. + +=== Imperial court usage === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b5baf358b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Feng shui" +chunk: 2/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:51.449274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +From at least the Han dynasty, feng shui was formally integrated into Chinese imperial governance, with court officials conducting geomantic assessments for the siting of palaces, capital cities, and imperial tombs. The practice reached its institutional peak during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties, when the Qintianjian (欽天監, Imperial Astronomical Bureau) employed specialists in feng shui alongside astronomers and calendar-makers. Major imperial projects including the Forbidden City and the Ming tombs were designed in accordance with feng shui principles, with the Forbidden City's north–south axial alignment and the placement of the artificial hill of Jingshan to its north reflecting classical geomantic conventions. The imperial court's control over geomantic knowledge served both practical and political functions, as the proper siting of state structures was understood as a demonstration of the ruling dynasty's claim to the Mandate of Heaven. + +=== Later history === +After the Song dynasty, divination began to decline as a political institution and instead became an increasingly private affair. Many feng shui experts and diviners sold their services to the public market, allowing feng shui to quickly grow in popularity. +During the Late Qing dynasty, feng shui became immensely popular. Widespread destitution and increasing government despotism led to feng shui becoming more widely practiced in rural areas. The Qing dynasty attempted to crack down on heterodoxy following the White Lotus Rebellion and Taiping Revolt, but feng shui's decentralization made it difficult to suppress in popular and elite circles. +Under China's Century of Humiliation, feng shui began to receive implicit government encouragement as a method of colonial resistance. Through the militarization of the countryside, the local gentry used feng shui to justify and promote popular attacks against missionaries and colonial infrastructure. This allowed local elites and government officials to bypass foreign extraterritoriality and maintain local sovereignty. This, in addition to the cultural aspects of feng shui, made the practice a powerful expression of demarcation between foreign and Chinese identities. +Following the rise of Communist China, religion and traditional cosmology were suppressed more than ever, in the name of ideological purity. Decentralized heterodoxies, like feng shui, were best adapted to survive this period. As a result, feng shui became one of the only alternative forms of thought within the Chinese countryside. Feng shui experts remained highly sought after, in spite of numerous campaigns to suppress the practice. +It was only after China's reform and opening up that feng shui would see a complete resurgence. As economic liberalization promoted social competition and individualism, feng shui was able to find new footing due to its focus on individualism and amoral justification of social differences. + +== Foundational concepts == + +=== Definition and classification === +Feng shui views good and bad fortune as tangible elements that can be managed through predictable and consistent rules. This involves the management of qi, an imagined form of cosmic "energy." In situating the local environment to maximize good qi, one can optimize their own good fortune. Feng shui holds that one's external environment can affect one's internal state. A goal of the practice is to achieve a "perfect spot", a location and an axis in time that can help one achieve a state of shū fú (舒服) or harmony with the universe. +Traditional feng shui is inherently a form of ancestor worship. Popular in farming communities for centuries, it was built on the idea that the ghosts of ancestors and other independent, intangible forces, both personal and impersonal, affected the material world, and that these forces needed to be placated through rites and suitable burial places. For a fee, a Feng shui practitioner would identify suitable locations for the living and the dead to achieve shū fú. The primary underlying value was material success for the living. + +=== Qi (ch'i) === + +Qi (气, pronounced "chee") is a movable positive or negative life force which plays an essential role in feng shui. The Book of Burial says that burial takes advantage of "vital qi". The goal of feng shui is to take advantage of vital qi by appropriate siting of graves and structures. + +=== Polarity === +Polarity is expressed in feng shui as yin and yang theory. That is, it is of two parts: one creating an exertion and one receiving the exertion. The development of this theory and its corollary, five phase theory (five element theory), have also been linked with astronomical observations of sunspot. +The Five Elements or Forces (wu xing) – which, according to the Chinese, are metal, earth, fire, water, and wood – are first mentioned in Chinese literature in a chapter of the classic Book of History. They play a very important part in Chinese thought: ‘elements’ meaning generally not so much the actual substances as the forces essential to human life. Earth is a buffer, or an equilibrium achieved when the polarities cancel each other. While the goal of Chinese medicine is to balance yin and yang in the body, the goal of feng shui has been described as aligning a city, site, building, or object with yin-yang force fields. + +=== Bagua (eight trigrams) === +Eight diagrams known as bagua loom large in feng shui, and both predate their mentions in the I Ching. The Lo (River) Chart was developed first, and is sometimes associated with Later Heaven arrangement of the bagua. This and the Yellow River Chart (Hetu, sometimes associated with the Earlier Heaven bagua) are linked to astronomical events of the sixth millennium BC, and with the Turtle Calendar from the time of Yao. The Turtle Calendar of Yao (found in the Yaodian section of the Shangshu or Book of Documents) dates to 2300 BC, plus or minus 250 years. +In Yaodian, the cardinal directions are determined by the marker-stars of the mega-constellations known as the Four Celestial Animals: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..a4521d71d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,81 @@ +--- +title: "Feng shui" +chunk: 3/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:51.449274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +East: The Azure Dragon (Spring equinox)—Niao (Bird 鳥), α Scorpionis +South: The Vermilion Bird (Summer solstice)—Huo (Fire 火), α Hydrae +West: The White Tiger (Autumn equinox)—Mǎo (Hair 毛), η Tauri (the Pleiades) +North: The Black Tortoise (Winter solstice)—Xū (Emptiness, Void 虛), α Aquarii, β Aquarii +The diagrams are also linked with the sifang (four directions) method of divination used during the Shang dynasty. The sifang is much older, however. It was used at Niuheliang, and figured large in Hongshan culture's astronomy. And it is this area of China that is linked to Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) who allegedly invented the south-pointing spoon (see compass). + +== Traditional feng shui == +Traditional feng shui is an ancient system based upon the observation of heavenly time and earthly space. Literature, as well as archaeological evidence, provide some idea of the origins and nature of feng shui techniques. Aside from books, there is also a strong oral history. In many cases, masters have passed on their techniques only to selected students or relatives. Modern practitioners of feng shui draw from several branches in their own practices. + +=== Form branch === +The Form Branch is the oldest branch of feng shui. Qing Wuzi in the Han dynasty describes it in the Book of the Tomb and Guo Pu of the Jin dynasty follows up with a more complete description in The Book of Burial. +The Form branch was originally concerned with the location and orientation of tombs (Yin House feng shui), which was of great importance. The branch then progressed to the consideration of homes and other buildings (Yang House feng shui). +The "form" in Form branch refers to the shape of the environment, such as mountains, rivers, plateaus, buildings, and general surroundings. It considers the five celestial animals (vermillion phoenix, azure dragon, white tiger, black turtle, and the yellow snake), the yin and yang concept and the traditional five elements (wuxing: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). +The Form branch analyzes the shape of the land and flow of the wind and water to find a place with ideal qi. It also considers the time of important events such as the birth of the resident and the building of the structure. + +=== Compass branch === +The Compass branch is a collection of more recent feng shui techniques based on the Eight Directions, each of which is said to have unique qi. It uses the luopan, a disc marked with formulas in concentric rings around a magnetic compass. +The Compass branch includes techniques such as Flying Star and Eight Mansions. + +== List of specific feng shui branches == + +=== Ti Li (Form Branch) === + +==== Popular Xingshi Pai (形勢派) "Forms" methods ==== +Luan Tou Pai, 巒頭派, Pinyin: luán tóu pài, (environmental analysis without using a compass) +Xing Xiang Pai, 形象派 or 形像派, Pinyin: xíng xiàng pài, (Imaging forms) +Xingfa Pai, 形法派, Pinyin: xíng fǎ pài + +=== Liiqi Pai (Compass Branch) === + +==== Popular Liiqi Pai (理气派) "Compass" methods ==== +San Yuan Method, 三元派 (Pinyin: sān yuán pài) + +Dragon Gate Eight Formation, 龍門八法 (Pinyin: lóng mén bā fǎ) +Xuan Kong, 玄空 (time and space methods) +Xuan Kong Fei Xing 玄空飛星 (Flying Stars methods of time and directions) +Xuan Kong Da Gua, 玄空大卦 ("Secret Decree" or 64 gua relationships) +Xuan Kong Mi Zi, 玄空秘旨 (Mysterious Space Secret Decree) +Xuan Kong Liu Fa, 玄空六法 (Mysterious Space Six Techniques) +Zi Bai Jue, 紫白訣 (Purple White Scroll) +San He Method, 三合派 (environmental analysis using a compass) + +Accessing Dragon Methods +Ba Zhai, 八宅 (Eight Mansions) +Yang Gong Feng Shui, 楊公風水 +Water Methods, 河洛水法 +Local Embrace +Others + +Yin House Feng Shui, 陰宅風水 (feng shui for the deceased) +Four Pillars of Destiny, 四柱命理 (a form of hemerology) +Zi Wei Dou Shu, 紫微斗數 (Purple Star Astrology) +I-Ching, 易經 (Book of Changes) +Qi Men Dun Jia, 奇門遁甲 (Mysterious Door Escaping Techniques) +Da Liu Ren, 大六壬 (Divination: Big Six Heavenly Yang Water Qi) +Tai Yi Shen Shu, 太乙神數 (Divination: Tai Yi Magical Calculation Method) +Date Selection, 擇日 (selection of auspicious dates and times for important events) +Chinese Palmistry, 掌相學 (destiny reading by palm reading) +Chinese Face Reading, 面相學 (destiny reading by face reading) +Major and Minor Wandering Stars (Constellations) +Five Phases, 五行 (relationship of the five phases or wuxing) +BTB Black (Hat) Tantric Buddhist Sect (Westernised or modern methods not based on Classical teachings) +Symbolic Feng Shui, (New Age feng shui methods that advocate substitution with symbolic (spiritual, appropriate representation of five elements) objects if natural environment or object/s is/are not available or viable) +Pierce Method of Feng Shui (sometimes pronounced Von Shway)—The practice of melding striking with soothing furniture arrangements to promote peace and prosperity + +== Traditional uses of feng shui == + +=== Environmental management === + +Traditional feng shui was a system designed to aid rural villages from the effects of weather and natural disaster. As a set of consistent rules, feng shui can facilitate collective consensus on development without the need of centralized leadership. Understanding that one's actions could damage the feng shui and fortunes of the entire village, individuals were incentivized to know these rules and carefully manage the development of their land and resources. This served to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons. When conflict did erupt during development, feng shui experts played an important role in balancing interests and enforcing orderly development. +Different branches of feng shui were developed and embraced in response to differing local geographies. In southern China, this often resulted in villages located on high hills safe from flooding and erosion, with pooling streams that allow for easy irrigation and drainage, fields downstream fertilized by sewage, and graves located on the highest hills far from water and on otherwise unvaluable farmland. To this degree, feng shui could help communities manage their spaces to match their physical, environmental, and aesthetic needs. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0f1046eeb --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Feng shui" +chunk: 4/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:51.449274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Conflict resolution === +A core aspect of feng shui has been its understanding of polarity. As opposed to western dualism, in which concepts are completely oppositional and irreconcilable, Chinese polarity sees opposing concepts as constantly changing and inseparable. The result is an emphasis on continual compromise and balance in order to maintain harmony. +Feng shui has been observed to play an important role in the mediation of rural conflict. Through its amoral explanation of differential fortunes, feng shui provides a universal set of cosmic rules communities seek to abide by. This can promote community unity while also creating numerous points of polarization. Through the hiring of feng shui experts, disputes between villagers can be peaceably resolved without losing face. In addition, these impersonal cosmic rules help regulate local jealousies over wealth and prestige. + +=== Community mobilization and political protest === +As early as the Tang dynasty, the Chinese state recognized the disruptive power popular expressions of feng shui had over government authority. At the community level, feng shui could play an important role in community mobilization and political protest. By elevating a cosmological explanations of events, feng shui allowed for the expression of otherwise impermissible political opinions. +During the Boxer Rebellion, feng shui was used to justify attacks on western missionaries and colonial infrastructure. Under the perceptions of these infrastructural projects and groups were generating bad feng shui, rebels were able to incite their local communities into revolt against foreign influence. +To a more civil degree, feng shui could facilitate community negotiation. During the development of the Shek Pik Reservoir, feng shui was used to rally the community against the reservoir and hinder construction. It was only after months of difficult negotiations that guaranteed of local oversight, compensation, and resettlement could construction go smoothly. For many communities, feng shui is a method to extract proper deference and compensation from the government. + +=== Expression of identity === +Feng shui has been described as an egocentric tradition. Because of the nature of fortune, one person's gain comes at another's expense. Thus when compared to the more collectivist traditions of Confucianism, feng shui promotes social competition and the atomization of the family structure. This differentiation has been particularly expressed through excellent siting and the building of bigger homes that can change the local balance of feng shui. +Feng shui also helps promote ethnic differentiation. In Southern China, different folk traditions and beliefs guide differing interpretations of feng shui. Through conflicts over burial sites, these contrasting interpretations of feng shui act as an important medium to settle interethnic disputes and define local dynamics. + +== Contemporary uses of feng shui == + +After Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972, feng shui practices became popular in the United States. +Feng shui has nonetheless found many uses. Landscape ecologists often find traditional feng shui an interesting study. In many cases, the only remaining patches of Asian old forest are "feng shui woods," associated with cultural heritage, historical continuity, and the preservation of various flora and fauna species. Some researchers interpret the presence of these woods as indicators that the "healthy homes," sustainability and environmental components of traditional feng shui should not be easily dismissed. Environmental scientists and landscape architects have researched traditional feng shui and its methodologies. Architects study feng shui as an Asian architectural tradition. Geographers have analyzed the techniques and methods to help locate historical sites in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and archaeological sites in the American Southwest, concluding that Native Americans also considered astronomy and landscape features. +Believers use it for healing purposes, to guide their businesses, or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their homes, although there is no empirical evidence that it is effective. In particular, they use feng shui in the bedroom, where a number of techniques involving colors and arrangement are thought to promote comfort and peaceful sleep. Some users of feng shui may be trying to gain a sense of security or control, for example by choosing auspicious numbers for their phones or favorable house locations. Their motivation is similar to the reasons that some people consult fortune-tellers. +In 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland acknowledged feng shui as an important part of Chinese culture by shifting the main gate by twelve degrees in their building plans. This was among actions suggested by the planner of architecture and design at Walt Disney Imagineering, Wing Chao. At Singapore Polytechnic and other institutions, professionals including engineers, architects, property agents and interior designers, take courses on feng shui and divination every year, a number of whom become part-time or full-time feng shui consultants. + +== Criticisms == + +=== In China === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..46bb43283 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Feng shui" +chunk: 5/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:51.449274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, feng shui was officially considered a "feudalistic superstitious practice" and a "social evil" according to the state's ideology and was discouraged and even banned outright at times. Feng shui remained popular in Hong Kong, and also in the Republic of China (Taiwan), where traditional culture was not suppressed. +During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) feng shui was classified as one of the so-called Four Olds that were to be wiped out. Feng shui practitioners were beaten and abused by Red Guards and their works burned. After the death of Mao Zedong and the end of the Cultural Revolution, the official attitude became more tolerant but restrictions on feng shui practice are still in place in today's China. It is illegal in the PRC today to register feng shui consultation as a business and similarly advertising feng shui practice is banned. There have been frequent crackdowns on feng shui practitioners on the grounds of "promoting feudalistic superstitions" such as one in Qingdao in early 2006 when the city's business and industrial administration office shut down an art gallery converted into a feng shui practice. Some officials who had consulted feng shui were terminated and expelled from the Communist Party. +In 21st century mainland China less than one-third of the population believe in feng shui, and the proportion of believers among young urban Chinese is said to be even lower. Chinese academics permitted to research feng shui are anthropologists or architects by profession, studying the history of feng shui or historical feng shui theories behind the design of heritage buildings. They include Cai Dafeng, vice-president of Fudan University. Learning in order to practice feng shui is still somewhat considered taboo. Nevertheless, it is reported that feng shui has gained adherents among Communist Party officials according to a BBC Chinese news commentary in 2006, and since the beginning of the reform and opening up the number of feng shui practitioners is increasing. +Feng shui practitioners in China have found officials that are considered superstitious and corrupt easily interested, despite official disapproval. In one instance, in 2009, county officials in Gansu, on the advice of feng shui practitioners, spent $732,000 to haul a 369-ton "spirit rock" to the county seat to ward off "bad luck". Feng shui may require social influence or money because experts, architecture or design changes, and moving from place to place is expensive. Less influential or less wealthy people lose faith in feng shui, saying that it is a game only for the wealthy. Others, however, practice less expensive forms of feng shui, including hanging special (but cheap) mirrors, forks, or woks in doorways to deflect negative energy. + +=== First Western reactions === +Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), one of the founding fathers of Jesuit China missions, may have been the first European to write about feng shui practices. His account in De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas tells about feng shui masters (geologi, in Latin) studying prospective construction sites or grave sites "with reference to the head and the tail and the feet of the particular dragons which are supposed to dwell beneath that spot." As a Catholic missionary, Ricci strongly criticized the "recondite science" of geomancy along with astrology as yet another superstitio absurdissima of the heathens: "What could be more absurd than their imagining that the safety of a family, honors, and their entire existence must depend upon such trifles as a door being opened from one side or another, as rain falling into a courtyard from the right or from the left, a window opened here or there, or one roof being higher than another?" +Victorian-era commentators on feng shui were generally ethnocentric, and as such skeptical and derogatory of what they knew of feng shui. In 1896, at a meeting of the Educational Association of China, Rev. P. W. Pitcher railed at the "rottenness of the whole scheme of Chinese architecture," and urged fellow missionaries "to erect unabashedly Western edifices of several stories and with towering spires in order to destroy nonsense about fung-shuy. [sic]" + +=== Criticism amid global spread === +Critics charge that feng shui has been reinvented and commercialized by New Age entrepreneurs, or are concerned that much of the traditional theory has been lost in translation, not given proper consideration, frowned upon, or scorned. One critic called the situation of feng shui in today's world "ludicrous and confusing," asking "Do we really believe that mirrors and flutes are going to change people's tendencies in any lasting and meaningful way?" He called for much further study or "we will all go down the tubes because of our inability to match our exaggerated claims with lasting changes." Robert T. Carroll sums up the charges: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..566c444b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Feng shui" +chunk: 6/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:51.449274+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +...feng shui has become an aspect of interior decorating in the Western world and alleged masters of feng shui now hire themselves out for hefty sums to tell people such as Donald Trump which way his doors and other things should hang. Feng shui has also become another New Age "energy" scam with arrays of metaphysical products...offered for sale to help you improve your health, maximize your potential, and guarantee fulfillment of some fortune cookie philosophy. +Skeptics charge that evidence for its effectiveness is based primarily upon anecdote and users are often offered conflicting advice from different practitioners, though feng shui practitioners use these differences as evidence of variations in practice or different branches of thought. A critical analyst concluded that "Feng shui has always been based upon mere guesswork." Another objection was to the compass, a traditional tool for choosing favorable locations for property or burials. Critics point out that the compass degrees are often inaccurate because solar winds disturb the electromagnetic field of the Earth. Magnetic North on the compass will be inaccurate because true magnetic north fluctuates. +The psychologist Stuart Vyse has called feng shui "a very popular superstition." +The American magicians Penn and Teller dedicated an episode of their television show Bullshit! to criticize the acceptance of feng shui in the Western world as science. They devised a test in which the same dwelling was visited by five different feng shui consultants: each produced a different opinion about the dwelling, showing there is no consistency in the professional practice of feng shui. +Feng shui is criticized by Christians around the world. Some have argued that it is "entirely inconsistent with Christianity to believe that harmony and balance result from the manipulation and channeling of nonphysical forces or energies, or that such can be done by means of the proper placement of physical objects. Such techniques, in fact, belong to the world of sorcery." +The usage of inward-swinging doors in the former Ozone Disco in the Philippines, due to feng shui belief that these "bring in money", has been blamed as a major factor on the huge number of deaths from the worst fire in the Philippine history, which occurred in 1996. + +=== Reception within Western scientific philosophy === +Feng shui has been identified as both non-scientific by both scientists and philosophers, while some have gone further to describe it as a paradigmatic example of pseudoscience. This has been because feng shui's characteristic geomantic claims are not amenable to test by the scientific method. + +== See also == + +== References == + +== Sources == + +=== Books === + +=== Theses === + +=== Articles and chapters === + +=== Blogs and online === + +=== Web === + +=== Miscellaneous === + +==== Traditional China ==== + +==== Post-1949 China ==== + +==== United States ==== + +== External links == + Media related to Feng Shui at Wikimedia Commons + The dictionary definition of feng shui at Wiktionary \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_the_New_Drug-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_the_New_Drug-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..83d6b5864 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_the_New_Drug-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Fight the New Drug" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_the_New_Drug" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:52.670615+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Fight the New Drug (FTND) is an American nonprofit (describing itself as secular), and non-legislative anti-pornography organization that is based in Utah. The group has roots dating back to 2006, being incorporated in 2008 and receiving nonprofit status in March 2009. FTND describes pornography as analogous to a drug and argues that it is a public health crisis. It describes itself as asking people to "consider before consuming", rather than advocating anti-pornography legislation. + + +== Activities == +The group works with people aged 18 to 24 through presentations and video campaigns, and through student outreach activities in public school districts within Utah. In a 2015 campaign, FTND posted 100 billboards in the San Francisco Bay Area stating "Porn Kills Love". In March 2018, the Kansas City Royals held a FTND anti-pornography seminar for players during their spring training, and in November of that year, FTND released a three-part documentary film entitled Brain, Heart, World. In addition, the group promotes its campaign via a social media presence, branded merchandise, such as T-shirts, and marketing kits. + + +== Support == +A number of public figures have endorsed the group: these include Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff; sports personalities Terry Crews and Lamar Odom; actress Marisol Nichols; and YouTuber Chaz Smith. +The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (formerly known as Morality in Media), a conservative anti-pornography organization, is also supportive of the FTND organization. The NCSE states a mission of theirs being "exposing the public-health crisis of pornography." +FTND also promotes awareness for sexual health and sexual exploitation. On their YouTube channel, there are numerous videos and documentaries of people speaking about their experiences within the porn industry. They also have a website for others to share their stories. One video on their channel covered a male porn star speaking out against the harm he experienced in the porn industry. + + +== Criticism == +FTND has been criticized as holding an "openly ideology-driven strategy" and the group's message, in particular its categorizing of porn as a drug, as pseudoscience, contradictory to neuroscience research. The group have been alleged to be an example of continued influence by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over social issues. An example is their use of billboards in San Francisco intentionally to target a socially progressive region. In a Salt Lake Tribune op-ed, a group of sex therapists said that FTND's leaders and presenters were not mental health or sexuality professionals, and were promoting false information and failing to educate children about either sexuality and human development, or the positive, as well as the negative, aspects of porn. +Emily F. Rothman, Professor of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health, stated in 2021 that "the professional public health community is not behind the recent push to declare pornography a public health crisis". + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fb3815d46 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "First Earth Battalion" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:53.872808+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The First Earth Battalion was the name proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Jim Channon, a U.S. soldier who had served in Vietnam, for his idea of a new military of supersoldiers to be organized along New Age lines. A book of the same name was published in 1982. + + +== The Men Who Stare at Goats == +According to the book The Men Who Stare at Goats by journalist Jon Ronson, Channon spent time in the 1970s with many of the people in California credited with starting the Human Potential Movement, and subsequently wrote an operations manual for a First Earth Battalion. The manual was a 125-page mixture of drawings, graphs, maps, polemical essays, and point-by-point redesigns of every aspect of military life. Channon imagined a new battlefield uniform that would include pouches for ginseng regulators, divining tools, foodstuffs to enhance night vision, and a loudspeaker that would automatically emit "indigenous music and words of peace." A movie based on the book—released in Autumn 2009—starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, fictionalized the First Earth Battalion as the New Earth Army. + + +== Beliefs == +Channon believed the Army could be the principal moral and ethical basis on which politics could harmonize in the name of the Earth. He declared that the First Earth Battalion's primary allegiance was to the planet Earth. Channon envisioned that the First Earth Battalion would organize itself informally: uniforms without uniformity, structure without status, and unity powered by diversity, and members would be multicultural, with each race contributing to "rainbow power". He also proposed as a guiding principle that members of the First Earth Battalion seek nondestructive methods of conflict resolution because their first loyalty is to the planet. + + +=== Warrior Monk === +Channon adopted the term "warrior monk" for potential members of the First Earth Battalion. + + +=== Credo === +According to the book Mind Wars by Ronald McRae, each member of the First Earth Battalion would be sworn to uphold a credo of "high commandos and guerrilla gurus": + +I have the capacity and therefore the duty to contribute to the development of myself, my associates, and our planet, simultaneously, now! +I will organize a self-supporting high commando group that will create and perform evolutionary breakthrough actions on behalf of people and planet. One people, one planet. +I will then pass on this concept to others who are capable of generating further self-organizing commando teams. +I will await the time when my group can connect naturally with others at higher and higher levels of awareness and performance — the Natural Guard. + + +== See also == +Unconventional warfare +Psychological warfare +Irregular military + + +== References == + + +== External links == +First Earth Battalion Field Manual (text only) +First Earth Battalion Article Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine +PDF of original First Earth Battalion manual \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-second_rule-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-second_rule-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..43c8d34a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-second_rule-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +--- +title: "Five-second rule" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-second_rule" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:54.977721+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The five-second rule, or sometimes the three-second rule, is a food hygiene urban legend that states a defined time window after which it is not safe to eat food (or sometimes to use cutlery) after it has been dropped on the floor or on the ground and thus exposed to contamination. +While the amount of microbes transferred to a dropped food does increase over time, and in some situations floors may be relatively clean of pathogens, the scientific consensus is opposed to such a general applied rule, and the origin of the idea is unclear. It is speculated to have originated from legends about Genghis Khan. It was first mentioned in print in 1995. + + +== History == + +The origins of the five-second rule are unclear. Food scientist Pawl Dawson and microbiologist Brian Sheldon have traced the origins to legends surrounding Genghis Khan in the 15th century. He is rumored to have implemented the "Khan Rule" at his banquets. "If food fell on the floor, it could stay there as long as Khan allowed," and the idea was that "food prepared for Khan was so special that it would be good for anyone to eat no matter what." +The first known mention of the myth in modern print was in the 1995 novel Wanted: Rowing Coach as a "twenty-second rule". + + +== Research == +The five-second rule has received some scholarly attention. It has been studied as both a public health recommendation and a sociological effect. + + +=== University of Illinois === +In 2003, Jillian Clarke, a high school student in an apprenticeship, investigated the rule. She found 56% of men and 70% of women surveyed were familiar with the five-second rule. She also determined that a variety of foods were significantly contaminated by even brief exposure to a tile inoculated with E. coli. On the other hand, Clarke found no significant evidence of contamination on public flooring. For this work, Clarke received the 2004 Ig Nobel Prize in public health. +A more thorough study in 2007 using salmonella on wood, tiles, and nylon carpet found that the bacteria could thrive under dry conditions even after twenty-eight days. Tested on surfaces that had been contaminated with salmonella eight hours previously, the bacteria could still contaminate bread and baloney lunchmeat in under five seconds. But a minute-long contact increased contamination about tenfold (especially on tile and carpet surfaces). + + +=== Rutgers University === +Researchers at Rutgers University debunked the theory in 2016 by dropping watermelon cubes, gummy candies, plain white bread, and buttered bread from a height of five inches (13 cm) onto surfaces slathered in Enterobacter aerogenes. The surfaces used were carpet, ceramic tile, stainless steel and wood. The food was left on the surface for intervals of 5, 30 and 300 seconds. The scientists assessed the amount of E. aerogenes transferred between surface and food. Since bacteria tended to be attracted to moisture, wet food had more risk to have bacteria transferred than dry food. To the surprise of the researchers, carpet transferred fewer bacteria than steel or tile. Wood was hard to pin down as it showed a large variation. "The five-second rule is a significant oversimplification of what actually happens when bacteria transfer from a surface to food," Donald Schaffner, a Rutgers University biologist and an author of the research, stated in the Washington Post, "Bacteria can contaminate instantaneously." +A pediatrician criticized the study for discounting the danger in consuming food after one touches other surfaces like refrigerator handles, light switches, and wallets, which have been found to be similarly contaminated with bacteria. + + +=== Other === +A 2014 study by biology students at Aston University in England suggested that there may be a basis for the five-second rule. Anthony Hilton, head of microbiology at Aston University, indicated in 2017 that food dropped on a seemingly clean floor for a few moments can be eaten with minimal risk. According to Hilton, moist foods that are left on the floor for more than 30 seconds are contaminated with 10 times more bacteria than food that has been left on the floor for 3 seconds. + + +=== Informal === +The five-second rule was featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel series MythBusters, which discovered that there was no significant difference in the number of bacteria collected. The aspects that affect the contamination process is the moisture, surface geometry and the location. An episode of Food Detectives found that bacteria will cling to food immediately. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b4392be79 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "Flat Earth" +chunk: 1/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the Earth's shape as a plane or disk. Many ancient societies subscribed to a flat-Earth cosmography. The model has undergone a recent resurgence as a conspiracy theory in the 21st century. +The idea of a spherical Earth appeared in ancient Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC). However, the early Greek cosmological view of a flat Earth persisted among most pre-Socratics (6th–5th century BC). In the early 4th century BC, Plato wrote about a spherical Earth. By about 330 BC, his former student Aristotle had provided strong empirical evidence for a spherical Earth. Knowledge of the Earth's global shape gradually began to spread beyond the Hellenistic world. By the early period of the Christian Church, the spherical view was widely held, with some notable exceptions. In contrast, ancient Chinese scholars consistently describe the Earth as flat, and this perception remained unchanged until their encounters with Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century. Muslim scholars in early Islam maintained that the Earth is flat. However, since the 9th century, Muslim scholars have tended to believe in a spherical Earth. +It is a historical myth that medieval Europeans generally thought the Earth was flat. This myth was created in the 17th century by Protestants to argue against Catholic teachings, and gained currency in the 19th century. + +Despite the scientific facts and obvious effects of Earth's sphericity, pseudoscientific flat-Earth conspiracy theories persist. Since the 2010s, belief in a flat Earth has increased, both as membership of modern flat Earth societies, and as unaffiliated individuals using social media. In a 2018 study reported on by Scientific American, only 82% of 18- to 24-year-old American respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round". However, a firm belief in a flat Earth is rare, with less than 2% acceptance in all age groups. + +== History == + +=== Belief in flat Earth === + +==== Near East ==== + +In early Egyptian and Mesopotamian thought, the world was portrayed as a disk floating in the ocean. A similar model is found in the Homeric account from the 8th century BC in which "Okeanos, the personified body of water surrounding the circular surface of the Earth, is the begetter of all life and possibly of all gods." +The Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts of ancient Egypt show a similar cosmography; Nun (the Ocean) encircled nbwt ("dry lands" or "islands"). +The Israelites also imagined the Earth to be a disc floating on water with an arched firmament above it that separated the Earth from the heavens. The sky was a solid dome with the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars embedded in it. + +==== Greece ==== + +===== Poets ===== +Both Homer and Hesiod described a disc cosmography on the Shield of Achilles. This poetic tradition of an Earth-encircling (gaiaokhos) sea (Oceanus) and a disc also appears in Stasinus of Cyprus, Mimnermus, Aeschylus, and Apollonius Rhodius. +Homer's description of the disc cosmography on the shield of Achilles with the encircling ocean is repeated far later in Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica (4th century AD), which continues the narration of the Trojan War. + +===== Philosophers ===== + +Several pre-Socratic philosophers believed that the world was flat: Thales (c. 550 BC) according to several sources, and Leucippus (c. 440 BC) and Democritus (c. 460–370 BC) according to Aristotle. +Thales thought that the Earth floated in water like a log. It has been argued, however, that Thales actually believed in a spherical Earth. Anaximander (c. 550 BC) believed that the Earth was a short cylinder with a flat, circular top that remained stable because it was the same distance from all things. Anaximenes of Miletus believed that "the Earth is flat and rides on air; in the same way the Sun and the Moon and the other heavenly bodies, which are all fiery, ride the air because of their flatness". Xenophanes (c. 500 BC) thought that the Earth was flat, with its upper side touching the air, and the lower side extending without limit. +Belief in a flat Earth continued into the 5th century BC. Anaxagoras (c. 450 BC) agreed that the Earth was flat, and his pupil Archelaus believed that the flat Earth was depressed in the middle like a saucer, to allow for the fact that the Sun does not rise and set at the same time for everyone. + +===== Historians ===== +Hecataeus of Miletus believed that the Earth was flat and surrounded by water. Herodotus in his Histories ridiculed the belief that water encircled the world, yet most classicists agree that he still believed Earth was flat because of his descriptions of literal "ends" or "edges" of the Earth. + +==== Northern Europe ==== +The ancient Norse and Germanic peoples believed in a flat-Earth cosmography with the Earth surrounded by an ocean, with the axis mundi, a world tree (Yggdrasil), or pillar (Irminsul) in the centre. In the world-encircling ocean sat a snake called Jormungandr. The Norse creation account preserved in Gylfaginning (VIII) states that during the creation of the Earth, an impassable sea was placed around it: + +And Jafnhárr said: "Of the blood, which ran and welled forth freely out of his wounds, they made the sea, when they had formed and made firm the Earth together, and laid the sea in a ring round. about her; and it may well seem a hard thing to most men to cross over it." + +The late Norse Konungs skuggsjá, on the other hand, explains Earth's shape as a sphere: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..46be7b8c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Flat Earth" +chunk: 2/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +If you take a lighted candle and set it in a room, you may expect it to light up the entire interior, unless something should hinder, though the room be quite large. But if you take an apple and hang it close to the flame, so near that it is heated, the apple will darken nearly half the room or even more. However, if you hang the apple near the wall, it will not get hot; the candle will light up the whole house; and the shadow on the wall where the apple hangs will be scarcely half as large as the apple itself. From this you may infer that the Earth-circle is round like a ball and not equally near the sun at every point. But where the curved surface lies nearest the sun's path, there will the greatest heat be; and some of the lands that lie continuously under the unbroken rays cannot be inhabited. + +==== East Asia ==== + +In ancient China, the prevailing belief was that the Earth was flat and square, while the heavens were round, an assumption virtually unquestioned until the introduction of European astronomy in the 17th century. The English sinologist Cullen emphasizes the point that there was no concept of a round Earth in ancient Chinese astronomy: + +Chinese thought on the form of the Earth remained almost unchanged from early times until the first contacts with modern science through the medium of Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century. While the heavens were variously described as being like an umbrella covering the Earth (the Kai Tian theory), or like a sphere surrounding it (the Hun Tian theory), or as being without substance while the heavenly bodies float freely (the Hsüan yeh theory), the Earth was at all times flat, although perhaps bulging up slightly. + +The model of an egg was often used by Chinese astronomers such as Zhang Heng (78–139 AD) to describe the heavens as spherical: + +The heavens are like a hen's egg and as round as a crossbow bullet; the Earth is like the yolk of the egg, and lies in the centre. +This analogy with a curved egg led some modern historians, notably Joseph Needham, to conjecture that Chinese astronomers were, after all, aware of the Earth's sphericity. The egg reference, however, was rather meant to clarify the relative position of the flat Earth to the heavens: + +In a passage of Zhang Heng's cosmogony not translated by Needham, Zhang himself says: "Heaven takes its body from the Yang, so it is round and in motion. Earth takes its body from the Yin, so it is flat and quiescent". The point of the egg analogy is simply to stress that the Earth is completely enclosed by Heaven, rather than merely covered from above as the Kai Tian describes. Chinese astronomers, many of them brilliant men by any standards, continued to think in flat-Earth terms until the seventeenth century; this surprising fact might be the starting-point for a re-examination of the apparent facility with which the idea of a spherical Earth found acceptance in fifth-century BC Greece. +Further examples cited by Needham supposed to demonstrate dissenting voices from the ancient Chinese consensus actually refer without exception to the Earth being square, not to it being flat. Accordingly, the 13th-century scholar Li Ye, who argued that the movements of the round heaven would be hindered by a square Earth, did not advocate a spherical Earth, but rather that its edge should be rounded off so as to be circular. However, Needham disagrees, affirming that Li Ye believed the Earth to be spherical, similar in shape to the heavens but much smaller. This was preconceived by the 4th-century scholar Yu Xi, who argued for the infinity of outer space surrounding the Earth and that the latter could be either square or round, in accordance to the shape of the heavens. When Chinese geographers of the 17th century, influenced by European cartography and astronomy, showed the Earth as a sphere that could be circumnavigated by sailing around the globe, they did so with formulaic terminology previously used by Zhang Heng to describe the spherical shape of the Sun and Moon (i.e. that they were as round as a crossbow bullet). +As noted in the book Huainanzi, in the 2nd century BC, Chinese astronomers effectively inverted Eratosthenes' calculation of the curvature of the Earth to calculate the height of the Sun above the Earth. By assuming the Earth was flat, they arrived at a distance of 100000 li (approximately 200000 km). The Zhoubi Suanjing also discusses how to determine the distance of the Sun by measuring the length of noontime shadows at different latitudes, a method similar to Eratosthenes' measurement of the circumference of the Earth, but the Zhoubi Suanjing assumes that the Earth is flat. + +=== Alternate or mixed theories === + +==== Mesopotamia ==== +Although Mesopotamian cosmology is usually depicted as a flat disc of land floating in water, some texts describe a complex structure composed of vertical layers. For instance, KAR 307, a cuneiform text, depicts three layered earths. The "Upper Earth" is the land inhabited by mankind, the "Middle Earth" are subterranean Apsu waters ruled by Enki, and the "Lower Earth" is the underworld which has 600 Anunnaki. While none of the ancient Mesopotamian models were spherical, Professor Wayne Horowitz documents "significant variety" in different Mesopotamian cosmological texts, noting "disagreement between texts from different periods, of different genres, and even among texts from the same period and genre." + +==== Greece: spherical Earth ==== \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e85a13dfa --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Flat Earth" +chunk: 3/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Pythagoras in the 6th century BC and Parmenides in the 5th century BC stated that the Earth is spherical, and this view spread rapidly in the Greek world. Around 330 BC, Aristotle maintained on the basis of physical theory and observational evidence that the Earth was spherical, and reported an estimate of its circumference. The Earth's circumference was first determined around 240 BC by Eratosthenes. By the 2nd century AD, Ptolemy had derived his maps from a globe and developed the system of latitude, longitude, and climes. His Almagest was written in Greek and only translated into Latin in the 11th century from Arabic translations. +Lucretius (1st century BC) opposed the concept of a spherical Earth, because he considered that an infinite universe had no center towards which heavy bodies would tend. Thus, he thought the idea of animals walking around topsy-turvy under the Earth was absurd. By the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder was in a position to say that everyone agreed on the spherical shape of Earth, though disputes continued regarding the nature of the antipodes, and how it is possible to keep the ocean in a curved shape. + +==== South Asia ==== + +The Vedic texts depict the cosmos in many ways. One of the earliest Indian cosmological texts pictures the Earth as one of a stack of flat disks. +In the Vedic texts, Dyaus (heaven) and Prithvi (Earth) are compared to wheels on an axle, yielding a flat model. They are also described as bowls or leather bags, yielding a concave model. According to Macdonell: "the conception of the Earth being a disc surrounded by an ocean does not appear in the Samhitas. But it was naturally regarded as circular, being compared with a wheel (10.89) and expressly called circular (parimandala) in the Shatapatha Brahmana." +By about the 5th century AD, the siddhanta astronomy texts of South Asia, particularly of Aryabhata, assume a spherical Earth as they develop mathematical methods for quantitative astronomy for calendar and time keeping. +The medieval Indian texts called the Puranas describe the Earth as a flat-bottomed, circular disk with concentric oceans and continents. This general scheme is present not only in the Hindu cosmologies, but also in Buddhist and Jain cosmologies of South Asia. However, some Puranas include other models. For example, the fifth canto of the Bhagavata Purana, composed between 500 CE - 1000 CE, includes sections that describe the Earth both as flat and spherical. + +==== Early Christian Church ==== +During the early period of the Christian Church, the spherical view continued to be widely held, with some notable exceptions. +Until the mid-fourth century AD, virtually all Christian authors held that the Earth was round. Athenagoras, an eastern Christian writing around the year 175 AD, said that the Earth was spherical. Methodius (c. 290 AD), an eastern Christian writing against "the theory of the Chaldeans and the Egyptians" said: "Let us first lay bare ... the theory of the Chaldeans and the Egyptians. They say that the circumference of the universe is likened to the turnings of a well-rounded globe, the Earth being a central point. They say that since its outline is spherical, ... the Earth should be the center of the universe, around which the heaven is whirling." Arnobius, another eastern Christian writing sometime around 305 AD, described the round Earth: "In the first place, indeed, the world itself is neither right nor left. It has neither upper nor lower regions, nor front nor back. For whatever is round and bounded on every side by the circumference of a solid sphere, has no beginning or end ..." Other advocates of a round Earth included Eusebius, Hilary of Poitiers, Irenaeus, Hippolytus of Rome, Firmicus Maternus, Ambrose, Jerome, Prudentius, Favonius Eulogius, and others. +The only exceptions to this consensus up until the mid-fourth century were Theophilus of Antioch and Lactantius, both of whom held anti-Hellenistic views and associated the round-Earth view with pagan cosmology. Lactantius, a western Christian writer and advisor to the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine, writing sometime between 304 and 313 AD, ridiculed the notion of antipodes and the philosophers who fancied that "the universe is round like a ball. They also thought that heaven revolves in accordance with the motion of the heavenly bodies. ... For that reason, they constructed brass globes, as though after the figure of the universe." +The influential theologian and philosopher Saint Augustine, one of the four Great Church Fathers of the Western Church, similarly objected to the "fable" of antipodes: + +But as to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the Earth, where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours that is on no ground credible. And, indeed, it is not affirmed that this has been learned by historical knowledge, but by scientific conjecture, on the ground that the Earth is suspended within the concavity of the sky, and that it has as much room on the one side of it as on the other: hence they say that the part that is beneath must also be inhabited. But they do not remark that, although it be supposed or scientifically demonstrated that the world is of a round and spherical form, yet it does not follow that the other side of the Earth is bare of water; nor even, though it be bare, does it immediately follow that it is peopled. For Scripture, which proves the truth of its historical statements by the accomplishment of its prophecies, gives no false information; and it is too absurd to say, that some men might have taken ship and traversed the whole wide ocean, and crossed from this side of the world to the other, and that thus even the inhabitants of that distant region are descended from that one first man. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..48171d166 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Flat Earth" +chunk: 4/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Some historians do not view Augustine's scriptural commentaries as endorsing any particular cosmological model, endorsing instead the view that Augustine shared the common view of his contemporaries that the Earth is spherical, in line with his endorsement of science in De Genesi ad litteram. C. P. E. Nothaft, responding to writers like Leo Ferrari who described Augustine as endorsing a flat Earth, says that "...other recent writers on the subject treat Augustine's acceptance of the Earth's spherical shape as a well-established fact". + +While it always remained a minority view, from the mid-fourth to the seventh centuries AD, the flat-Earth view experienced a revival, around the time when Diodorus of Tarsus founded the exegetical school known as the School of Antioch, which sought to counter what he saw as the pagan cosmology of the Greeks with a return to the traditional cosmology. The writings of Diodorus did not survive, but are reconstructed from later criticism. This revival primarily took place in the East Syriac world (with little influence on the Latin West) where it gained proponents such as Ephrem the Syrian and in the popular hexaemeral homilies of Jacob of Serugh. Chrysostom, one of the four Great Church Fathers of the Eastern Church and Archbishop of Constantinople, explicitly espoused the idea, based on scripture, that the Earth floats miraculously on the water beneath the firmament. +Christian Topography (547) by the Alexandrian monk Cosmas Indicopleustes, who had traveled as far as Sri Lanka and the source of the Blue Nile, is now widely considered the most valuable geographical document of the early medieval age, although it received relatively little attention from contemporaries. In it, the author repeatedly expounds the doctrine that the universe consists of only two places, the Earth below the firmament and heaven above it. Carefully drawing on arguments from scripture, he describes the Earth as a rectangle, 400 days' journey long by 200 wide, surrounded by four oceans and enclosed by four massive walls which support the firmament. The spherical Earth theory is contemptuously dismissed as "pagan". +Severian, Bishop of Gabala (d. 408), wrote that the Earth is flat and the Sun does not pass under it in the night, but "travels through the northern parts as if hidden by a wall". Basil of Caesarea (329–379) argued that the matter was theologically irrelevant. + +==== Europe: Early Middle Ages ==== +Early medieval Christian writers felt little urge to assume flatness of the Earth, though they had fuzzy impressions of the writings of Ptolemy and Aristotle, relying more on Pliny. + +With the end of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe entered the Middle Ages with great difficulties that affected the continent's intellectual production. Most scientific treatises of classical antiquity (in Greek) were unavailable, leaving only simplified summaries and compilations. In contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire did not fall, and it preserved the learning. Still, many textbooks of the Early Middle Ages supported the sphericity of the Earth in the western part of Europe. + +Europe's view of the shape of the Earth in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages may be best expressed by the writings of early Christian scholars: +Bishop Isidore of Seville (560–636) taught in his widely read encyclopedia, the Etymologies, diverse views such as that the Earth "resembles a wheel" resembling Anaximander in language and the map that he provided. This was widely interpreted as referring to a disc-shaped Earth. An illustration from Isidore's De Natura Rerum shows the five zones of the Earth as adjacent circles. Some have concluded that he thought the Arctic and Antarctic zones were adjacent to each other. He did not admit the possibility of antipodes, which he took to mean people dwelling on the opposite side of the Earth, considering them legendary and noting that there was no evidence for their existence. Isidore's T and O map, which was seen as representing a small part of a spherical Earth, continued to be used by authors through the Middle Ages. At the same time, Isidore's works also gave the views of sphericity, for example, in chapter 28 of De Natura Rerum, Isidore claims that the Sun orbits the Earth and illuminates the other side when it is night on this side. In his other work Etymologies, there are also affirmations that the sphere of the sky has Earth in its center and the sky being equally distant on all sides. Other researchers have argued these points as well. "The work remained unsurpassed until the thirteenth century and was regarded as the summit of all knowledge. It became an essential part of European medieval culture. Soon after the invention of typography it appeared many times in print." However, "The Scholastics – later medieval philosophers, theologians, and scientists – were helped by the Arabic translators and commentaries, but they hardly needed to struggle against a flat-Earth legacy from the early middle ages (500–1050). Early medieval writers often had fuzzy and imprecise impressions of both Ptolemy and Aristotle and relied more on Pliny, but they felt (with one exception), little urge to assume flatness." + +St Vergilius of Salzburg (c. 700–784), in the middle of the 8th century, discussed or taught some geographical or cosmographical ideas that St Boniface found sufficiently objectionable that he complained about them to Pope Zachary. The only surviving record of the incident is contained in Zachary's reply, dated 748, where he wrote: + +As for the perverse and sinful doctrine which he (Virgil) against God and his own soul has uttered – if it shall be clearly established that he professes belief in another world and other men existing beneath the Earth, or in (another) sun and moon there, thou art to hold a council, deprive him of his sacerdotal rank, and expel him from the Church. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1dafd012d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,32 @@ +--- +title: "Flat Earth" +chunk: 5/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Some authorities have suggested that the sphericity of the Earth was among the aspects of Vergilius's teachings that Boniface and Zachary considered objectionable. Others have considered this unlikely, and take the wording of Zachary's response to indicate at most an objection to belief in the existence of humans living in the antipodes. In any case, there is no record of any further action having been taken against Vergilius. He was later appointed bishop of Salzburg and was canonised in the 13th century. + +A possible non-literary but graphic indication that people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth (or perhaps the world) was a sphere is the use of the orb (globus cruciger) in the regalia of many kingdoms and of the Holy Roman Empire. It is attested from the time of the Christian late-Roman emperor Theodosius II (423) throughout the Middle Ages and in western Europe, the use of a physical orb is attested since at least the time of Emperor Henry II (d. 1024). A contemporary chronicler describes the imperial orb given to Henry II by Pope Benedict VIII as shaped like a golden apple surmounted by a cross and representing the earth with its rotundity. Such a Reichsapfel was likewise used in 1191 at the coronation of emperor Henry VI. There is, however, no record of a cartographical globe in the Middle Ages before the Erdapfel of Martin Behaim from 1492. Additionally the imperial orb could also represent of the entire "world" or cosmos. +A recent study of medieval concepts of the sphericity of the Earth noted that "after the eighth century the Globe became part of the world picture of medieval Christians without much more debate." From the ninth century, we likewise find discussion of Eratosthenes' method for calculating the sphericality of the earth in Carolingian commentaries on Martianus Capella. By the turn of the eleventh century, Hermann of Reichenau (1013–1054) includes a new method for replicating Eratosthenes' measurement using an astrolabe. For the wider population, however, it is difficult to say what they may have thought of the shape of the Earth if they considered the question at all. + +==== Europe: High and Late Middle Ages ==== + +The approximate sphericality of the Earth was universally accepted among scholastic authors of the High and Late Middle Ages. Evidence of its sphericality was discussed in standard university textbooks like John of Sacrobosco's On the Sphere of the World and flat earth theories played no role in discussions of the Earth's shape at medieval universities. The commonplace nature of this knowledge is illustrated by the highly influential theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), who uses it as an example of a fact that can be proved by two different sciences. + +Jill Tattersall shows that in many vernacular works in 12th- and 13th-century French texts the Earth was considered "round like a table" rather than "round like an apple". She writes, "[I]n virtually all the examples quoted ... from epics and from non-'historical' romances (that is, works of a less learned character) the actual form of words used suggests strongly a circle rather than a sphere", though she notes that even in these works the language is ambiguous. +Portuguese navigation down and around the coast of Africa in the latter half of the 1400s gave wide-scale observational evidence for Earth's sphericity. In these explorations, the Sun's position moved more northward the further south the explorers travelled. Its position directly overhead at noon gave evidence for crossing the equator. These apparent solar motions in detail were more consistent with north–south curvature and a distant Sun, than with any flat-Earth explanation. The ultimate demonstration came when Ferdinand Magellan's expedition completed the first global circumnavigation in 1521. Antonio Pigafetta, one of the few survivors of the voyage, recorded the loss of a day in the course of the voyage, giving evidence for east–west curvature. + +==== Middle East: Islamic scholars ==== + +Prior to the introduction of Greek cosmology into the Islamic world, Muslims tended to view the Earth as flat, and Muslim traditionalists who rejected Greek philosophy continued to hold to this view later on while various theologians held opposing opinions. Beginning in the 10th century onwards, some Muslim traditionalists began to adopt the notion of a spherical Earth with the influence of Greek and Ptolemaic cosmology. +In Quranic cosmology, the Earth (al-arḍ) was "spread out." Whether or not this implies a flat Earth was debated by Muslims. Some modern historians believe the Quran saw the world as flat. On the other hand, the 12th-century commentary, the Tafsir al-Kabir (al-Razi) by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi argues that though this verse does describe a flat surface, it is limited in its application to local regions of the Earth which are roughly flat as opposed to the Earth as a whole. Others who would support a ball-shaped Earth included Ibn Hazm. + +==== Ming Dynasty in China ==== +A spherical terrestrial globe was introduced to Yuan-era Khanbaliq (i.e. Beijing) in 1267 by the Persian astronomer Jamal ad-Din, but it is not known to have made an impact on the traditional Chinese conception of the shape of the Earth. As late as 1595, an early Jesuit missionary to China, Matteo Ricci, recorded that the Ming-dynasty Chinese say: "The Earth is flat and square, and the sky is a round canopy; they did not succeed in conceiving the possibility of the antipodes." +In the 17th century, the idea of a spherical Earth spread in China due to the influence of the Jesuits, who held high positions as astronomers at the imperial court. Matteo Ricci, in collaboration with Chinese cartographers and translator Li Zhizao, published the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu in 1602, the first Chinese world map based on European discoveries. The astronomical and geographical treatise Gezhicao (格致草) written in 1648 by Xiong Mingyu (熊明遇) explained that the Earth was spherical, not flat or square, and could be circumnavigated. + +=== Myth of flat-Earth prevalence === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8ad61b624 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "Flat Earth" +chunk: 6/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:56.188495+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In the 17th century, a historical myth was created that asserted that the predominant cosmological doctrine during the Middle Ages was that the Earth was flat. The myth gained currency in the 19th century. An early proponent of this myth was the American writer Washington Irving, who maintained that Christopher Columbus had to overcome the opposition of churchmen to gain sponsorship for his voyage of exploration. Later significant advocates of this view were John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White, who used it as a major element in their advocacy of the thesis that there was a long-lasting and essential conflict between science and religion. Some studies of the historical connections between science and religion have demonstrated that theories of their mutual antagonism ignore examples of their mutual support. +Subsequent studies of medieval science have shown that most scholars in the Middle Ages, including those read by Christopher Columbus, maintained that the Earth was spherical. + +== Modern flat Earth beliefs == + +In the modern era, the pseudoscientific belief in a flat Earth originated with the English writer Samuel Rowbotham with the 1849 pamphlet Zetetic Astronomy. Lady Elizabeth Blount established the Universal Zetetic Society in 1893, which published journals. In 1956, Samuel Shenton set up the International Flat Earth Research Society, better known as the "Flat Earth Society" in Dover, England, as a direct descendant of the Universal Zetetic Society. +In the Internet era, the availability of communications technology and social media like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have made it easy for individuals to spread disinformation and attract others to erroneous ideas, including that of the flat Earth. +Modern believers in a flat Earth face overwhelming publicly accessible evidence of Earth's sphericity. They also need to explain why governments, media outlets, schools, scientists, surveyors, airlines and other organizations accept that the world is spherical. To satisfy these tensions and maintain their beliefs, they generally embrace some form of conspiracy theory. In addition, believers tend to not trust observations they have not made themselves, and often distrust, disagree with or accuse each other of being in league with conspiracies. + +== Education == +While learning from their social environment, a child's perception of their physical environment sometimes leads to a false concept about the shape of Earth and what happens beyond the horizon. Some young children think that Earth ends there and that one can fall off the edge. Education helps them gradually change their belief into a realist one of a spherical Earth. On the other hand, many children do understand that the world is round, as confirmed by interviewing what the pictures they draw actually mean. +To counter misinformation about the shape of the Earth and other scientific issues, the National Center for Science Education has a site for supporting teachers. + +== See also == + +== References == + +=== Bibliography === +Garwood, Christine (2007), Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea, Pan Books, ISBN 978-1-4050-4702-9 +Gleede, Benjamin (2021). Antiochenische Kosmographie? Zur Begründung und Verbreitung nichtsphärischer Weltkonzeptionen in der antiken Christenheit. De Gruyter. +Hatcher, William E. (1908), John Jasper, New York, NY: Fleming Revell +Simek, Rudolf (1996) [1992]. Heaven and Earth in the Middle Ages: The Physical World Before Columbus. Angela Hall (trans.). The Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-608-8. Retrieved February 9, 2013. +Plofker, Kim (2009). Mathematics in India. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-12067-6. +Randolph, Edwin Archer (1884), The Life of Rev. John Jasper, Pastor of Sixth Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Richmond, Va., from His Birth to the Present Time, with His Theory on the Rotation of the Sun, Richmond, VA: R.T. Hill & Co. + +== Further reading == +Fraser, Raymond (2007). When The Earth Was Flat: Remembering Leonard Cohen, Alden Nowlan, the Flat Earth Society, the King James monarchy hoax, the Montreal Story Tellers and other curious matters. Black Moss Press, ISBN 978-0-88753-439-3 + +== External links == + +Robbins, Stuart (May 1, 2012). "Episode 33: Flat Earth". Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast. +Robbins, Stuart (September 5, 2016). "Episode 145: Modern Flat Earth Theory, Part 1". Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast. +Robbins, Stuart (October 4, 2016). "Episode 149: Modern Flat Earth Thought, Part 2". Exposing PseudoAstronomy Podcast. +Power, Myles; James, James (October 31, 2016). "Episode 146: The Lies of the Sun". League of Nerds (YouTube). Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. – Review of a pro-Flat Earth documentary. +The Myth of the Flat Earth +The Myth of the Flat Universe +You say the earth is round? Prove it (from The Straight Dope) +Flat Earth Fallacy Archived 2001-04-29 at the Wayback Machine +Zetetic Astronomy, or Earth Not a Globe by Parallax (Samuel Birley Rowbotham (1816–1884)) at sacred-texts.com +Flat Earth idea of the Suns trajectory +Flat Earth Theory of the Moon & Sun's paths around the world \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..83e798b77 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 1/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Flood geology (also creation geology or diluvial geology) is a pseudoscientific attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the Genesis flood narrative, the flood myth in the Hebrew Bible. In the early 19th century, diluvial geologists hypothesized that specific surface features provided evidence of a worldwide flood which had followed earlier geological eras; after further investigation they agreed that these features resulted from local floods or from glaciers. In the 20th century, young-Earth creationists revived flood geology as an overarching concept in their opposition to evolution, assuming a recent six-day Creation and cataclysmic geological changes during the biblical flood, and incorporating creationist explanations of the sequences of rock strata. +In the early stages of development of the science of geology, fossils were interpreted as evidence of past flooding. The "theories of the Earth" of the 17th century proposed mechanisms based on natural laws, within a timescale set by the Ussher chronology. As modern geology developed, geologists found evidence of an ancient Earth and evidence inconsistent with the notion that the Earth had developed in a series of cataclysms, like the Genesis flood. In early 19th-century Britain, "diluvialism" attributed landforms and surface features (such as beds of gravel and erratic boulders) to the destructive effects of this supposed global deluge, but by 1830 geologists increasingly found that the evidence supported only relatively local floods. So-called scriptural geologists attempted to give primacy to literal biblical explanations, but they lacked a background in geology and were marginalised by the scientific community, as well as having little influence in the churches. +Creationist flood geology was only supported by a minority of the 20th century anti-evolution movement, mainly in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, until the 1961 publication of The Genesis Flood by Morris and Whitcomb. Around 1970, proponents adopted the terms "scientific creationism" and creation science. +Proponents of flood geology hold to a literal reading of Genesis 6–9 and view its passages as historically accurate; they use the Bible's internal chronology to place the Genesis flood and the story of Noah's Ark within the last 5,000 years. +Scientific analysis has refuted the key tenets of flood geology. Flood geology contradicts the scientific consensus in geology, stratigraphy, geophysics, physics, paleontology, biology, anthropology, and archaeology. Modern geology, its sub-disciplines and other scientific disciplines use the scientific method. In contrast, flood geology does not adhere to the scientific method, making it a pseudoscience. + +== History of theories == + +In pre-Christian times, fossils found on land were thought by Greek philosophers—including Xenophanes, Xanthus and Aristotle—to be evidence that the sea had in past ages covered the land. Their concept of vast time periods in an eternal cosmos was rejected by early Christian writers as incompatible with their belief in Creation by God. Among the church fathers, Tertullian spoke of fossils demonstrating that mountains had been overrun by water without explicitly saying when. Chrysostom and Augustine believed that fossils were the remains of animals that were killed and buried during the brief duration of the Genesis flood, and later Martin Luther viewed fossils as having resulted from the flood. The earliest documentation of the famous fossil fishes of the Sannine Formation comes from Eusebius, who cites them as being evidence of the Biblical flood. +Other scholars, including Avicenna, thought fossils were produced in the rock by "petrifying virtue" acting on "seeds" of plants and animals. In 1580, Bernard Palissy speculated that fossils had formed in lakes, and natural historians subsequently disputed the alternatives. Robert Hooke made empirical investigations and doubted that the numbers of fossil shells or depth of shell beds could have formed in the one year of Noah's flood. In 1616, Nicolas Steno showed how chemical processes changed organic remains into stone fossils. His fundamental principles of stratigraphy published in 1669 established that rock strata formed horizontally and were later broken and tilted, though he assumed these processes would occur within 6,000 years including a worldwide flood. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8938534e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 2/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Theories of the Earth === +In his influential Principles of Philosophy of 1644, René Descartes applied his mechanical physical laws to envisage swirling particles forming the Earth as a layered sphere. This natural philosophy was recast in biblical terms by the theologian Thomas Burnet, whose Sacred Theory of the Earth published in the 1680s proposed complex explanations based on natural laws, and explicitly rejected the simpler approach of invoking miracles as incompatible with the methodology of natural philosophy (the precursor to science). Burnet maintained that less than 6,000 years ago the Earth had emerged from chaos as a perfect sphere, with paradise on land over a watery abyss. This crust had dried out and cracked, and its collapse caused the biblical deluge, forming mountains as well as caverns where the water retreated. He made no mention of fossils but inspired other diluvial theories that did. +In 1695, John Woodward's An Essay Toward a Natural History of the Earth viewed the Genesis flood as dissolving rocks and soil into a thick slurry that caught up all living things, which, when the waters settled, formed strata according to the relative density of these materials, including fossils of the organisms. When it was pointed out that lower layers were often less dense and forces that shattered rock would destroy organic remains, he resorted to the explanation that a divine miracle had temporarily suspended gravity. +William Whiston's New Theory of the Earth of 1696 combined scripture with Newtonian physics to propose that the original chaos was the atmosphere of a comet with the days of creation each taking a year, and the Genesis flood had resulted from a second comet. His explanation of how the flood caused mountains and the fossil sequence was similar to Woodward's. Johann Jakob Scheuchzer wrote in support of Woodward's ideas in 1708, describing some fossil vertebrae as bones of sinners who had perished in the flood. A skeleton found in a quarry was described by him in 1726 as Homo diluvii testis, a giant human testifying to the flood. This was accepted for some time, but in 1812 it was shown to be a prehistoric salamander. + +=== Beginnings of modern geology === +The modern science of geology developed in the 18th century; the term "geology" was popularised by the Encyclopédie of 1751. Steno's categorisation of strata was expanded by several geologists, including Johann Gottlob Lehmann who believed that the oldest mountains had formed early in the Creation, and categorised as Flötz-Gebürge stratified mountains with few ore deposits but with thin layers containing fossils, overlain by a third category of superficial deposits. In his 1756 publication he identified 30 different layers in this category which he attributed to the action of the Genesis deluge, possibly including debris from the older mountains. Others including Giovanni Arduino attributed secondary strata to natural causes: Georg Christian Füchsel said that geologists had to take as standard the processes in which nature currently produces solids, "we know no other way", and only the most recent deposits could be attributed to a great flood. +Lehman's classification was developed by Abraham Gottlob Werner who thought that rock strata had been deposited from a primeval global ocean rather than by Noah's flood, a doctrine called Neptunism. The idea of a young Earth was further undermined in 1774 by Nicolas Desmarest, whose studies of a succession of extinct volcanoes in Europe showed layers which would have taken long ages to build up. The fact that these layers were still intact indicated that any later flood had been local rather than universal. Against Neptunism, James Hutton proposed an indefinitely old cycle of eroded rocks being deposited in the sea, consolidated and heaved up by volcanic forces into mountains which in turn eroded, all in natural processes which continue to operate. + +=== Catastrophism and diluvialism === +The first professional geological society, the Geological Society of London, was founded in 1807. By this time, geologists were convinced that an immense time had been needed to build up the huge thickness of rock strata visible in quarries and cliffs, implying extensive pre-human periods. Most accepted a basic time scale classifying rocks as primitive, transition, secondary, or tertiary. Several researchers independently found that strata could be identified by characteristic fossils: secondary strata in southern England were mapped by William Smith from 1799 to 1815. + +==== Cuvier and Jameson ==== +Georges Cuvier, working with Alexandre Brongniart, examined tertiary strata in the region around Paris. Cuvier found that fossils identified rock formations as alternating between marine and terrestrial deposits, indicating "repeated irruptions and retreats of the sea" which he identified with a long series of sudden catastrophes which had caused extinctions. In his 1812 Discours préliminaire to his Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles de quadrupeds put forward a synthesis of this research into the long prehistoric period, and a historical approach to the most recent catastrophe. His historical approach tested empirical claims in the biblical text of Genesis against other ancient writings to pick out the "real facts" from "interested fictions". In his assessment, Moses had written the account around 3,300 years ago, long after the events described. Cuvier only discussed the Genesis flood in general terms, as the most recent example of "an event of an [sic] universal catastrophe, occasioned by an irruption of the waters" not set "much further back than five or six thousand years ago". The historical texts could be loosely related to evidence such as overturned strata and "heaps of debris and rounded pebbles". An English translation was published in 1813 with a preface and notes by Robert Jameson, Regius Professor of Natural history at the University of Edinburgh. He began the preface with a sentence which ignored Cuvier's historical approach and instead deferred to revelation: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-10.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-10.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c769b4dde --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-10.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 11/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Runaway subduction === +In the 1960s and 1970s a simple creationist model proposed that, "The Flood split the land mass into the present continents." Steve Austin and other creationists proposed a preliminary model of catastrophic plate tectonics (CPT) in 1994. Their work built on earlier papers by John Baumgardner and Russell Humphreys in 1986. Baumgardner proposed a model of mantle convection that allows for runaway subduction, and Humphrey associated mantle convection with rapid magnetic reversals in Earth history. Baumgardner's proposal holds that the rapid plunge of former oceanic plates into the mantle (caused by an unknown trigger mechanism) increased local mantle pressures to the point that its viscosity dropped several magnitudes according to known properties of mantle silicates. Once initiated, sinking plates caused the spread of low viscosity throughout the mantle, resulting in runaway mantle convection and catastrophic tectonic motion which dragged continents across the surface of the Earth. Once the former ocean plates (which are thought to be denser than the mantle) reached the bottom of the mantle, an equilibrium resulted. Pressures dropped, viscosity increased, runaway mantle convection stopped, leaving the surface of the Earth rearranged. Proponents point to subducted slabs in the mantle which are still relatively cool, which they regard as evidence that they have not been there for millions of years which would result in temperature equilibration. +Given that conventional plate tectonics accounts for much of the geomorphic features of continents and oceans, it is natural that creationists would seek to develop a high speed version of the same process. CPT explains many geological features, provides mechanisms for the biblical flood, and minimizes appeals to miracles. Some prominent creationists (Froede, Oard, Read) oppose CPT for various technical reasons. One main objection is that the model assumes the supercontinent Pangaea was intact at the initiation of the year-long flood. The CPT process then tore Pangaea apart creating the current configuration of the continents. But the breakup of Pangaea started early in the Mesozoic, meaning that CPT only accounts for part of the entire Phanerozoic geological record. CPT in this form only explains part of the geological column that flood geology normally explains. Modifying the CPT model to account for the entire Phanerozoic including multiple Wilson Cycles would complicate the model considerably. +Other objections of CPT include the amount of heat produced for the rapid plate movements, and the fact that the cooling of hot oceanic plates and the raising of continental plates would take a great deal of time and require multiple small scale catastrophes after the flood ended. The original CPT proposal of Austin and others in 1994 was admittedly preliminary, but the major issues have not been solved. +The vast majority of geologists regard the hypothesis of catastrophic plate tectonics as pseudoscience; they reject it in favor of the conventional geological theory of plate tectonics. It has been argued that the tremendous release of energy necessitated by such an event would boil off the Earth's oceans, making a global flood impossible. Not only does catastrophic plate tectonics lack any plausible geophysical mechanism by which its changes might occur, it also is contradicted by considerable geological evidence (which is in turn consistent with conventional plate tectonics), including: + +Many volcanic oceanic island chains, such as the Hawaiian Islands, yield evidence of the ocean floor having moved over volcanic hotspots. These islands have widely ranging ages (determined via both radiometric dating and relative erosion) that contradict the catastrophic tectonic hypothesis of rapid development and thus a similar age. +Radiometric dating and sedimentation rates on the ocean floor likewise contradict the hypothesis that it all came into existence nearly contemporaneously. +Catastrophic tectonics does not allow sufficient time for guyots to have their peak eroded away (leaving these seamounts' characteristic flat tops). +Runaway subduction does not explain the kind of continental collision illustrated by that of the Indian and Eurasian Plates. (For further information see orogeny.) +Conventional plate tectonics accounts for the geological evidence already, including innumerable details that catastrophic plate tectonics cannot, such as why there is gold in California, silver in Nevada, salt flats in Utah, and coal in Pennsylvania, without requiring any extraordinary mechanisms to do so. + +=== Vapor/water canopy === +Isaac Newton Vail, a Quaker schoolteacher, in his 1912 work The Earth's Annular System, extrapolated from the nebular hypothesis what he called the annular system of Earth history, with the Earth being originally surrounded by rings resembling those of Saturn, or "canopies" of water vapor. Vail hypothesised that, one by one, these canopies collapsed on the Earth, resulting in fossils being buried in a "succession of stupendous cataclysms, separated by unknown periods of time". The Genesis flood was thought to have been caused by "the last remnant" of this vapor. Although this final flood was geologically significant, it was not held to account for as much of the fossil record as George McCready Price had asserted. +Vail's ideas about geology appeared in Charles Taze Russell's 1912 The Photo-Drama of Creation and subsequently in Joseph Franklin Rutherford's Creation of 1927 and later publications. The Seventh-day Adventist physicist Robert W. Woods also proposed a vapor canopy, before The Genesis Flood gave it prominence and repeated the theory's mention in 1961. +Although the vapor-canopy theory has fallen into disfavour among most creationists, Dillow in 1981 and Vardiman in 2003 attempted to defend the idea. Among its more vocal adherents, controversial young earth creationist Kent Hovind uses it as the basis for his eponymous "Hovind Theory". Jehovah's Witnesses propose as the water source of the deluge a "heavenly ocean" that was over the Earth from the second creative day until the flood. + +== Modern geology == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-11.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-11.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..8c69a368f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-11.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 12/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Modern geology, its sub-disciplines and other scientific disciplines use the scientific method to analyze the geology of the earth. The key tenets of flood geology are refuted by scientific analysis and do not have any standing in the scientific community. Modern geology relies on established principles, one of the most important of which is Charles Lyell's principle of uniformitarianism. In relation to geological forces it states that the shaping of the Earth has occurred by means of mostly slow-acting forces that can be seen in operation today. By applying these principles, geologists have determined that the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old. They study the lithosphere of the Earth to gain information on the history of the planet. Geologists divide Earth's history into eons, eras, periods, epochs, and faunal stages characterized by well-defined breaks in the fossil record (see Geologic time scale). In general, there is a lack of any evidence for any of the above effects proposed by flood geologists, and their claims of fossil layering are not taken seriously by scientists. + +=== Geochronology === + +Geochronology is the science of determining the absolute age of rocks, fossils, and sediments by a variety of techniques. These methods indicate that the Earth as a whole is about 4.54 billion years old and that the strata that, according to creationist flood geology, were laid down during the biblical flood, were actually deposited gradually over many millions of years. + +=== Paleontology === +If the flood were responsible for fossilization, then all the animals now fossilized must have been living together on the Earth just before the flood. Based on estimates of the number of remains buried in the Karoo fossil formation in Africa, this would correspond to an abnormally high density of vertebrates worldwide, close to 2,100 per acre. Creationists argue that evidence for the geological column is fragmentary, and all the complex layers of chalk occurred in the approach to the 150th day of Noah's flood. However, the entire geologic column is found in several places and shows multiple features, including evidence of erosion and burrowing through older layers, which are inexplicable on a short timescale. Carbonate hardgrounds and the fossils associated with them show that the sediments include evidence of long hiatuses in deposition that are not consistent with flood dynamics or timing. + +=== Geochemistry === +Proponents of flood geology are unable to account for the alternation between calcite seas and aragonite seas through the Phanerozoic. The cyclical pattern of carbonate hardgrounds, calcitic and aragonitic ooids, and calcite-shelled fauna has apparently been controlled by seafloor spreading rates and the flushing of seawater through hydrothermal vents which changes its Mg/Ca ratio. + +=== Sedimentary rock features === +Phil Senter's 2011 article, "The Defeat of Flood Geology by Flood Geology", in the journal Reports of the National Center for Science Education, discusses "sedimentologic and other geologic features that Flood geologists have identified as evidence that particular strata cannot have been deposited during a time when the entire planet was under water...and distribution of strata that predate the existence of the Ararat mountain chain." These include continental basalts, terrestrial tracks of animals, and marine communities preserving multiple in-situ generations included in the rocks of most or all Phanerozoic periods, and the basalt even in the younger Precambrian rocks. Others, occurring in rocks of several geologic periods, include lake deposits and eolian (wind) deposits. Using their own words, flood geologists find evidence in every Paleozoic and Mesozoic period, and in every epoch of the Cenozoic period, indicating that a global flood could not have occurred during that interval. +The global flood cannot explain geological formations such as angular unconformities, where sedimentary rocks have been tilted and eroded then more sedimentary layers deposited on top, needing long periods of time for these processes. There is also the time needed for the erosion of valleys in sedimentary rock mountains. Furthermore, the flood should have produced large-scale effects spread throughout the entire world. Erosion should be evenly distributed, yet the levels of erosion in, for example, the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains differ significantly. + +=== Physics === +The engineer Jane Albright notes several scientific failings of the canopy theory, reasoning from first principles in physics. Among these are that enough water to create a flood of even 5 centimetres (2.0 in) of rain would form a vapor blanket thick enough to make the Earth too hot for life, since water vapor is a greenhouse gas; the same blanket would have an optical depth sufficient to effectively obscure all incoming starlight. + +== See also == +Baraminology +Creation biology +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Polystrate fossil +Pre-Adamite +Searches for Noah's Ark + +== Notes == + +== References == +Books + +Journals + +Web + +Other +Baumgardner, JR (1986). "Numerical Simulation of the Large-Scale Tectonic Changes Accompanying the Flood" (PDF). First International Conference on Creationism. Retrieved 15 July 2014. +Baumgardner, JR (2003). "Catastrophic Plate Tectonics: The Physics Behind the Genesis Flood". Fifth International Conference on Creationism. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2007. +Humphreys, Russell (1986). "Reversals of the Earth's Magnetic Field During the Genesis Flood" (PDF). First International Conference on Creationism. Retrieved 15 July 2014. + +== Further reading == +Senter, Phil (May–June 2001). "The Defeat of Flood Geology by Flood Geology". Reports of the National Center for Science Education. 31 (3). Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2011. +H. Neuville, "On the Extinction of the Mammoth," Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1919. +Patten, Donald W. The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch (Seattle: Pacific Meridian Publishing Company, 1966). +Patten, Donald W. Catastrophism and the Old Testament (Seattle: Pacific Meridian Publishing Company, 1988). ISBN 0-88070-291-5 \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..13cb53331 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 3/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +"Although the Mosaic account of the creation of the world is an inspired writing, and consequently rests on evidence wholly independent of human observation and experience, still it is interesting, and in many respects important, to know that it coincides with the various phenomena observable in the mineral kingdom." This sentence was removed after the second edition, and Jameson's position changed as shown by his notes in successive editions, but it influenced British views of Cuvier's concept. In 1819, George Bellas Greenough, first president of The Geological Society, issued A Critical Examination of the First Principles of Geology stating that unless erratic boulders deposited hundreds of miles from their original sources had been moved by seas, rivers, or collapsing lakes, "the only remaining cause, to which these effects can be ascribed, is a Debacle or Deluge." + +==== Buckland and the English school of geologists ==== +Conservative geologists in Britain welcomed Cuvier's theory to replace Werner's Neptunism, and the Church of England clergyman William Buckland became the foremost proponent of flood geology as he sought to get the new science of geology accepted on the curriculum of the University of Oxford. In 1818, he was visited by Cuvier, and in his inaugural speech in 1819 as the first professor of geology at the university he defended the subject against allegations that it undermined religion. His speech, published as Vindiciae Geologicae; or, The Connexion of Geology with Religion Explained, equated the last of a long series of catastrophes with the Genesis flood, and said that "the grand fact of an universal deluge at no very remote period is proved on grounds so decisive and incontrovertible, that, had we never heard of such an event from Scripture, or any other, authority, Geology of itself must have called in the assistance of some such catastrophe, to explain the phenomena of diluvian action which are universally presented to us, and which are unintelligible without recourse to a deluge exerting its ravages at a period not more ancient than that announced in the Book of Genesis." The evidence he proposed included erratic boulders, extensive areas of gravel, and landforms which appeared to have been scoured by water. +This inaugural address influenced the geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips. In their 1822 book on Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales Conybeare referred to the same features in an introduction about the relationship between geology and religion, describing how a deluge causing "the last great geological change to which the surface of our planet appears to have been exposed" left behind the debris (which he named in Latin Diluvium) as evidence for "that great and universal catastrophe to which it seems most properly assignable". In 1823 Buckland published his detailed account of "Relics of the Flood", Reliquiae Diluvianae; or, Observations on the Organic Remains Contained in Caves, Fissures, and Diluvial Gravel and on Other Geological Phenomena Attesting the Action of an Universal Deluge, incorporating his research suggesting that animal fossils had been dragged into the Kirkdale Cave by hyenas then covered by a layer of red mud washed in by the deluge. +Buckland's views were supported by other Church of England clergymen naturalists: his Oxford colleague Charles Daubeny proposed in 1820 that the volcanoes of the Auvergne showed a sequence of lava flows from before and after the flood had cut valleys through the region. In an 1823 article "On the deluge", John Stevens Henslow, professor of mineralogy at the University of Cambridge, affirmed the concept and proposed that the flood had originated from a comet, but this was his only comment on the topic. Adam Sedgwick, Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge, presented two supportive papers in 1825, "On the origin of alluvial and diluvial deposits", and "On diluvial formations". At this time, most of what Sedgwick called "The English school of geologists" distinguished superficial deposits which were "diluvial", showing "great irregular masses of sand, loam, and coarse gravel, containing through its mass rounded blocks sometimes of enormous magnitude" and supposedly caused by "some great irregular inundation", from "alluvial" deposits of "comminuted gravel, silt, loam, and other materials" attributed to lesser events, the "propelling force" of rivers, or "successive partial inundations". +In America, Benjamin Silliman at Yale College spread the concept and in an 1833 essay dismissed the earlier idea that most stratified rocks had been formed in the flood, while arguing that surface features showed "wreck and ruin" attributable to "mighty floods and rushing torrents of water". He said that "we must charge to moving waters the undulating appearance of stratified sand and gravel, often observed in many places, and very conspicuously in the plain of New Haven, and in other regions of Connecticut and New England", while both "bowlder stones" and sandy deserts across the world could be attributed to "diluvial agency". + +==== Criticisms and retractions: the downfall of diluvialism ==== +Other naturalists were critical of diluvialism: Church of Scotland minister John Fleming published opposing arguments in a series of articles from 1823 onwards. He was critical of the assumption that fossils resembling modern tropical species had been swept north "by some violent means", which he regarded as absurd considering the "unbroken state" of fossil remains. For example, fossil mammoths demonstrated adaptation to the same northern climates now prevalent where they were found. He criticized Buckland's identification of red mud in the Kirkdale cave as diluvial, when nearly identical mud in other caves had been described as fluvial. While Cuvier had reconciled geology with a loose reading of the biblical text, Fleming argued that such a union was "indiscreet" and turned to a more literal view of Genesis: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b7be969d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 4/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +But if the supposed impetuous torrent excavated valleys, and transported masses of rocks to a distance from their original repositories, then must the soil have been swept from off the earth to the destruction of the vegetable tribes. Moses does not record such an occurrence. On the contrary, in his history of the dove and the olive-leaf plucked off, he furnishes a proof that the flood was not so violent in its motions as to disturb the soil, nor to overturn the trees which it supported. +When Sedgwick visited Paris at the end of 1826 he found hostility to diluvialism: Alexander von Humboldt ridiculed it "beyond measure", and Louis-Constant Prévost "lectured against it". In the summer of 1827 Sedgwick and Roderick Murchison travelled to investigate the geology of the Scottish Highlands, where they found "so many indications of local diluvial operations" that Sedgwick began to change his mind about it being worldwide. When George Poulett Scrope published his investigations into the Auvergne in 1827, he did not use the term "diluvium". He was followed by Murchison and Charles Lyell whose account appeared in 1829. All three agreed that the valleys could well have been formed by rivers acting over a long time, and a deluge was not needed. +Lyell, formerly a pupil of Buckland, put strong arguments against diluvialism in the first volume of his Principles of Geology published in 1830, though suggesting the possibility of a deluge affecting a region such as the low-lying area around the Caspian Sea. Sedgwick responded to this book in his presidential address to the Geological Society in February 1830, agreeing that diluvial deposits had formed at differing times. At the society a year later, when retiring from the presidency, Sedgwick described his former belief that "vast masses of diluvial gravel" had been scattered worldwide in "one violent and transitory period" as "a most unwarranted conclusion", and therefore thought "it right, as one of my last acts before I quit this Chair, thus publicly to read my recantation." However, he remained convinced that a flood as described in Genesis was not excluded by geology. +One student had seen the gradual abandonment of diluvialism: Charles Darwin had attended Jameson's geology lectures in 1826 and at Cambridge became a close friend of Henslow before learning geology from Sedgwick in 1831. At the outset of the Beagle voyage Darwin was given a copy of Lyell's Principles of Geology and at the first landfall began his career as a geologist with investigations which supported Lyell's concept of slow uplift while also describing loose rocks and gravel as "part of the long disputed Diluvium". Debates continued over the part played by repeated exceptional catastrophes in geology, and in 1832 William Whewell dubbed this view catastrophism, while naming Lyell's insistence on explanations based on current processes uniformitarianism. +Buckland, too, gradually modified his views on the deluge. In 1832 a student noted Buckland's view on cause of diluvial gravel, "whether is Mosaic inundation or not, will not say". In a footnote to his Bridgewater Treatise of 1836, Buckland backed down from his former claim that the "violent inundation" identified in his Reliquiae Diluvianae was the Genesis flood: + +it seems more probable, that the event in question, was the last of the many geological revolutions that have been produced by violent irruptions of water, rather than the comparatively tranquil inundation described in the Inspired Narrative. It has been justly argued, against the attempt to identity these two great historical and natural phenomena, that, as the rise and fall of the waters of the Mosaic deluge are described to have been gradual and of short duration, they would have produced comparatively little change on the surface of the country they overflowed. +For a while, Buckland had continued to insist that some geological layers were related to the Great Flood, but grew to accept the idea that they represented multiple inundations which occurred well before humans existed. In 1840 he made a field trip to Scotland with the Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz and became convinced that the "diluvial" features which he had attributed to the deluge had, in fact, been produced by ancient ice ages. Buckland became one of the foremost champions of Agassiz's theory of glaciations, and diluvialism went out of use in geology. Active geologists no longer posited sudden ancient catastrophes with unknown causes and instead increasingly explained phenomena by observable processes causing slow changes over great periods. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..79eb44f02 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 5/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Scriptural geologists, and later commentary === +Scriptural geologists were a heterogeneous group of writers in the early 19th century who claimed "the primacy of literalistic biblical exegesis" and a short young Earth time scale. Their views were marginalised and ignored by the scientific community of their time. They generally lacked any background in geology and had little influence even in church circles. +Many of them quoted obsolete geological writings. Among the most prominent, Granville Penn argued in 1822 that "mineral geology" rejected revelation, while true "Mosaical geology" showed that God had created primitive rock formations directly, in correspondence with the laws which God then made to produce subsequent effects. A first revolution on the third day of creation deepened the oceans so water rushed in, and in the deluge 1,656 years afterwards a second revolution sank land areas and raised the sea bed to cause a swirling flood which moved soil and fossil remains into stratified layers, after which God created new vegetation. As Genesis appeared to show that the rivers of Eden had survived this catastrophe, he argued that the verses concerned were an added "parenthesis" which should be disregarded. In 1837 George Fairholme expressed disappointment about disappearing belief in the deluge, and about Sedgwick and Buckland recanting diluvialism while putting forward his own New and Conclusive Physical Demonstrations which ignored geological findings to claim that strata had been deposited in a quick continuous process while still moist. +Geology was popularized by several authors. John Pye Smith's lectures published in 1840 reconciled an extended time frame with Genesis by the increasingly common gap theology or day-age theology, and said it was likely that the gravel and boulder formations were not diluvium but had taken long ages predating the creation of humans. He reaffirmed that the flood was historical as a local event, something which the 17th century theologians Edward Stillingfleet and Matthew Poole had already suggested on a purely biblical basis. Smith also denounced the "fanciful" writings of the scriptural geologists. Edward Hitchcock sought to ensure that geological findings could be corroborated by scripture and dismissed the scriptural geology of Penn and Fairholme as misrepresenting both scripture and the facts of geology. He noted the difficulty of equating a violent deluge with the more tranquil Genesis account. Hugh Miller supported similar points with considerable detail. +Little attention was paid to flood geology over the rest of the 19th century, its few supporters included the author Eleazar Lord in the 1850s and the Lutheran scholar Carl Friedrich Keil in 1860 and 1878. The visions of Ellen G. White published in 1864 formed Seventh-day Adventist Church views and influenced 20th century creationism. + +== Creationist flood geology == +The Seventh-day Adventist Church, led by Ellen G. White, took a six-day creation literally and believed that she received divine messages supplementing and supporting the Bible. Her visions of the flood and its aftermath, published in 1864, described a catastrophic deluge which reshaped the entire surface of the Earth, followed by a powerful wind which piled up new high mountains, burying the bodies of men and beasts. Buried forests became coal and oil, and where God later caused these to burn, they reacted with limestone and water to cause "earthquakes, volcanoes and fiery issues". \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..3498ab831 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 6/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== George McCready Price === +White's visions prompted several books by one of her followers, George McCready Price, leading to the 20th-century revival of flood geology. After years selling White's books door-to-door, Price took a one-year teacher-training course and taught in several schools. When shown books on evolution and the fossil sequence which contradicted his beliefs, he found the answer in White's "revealing word pictures" which suggested how the fossils had been buried. He studied textbooks on geology and "almost tons of geological documents", finding "how the actual facts of the rocks and fossils, stripped of mere theories, splendidly refute this evolutionary theory of the invariable order of the fossils, which is the very backbone of the evolution doctrine". In 1902, he produced a manuscript proposing geology based on Genesis, in which the sequence of fossils resulted from the different responses of animals to the encroaching flood. He agreed with White on the origins of coal and oil and conjectured that mountain ranges (including the Alps and Himalayas) formed from layers deposited by the flood which had then been "folded and elevated to their present height by the great lateral pressure that accompanied its subsidence". He then found a report describing paraconformities and a paper on thrust faults. He concluded from these "providential discoveries" that it was impossible to prove the age or overall sequence of fossils and included these points in his self-published paperback of 1906, Illogical Geology: The Weakest Point in the Evolution Theory. His arguments continued this focus on disproving the sequence of strata, and he ultimately sold more than 15,000 copies of his 1923 college textbook The New Geology. +Price increasingly gained attention outside Adventist groups, and in the creation–evolution controversy other leading Christian fundamentalists praised his opposition to evolution – though none of them followed his young Earth arguments, retaining their belief in the gap or in the day-age interpretation of Genesis. Price corresponded with William Jennings Bryan and was invited to be a witness in the Scopes Trial of 1925 but declined as he was teaching in England and opposed to teaching Genesis in public schools as "it would be an infringement on the cardinal American principle of separation of church and state". Price returned from England in 1929 to rising popularity among fundamentalists as a scientific author. In the same year his former student Harold W. Clark self-published the short book Back to Creationism, which recommended Price's flood geology as the new "science of creationism", introducing the label "creationism" as a replacement for "anti-evolution" of "Christian Fundamentals". +In 1935, Price and Dudley Joseph Whitney (a rancher who had co-founded the Lindcove Community Bible Church) founded the Religion and Science Association (RSA). They aimed to resolve disagreements among fundamentalists with "a harmonious solution" which would convert them all to flood geology. Most of the organising group were Adventists; others included conservative Lutherans with similarly literalist beliefs. Bryon C. Nelson of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America had included Price's geological views in a 1927 book, and in 1931 published The Deluge Story in Stone: A History of the Flood Theory of Geology, which described Price as the "one very outstanding advocate of the Flood" of the century. The first public RSA conference in March 1936 invited various fundamentalist views but opened up differences between the organisers on the antiquity of creation and on life before Adam. The RSA went defunct in 1937, and a dispute continued between Price and Nelson, who viewed creation as occurring over 100,000 years previously. +In 1938, Price, with a group of Adventists in Los Angeles, founded what became the Deluge Geology Society (DGS), with membership restricted to those believing that the creation week comprised "six literal days, and that the Deluge should be studied as the cause of the major geological changes since creation". Not all DGS adherents were Adventists; early members included the Independent Baptist Henry M. Morris and the Missouri Lutheran Walter E. Lammerts. The DGS undertook field work: in June 1941 their first Bulletin hailed the news that the Paluxy River dinosaur trackways in Texas appeared to include human footprints. Though Nelson had advised Price in 1939 that this was "absurd" and that the difficulty of human footprints forming during the turmoil of the deluge would "knock the Flood theory all to pieces", in 1943 the DGS began raising funds for "actual excavation" by a Footprint Research Committee of members including the consulting geologist Clifford L. Burdick. Initially they tried to keep their research secret from "unfriendly scientists". Then in 1945, to encourage backing, they announced giant human footprints, allegedly defeating "at a single stroke" the theory of evolution. The revelation that locals had carved the footprints, and an unsuccessful field trip that year, failed to dampen their hopes. +However, by then doctrinal arguments had riven the DGS. The most extreme dispute began in late 1938 after Harold W. Clark observed deep drilling in oil fields and had discussions with practical geologists which dispelled the belief that the fossil sequence was random, convincing him that the evidence of thrust faults was "almost incontrovertible". He wrote to Price, telling his teacher that the "rocks do lie in a much more definite sequence than we have ever allowed", and proposing that the fossil sequence was explained by ecological zones before the flood. Price reacted with fury, and despite Clark emphasising their shared belief in literal recent creation, the dispute continued. In 1946 Clark set out his views in a book, The New Diluvialism, which Price denounced as Theories of Satanic Origin. +In 1941, F. Alton Everest co-founded the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) as a less confrontational forum for evangelical scientists. Some deluge geologists, including Lammerts and Price, urged close cooperation with the DGS, but Everest began to see their views as presenting an "insurmountable problem" for the ASA. In 1948, he requested J. Laurence Kulp, a geologist in fellowship with the Plymouth Brethren, to explore the issue. At the convention that year, Kulp examined hominid antiquity demonstrated by radiocarbon dating. At the 1949 convention a paper by Kulp was presented, giving a detailed critique of Deluge Geology, which he said had "grown and infiltrated the greater portion of fundamental Christianity in America primarily due to the absence of trained Christian geologists". Kulp demonstrated that "major propositions of the theory are contraindicated by established physical and chemical laws". He focused on "four basic errors" commonly made by flood geologists: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c8e660ffa --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 7/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +saying that geology was the same as evolution +assuming "that life has been on the earth only for a few thousand years, [and] therefore the flood must account for geological strata" +misunderstanding "the physical and chemical conditions under which rocks are formed" +ignoring recent discoveries such as radiometric dating that undermined their assumptions +Kulp accused Price of ignorance and deception, concluding that "this unscientific theory of flood geology has done and will do considerable harm to the strong propagation of the gospel among educated people". Price said nothing during the presentation and discussion. When invited to speak, he "said something very brief which missed what everyone was waiting for". Further publications made the ASA's opposition to flood geology clear. + +=== Morris and Whitcomb === +In 1942, Irwin A. Moon's Sermons from Science persuaded engineer Henry M. Morris of the importance of harmonising science and the Bible, and introduced him to the concepts of a vapor canopy causing the flood and its geological effects. About a year later Morris found Price's New Geology a "life-changing experience", and joined the DGS. His book That You Might Believe (1946) for college students included Price's flood geology. +Morris had joined the ASA in 1949, and in the summer of 1953 he made a presentation on "The Biblical Evidence for a Recent Creation and Universal Deluge" at their annual conference, held at Grace Theological Seminary. He impressed a graduate student there, John C. Whitcomb, Jr. who was teaching Old Testament and Hebrew. To Whitcomb's distress, the ASA members at the presentation "politely denounced" Morris. +In 1955, the ASA held a joint meeting with the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) at the same campus, where theologian Bernard Ramm's The Christian View of Science and Scripture (1954) caused considerable discussion. This book dismissed flood geology as typifying the "ignoble tradition" of fundamentalism and stated that Price could not be taken seriously, as lacking the necessary competence, training and integrity. Instead, Ramm proposed what he called progressive creationism, in which the Genesis days functioned as pictorial images revealing a process that had taken place over millions of years. ASA scientists praised Ramm's views, but the ETS theologians proved unwilling to follow Ramm. +This encouraged Whitcomb to make his doctoral dissertation a response to Ramm and a defence of Price's position. He systematically asked evangelical professors of apologetics, archaeology and the Old Testament about creation and the flood and in October told Morris that Ramm's book had been sufficient incentive for him to devote his dissertation to the topic. In 1957 Whitcomb completed his 450-page dissertation, "The Genesis Flood", and he promptly began summarising it for a book. Moody Publishers responded positively and agreed with him that chapters on scientific aspects should be carefully checked or written by someone with a PhD in science, but Whitcomb's attempts to find someone with a doctorate in geology were unsuccessful. Morris gave helpful advice, expressing concern that sections were too closely based on Price and on Immanuel Velikovsky who were "both considered by scientists generally as crackpots". Morris produced an outline of his planned three chapters and in December 1957 agreed to co-author the book. +Morris sent on his draft for comment in early 1959. His intended 100 pages grew to almost 350, around twice the length of Whitcomb's eventual contribution. Recalling Morris's earlier concerns about how Price was viewed by scientists, Whitcomb suggested that "For many people, our position would be somewhat discredited" by multiple references to Price in the draft, including a section headed "Price and Seventh-Day Adventism". Morris agreed and even suggested avoiding the term "flood geology", but it proved too useful. After discussion, the co-authors minimised these references and removed any mention of Price's Adventist affiliation. By early 1960 they became impatient at delays when Moody Publishers expressed misgivings about the length and literal views of the book, and they went along with Rousas Rushdoony's recommendation of a small Philadelphia publisher. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-7.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-7.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..644753ef4 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-7.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 8/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== The Genesis Flood (1961) ==== +The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company of Philadelphia published Whitcomb and Morris's The Genesis Flood in February 1961. The authors took as their premise biblical infallibility: "the basic argument of this volume is that the Scriptures are true". For Whitcomb, Genesis describes a worldwide flood which covered all the high mountains, Noah's Ark with a capacity equivalent to eight freight-trains, flood waters from a canopy and the deeps, and subsequent dispersal of animals from Mount Ararat to all the continents via land bridges. He disputed the views published by Ramm and Arthur Custance. Morris then confronted readers with the dilemma of whether to believe Scripture or to accept the interpretations of trained geologists, and instead of the latter proposed "a new scheme of historical geology"—true both to Scripture and to "God's work" revealed in nature. This was essentially Price's The New Geology of 1923 updated for the 1960s, though with few direct references to Price. +Like Price before him, Morris argued that most fossil-bearing strata had formed during a global deluge, disputing uniformitarianism, multiple ice ages, and the geologic column. He explained the apparent fossil sequence as the outcome of marine organisms dying in the slurry of sediments in early stages of the flood, of moving currents sorting objects by size and shape, and of the mobility of vertebrates (allowing them to initially escape the flood waters). He cited Walter E. Lammerts in support of Price's views about the thrust fault at Chief Mountain disproving the sequence. +The book went beyond Price in some areas. Morris extended the six-day creation from the Earth to the entire universe and wrote that death and decay had only begun with the fall of man, which had therefore introduced entropy and the second law of thermodynamics. He proposed that a vapor canopy, before providing water for the flood, created a mild, even climate and shielded the Earth from cosmic rays – so radiocarbon dating of antediluvian samples would not work. He cited the testimony of Clifford L. Burdick from the 1950s that some of the Glen Rose Formation dinosaur trackways near the Paluxy River in Dinosaur Valley State Park overlapped human footprints, but Burdick failed to confirm this, and the claim disappeared from the third edition of The Genesis Flood. + +=== Creation Research Society === +In a 1957 discussion with Whitcomb, Lammerts suggested an "informal association" to exchange ideas, and possibly research, on flood geology. Morris was unavailable to get things started, then c. 1961 William J. Tinkle got in touch, and they set about recruiting others. They had difficulty in finding supporters with scientific qualifications. The Creation Research Committee of ten they put together on 9 February 1962 had varying views on the age of the Earth, but all opposed evolution. They then succeeded in recruiting others into what became the Creation Research Society (CRS) in June 1963, which grew rapidly. Getting an agreed statement of belief was problematic; they affirmed that the Bible was "historically and scientifically true in the original autographs" so that "the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths" and "The great flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Flood, was an historic event worldwide in its extent and effect", but to Morris's disappointment they did not make flood geology mandatory. They lacked a qualified geologist, and Morris persuaded the group to appoint Burdick as their Earth scientist, overcoming initial concerns raised by Lammerts. The CRS grew rapidly, with an increasing proportion of the membership adhering to strict young Earth flood geology. +The resources of the CRS for its first decade went into publication of the CRS Quarterly and a project to publish a creationist school book. Since the 1920s most U.S. schools had not taught pupils about evolution, but the launch of Sputnik exposed apparent weaknesses of U.S. science education, and the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study produced textbooks in 1963 which included the topic. When the Texas Education Agency held a hearing in October 1964 about adopting these textbooks, creationist objectors were unable to name suitable creationist alternatives. Lammerts organised a CRS textbook committee which lined up a group of authors, with John N. Moore as senior editor bringing their contributions together into a suitable textbook. + +=== Creation science === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-8.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-8.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..488735aef --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 9/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The teaching of evolution, reintroduced in 1963 by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study textbooks, was prohibited by laws in some states. These bans were contested; the Epperson v. Arkansas case which began late in 1965 was decided in 1968 by the United States Supreme Court ruling that such laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. +Some creationists thought a legal decision requiring religious neutrality in schools should shield their children from teachings hostile to their religion; Nell J. Segraves and Jean E. Sumrall (a friend of Lammerts who was also associated with the CRS and the Bible-Science Association) petitioned the California State Board of Education to require that school biology texts designate evolution as a theory. In 1966 Max Rafferty as California State Superintendent of Public Instruction suggested that they demand equal time for creation, as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowed teachers to mention religion as long as they did not promote specific doctrines. Their first attempt failed, but in 1969 controversy arose over a proposed Science Framework for California Schools. Anticipating success, they and others in the Bible-Science Association formed Creation Science, Inc., to produce textbooks. A compromise acceptable to Segraves, Sumrall and the Board was suggested by Vernon L. Grose, and the revised 1970 Framework included "While the Bible and other philosophical treatises also mention creation, science has independently postulated the various theories of creation. Therefore, creation in scientific terms is not a religious or philosophical belief." The result kept school texts free of creationism but downgraded evolution to mere speculative theory. +Creationists reacted to the California developments with a new confidence that they could introduce their ideas into schools by minimizing biblical references. Henry M. Morris declared "Creationism is on the way back, this time not primarily as a religious belief, but as an alternative scientific explanation of the world in which we live." In 1970 Creation Science, Inc., combined with a planned studies center at Christian Heritage College as the Creation-Science Research Center. Morris moved to San Diego to become director of the center and academic vice-president of the college. In the fall he presented a course at the college on "Scientific Creationism", the first time he is known to have used the term in public. (Two years later, the Creation-Science Research Center split with part becoming the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) led by Morris.) +CRS had found schoolbook publishers reluctant to take on their textbook, and eventually the Christian publishing company Zondervan brought out Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity in 1970. The 10,000 prints sold out within a year, and they produced 25,000 as the second impression, but hardly any public schools adopted the book. A preface by Morris claims that there were two philosophies of creation, "the doctrine of evolution and the doctrine of special creation", attempting to give both equal validity. The book mostly covers uncontroversial details of biology but asserts that these were correctly seen as "God's creation" or "divine creation", and presents biblical creation as the correct scientific view. A chapter on "Weaknesses of Geologic Evidence" disputes evolutionary theories while asserting a "fact that most fossil material was laid down by the flood in Noah's time". Another chapter disputes evolutionary theory. +In the CRS Quarterly for September 1971, Morris introduced the "two-model approach" asserting that evolution and creation were both equally scientific and equally religious, and soon afterwards he said they were "competing scientific hypotheses". For the third printing of Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity in 1974, the editor John N. Moore added a preface setting out this approach as "the two basic viewpoints of origins", the "evolution model" and the "creation model". When an Indiana school decided to use the book as their biology text, the Hendren v. Campbell district court case banned its use in public schools as infringing the Establishment Clause. Judge Michael T. Dugan, II, described it as "a text obviously designed to present only the view of Biblical Creationism in a favorable light", contravening the constitution by promotion of a specific sectarian religious view. +As a tactic to gain the same scientific status as evolution, flood geology proponents had effectively relabeled the Bible-based flood geology of George McCready Price as "creation science" or "scientific creationism" by the mid-1970s. At the CRS board meeting in spring 1972, members were told to start using "scientific creationism", a phrase used interchangeably with "creation science"; Morris explained that preferences differed, though neither was ideal as "one simple term" could not "identify such a complex and comprehensive subject." In the 1974 ICR handbook for high-school teachers titled Scientific Creationism, Morris uses the two-model approach to support his argument that creationism could "be taught without reference to the book of Genesis or to other religious literature or to religious doctrines", and in public schools only the "basic scientific creation model" should be taught, rather than biblical creationism which "would open the door to wide interpretations of Genesis" or to non-Christian cosmogonies. He did not deny having been influenced by the Bible. In his preface to the book dated July 1974, Morris as editor outlines how the "Public School Edition" of the book evaluates evidence from a "strictly scientific point of view" without "reference to the Bible or other religious literature", while the "General Edition" is "essentially identical" except for an additional chapter on "Creation according to Scripture" that "places the scientific evidence in its proper biblical and theological context." +The main ideas in creation science are: the belief in "creation ex nihilo" (Latin: out of nothing); the conviction that the Earth was created within the last 6,000 years; the belief that mankind and other life on Earth were created as distinct fixed "baraminological" kinds; and the idea that fossils found in geological strata were deposited during a cataclysmic flood which completely covered the entire Earth. As a result, creation science also challenges the commonly accepted geologic and astrophysical theories for the age and origins of the Earth and Universe, which creationists acknowledge are irreconcilable to the account in the Book of Genesis. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-9.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-9.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..7e178068d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology-9.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Flood geology" +chunk: 10/12 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_geology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:57.530514+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Creationist arguments for a global flood == + +=== Fossils === +The geologic column and the fossil record are used as major pieces of evidence in the modern scientific explanation of the development and evolution of life on Earth as well as a means to establish the age of Earth. Young Earth creationists such as Morris and Whitcomb in their 1961 book, The Genesis Flood, say that the age of the fossils depends on the amount of time credited to the geologic column, which they ascribe to be about one year. Some flood geologists dispute geology's assembled global geologic column since index fossils are used to link geographically isolated strata to other strata across the map. Fossils are often dated by their proximity to strata containing index fossils whose age has been determined by its location on the geologic column. Oard and others say that the identification of fossils as index fossils has been too error-prone for index fossils to be used reliably to make those correlations, or to date local strata using the assembled geologic scale. +Other creationists accept the existence of the geological column and believe that it indicates a sequence of events that might have occurred during the global flood. Institute for Creation Research creationists such as Andrew Snelling, Steven A. Austin and Kurt Wise take this approach, as does Creation Ministries International. They cite the Cambrian explosion—the appearance of abundant fossils in the upper Ediacaran (Vendian) period and lower Cambrian period—as the pre-flood/flood boundary, the presence in such sediments of fossils that do not occur later in the geological record as part of a pre-flood biota that perished and the absence of fossilized organisms that appear later (such as angiosperms and mammals) as a result of erosion of sediments deposited by the flood as waters receded off the land. Creationists say that fossilization can only take place when the organism is buried quickly to protect the remains from destruction by scavengers or decomposition. They say that the fossil record provides evidence of a single cataclysmic flood and not of a series of slow changes accumulating over millions of years. +Flood geologists have proposed numerous hypotheses to reconcile the sequence of fossils evident in the fossil column with the literal account of Noah's flood in the Bible. Whitcomb and Morris proposed three possible factors: + +hydrological, whereby the relative buoyancies of the remains (based on the organisms' shapes and densities) determined the sequence in which their remains settled to the bottom of the flood-waters +ecological, suggesting organisms living at the ocean bottom succumbed first in the flood and those living at the highest altitudes last +anatomical/behavioral, the ordered sequence in the fossil column resulting from the very different responses to the rising waters between different kinds of organisms due to their diverse mobilities and original habitats. In a scenario put forth by Morris, the remains of marine life settled to the bottom first, followed by the slower-moving lowland reptiles, and culminating with humans, whose superior intelligence and ability to flee enabled them to reach higher elevations before the flood waters overcame them. +Some creationists believe that oil and coal deposits formed rapidly in sedimentary layers as volcanoes or flood waters flattened forests and buried the debris. They believe the vegetation decomposed rapidly into oil or coal due to the heat of the subterranean waters as they were unleashed from the Earth during the flood or by the high temperatures created as the remains were compressed by water and sediment. +Creationists continue to search for evidence in the natural world that they consider consistent with the above description, such as evidence of rapid formation. For example, there have been claims of raindrop marks and water ripples at layer boundaries, sometimes associated with the claimed fossilized footprints of men and dinosaurs walking together. Such footprint evidence has been debunked, and some have been shown to be fakes. + +=== Widespread flood stories === + +Proponents of flood geology state that "native global flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth". "These flood tales are frequently linked by common elements that parallel the biblical account including the warning of the coming flood, the construction of a boat in advance, the storage of animals, the inclusion of family, and the release of birds to determine if the water level had subsided." They suggest that "the overwhelming consistency among flood legends found in distant parts of the globe indicates they were derived from the same origin, but oral transcription has changed the details through time". +Anthropologist Patrick Nunn rejects this view and highlights the fact that much of the human population lives near water sources such as rivers and coasts, where unusually severe floods can be expected to occur occasionally and will be recorded in local mythology. + +== Proposed mechanisms of flood geology == +Price attempted to fit a great deal of Earth's geologic history into a model based on a few accounts from the Bible. Price's simple model was used by Whitcomb and Morris initially, but they did not build on the model in the 1960s and 1970s. However, a rough sketch of a creationist model could be constructed from creationist publications and debate material. Recent creationist efforts attempt to build complex models that incorporate as much scientific evidence as possible into the biblical narrative. Some scientific evidence used for these models was formerly rejected by creationists. These models attempt to explain continental movements in a short time frame, the order of the fossil record, and the Pleistocene ice age. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogvid-24-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogvid-24-0.md index 75669cdbe..2624b89b0 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogvid-24-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogvid-24-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogvid-24" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:10:22.451730+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:58.744842+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c605cb533 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,40 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 1/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Forensic dentistry or forensic odontology involves the handling, examination, and evaluation of dental evidence in a criminal justice context. Forensic dentistry is used in both criminal and civil law. Forensic dentists assist investigative agencies in identifying human remains, particularly in cases when identifying information is otherwise scarce or nonexistent—for instance, identifying burn victims by consulting the victim's dental records. Forensic dentists may also be asked to assist in determining the age, race, sex, and previous dental history of unidentified human beings. The primary benefit of dental evidence is its perpetual preservation following death. The examination of antemortem and postmortem dental characteristics is made possible by each persons distinctive tooth patterns. +Forensic dentists may make their determinations by using radiographs, ante- and post-mortem photographs, and DNA analysis. Another type of evidence that may be analyzed is bite marks, whether left on the victim (by the attacker), the perpetrator (from the victim of an attack), or on an object found at the crime scene. However, this latter application of forensic dentistry has proven highly controversial, as no scientific studies or evidence substantiate that bite marks can demonstrate sufficient detail for positive identification and numerous instances where experts diverge widely in their evaluations of the same bite mark evidence. +Bite mark analysis has been condemned by several scientific bodies, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and the Texas Forensic Science Commission. +It is important to acknowledge that this discipline as well as any other forensic discipline is very susceptible to bias. Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to bias and forensic odontology. There are several opportunities to introduce emotional and cognitive bias in forensic odontology. Contrary to what many forensic experts would claim, cognitive bias cannot be willed away because it is inherently beyond of an individual's conscious control. + +== Training == + +=== India === +In India, certificate courses offered include a modular course by D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, and some other private entities. The Indian Dental Association offers a fellowship program in FO which can be either a classroom program or an online program. Master's degree programs in different forensic disciplines along with M.Sc. Forensic Odontology is offered by National Forensic Sciences University which is the world's only university dedicated to forensic sciences. +It is a 2‑year full‑time course offered at the university's campus at Gandhinagar. +Indo-Pacific Academy of Forensic Odontology: The INPAFO Fellowship/Scholarship is a program offered by the Indo-Pacific Academy of Forensic Odontology (INPAFO) to support academic and professional development in forensic odontology. There are different types of fellowships, including the INPAFO Fellowship and the INPAFO Post Graduate Research Scholarship (IPGRS), which provide opportunities for research and skill enhancement. Additionally, INPAFO offers an Honorary Fellowship to recognize individuals with outstanding contributions and leadership in the field.more about INPAFO Fellowships-scholarships + +=== Australia === +Postgraduate diploma programs for dentists are available at The University of Melbourne, The University of Western Australia, and The University of Adelaide. + +=== Belgium === +The Belgian university KU Leuven offers a master's in Forensic Odontology. + +=== United Kingdom === +Following the closure of the MSc course at the University of Glamorgan, one can receive either an MSc in Forensic Dentistry (a one-year programme) or a Masters in Forensic Odontology (a two-year programme) from the University of Dundee in Scotland, which currently has a very limited intake. + +=== United States === +There are two odontology training programs available in the US. One is a Fellowship program at The University of Texas Health Science at San Antonio Center Dental School, and the other is a master's degree program through the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture College of Veterinary Medicine. + +=== Canada === +For undergraduate studies, dental school candidates in Canada are required to complete a BA or at least three years of study in a BA program before completing a dental degree. BA Programs often involve science or biomedical but can include much more, as long as students have completed the basic prerequisites needed. +There are no graduate study programs for forensic odontology specifically in Canada. Some universities have offered some involvement in forensic science disciples during clinical dental specialty projects, however, they will not graduate with credibility in the forensic odontology discipline. +Dental degrees given by universities in Canada include DDS (doctor of dental science) and DMD (doctor of dental medicine). +There is no professional certification process for forensic odontologists in Canada currently. It is possible for Canadians to certify for the ABFO, a section of the American Academy of Forensic Science. This process also includes an examination as well as the candidates must complete a career checklist of accomplishments which will be reviewed. This checklist may include fellowships, working with recognized medicolegal death investigation agencies, completing a minimum level of casework and research, and providing testimony in court cases. The ABFO and the AAFS often hold scientific sessions which offer workshops including identification, civil litigation, age determination, and bite-mark analysis. These are beneficial in helping prospective forensic practitioners move towards board-eligible status. +In Ontario, there is a group of 10 forensic dentists that are known as the Province of Ontario Dental Identification Team or better known as PODIT. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fcc4f2619 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 2/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== High-profile criminal cases == +Forensic odontology has played a key role in famous criminal cases: +In 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials, Rev. George Burroughs was accused of witchcraft and conspiring with the Devil, with biting his victims supposedly being evidence of his crimes. His bite marks and the bite marks of other people were compared to the victim's marks. The judges readily accepted the bite marks as evidence and this was the first time in what would become the United States that bite marks were used as evidence to solve a crime. He was later convicted and hanged. About two decades later, he was exonerated by the State, and his children were compensated for the wrongful execution. +One of the first published accounts involving a conviction based on bite marks as evidence was the “Gorringe case”, in 1948, in which pathologist Keith Simpson used bite marks on the breast of the victim to seal a murder conviction against Robert Gorringe for the murder of his wife Phyllis. Another early case was Doyle v. State, which occurred in Texas in 1954. The bite mark, in this case, was on a piece of cheese found at the crime scene of a burglary. The defendant was later asked to bite another piece of cheese for comparison. A firearms examiner and a dentist evaluated the bite marks independently and both concluded that the marks were made by the same set of teeth. The conviction, in this case, set the stage for bite marks found on objects and skin to be used as evidence in future cases. + +Fredrik Fasting Torgersen +Wayne Boden – an early case of Forensic Dentistry +State of Florida v. Ted Bundy +State of New Jersey v. Jesse Timmendequas (Megan's Law case) +People of California v. Marx, the 1975 case which established evidentiary standards for forensic odontology +People of Arizona v. Ray Krone, bite mark evidence led to a wrongful conviction. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9042ac1e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 3/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Organizations == +Several organizations are dedicated to the field of forensic odontology. These organizations include the Bureau of Legal Dentistry (BOLD), the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO), American Society of Forensic Odontology (ASFO), the International Organization for Forensic Odonto-Stomatology (IOFOS) and the Association Forensic Odontology For Human Rights (AFOHR). Countries have their own forensic Odontological societies, including the British Association for Forensic Odontology (BAFO) and the Australian Society of Forensic Odontology (AuSFO). In 1996, BOLD was created at the University of British Columbia to develop new technology and techniques in forensic odontology. The University of British Columbia program is the only one in North America that provides graduate training in forensic odontology. +In Canada, The Royal College of Dentists has not recognized forensic odontology therefore there is no organization for Canada, however, there are three well-developed and trained groups for forensic dentistry. These groups include British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. British Columbia has a team called BC Forensic Odontology Response Team (BC_FORT) which is led by six dentists. They focus on disaster-victim identification work. Ontario has a team of ten forensic dentists called the Province of Ontario Dental Identification Team (PODIT). Quebec has a team that is run out of McGill University and they offer a well-established forensic dentistry online course that focuses on human bite-mark evidence. These teams are kept small in order to maintain a relationship between forensic dentists and casework. +The Bureau of Legal Dentistry encourages the use of multiple dental impressions to create a “dental lineup”, similar to a suspect lineup used to identify alleged perpetrators of crime. Currently, dental impressions collected as evidence are compared only to those collected from a given suspect, which may bias the resulting outcome. Using multiple dental impressions in a lineup may enable forensic odontologists to significantly decrease the current bias in matching bite marks to the teeth of a suspect. The organization BOLD also supports the creation of a database of dental records, which could help in verifying dental uniqueness. This database could be created using criminal records or possibly all dental patients. +In 1984, the ABFO attempted to diminish the discrepancies and increase the validity of bite mark analysis by creating bite mark methodology guidelines. The guidelines attempt to establish standard terminology in describing bite marks and that reduces the risk of biased results. The ABFO also provides advice on how to effectively collect and preserve evidence. For example, they recommend that the collection of DNA evidence and detailed photographs of bites be taken together at the crime scene. The guidelines also outline how and what a forensic odontologist should record, such as the location, contours, shape, and size of a bite mark. They also provide a system of scoring to assess the degree to which a suspect's dental profile and bite mark match. According to the ABFO, the guidelines are not a mandate of methods to be used, but a list of generally accepted methods. +The guidelines are intended to prevent potentially useful evidence from being thrown out simply because the forensic odontologist's collection methods were not standardized. Kouble and Craig used a simplified version of the ABFO scoring guidelines in order to retain accuracy with a larger sample of comparisons. A numerical score was assigned to represent the degree of similarity between the bite mark and model/overlay. The higher the score, the greater the similarity. In order to simplify the model, some features that were individually scored in the ABFO guidelines such as arch size and shape were assessed together while certain distinctive features such as spacing between teeth were treated as a separate variable. The authors believe that a simplified version would increase the strength of the comparison process. In an attempt to improve guidelines used to collect dental evidence, IOFOS developed one of the most recognized systems for the collection of forensic dental evidence +Indo-Pacific Academy of Forensic Odontology: +The Indo-Pacific Academy of Forensic Odontology (INPAFO), established in 2007, is a leading professional body dedicated to advancing forensic odontology, with a strong presence in the Indo-Pacific region and global outreach. Under the guidance of its Patron, Dr. O. P. Jasuja, and visionary leadership of its Founder President, Dr. Rakesh Gorea, the Academy has fostered collaboration, education, and research in this specialised field. With Dr. Aman Chowdhry as General Secretary, INPAFO continues to expand its influence through initiatives such as the Journal of INPAFO, an acclaimed scientific publication. Learn more at www.inpafo.in +There is only one international association promoting humanitarian forensic odontology, called AFOHR. It was inaugurated in 2015 by a group of experts in Lyon during the Interpol DVI annual meeting, following the inspiration of Emilio Nuzzolese, forensic odontologist from Italy. In 2019 the group evolved into Association adopting a by Laws and an elected Board. +In 2016, an association of civil protection called Dental Team DVI Italia was founded in Bari, Italy, in order to offer pro bono services in the field of human identification and DVI Disaster Victim Identification to support Italian DVI teams. + +== Bite mark analysis == +A bite mark is defined as a change in a surface's appearance due to the teeth coming into contact with it, leaving behind a dental pattern of the bite. Studies have been performed in an attempt to find the simplest, most efficient, and most reliable way of analyzing bite marks and comparing them with one another and with suspects' teeth. There are two important notions when it comes to bite mark analysis: every individual has unique dentition that can be identifiable and this uniqueness can be found in a bite mark left in human skin. The theory behind bite mark analysis has been called into doubt in recent years, with many observers considering the entire field unscientific and invalid and calling for bite mark evidence to be inadmissible in court. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1d5355fb8 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 4/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Proposed theoretical basis === +Bites can occur on both the victim and the suspect; teeth are used as a weapon by the aggressor and in self-defense by the victim. Although they are only a small portion of most forensic dentists' caseload, bite marks represent the most challenging aspect of the discipline. In addition to the location of the bite mark, the type of severity of the injury may give investigators clues as to the mental state of the offender. Bite marks may be found on the flesh of victims of a violent attack, particularly on the stomach or buttocks. Bite mark evidence may be the only form of physical evidence found on a body. Alternatively, they may be found on the suspect, left by the victim during self-defense. Bite marks can be altered through stretching, movement, or change in environment after the bite. Skin is not ideal for holding the shape of a bite mark as it can become distorted due to the viscoelasticity of the skin. There is also no set standard by which to analyze and compare bite marks. +Factors that may affect the accuracy of bite mark identification include time-dependent changes of the bite mark on living bodies, effects of where the bite mark was found, damage on soft tissue, and similarities in dentition among individuals. Other factors include poor photography, impressions, or measurement of dentition characteristics. +Most bite mark analysis studies use porcine skin (pigskin), because it is comparable to the skin of a human, and it is considered unethical to bite a human for study in the United States. Limitations to the bite mark studies include differences in properties of pigskin compared to human skin and the technique of using simulated pressures to create bite marks. Although similar histologically, pigskin and human skin behave in dynamically different ways due to differences in elasticity. Furthermore, postmortem bites on nonhuman skin, such as those used in the experiments of Martin-de-las Heras et al., display different patterns to those seen in antemortem bite injuries. In recognition of the limitations of their study, Kouble and Craig suggest using a G-clamp on an articulator in future studies to standardize the amount of pressure used to produce experimental bite marks instead of applying manual pressure to models on pigskin. Future research and technological developments may help reduce the occurrence of such limitations. +Kouble and Craig compared direct methods and indirect methods of bite mark analysis. In the past, the direct method compared a model of the suspect's teeth to a life-size photograph of the actual bite mark. In these experiments, direct comparisons were made between dental models and either photographs or "fingerprint powder lift models." The "fingerprint powder lift" technique involves dusting the bitten skin with black fingerprint powder and using fingerprint tape to transfer the bite marks onto a sheet of acetate. Indirect methods involve the use of transparent overlays to record a suspect's biting edges. Transparent overlays are made by free-hand tracing the occlusal surfaces of a dental model onto an acetate sheet. When comparing the “fingerprint powder lift” technique against the photographs, the use of photographs resulted in higher scores determined by a modified version of the ABFO scoring guidelines. The use of transparent overlays is considered subjective and irreproducible because the tracing can be easily manipulated. On the other hand, photocopier-generated overlays where no tracing is used are considered to be the best method in matching the correct bite mark to the correct set of models without the use of computer imaging. +While the photocopier-generated technique is sensitive, reliable, and inexpensive, new methods involving digital overlays have proven to be more accurate. Two recent technological developments include the 2D polyline method and the painting method. Both methods use Adobe Photoshop. The use of the 2D polyline method entails drawing straight lines between two fixed points in the arch and between incisal edges to indicate the tooth width. The use of the painting method entails coating the incisal edges of a dental model with red glossy paint and then photographing the model. Adobe Photoshop is then used to make measurements on the image. A total of 13 variables were used in the analysis. Identification for both methods was based on canine-to-canine distance (one variable), incisor width (four variables), and rotational angles of the incisors (eight variables). The 2D polyline method relies heavily on accurate measurements, while the painting method depends on the precise overlaying of the images. Although both methods were reliable, the 2D polyline method gave efficient and more objective results. + +=== Criticism of bite mark analysis === +Bite mark analysis has been criticized by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The PCAST has identified that bite mark analysis is an area which lacks clear standards in regards to the features needed to identify a particular set of dentition as having created a particular mark. The analysis of bite marks is subjective and is highly criticized. +So called bite mark analysis has been criticized as largely unscientific based on three pillars of critique: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..73671f8c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 5/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +"Human anterior dental patterns have not been shown to be unique at the individual level" +"Those patterns are not accurately transferred to human skin consistently" +"It has not been shown that defining characteristics of those patterns can be accurately analyzed to exclude or not exclude individuals as the source of a [sic] bitemark" +Recently, the scientific foundation of forensic odontology, and especially bite mark comparison, has been called into question. A 1999 study by a member of the American Board of Forensic Odontology found a 63% rate of false identifications. However, the study was based on an informal workshop during an ABFO meeting which many members did not consider a valid scientific setting. In February 2016, the Texas Forensic Science Commission recommended that bite mark evidence not be used in criminal prosecutions until it had a more firm scientific basis. That same year, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology declared that bite mark analysis had no scientific validity. +An investigative series by the Chicago Tribune entitled "Forensics under the Microscope" examined many forensic science disciplines to see if they truly deserve the air of infallibility that has come to surround them. The investigators concluded that bite mark comparison is always subjective and no standards for comparison have been accepted across the field. The journalists discovered that no rigorous experimentation has been conducted to determine error rates for bite mark comparison, a key part of the scientific method. +Critics of bite mark comparison cite the case of Ray Krone, an Arizona man convicted of murder on bite mark evidence left on a woman's breast. DNA evidence later implicated another man and Krone was released from prison. Similarly, Roy Brown was convicted of murder due in part to bite-mark evidence, and freed after DNA testing of the saliva left in the bite wounds matched someone else. +Although bite mark analysis has been used in legal proceedings since 1870, it remains a controversial topic due to a variety of factors. DeVore and Barbenel and Evans have shown that the accuracy of a bite mark on the skin is limited at best. Skin is not a good medium for dental impressions; it is liable to several of irregularities present before the imprint that could cause distortion. Also, bite marks can be altered through stretching, movement, or a changing environment during and after the actual bite. Furthermore, the level of distortion tends to increase after the bite mark was made. Both studies suggest that for the bite mark to be accurately analyzed, the body must be examined in the same position it was in when the bite occurred, which can be a difficult if the not impossible task to accomplish. Bite mark distortion can rarely be quantified. Therefore, bite marks found at the scene are often analyzed under the assumption that they have undergone minimal distortion. + +== Dental Age Estimation == +When trustworthy birth records are either unavailable or contested, Dental Age Estimation (DAE) is a scientific method for estimating an individual's age. It is frequently used in criminal investigations, immigration and asylum proceedings, and disaster victim identification, among other forensic, medico-legal, and humanitarian contexts. Because of their consistent development and resilience to environmental and postmortem alterations, teeth are regarded as extremely dependable markers. In addition to skeletal and chronological age, dental age is evaluated using a variety of techniques based on the age group and available data. +In 2026 the volume Dental Age Assessment: A Global Perspective was published by Springer Publishers, comprising 20 chapters reviewing established and emerging techniques and reflecting current international practices and future directions in the field. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..16e44365d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 6/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Sex estimation == +The determination of sex is important in the identification of unknown individuals in both forensic and archaeological contexts. The preferred anatomical methods for sex determination are based on pelvic and cranio-facial morphology. Using these parts of the skeleton, males and females can be correctly classified with over 90% accuracy. However, these skeletal elements are sometimes recovered in a fragmentary state, rendering sex estimation difficult. Moreover, there is currently no reliable method of sex determination of juvenile or sub-adult remains from cranial or post-cranial skeletal elements since dimorphic traits only become apparent after puberty, and this represents a fundamental problem in forensic investigations. In such situations, teeth are potentially useful in sex determination. Due to their hardness, they are highly resistant to taphonomic processes and are much more likely to be recovered than other parts of the fact, the enamel present on teeth is the hardest biological substance in the human body; therefore making them extremely sustainable analytical evidence in a forensic context. Moreover, teeth may be particularly useful for sexing immature skeletal remains since both primary and permanent sets of teeth develop before puberty. +For several decades research has been conducted into human dental sexual dimorphism, looking at different tooth classes, and using various techniques and measurements, to try to establish the extent of any dimorphism and find criteria or patterns that might enable accurate sexing of unknown individuals. Most of these studies have focused on sexual dimorphism in crown-size dimensions. This research has established that human teeth are sexually dimorphic and, although males and females exhibit overlapping dimensions, there are significant differences in mean values. Sexual dimorphism has been observed in both deciduous and permanent dentition, although it is much less in deciduous teeth. On average, male teeth are slightly larger than female teeth, with the greatest difference observed in the canine teeth. Research using microtomographic scans to look at internal dental tissues has also shown that male teeth consist of significantly greater quantities of dentine than female teeth. This results in female teeth having thicker enamel, on average. Researchers have attempted to use statistical techniques such as discriminant functions or logistic regression equations based on these sex differences to estimate the usefulness of such formulae is uncertain because sexual dimorphism in teeth may vary between populations. The advanced methods which amplify the DNA by using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) give 100% success in sex determination. Sex estimation based on dentition remains experimental and has yet to gain widespread acceptance. Nevertheless, it offers potentially useful additional techniques that could be used alongside more established methods. + +== Identification methods == + +=== Radiograph comparison === +The comparison of antemortem and post-mortem radiographic records can be done to attain a positive identification of an individual. Teeth are used since they are very durable and resistant to extreme conditions. The radiographs can present dental restorations as well as unique morphology for each individual. Dental patterns are unique due to the variety of treatments as well as growth for each individual, which creates a benefit in using them for human identification +Post-mortem radiographs can be taken at the scene or in a laboratory, the antemortem records are collected from dentists’ existing files and are used for comparison with the radiographs taken from the deceased unknown individual. +It is important that dentists keep all radiographs stored properly since the original dental records will be used during this comparison. +The antemortem and post-mortem radiographs will both be analyzed and transcribed onto Victim Identification forms and loaded into a computer database in order to compare many different antemortem records to the post-mortem in order to obtain a match. +Radiograph comparison is often a method used in mass fatalities for example natural disasters but It can be used in any case. + +=== DNA extraction === +Teeth contain a great source of DNA since they are very chemically and physically resistant to extreme conditions. This method is especially useful in cases where other DNA sources are not accessible, for example in burned victims. Teeth can be used to create a DNA profile in order to identify unknown deceased individuals. Dentin and enamel provide a resistant and protective surface that houses the dental pulp which is located under the enamel and dentin layers in the center of the tooth, which contains the nerves and blood supply as well. Within the pulp is where genomic and mitochondrial DNA can be extracted. The teeth should not be completely destroyed using DNA analysis alone, it should be compared with other techniques as well before damaging techniques are used. + +=== Smile photographs comparison === +In cases where the body is in an advanced stage of decomposition, such as in cases of skeletal remains and charring, and considering the difficulties or impossibility of using fingerprint analysis and the high cost of DNA testing, forensic dentistry can play an important role in identification. +The most common means used for ante-mortem comparison are X-rays, dental models, and dental records. However, there are cases where the presumed victim never visited a dentist or the family cannot obtain the aforementioned sources, complicating the odontolegal identification of the victim. Another source of comparison can be photographs of the presumed victim's smile (ante-mortem) compared to photographs of the deceased person's smile (post-mortem), which can highlight the dental characteristics present and, if consistent, confirm the victim's identification. +However, it is important to pay attention to details that are important in the process, such as the techniques that will be used for the comparison. Two main techniques are generally employed (both of which require the forensic dentist to take photographs of the deceased person's smile, which can then be compared to the ante-mortem photographs): \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c92c58ed1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +--- +title: "Forensic dentistry" +chunk: 7/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_dentistry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:59.890392+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Direct comparison of the characteristics presents in the ante-mortem photograph with the observed characteristics in the deceased person. In this technique, the ante-mortem and post-mortem photographs must be paired, and the dental characteristics found should be compared, described, and noted. +Computerized outlining of the incisal edges of the teeth in the ante-mortem and post-mortem photographs. In this technique, the expert analyzes the morphology of the smile line, delineating the incisal edges and comparing them. +To achieve this, attention must be given to important details, such as: + +Both the ante-mortem and post-mortem photographs need to be as clear as possible, with good/excellent quality. +The post-mortem photograph should be taken at the same angle of incidence as the ante-mortem photograph. +The more visible teeth in the ante-mortem photograph, the better. Therefore, selecting the best photograph obtained is important. +The use of software to annotate the characteristics present in the ante-mortem and post-mortem photographs, facilitating the visualization of comparative elements for everyone, including laypeople. +It is important to emphasize that each person's smile is unique, just like fingerprints, palatal rugae, and DNA. Therefore, when properly applied with the necessary scientific rigor, identification through photographs of the smile becomes a reliable method to establish an identification. + +=== Palatal rugoscopy comparison === +This method of identification involves the analysis and comparison of palatal rugae from the deceased with the palatal rugae of the potential victim. One way to perform this comparison is by creating a mold of the upper arch of the deceased (capturing the palatal rugae) or using a complete upper denture that belonged to the deceased, or on a plaster model for dental purposes, and in an object containing the palatal rugae of the missing person during their lifetime (such as an old complete upper denture in possession of the family). Once the two plaster models are created, they should be scanned/photographed, and a computerized delineation of the palatal rugae should be performed, analyzing each individual ruga and comparing their location, shape, and pattern in each of the photos (of the models). +If there is a match, the victim can be identified. It is important to note that the use of dentures for this identification can be done if the palatal rugae are clearly visible. The impression of palatal rugae in dental prostheses is formed over several years of use by the individual. This method has a significant impact on the identification process, particularly when other methodologies and identification techniques cannot be implemented. +Based on quantity, length and shape, Thomas et al. categorized palatal rugae patterns. Based on length, there is primary rugae (5-10mm), secondary rugae (3-5mm) and fragmentary rugae (less than 3mm). Based on shape, there is straight (travels straight from the start to finish), curvy (a straightforward crescent with a slight curvature), circular (a distinct, continuous ring shape), and lastly wavy (serpentine like). + +== See also == +American Society of Forensic Odontology +Hair analysis +Innocence Project +Comparative dental analysis +Dental analysis in archaeology + +== References == + +== Further reading == + +== External links == +The American Board of Forensic Odontology – a certifying body for North American and other forensic odontologists +The American Society of Forensic Odontology – a society for all persons interested in forensic odontology +The Australian Society of Forensic Odontology +The British Association for Forensic Odontology +The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) – a military sponsored venue for education in forensic odontology (annual courses) +Forensic dentistry online Archived 2019-09-29 at the Wayback Machine +Structure Magazine no. 40, "RepliSet: High Resolution Impressions of the Teeth of Human Ancestors" by Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg and John C. Mitchell +Dunning B (1 March 2022). "Skeptoid #821: Forensic (Pseudo) Science". Skeptoid. Retrieved 15 May 2022. +Forensic Oral Pathology Journal – FOPJ \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_specific_microcurrent-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_specific_microcurrent-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bd7408499 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_specific_microcurrent-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Frequency specific microcurrent" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_specific_microcurrent" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:01.074997+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) or frequency Specific Microcurrent Therapy (FSMT) is the practice of introducing a mild electrical current into an area of damaged soft tissue. Practitioners claim that the introduced current enhances the healing process underway in that same tissue. Critics, such as David Gorski, call proponent's claims of the technique altering body tissue's vibrational amplitude pseudoscience. + + +== About == +Frequency Specific Microcurrent uses two channels of microcurrent, with each channel delivering a different frequency. One frequency is proposed to address the condition (such as inflammation or fibrosis), while the second frequency is proposed to target specific tissue (such as nerve or muscle). The frequencies are delivered using microampere-level current, approximately 1/1000 of the intensity of TENS units. + + +== Usage == + +A 2012 systematic review of physical therapies for Achilles tendinopathy found limited evidence from a single randomized clinical trial suggests FSM as an effective therapy. +A 2010 controlled study of 35 participants found that FSM therapy significantly reduced delayed onset muscle soreness compared to sham treatment at 24, 48, and 72 hours post-exercise. + + +== Criticism == +Skeptics note that FSM is another form of vibration medicine and that there is no good evidence that when a tissue is injured it takes on a “different vibrational characteristic”. In addition to the implausibility of the underlying mechanism, critics further argue that the treatment lacks a body or research neither establishing the phenomenon nor the clinical claims. +A 1994 review of electronic devices as potential cancer treatments by the American Cancer Society found the methods to questionable, ineffective, and strongly advises against using them. +Another criticism is that the champion of the modality is a discredited chiropractor. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_machine_(homosexuality_test)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_machine_(homosexuality_test)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..36c86921a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_machine_(homosexuality_test)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "Fruit machine (homosexuality test)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_machine_(homosexuality_test)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:02.258816+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The "fruit machine" was a battery of psychological tests developed in Canada by Dr. Frank Robert Wake, a psychology professor with Carleton University in the 1960s. It was hoped that Dr. Wake's research program would be able to help the Government of Canada identify gay men working in the Public Service or to prevent gay people from obtaining government jobs. The subjects were made to view erotic imagery and "homosexual words", while the device measured the subject's pupil dilation (pupillary response test), and an early form of lie detector also measured their perspiration and pulse, in response to the erotic images and words. The crude apparatus was constructed by the RCMP's Identification Branch. +The research program was employed in Canada approximately between 1960 and 1964 as part of a campaign to eliminate all gay men from the civil service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). Thousands of Canadians lost their jobs or resigned and some died by suicide. Although funding for the project was cut off in the late 1960s, the RCMP investigations continued, and the RCMP collected files on well over 9,000 people. +The machine used a chair similar to that used by dentists. It had a pulley with a camera going towards the pupils, with a black box located in front of it that displayed pictures. The pictures ranged from the mundane to sexually explicit photos of men and women. It had previously been determined that the pupils would dilate in relation to the amount of interest in the picture, in a technique termed "the pupillary response test". +People were first led to believe that the machine's purpose was to rate stress. After knowledge of its real purpose became widespread, few people volunteered for it. +In November 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologised for the Government of Canada's previous policies and discrimination against LGBTQ Canadians, including the use of the Fruit machine. + + +== Faulty test parameters == +The functional mechanism of the "fruit machine" was pseudo-scientific and its results inaccurate. First, the pupillary response test was based on fatally flawed assumptions: That the chosen visual stimuli would produce a specific involuntary reaction that could be measured scientifically with 1960s technology; that homosexuals and heterosexuals would respond to these stimuli differently with enough frequency and specificity to sort them; and that there were only two types of sexuality. One physiological problem with the method was that the researchers failed to take into account the varying sizes of the pupils and the differing distances between the eyes. Other problems that existed were that the pictures of the subjects' eyes had to be taken from an angle, as the camera would have blocked the subjects' view of the photographs if it were placed directly in front. Also, the amount of light coming from the photographs changed with each slide, causing the subjects' pupils to dilate in a way that was unrelated to their interest in the picture. Finally, the dilation of the pupils was also exceedingly difficult to measure, as the change was often smaller than one millimeter. +The idea was based on an unrelated study done by an American university professor, which measured the sizes of the subjects' pupils as they walked through the aisles of grocery stores. + + +== In popular culture == +Brian Drader's 1998 play The Fruit Machine juxtaposes the fruit machine project with a parallel storyline about contemporary homophobia. +Sarah Fodey's 2018 documentary film The Fruit Machine profiled the effects of the project on several of the people affected by it. + + +== See also == +Gaydar +GCC homosexuality test +Lie detector polygraph, a device to detect the physiological responses indicative of lying +Lavender scare +Penile plethysmograph +Vaginal photoplethysmography +Voight-Kampff machine, a fictional device that detects non-human emotional responses + + +== Notes == + + +== References == + +Gary Kinsman et al.,Whose National Security?: Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies. (Between the Lines, Canada, 2000) ISBN 1-896357-25-3, chapter 10. +John Sawatsky. Men in the Shadows: The RCMP Security Service. (Doubleday Canada, 1980) ISBN 0-385-14682-5, chapters 10 and 11. +Gary Kinsman, "'Character Weakness' and 'Fruit Machines': Towards an Analysis of the Anti-Homosexual Security Campaign in the Canadian Civil Service", Labour/Le Travail, 35 (Spring 1995). + + +== External links == +What About Freud? Canada's New Cold War History +The National Security Campaigns +Fruit Machine – radio interview.CBC Radio 1. The Current. 9 May 2005. Begins at 2:25 into clip. Archived 2 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_disconnection-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_disconnection-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ac56a47ea --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_disconnection-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +--- +title: "Functional disconnection" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_disconnection" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:03.398089+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Functional disconnection is the disintegrated function in the brain in the absence of anatomical damage, in distinction to physical disconnection of the cerebral hemispheres by surgical resection, trauma or lesion. Applications have included alexia without agraphia dyslexia, persistent vegetative state and minimally conscious state as well as autistic spectrum disorders. Functional disconnection itself is not a medically recognized condition. It is a theoretical concept used to facilitate research into the causes and symptoms within recognized conditions. + + +== History == +In 1977, Witleson reported that developmental dyslexia may be associated with (i) bi-hemisphere representation of spatial functions, in contrast to the unitary right hemisphere control of these functions observed in normal individuals. The bilateral neural involvement in spatial processing may interfere with the left hemisphere's processing of its own specialized functions and result in deficient linguistic, sequential cognitive processing and in overuse of the spatial, holistic cognitive mode, reflecting a functional disconnection syndrome in these individuals confirmed by Leisman in the 1980s and in the 2000s. +The concept of functional disconnection developed further with Stachowiak and Poeck in 1976. who reported on a case in 1976 of a 67-yr-old male with hemianopia resulting from a cerebrovascular accident resulting in pure alexia and a color naming deficit that he suggested was due to a functional disconnection mechanism. He noted that the underlying disconnection mechanism is improved by the facilitating effect of unblocking methods (in the tactile, somesthetic, auditory, and visual systems), so that pathways other than the one impaired by the brain lesion are used. +In 1998, Fritson presented a mechanistic account of how dysfunctional integration among neuronal systems arises, based on the central role played by synaptic plasticity in shaping the connections. He hypothesized that the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is expressed at the level of modulation of associative changes in synaptic efficacy; specifically the modulation of plasticity in those brain systems responsible for emotional learning and emotional memory in the postnatal period. This modulation is mediated by ascending neurotransmitter systems that: (i) have been implicated in schizophrenia; and (ii) are known to be involved in consolidating synaptic connections during learning. The pathophysiology results in a disruption of the reinforcement of adaptive behavior consistent with the disintegrative aspects of the disorder. Kim and colleagues in 2003 further described the disconnection hypothesis in schizophrenia as the result of a prefrontal-parietal lobe functional disconnection, particularly prefrontal dissociation and abnormal prefrontal-parietal interaction during working memory processing. +The concept of functional disconnection developed still further when it was applied to the understanding of the nature of autistic spectrum disorder. Geschwind and Levitt in 2007 suggested a model of the symptoms of autism in which higher-order association areas of the brain (that normally connect to the frontal lobe) are partially disconnected during development, thereby explaining the heterogeneity of autism etiology. The autism group at Cambridge University provided evidence that the functional connectivity of medial temporal lobe structures specifically is abnormal in people with Asperger’s syndrome, at least during fearful face processing. Melillo and Leisman have similarly concluded that a functional disconnection syndrome is a basis for explaining the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_brain-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_brain-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5020ce5a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_brain-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +title: "Game brain" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_brain" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:06.779421+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Game brain (ゲーム脳, Gēmu nō) is a term coined by Akio Mori referring to human brains affected by the long-term effect of playing video games. Mori, a professor in the Humanities and Sciences division of Nihon University in Japan, originally coined the term and presented the concept in his 2002 book The Terror of Game Brain (ゲーム脳の恐怖, Gēmu Nō no Kyōfu). It has been criticized by neuroscientists as pseudoscientific. + + +== Summary == + +Mori performed an experiment at Tokyo's Nihon University designed to measure the effect of video games on human brain activity by examining beta waves, which are produced during Beta states – the states associated with normal waking consciousness. Mori claims that his study has revealed that people who spend long periods playing video games exhibit less activity in the brain's prefrontal region, which governs emotion and creativity, compared to their peers. He claims that the experiment demonstrates the existence of an "adverse effect that video games have on the human brain". Specifically, Mori asserts that side effects can include loss of concentration, an inability to control temper and problems socializing or associating with others. Additionally, if the subject persists gaming over a long period of time, Mori concluded that the alterations in the subject’s brain could eventually develop into a permanent effect. Game brain refers to these effects and the state of the brain. +His theory has gained some recognition in popular culture, especially among parents who believe that video gaming can have detrimental effects on child development. It has, in many instances, affected local policy and decision-making regarding the selling of games to minors. Often, when cases of juvenile delinquency and child misbehaviour are suspected to be a result of over-exposure to video games, Japanese media will suggest game brain as a possible explanation. Mori insisted that use of the internet was the cause of the Sasebo slashing. + + +== Criticism == +Mori's theory was criticized by established neuroscientists and brain specialists as unwarranted research because he used unreliable measures and misinterpreted the fluctuations of beta waves. One of his critics, Dennis Schutter, a neuroscientist specialising in the EEG signatures of different emotional states, has stated, "My guess is that fatigue is the most likely cause of the absence of the beta waves and not the gaming per se." +Mori's book was nominated for the Japan Outrageous Book Award (日本トンデモ本大賞, Nihon Tondemo-bon Taishō) in 2003. Ryuta Kawashima later developed the game Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! Kawashima claimed that Game Brain was "superstition". Mori's theory focused on video games, but he did not determine any particular kind. There are controversies over violent video games over the world, but his theory is limited to Japan. Professor Akira Baba of the graduate school of the University of Tokyo pointed out that even shogi player Yoshiharu Habu probably has Game Brain under his theory. +Although Mori's theory is cited as pseudoscience by many neuroscientists and political figures, it became popular with some in Japan. Nevertheless, it faced criticism, with Japanese neuroscientist Tadaharu Tsumoto stating in 2006 to disregard it. +Although the studies in Japan have seemingly ceased, there have been a multitude of studies in America that have furthered the world's understanding of what this ultra-popular activity has on the brain. With the ease of access cell phones present to the current world, Game Brain's influence is at an all time high because of their broad use. The introduction of violence in the form of games at a young age has incited a fear in parents that the children playing the games would have an immunity to violence in the future, which is a result of the popularity of violence-inclusive games in the more recent trends across the planet and is a worrying thought for parents around the world. +It has also been proven that video game addiction, particularly when the individuals are introduced at a young age, has caused dips in the social aptitude and comfort in social situations of the subjects. The prefrontal lobe of the brain, which controls creativity and emotion as aforementioned, also controls social skills, meaning that children who have a gaming addiction may not grow to be used to being in social situations as those who have more experience in those kinds of situations. This gradually becomes more of an issue as the children age. + + +== See also == +Video game controversy + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Kayama, Rika; Mori Ken (2004) Net Ōji to Kētai Hime (ネット王子とケータイ姫, lit. "Internet Prince And Mobile Phone Princess") (Chuokoron-Shinsha) ISBN 978-4-12-150155-4 +Kubota, Kisou (2006) Baka wa Naoseru (バカはなおせる, lit. "Idiot Can Be Cured") (ASCII) ISBN 978-4-7561-4705-9 +Ikeuchi, Ryō (2008) Giji Kagaku Nyūmon (疑似科学入門, lit. "Pseudoscience Approach") (Iwanami Shoten, Publishers) ISBN 978-4-00-431131-7 + + +== External links == +"Video games dulling the brain?", GameSpot, 9 July 2002 +"Video games may lower brain activity: researcher", Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, 9 July 2002 +"Computer games 'make you moody'", CBBC (BBC), 10 July 2002 +"Video games cause irritability: study", The Age, 11 July 2002 +"Video game "brain damage" claim criticised", New Scientist, 11 July 2002 +"Beta beware 'game brain'", The Japan Times, 29 September 2002 +"Ergonomic evaluation of portable videogame software Archived 2010-07-03 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)", at Digital Games Research Association \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ec3baca66 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Ganzfeld experiment" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:07.932209+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +A ganzfeld experiment (from the German words for "entire" and "field") is an assessment used by parapsychologists that they contend can test for extrasensory perception (ESP) or telepathy. In these experiments, a "sender" attempts to mentally transmit an image to a "receiver" who is in a state of sensory deprivation. The receiver is normally asked to choose between a limited number of options for what the transmission was supposed to be and parapsychologists who propose that such telepathy is possible argue that rates of success above the expectation from randomness are evidence for ESP. Consistent, independent replication of ganzfeld experiments has not been achieved, and, in spite of strenuous arguments by parapsychologists to the contrary, there is no validated evidence accepted by the wider scientific community for the existence of any parapsychological phenomena. Ongoing parapsychology research using ganzfeld experiments has been criticized by independent reviewers as having the hallmarks of pseudoscience. + +== Historical context == +The ganzfeld effect was originally introduced into experimental psychology due to the experiments of the German psychologist Wolfgang Metzger (1899–1979) who demonstrated that subjects who were presented with a homogeneous visual field would experience perceptual distortions that could rise to the level of hallucinations. In the early 1970s, Charles Honorton at the Maimonides Medical Center was trying to follow in the footsteps of psychical researchers such as Joseph Banks Rhine who had coined the term "ESP" to elevate the discourse around paranormal claims. Honorton focused on what he thought was the connection between ESP and dreams and began exposing his research subjects to the same sort of sensory deprivation that is used in demonstrations of the ganzfeld effect, hypothesizing that it was under such conditions that "psi" (a catch-all term used in parapsychology to denote anomalous psychic abilities) might work. Honorton believed that by reducing the ordinary sensory input, "psi-conductive states" would be enhanced and "psi-mediated information" could be more effectively transmitted. +Since the first full experiment was published by Honorton and Sharon Harper in the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1974, such "ganzfeld experiments" have remained a mainstay of parapsychological research. + +== Experimental procedure == +In a typical ganzfeld experiment, a "receiver" is placed in a room relaxing in a comfortable chair with halved ping-pong balls over the eyes, having a red light shone on them. The receiver also wears a set of headphones through which white or pink noise (static) is played. The receiver is in this state of mild sensory deprivation for half an hour. During this time, a "sender" observes a randomly chosen target and tries to mentally send this information to the receiver. The receiver speaks out loud during the 30 minutes, describing what they can "see". The experimenter, who knows nothing of the chosen target, records these comments either on audiotape or through written notes. +Once time expires, the receiver is taken out of the ganzfeld state and shown a set of possible targets, from which they select one which most resembles the images they witnessed. The receiver may refer to the notes/recordings made by the experimenter as needed. Most commonly there are three decoys along with the target, giving an expected rate of 25%, by chance, over several dozens of trials. +Some parapsychologists who accept the existence of psi have proposed that certain personality traits can enhance ESP performance. Such parapsychologists have argued that certain characteristics in the participants could be selected for that would increase the scores of ganzfeld experiments. Such traits have included the following: + +Positive belief in psi; ESP +Prior psi experiences +Practicing a mental discipline such as meditation +Creativity +Artistic ability +Emotional closeness with the sender +Critics have pointed out that relying on selection criteria like this can introduce bias in the experimental design, and so generally discussion of any claimed effects has typically included only studies that sample normal populations rather than selecting for "special" participants (see below). + +== Analysis of results == + +=== Early experiments === +Between 1974 and 1982, 42 ganzfeld experiments were performed by parapsychologists. In 1982, Charles Honorton presented a paper at the annual convention of the Parapsychological Association that presented his summary of the results of the ganzfeld experiments up to that date. Honorton concluded that the results represented sufficient evidence to demonstrate the existence of psi. Ray Hyman, a psychologist and noted critic of parapsychology, disagreed. Hyman criticized the ganzfeld experiment papers for not describing optimal protocols, nor including the appropriate statistical analysis. He identified three significant flaws, namely, flaws in randomization for choice of target; flaws in randomization in judging procedure; and insufficient documentation. The two men later independently analyzed the same studies, and both presented meta-analyses of them in 1985. +Hyman discovered flaws in all of the 42 ganzfeld experiments, and, to assess each experiment, he devised a set of 12 categories of flaws. Six of these concerned statistical defects, the other six "covered procedural flaws such as inadequate randomization, inadequate security, possibilities of sensory leakage, and inadequate documentation." Honorton himself had reported that only 36% of the studies used duplicate target sets of pictures to avoid handling cues. Over half of the studies failed to safeguard against sensory leakage and all of the studies contained at least one of the 12 flaws. After considerable back-and-forth over the relevance and importance of the flaws, Honorton came to agree with Hyman the 42 ganzfeld experiments he had included in his 1982 meta-analysis could not in themselves support the claim for the existence of psi. +In 1986, Hyman and Honorton published A Joint Communiqué which agreed on the methodological problems and on ways to fix them. They suggested a computer-automated control, where randomization and the other methodological problems identified were eliminated. Hyman and Honorton agreed that replication of the studies was necessary before final conclusions could be drawn. They also agreed that more stringent standards were necessary for ganzfeld experiments, and they jointly specified what those standards should be. + +=== Autoganzfeld === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e3104d64c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Ganzfeld experiment" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:07.932209+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In 1982, Honorton had started a series of "autoganzfeld experiments", that is ganzfeld experiments controlled by a computer, at his Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL). The trials continued until September 1989 and in 1990 Honorton et al. published the results of 11 autoganzfeld experiments they claimed met the standards specified by Hyman and Honorton (1986). In these experiments, 240 participants contributed 329 sessions. +Hyman analyzed these experiments and wrote they met most, but not all of the "stringent standards" of the joint communiqué. He expressed concerns with the randomization procedure, the reliability of which he was not able to confirm based on the data provided by Honorton's collaborator, Daryl Bem. Hyman further noted that although the overall hit rate of 32% (7% higher than the 25% expectation from randomness) was significant, the hit rate for static targets (pictures) was, in fact, consistent with random and therefore inconsistent with Honorton's previous claims of positive results from the ganzfeld experiments that were conducted prior to 1982. The significance of the results was due entirely to a new set of "dynamic targets" (videos) that participants were able to identify at a rate that was better than random. In the hit rates regarding these dynamic targets, however, patterns were evident that implied visual cues were leaked: + +The most suspicious pattern was the fact that the hit rate for a given target increased with the frequency of occurrence of that target in the experiment. The hit rate for the targets that occurred only once was right at the chance expectation of 25%. For targets that appeared twice the hit rate crept up to 28%. For those that occurred three times it was 38%, and for those targets that occurred six or more times, the hit rate was 52%. Each time a videotape is played its quality can degrade. It is plausible then, that when a frequently used clip is the target for a given session, it may be physically distinguishable from the other three decoy clips that are presented to the subject for judging. +Hyman wrote these studies were an improvement over their older counterparts, but were not a successful replication of the ganzfeld experiments, nor a confirmation of psi. He concluded the autoganzfeld experiments were flawed because they did not preclude the possibility of sensory leakage. +Richard Wiseman published a paper discussing a non-psi hypothesis based on possible sender to experimenter acoustic leakage in the autoganzfeld to account for the results. David Marks has written "Wiseman and his colleagues identified various different ways in which knowledge of the target could have been leaked to the experimenter. These included cues from the videocassette recorder and sounds from the sender who, of course, knew the target's identity... their conclusions provide little reassurance that sensory cueing of the experimenter was in any way substantially blocked." +Milton and Wiseman (1999) carried out a meta-analysis of ganzfeld experiments in other laboratories. They found no psi effect; the results showed no effect greater than chance from a database of 30 experiments and a non-significant Stouffer Z of 0.70. +Lance Storm and Suitbert Ertel (2001) published a meta-analysis of 79 studies published between 1974 and 1996 and concluded the positive statistically significant overall outcome indicates a psi effect. In response, Milton and Wiseman (2001) wrote the meta-analysis of Storm and Ertel was not an accurate quantitative summary of ganzfeld research as they had included early studies which had been widely recognized as having methodological problems which make it impossible to interpret the results as evidence of a psi effect. +Another meta-analysis was conducted by Daryl Bem, John Palmer, and Richard Broughton in which the experiments were sorted according to how closely they adhered to a pre-existing description of the ganzfeld procedure including some experiments that had been published in the time since Milton and Wiseman's deadline. They obtained results that were significant with a Stouffer Z of 2.59, but their detractors maintained their selection of studies for inclusion was problematic. + +=== Contemporary research === +The ganzfeld experiment has continued to be refined over the years. In its current incarnation, an automated computer system is used to select and display the targets ("digital autoganzfeld"). This has the potential to overcome some of the shortcomings of earlier experimental setups, such as randomization and experimenter blindness with respect to the targets. +In 2010, Lance Storm, Patrizio Tressoldi, and Lorenzo Di Risio analyzed 29 ganzfeld studies from 1997 to 2008. Of the 1,498 trials, 483 produced hits, corresponding to a hit rate of 32.2%. This hit rate is statistically significant with p < .001. Participants selected for personality traits and personal characteristics thought to be psi-conducive were found to perform significantly better than unselected participants in the ganzfeld condition. Hyman (2010) published a rebuttal to Storm et al. concluding that the ganzfeld studies have not been independently replicated and had thus failed to produce evidence for psi. According to Hyman, "reliance on meta-analysis as the sole basis for justifying the claim that an anomaly exists and that the evidence for it is consistent and replicable is fallacious. It distorts what scientists mean by confirmatory evidence." Storm et al. published a response to Hyman claiming the ganzfeld experimental design has proved to be consistent and reliable but parapsychology is a struggling discipline that has not received much attention so further research on the subject is necessary. Rouder et al. in 2013 wrote that critical evaluation of Storm et al.'s meta-analysis reveals no evidence for psi, no plausible mechanism, and omitted replication failures. +A 2016 paper examined questionable research practices in the ganzfeld experiments and simulated how such practices could cause erroneous positive results. + +== Criticism == + +There are several common criticisms of some or all of the ganzfeld experiments: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..45f060e36 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Ganzfeld experiment" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:07.932209+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Isolation – Richard Wiseman and others argue that not all of the studies used soundproof rooms, so it is possible that when videos were playing, the experimenter could have heard it, and later given involuntary cues to the receiver during the selection process. It could even have been possible that the receivers themselves could hear the video. +Randomization – When subjects are asked to choose from a variety of selections, there is an inherent bias to choose the first selection they are shown. If the order in which they are shown the selections is randomized each time, this bias will be averaged out. The randomization procedures used in the experiment have been criticized for not randomizing satisfactorily. +The psi assumption – The assumption that any statistical deviation from chance is evidence for telepathy is highly controversial. Strictly speaking, a deviation from chance is only evidence that either this was a rare, statistically unlikely occurrence that happened by chance, or something was causing a deviation from chance. Flaws in the experimental design are a common cause of this, and so the assumption that it must be telepathy is fallacious. +Writing in 1985, C. E. M. Hansel discovered weaknesses in the design and possibilities of sensory leakage in the ganzfeld experiments reported by Carl Sargent and other parapsychologists. Hansel concluded the ganzfeld studies had not been independently replicated and that "ESP is no nearer to being established than it was a hundred years ago." +David Marks in his book The Psychology of the Psychic (2000) has noted that during the autoganzfeld experiments the experimenter sat only fourteen feet from the sender's room. Soundproofing tiles were eventually added but they were designed to "absorb sound not to prevent transmission." According to Marks this was inadequate and no different than using any standard internal wall. The door and door frame were also a possible source of sensory leakage and none of these problems were ever eliminated. +Terence Hines wrote in 2003 that the ganzfeld studies could not be said to provide evidence for psi as the alleged evidence disappears as the tightness of experimental controls is increased. As research progresses variables in science become clearer as more studies are published that describe under what specific condition the particular effect can be demonstrated. This is in opposition to the ganzfeld studies. According to Hines, there was "no clear way to obtain results showing any psychic phenomenon reliably" and that "the most reasonable conclusion" was that the effect did not exist and had never existed. +In a 2007 review, Ray Hyman wrote that parapsychologists agree they have no positive theory of psi as it is negatively defined as any effect that cannot be currently explained in terms of chance or normal causes. Hyman saw this as a fallacy, as it encouraged parapsychologists to use any peculiarity in the data as a characteristic of psi. Hyman also wrote that parapsychologists have admitted it is impossible to eliminate the possibility of non-paranormal causes in the ganzfeld experiment. There is no independent method to indicate the presence or absence of psi. + +Until parapsychologists can provide a positive way to indicate the presence of psi, the different effect sizes that occur in experiments are just as likely to result from many different things rather than one thing called psi. Indeed given the obvious instability and elusiveness of the findings, the best guess might very well be that we are dealing with a variety of Murphy's law rather than a revolutionary anomaly called psi. +In their book 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology (2011), Scott Lilienfeld and colleagues have written that the ganzfeld being a reliable technique is far from being resolved. They concluded that ESP has not been successfully demonstrated in experiments for over 150 years so this is hardly encouraging. +In a 2013 podcast, Brian Dunning reviewed the flaws of the ganzfeld studies and came to the conclusion the technique had failed as evidence for psi and interest in ganzfeld has declined. + +== Controversy == +In 1979, Susan Blackmore visited the laboratories of Carl Sargent in Cambridge. She noticed a number of irregularities in the procedure and wrote about them for the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..02539cbe6 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +title: "Ganzfeld experiment" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:07.932209+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +It now appeared that in one session – number 9 – the following events had taken place. +Sargent did the randomization when he should not have. +A 'B' went missing from the drawer during the session, instead of afterwards. +Sargent came into the judging and "pushed" the subject towards 'B'. +An error of addition was made in favour of 'B' and 'B' was chosen. +'B' was the target and the session a direct hit. +This article, along with further criticisms of Sargent's work from Adrian Parker and Nils Wiklund remained unpublished until 1987 but all were well known in parapsychological circles. Sargent wrote a rebuttal to these criticisms (also not published until 1987) in which he did not deny what Blackmore had observed, but argued that her conclusions based on those observations were wrong and prejudiced. His co-workers also responded, saying that any deviation from protocol was the result of "random errors" rather than any concerted attempt at fraud. Carl Sargent stopped working in parapsychology after this and did not respond "in a timely fashion" when the Council of the Parapsychological Association asked for his data, and so his membership of that organization was allowed to lapse. +Writing for Skeptical Inquirer in 2018, Blackmore states that Sargent "deliberately violated his own protocols and in one trial had almost certainly cheated." Psychologists reading Daryl Bem's review in Psychological Bulletin would "not have a clue that serious doubt had been cast on more than a quarter of the studies involved". When Blackmore confronted Sargent, he told her "it wouldn't matter if some experiments were unreliable because, after all, we know that psi exists". Blackmore also recounts having a discussion with Bem at a consciousness conference where she challenged him on his support of Sargent and Honorton's research, he replied "it did not matter". Blackmore writes, "But it does matter. ... It matters because Bem's continued claims mislead a willing public into believing that there is reputable scientific evidence for ESP in the Ganzfeld when there is not". + +== See also == +List of parapsychology topics +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Noumenon +Remote viewing +Zener cards + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Further reading == +"What's the story on "ganzfeld" experiments?" Archived 2005-12-09 at the Wayback Machine. The Straight Dope, December 14, 2000. +Andrew Colman. (1995). Controversies in Psychology. Longman Pub Group. ISBN 978-0582278035 +C. E. M. Hansel. (1989). The Search for Psychic Power: ESP and Parapsychology Revisited. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0879755331 +Ray Hyman (1995). "Evaluation of Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena". The Journal of Parapsychology. Archived from the original on 2017-06-16. Retrieved 2007-01-10. +Scott O. Lilienfeld (November–December 1999). "New Analyses Raise Doubts About Replicability of ESP Findings". Skeptical Inquirer. +Neher, A. (2011). Paranormal and Transcendental Experience: A Psychological Examination. Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0486144863. +Dean Radin (1997). The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0062515025. +Gordon Stein. (1996). The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1573920216 +Victor Stenger. (1990). Physics and Psychics: The Search for a World Beyond the Senses. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0879755751 +Leonard Zusne and Warren Jones. (1989). Anomalistic Psychology: A Study of Magical Thinking. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0805805086 + +== External links == +Koestler Parapsychology Unit: Testing Psi +The Skeptic's Dictionary: "Ganzfeld" \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..596efbece --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Gasoline pill" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:09.141566+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The gasoline pill or gasoline powder is claimed to turn water into gasoline, which can be used to run a combustion engine. The gasoline pill is one of several claims of suppressed inventions that circulate as urban legends. Usually these urban legends allege a conspiracy theory that the oil industry seeks to suppress the technology that turns water to gasoline. + +== Guido Franch == +In the United States, the best known claim to have created a gasoline pill was the work of one Guido Franch, who was active from the 1950s through the 1970s. Franch called the resulting liquid Mota fuel. +Guido Franch was a blue collar worker who lived in Livingston, Illinois. His invention was a green powder that was added to water, which he claimed had actually been invented by a fictitious German scientist named Dr. Alexander Kraft. Franch took money from a number of small investors who read about his claims in the National Tattler or a similar tabloid publication. In what became a frequent motif, he claimed that the water-into-gasoline powder formula could not be disclosed for fear that the oil industry would have it suppressed. Franch, when pressed into providing samples of his transmutation powder, produced samples of green food coloring. +As a result of his activities, Franch was prosecuted several times for fraud. His first trial in 1954 resulted in his acquittal when a prosecution witness admitted that it might be possible that "mota fuel" worked. His second trial in 1979 resulted in his conviction. + +== Other water-to-gasoline "inventors" == +In 1916, Louis Enricht claimed to have a water-to-gasoline pill. Enricht was convicted of fraud in a related case, claiming to have a method for extracting gasoline from peat, and served time in Sing Sing prison. (The Fischer–Tropsch process, which can accomplish this, had not been invented yet.) In 1917, John Andrews pitched a water-to-gasoline powder to the United States Navy. Andrews disappeared after making his pitch, but it turned out that he had returned to Canada, where he was serving in the Royal Canadian Navy. +In 1996, Ramar Pillai from South India (Tamil Nadu) claimed to be able to transmute water to gasoline by a herbal formula that he claimed was the result of a miraculous bush Boswellia ovalifoliolata. Pillai obtained 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land to cultivate his bush, but in fact it turned out that he was using sleight of hand to substitute kerosene for the liquid he claimed to have derived from the bush. In October 2016 Pillai and an associate were convicted of fraud and sentenced to 3 years of rigorous imprisonment. +In 1983, Wang Hongcheng announced his Hongcheng Magic Liquid, which purportedly turned regular water into fuel with just a few drops. His announcement was widely covered by Chinese media and he was even given public funding for a company that never released a product. Years later, in 1994, the Chinese government declared that superstition and pseudoscience was rising in China and that it would start efforts to stop it. One of those efforts was to publish an article critical of Hongcheng in Science and Technology Daily, thus turning the tide of public opinion against him. Hongcheng was investigated, put on trial, and imprisoned for fraud and deceit. +Between 1992 and 2007 a businessman called Tim Johnston managed to garner over $100 million from investors, principally in Australia and New Zealand, for the promotion of a "magic pill that cut emission and made fuel last longer". Registered in the Virgin Islands, his company Firepower International finally collapsed. No assets could be retrieved and no evidence could be found of the efficacy of the much-vaunted fuel tablet. Despite the illusory nature of the product, the company had attracted high-profile promoters and investors from the Australian government, armed forces, sport and show business. + +== Chemical impossibility == +A gasoline pill is chemically impossible. Gasoline is a hydrocarbon fuel; this means it consists of a mixture of molecules made up of carbon and hydrogen (e.g. Octane C8H18). Water on the other hand consists of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O). It would be necessary to introduce 8 parts carbon for every 9 parts of water to make any conversion of the form + +18 H2O + X → 2 C8H18 + 9 O2 +work, where X is the gasoline pill. +A mole of water has a mass of 18.0146 grams, while a mole of carbon has a mass of 12.01 grams. Based on the above equation, a pill that turns a kilogram of water into gasoline would need to contain 592.60 grams of carbon. The claims discussed here do not address the source of carbon needed to make up the balance, and instead propose that just a small amount of X would suffice, which is impossible due to conservation of mass. +Also note that nuclear processes only found inside stars would be necessary to transmute hydrogen into carbon. +The simplest stoichiometry of such a "pill" would be the hydrocarbon C8H9 which, if it existed, would be a fuel in its own right. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..931ddc412 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Gasoline pill" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pill" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:09.141566+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Gasoline pills in fiction == +The storyline of the 1943 Laurel and Hardy film, Jitterbugs, revolves around a con man (Bob Bailey) selling gas pills during the fuel rationing days of WWII. +In the 1949 motion picture Free For All, Robert Cummings starred as a scientist who claimed to have invented a pill that turned water into gasoline. +The 1940s television/radio show People Are Funny performed a stunt in which an unsuspecting crowd at Hollywood and Vine were sold "Atom Pills" at a quarter apiece. A "scientist" claimed that one pill could do the work of a hundred gallons of gasoline. When the stunt was revealed, few of the dozens who had fought to buy the pills came up to get their money back. +In the television sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, Jethro Bodine claimed to have devised a water to gasoline pill that ran the Clampetts' old truck on water. +In an episode of the 1960s American sitcom The Munsters, "The Sleeping Cutie", Grandpa invents a gasoline pill. +A season three episode of the 1950s American television show, Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond, "Where Are They?", which originally aired 13 December 1960, presented a story about a man calling himself Charles Elton. Elton allegedly demonstrated to government representatives in 1917 a pill that costs 2 cents that can turn 10 gallons of water into a fuel that can power an auto engine. After his successful exhibition, Elton vanishes. +The 1977 Italian comedy movie Squadra Antitruffa (meaning "Anti-scam Squad") presents a story about a scammer repeatedly demonstrating "ionized hydrogen" pills, made in Japan, that are added to a car's fuel tank after filling it with water, which is then allegedly turned into fuel. The scammer then convinces the marks to buy a number of useless pills at 10000 lire each, until a rough-mannered cop exposes the scam and mocks the scammer saying "he fills his fuel tank with turds". +In E.L. Doctorow's historical novel Ragtime, Henry Ford must deal with a man claiming to have invented a water-to-gasoline pill; possibly a reference to Louis Enricht. +In episode 254 of The Simpsons, "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes," Homer is trapped on a mysterious island with, among others, a Number 27 who is trapped there because she knows how to turn water into gasoline. + +== See also == +Firepower International, purveyor of a fraudulent gasoline additive pill +Hongcheng Magic Liquid +Oxyhydrogen +Stanley Meyers' water fuel cell +Water-fuelled car +Water injection + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemmotherapy-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemmotherapy-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f5da87d98 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemmotherapy-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Gemmotherapy" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemmotherapy" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:10.307278+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Gemmotherapy [from Lat. gemma, bud, and New Lat. therapīa, Grk. therapeia, medical treatment] is a pseudoscientific group of remedies from embryonic tissue of various trees and shrubs, buds, emerging shoots, seeds, catkins, rootlets and sap. +This raw material is taken at the peak time of the tree or shrubs' germination. It is claimed that unknown plant hormones and enzymes are released during this process which can somehow improve health. + + +== Development and spread of gemmotherapy == +The therapeutic effects of embryonic material of plants were first investigated in the late 1950s by a Belgian homeopath, Pol Henry working with a group of French homeopaths . +Henry initially called the new type of medicine, phytoembryotherapy which was later renamed, gemmotherapy. Gemmotherapy was included in herbal therapies in France in the Pharmacopée Francaise in 1965. + + +== Lack of evidence of efficacy == +There is no evidence of therapeutic efficacy for gemmotherapy. +Although scientific knowledge about the healing effects of plants is still increasing, gemmotherapy has not yet been the subject of any "serious" scientific publication. +It has not been the subject of any randomized double-blind study, the only method recognized as reliable, nor has it been published in a recognized professional journal. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..07b20229e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ +--- +title: "Genetic sexual attraction" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_sexual_attraction" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:11.451246+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Genetic sexual attraction is a hypothesis that attraction may be a product of genetic similarities. While there is scientific evidence for the position, some commentators regard the hypothesis as pseudoscience. The term is also used for a phenomenon in which biologically related persons separated at a young age develop intense feelings—including sexual attraction—upon the restoration of contact. + + +== Background == +The term was popularized in the United States in the late 1980s by Barbara Gonyo, the founder of Truth Seekers in Adoption, a Chicago-based support group for adoptees and their new-found relatives. Gonyo first heard the term used during an American Adoption Congress conference in the early 1980s. She developed sexual feelings for her son when she met him after he was adopted away, but he did not want to be part of any such contact. +Psychologists theorize that the reported phenomenon of attraction to biological relatives separated at a young age occurs because the separation forecloses the Westermarck effect, which normally desensitizes biologically related persons to later sexual attraction. Another suggested explanation for the phenomenon is possible narcissistic feelings. +Reported frequently in the field of psychology, there are some studies showing that people are sexually attracted to those genetically similar to them. Studies of MHC genes show that people are attracted to those genetically different to them. In mice, this inhibition of attraction between genetically related individuals has been shown to be removed in fostered animals as mice use their close kin, not their own, as a reference of what MHC marker to avoid when mating. +Catherine MacAskill, an adoption and child sexual abuse expert, has suggested that "genetic sexual attraction" cases seem to be associated with sudden unplanned meetings which lack the proper safeguards of a thoroughly prepared reunion. +This has led to close blood relatives, who share strong bonds, occasionally being mistaken by observers for being in a romantic relationship. In one such instance, Singaporean actress Cassandra See and her 25-year-old son were mistaken for a couple while walking to a supermarket in Hong Kong during a period when he was attempting to grow a mustache. The incident was discussed by See and her son on the YouTube talk show DNA hosted by Rebecca Lim, where they attributed such assumptions partly to their status as public figures. + + +== Criticism == +Critics of the hypothesis have called it pseudoscience. In a Salon piece, Amanda Marcotte called the concept "half-baked pseudoscientific nonsense that people dreamed up to justify continuing unhealthy, abusive relationships". The use of "GSA" as an initialism has also been criticized, since it gives the notion that the phenomenon is an actual diagnosable "condition". +Many have noted the lack of research on the subject. While acknowledging the "phenomenon of genetic sexual attraction", Eric Anderson, a sociologist and sexologist, noted in a 2012 book that "[t]here is only one academic research article" on the subject, and he critiqued the paper for using "Freudian psycho-babble". + + +== See also == +Assortative mating, preferential mating between individuals with similar characteristics + + +== References == +Notes + +Bibliography + +Further reading + +Hughes, Elizabeth (2017). Adopted Women and Biological Fathers: Reimagining stories of origin and trauma. Women and Psychology. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781315536361. +Vaknin, Sam (2014). A to Z of Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder Encyclopedia: The Narcissism Bible. Narcissus Publishing. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geobiology_(pseudoscience)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geobiology_(pseudoscience)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5a0a567f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geobiology_(pseudoscience)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: "Geobiology (pseudoscience)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geobiology_(pseudoscience)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:12.575410+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Geobiology is a field which studies the effects of the Earth's radiation, such as telluric currents and other electromagnetic fields, on biological life. The term is derived from Ancient Greek gē (ge) meaning 'earth' and βίος; (bios) meaning 'life'. Its findings have not been scientifically proven; thus, it is considered a form of pseudoscience. + + +== Claims == +Within geobiology, distinct patterns of Earth radiation, mainly Hartmann lines (named after Ernst Hartmann) and Curry lines (after Manfred Curry; also called Wittmann lines after Siegfried Wittmann) are posited on occasion to have a negative effect on health and even the viability of biological life. Other similar patterns, named after practitioners of geobiology, include Peyré lines (after Francois Peyré), Romani waves (after Lucien Romani), and the Benker cube (after Anton Benker). +It is also claimed that groundwater may create radiation caused by the friction of water against mineral deposits, as well as geological faults, due to a claimed difference in the electric charge of the masses on each side of the fault generating radiation. These are claimed by practitioners to have harmful effects in a phenomenon collectively called geopathic stress. A practitioner of geobiology may also seek out radiation derived from human infrastructure, such as those from overhead and underground power lines and telecommunication infrastructure. + + +== Techniques == +Practitioners of geobiology will typically use a dowsing rod, pendulum or their hands to ascertain the location of radiation, and then use this information to make an assessment on its effect on a residential dwelling or workplace and upon localised natural life. Practitioners may also claim be to able to locate and model a building on a basis similar to the theories of Feng shui, Vastu Shastra, or use of Sacred geometry. + + +== Scientific reception == +No solid scientific foundation for these phenomena has been made. A task group of the World Health Organization investigating the effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electric and magnetic fields on the health of the general public found "no substantive health issues related to ELF electric fields at levels generally encountered by members of the public". The results of techniques used by practitioners of geobiology, such as dowsing or other forms of radiesthesia, have been attributed to the ideomotor phenomenon. + + +== See also == +List of topics characterised as pseudoscience + + +== References == + + +== Further reading == +Ernst Hartmann, Krankheit als Standortproblem (Sickness as a Location Problem), 1964; modern edition ISBN 978-37-7600-653-7 +Georges Lakhovsky, La Terre et Nous (The Earth and Us) 1933; modern edition ISBN 978-29-5429-444-5 +Francois Peyré, Radiations cosmotellurique (Cosmotelluric Radiation), 1947; modern edition ISBN 979-10-9349-201-8 +Georges Prat, Atlas de la Géobiologie, 2011 ISBN 978-29-0658-858-5 +James Lovelock, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, 1982 modern edition ISBN 978-01-9286-218-1 +Anne-Marie Delmotte, The Lecher Antenna Adventures and Research in Geobiology and Bio-Energy, 2019 ISBN 978-90-8280-267-2 +Manfred Curry, BIOKLIMATIK. Die Steuerung des gesunden und kranken Organismus durch die Atmosphäre, (Bioclimate; the management of the healthy and sick organism via the atmosphere) 1946 +Blanche Merz, Hauts-lieux Cosmo-telluriques : leurs énergies subtiles méconnues (Cosmo-telluric Hotspots: their unknown subtle energies), 1997; ISBN 978-28-2570-395-3 +Michèle Burdet, Stumbling Down the Shamanic Path: Mystic Adventures and Misadventures, 2010 ISBN 978-14-4015-206-1 + + +== External links == +Startseite (Geobiology followers of Dr Hartmann) +VRGS – Verband für Radiästhesie und Geobiologie Schweiz (Swiss Geobiology and Radiesthesia organisation) +Asociación de Estudios Geobiológicos (Spanish Geobiology organisation) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cce804f2a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: "Geocentric creationism" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:13.815441+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Geocentric creationism is a religious belief held by a small subgroup of radical Young Earth Creationists who, in addition to asserting that the Earth was created between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, also endorse the outdated geocentric model, which claims that Earth is stationary at the center of the universe. Advocates of Geocentric creationism believe that God placed the Earth at the center of the Universe to symbolize the uniqueness and centrality of humanity. This view is in direct contradiction to established scientific consensus on the movement of the Earth, biology and the age of the Earth and is thus classified as pseudoscientific. It is primarily followed by small segments of Protestant and Catholic fundamentalists alongside a few Orthodox Jews and Salafi Muslims, but is fringe within even the Creationist movement itself, who often try to distance themselves from geocentrism. +Geocentrism differs from modern flat Earth beliefs as they nevertheless affirm the scientific fact of the Earth's spherical shape, however despite being largely insignificant, the view has had a somewhat greater influence within the anti-evolutionist movement than those who believe in a flat Earth. However, like flat Earthers, geocentrists also reject much of modern physics, astronomy, and biology. +Geocentrism is rejected by the vast majority of Christians today, instead understanding the text of scripture to use phenomenological language that they believe was misunderstood to imply geocentrism in the medieval age. + +== Background and history == + +=== Historical background === +The geocentric view of cosmology—especially the Ptolemaic model influenced by Greek thought—remained the dominant framework until the Copernican Revolution of the 16th century. During which multiple Christian theologians such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Philip Melancthon and the Catholic Robert Bellarmine rejected the implications of heliocentrism due to their understanding of the Bible. + +Such individuals like Luther often were strong in their critiques of the Heliocentric model, and Luther is famously recorded as saying that Copernicus was a "fool who turned the whole science of astronomy upside down," reflecting his view that the new model contradicted Scripture and centuries of accepted truth. + +Resistance to heliocentrism continued beyond theological objections. The Protestant Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, also rejected the Copernican system. However, Brahe attempted to find scientific explanations for Geocentrism. Aware of the observational advantages of Copernicus's model of the Universe, particularly in explaining planetary motion—Brahe developed a compromised system that attempted to preserve the Geocentric model while attempting to explain the observations of planetary movement. In his model, the Sun and Moon revolved around the Earth, which remained stationary at the center of the universe, while the other planets orbited the Sun. This system was also adopted by many Jesuit astronomers of the 16th and 17th centuries. However, Tycho's successor and a fellow Protestant Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630) did not follow Tycho's compromised theory, but instead defended the heliocentric view that all the planets orbit the Sun. Nevertheless, according to the Reformed professor R. Scott Clark, some Reformed theologians such as Wilhelmius A Brakel resisted heliocentrism even until the 18th century. + +==== Eastern Christianity ==== +The "Galileo affair" happened in Western Christianity, for which Pope John Paul II later issued a verdict that admitted the condemnation of Galileo to have been an error. However, some Eastern Orthodox writers were also affected. Like in the West, many Eastern Christians had taught geocentrism, although they did not accept the Ptolemaic model of Geocentrism, but rather the system of Cosmas Indicopleustes. The first contacts with Russian Orthodoxy to Copernicus' heliocentrism came around the 17th century through a cosmological book which noted both models of Cosmology. For some time the hybrid model of Tycho Brahe was propagated as a better solution to the debates surrounding Geocentrism, although neither the Russian and Greek Orthodox ever condemned the Heliocentric, as they did not believe different cosmological theories to be dangerous. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..951c5687b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,26 @@ +--- +title: "Geocentric creationism" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:13.815441+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Modern geocentric creationist movement === +Modern Christians generally reject the geocentric model, and the strict understanding of the verses used to defend it in the medieval age. However, despite scientific advances, even today few still try to cling unto the Geocentric model of the past. This has been influenced by the Dutch-Canadian named Walter van der Kamp founded the Tychonic Society around the 1970s, which promoted the geocentric view that Copernicus was mistaken and that the Earth remains stationary at the center of the universe. One of the most prominent geocentric creationists of the 20th century is the Protestant Gerardus Bouw, director of the Association for Biblical Astronomy and author of several books defending geocentrism. And although unlike other Geocentrist advocates, Bouw had a PhD in astronomy, his views are not taken seriously by the scientific community. +The popular Islamic British Salafi-scholar Abu Iyaad is a staunch modern supporter of Geocentrism. He has published many articles speaking about and defending Geocentrism from a salafi-islamic perspective. He speaks about how the Quran and the hadiths explicitly imply a stationary, unmoving spherical earth. And that mainstream Astronomy is either wrong or completely lying about the existence of the solar system. He claims that institutes like NASA are using space as a way to deceive the public into believing ideas like evolution. He goes as far to say that calling earth a "planet" is a misguidance, and modern Astronomy should not be considered "real" science. He has worked with people like Abu Khadijah and the creator of aboutatheism.net to write articles critiquing NASA, heliocentrism, and Darwinian evolution. +Articles arguing that geocentrism was the biblical perspective appeared in some early creation science newsletters associated with the Creation Research Society pointing to some passages in the Bible which they interpreted as indicating a stationary earth, and the view was also defended in 1991 by Marshall Hall, although his book was received extremely badly by Young Earth Creationist organizations. Such religious beliefs have also been held by the traditionalist Catholic Robert Sungenis, co-author of the self-published Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right (2006). Robert Sungenis attributed his acceptance of the geocentric model to the influence of creationist Gerardus Bouw around 2002. His work is frequently marked by criticism of mainstream scientific theories. One of his most know projects was the 2014 film The Principle, in which he featured interviews with scientists such as Lawrence Krauss. However, these scientists later stated they were unaware that the film was intended to promote geocentrism and publicly disavowed its message. Another known traditionalist Catholic known to have taken Geocentrist stances includes Solange Hertz. Alongside small segments of Christian Fundamentalism, there has also been a movement towards Geocentrism within some anti-evolutionary Orthodox Jewish groups, which is often motivated by the statements of the influential Rabbi Maimonides (1138–1204), who argued that the Earth is stationary. +The two largest modern geocentric creationist organizations include The Biblical Astronomer and Catholic Apologetics International. And there have been some signs of growth for geocentrism within creationism. + +=== Creationist reaction === +Both mainstream creationists and geocentrists agree that while the Bible is the only completely reliable source of information about knowledge on the natural world, they strongly differ on their understanding of scripture. Although some creationists such as Kent Hovind initially had a neutral opinion of geocentrism, the majority of the creationist movement have strongly rejected geocentrism, including the major organizations such as Answers in Genesis, Institute for Creation Research and Creation Ministries International, these organizations avoid association with Geocentric movements, as they believe these movements to be harmful to Christianity. + +=== Impact === +According to a report released in 2014 by the National Science Foundation, 26% of Americans surveyed believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Morris Berman quotes a 2006 survey that show currently some 20% of the U.S. population believe that the Sun goes around the Earth (geocentricism) rather than the Earth goes around the Sun (heliocentricism), while a further 9% claimed not to know. According to 2011 VTSIOM poll, 32% of Russians believe that the Sun orbits the Earth. However, these numbers may be influenced by scientific ignorance. + +== Characteristics and beliefs == + +The Modern Geocentrist movement form a radical movement within Creationism, arguing that their perceived "scientific assault" on the religion did not begin with Evolution, but with Heliocentrism. This view was explicitly held by Gerardus Bouw, who argued that the Copernican Revolution set the stage for the development of Biblical Criticism, and attacked the doctrine of Biblical literalism. He argued that the anthropocentric view of creation logically leads to a geocentric view of the Cosmos. +These proponents advocate for adopting the Tychonic system, which gets its name from the 16th-century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, which places the Earth at the center of the universe while allowing the planets to orbit the Sun. This model serves as a deliberate compromise between the strict geocentrism of the Ptolemaic system and the heliocentrism of Copernicus. At the heart of the modern Geocentric view is that the Earth and his creatures are special to God, and the status of the Earth at the center of the universe symbolizes this belief. They also believe that passages such as Joshua 10:12-13 in which God stops the sun over the valley of Ajalon are evidences of the earth being at the center of the solar system. Geocentrism has relied upon multiple verses in the Bible which seem to talk about the Earth not being moved, such as Psalm 93:1. However, due the shift from the strict interpretation of such passages, even the majority of creationists reject the strict geocentric interpretations of such passages, and instead view them phenomelogically. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..65b5179dc --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,24 @@ +--- +title: "Geocentric creationism" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocentric_creationism" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:13.815441+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Theological presuppositions === +Geocentric creationism is based on a rejection of the mainstream scientific method in favour of supernatural explanations of the Universe, arguing that God created everything that exists within 6 days around 6000 years ago and created the Universe with the Earth at its very center. People such as Gerardus Bouw have argued that observation must be interpreted in harmony with the text of scripture, which he believed to be teaching a Geocentric model and that it needs to be the starting point in scientific inquiry. However, contrary to the views of Kepler and Galileo who although being Christians, believed that the scripture never speak of the inner workings of the solar system. Bouw criticized modern Christians, including the majority of Christian fundamentalists who agree with the claim that Bible does not speak on cosmological models. Instead, he favoured supernatural explanations of the movement of the universe and the solar system that he believed to better reflect his geocentric understanding of scripture, including claims such as the existence of aether, which he identified as the "firmanent" of Genesis 1. Due to this, he ended up modifying the cosmology of Tycho Brahe's model further by adjusting the stars also to be centered on the Sun rather than the Earth to explain the aberration of starlight. This way, he believed that his modified geocentric model would be observationally equivalent to heliocentrism, concluding that one needed theological rather than purely scientific reasoning to establish the correct position. + +== Criticism == + +=== Theological criticism === +Modern Young Earth creationists who reject Geocentrism have argued that the debate over Geocentrism and Heliocentrism in the 16th century arose not from a proper understanding of the Bible, but from the influence of Greek philosophy, critiquing the usage of verses from poetic books such as the Psalms to build a cosmological doctrine, rather arguing that such passages employ phenomenological language, not what happens literally in nature. Thus, they believe that while every claim of the Bible about the natural world is true, it should not be viewed as teaching geocentrism, as it only describes the rising of the Sun from our perspective as how it appears. Additionally, creationist critics have argued that the physical location of the Earth has no bearing on the theological idea that God's center of focus is the Earth. +From a Roman Catholic perspective, more mainstream Catholics have criticized those more radical traditional Catholics such as Sungenis and Solange Hertz for assuming that the Church ever made definitive statements in defense of geocentrism, additionally arguing that the early Christian theologians who held to a Geocentric view of the universe did not teach it as doctrine or as a part of the faith but merely assumed it as a part of the science of their day, additionally criticizing modern geocentrists for using passages mainly from books like the Psalms, which are written in poetic style. +Old Earth Creationists, including R. Scott Clark, contend that the Scriptures are written by God in a way that accommodates human understanding, meaning that Scripture should not be read like a scientific textbook. In this perspective, the Bible communicates to us in terms people of the time could understand, rather than providing a detailed scientific account of the Universe and the natural world. + +=== Scientific criticms === +Geocentric creationism stands in contradiction to modern physics, particularly in its mechanics of motion: the model requires the entire universe, including distant stars and galaxies, to revolve around a stationary Earth—implying speeds far exceeding that of light. That the Earth orbits the Sun have long been established by scientific consensus, despite being rejected by geocentrists. This thus places Geocentrism into the category of pseudoscience. + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopathology-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopathology-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9ba8c0f39 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopathology-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,66 @@ +--- +title: "Geopathology" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geopathology" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:15.007476+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Geopathology (also Geopathy) is a pseudoscientific theory that links the Earth's inherent radiation with the health of humans, animals and plants. +The term is derived from Greek γεω- (geō-), combining form of γῆ (gê, “earth”) +and πάθος (páthos, “suffering”) - ie pathology, widely used to describe infirmities. +The term is more widely used in the adjectival form ie 'geopathic' (sometimes 'geopathological') and often linked to 'stress', creating the terms 'geopathic stress' and 'geostress'. +Gustav Freiherr von Pohl has been described as the modern 'father' of geopathic stress. von Pohl conducted a study in the Bavarian town of Vilsbiburg in 1929 which purported to link focus points of 'earth-radiation' (ger. Erdstrahlen) with incidence of cancer. +Ley lines (a supposition introduced by Alfred Watkins in 1925) have also been suggested to create geopathic stress. + + +== Geopathic stress (GS) == +It is suggested that the Earth has a natural vibration, but features like underground watercourses, drainage pipes, underground tunnels and even simple geological faults distort this vibration. Such distorted vibrations are held to rise upwards through the Earth's surface and create a pernicious effect on the health and/or behaviour of all biological life. The distortions are amplified during night hours and consequently the impact is greater if the focal point of the adverse radiation is a bedroom, also noting that the subject, during the time of sleep, will be continually located in the path of such radiation. + + +== Published academic papers and research == +Gerhard W. HACKER; Annabell EDER; Christoph AUGNER; Gernot PAUSER. "Geopathic Stress Zones and Their Influence on the Human Organism" (PDF). www.med-grenzfragen.at. +Hacker, Gerhard W.; Pawlak, Elisabeth; Pauser, Gernot; Tichy, Gottfried; Jell, Hermann; Posch, Gabriele; Kraibacher, Günther; Aigner, Alfred; Hutter, Jörg (2005). "Biomedical Evidence of Influence of Geopathic Zones on the Human Body: Scientifically Traceable Effects and Ways of Harmonization". Complementary Medicine Research. 12 (6): 315–327. doi:10.1159/000088624. PMID 16391480. S2CID 10301463. +Augner, Christoph; Hacker, Gerhard W.; Jekel, Ilse (June 2010). "Geopathic Stress Zones: Short-Term Effects on Work Performance and Well-Being?". The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 16 (6): 657–661. doi:10.1089/acm.2009.0499. PMID 20569033. +S. D. AGHAV, P. S. TAMBADE (2015). "Investigating effects of Geopathic Stress on Health Parameters in Young Healthy Volunteers" (PDF). International Journal of Chemical and Physical Sciences (2319–6602). + + +== External links == +Geopathic stress: just for the gullible? www.irishexaminer.com +Bad vibrations: whats the evidence for geopathic stress? www.theguardian.com + + +== Further reading == +Rolf Gordon Are You Sleeping In A Safe Place?, 1989 ISBN 9780951401705 +Paul Craddock, Geopathic Stress & Electropolution: How to Protect Your Health & Home, 2016 ISBN 9781523937363 +Ulrike Banis, Geopathic Stress - and what you can do about it, 2003 ISBN 9783934672062 +Robert Egby, The Silent Killer Below: Hunting and Healing Geopathic Stress, 2018 ISBN 9780984866489 +Judy Hall, Crystal Prescriptions volume 3: Crystal solutions to electromagnetic pollution and geopathic stress. An A-Z guide, 2014 ISBN 9781782797913 +Louise Weidel GEOPATHIC ZONES : Earth Energy Lines & Electosmog Force Fields & Trees, 2002 ISBN 9780007123018 +Barry Smith, NOWHERE TO HIDE: Electromagnetic radiation, 2020 ISBN 9798604245989 +David Cowan and Rodney Girdlestone, Safe as Houses?: Ill Health and Electro-stress in the Home, 1996 ISBN 9781858600376 +Glen Swartwout, Electromagnetic Pollution Solutions, 2012 ISBN 978-1494270285 +Freiherr von Pohl, Gustav (1988). Earth Currents: Causative Factor of Cancer and Other Diseases. Frech Verlag. ISBN 978-3772494024. +Gregory A Storozuk, Geopathic zones and the iron stake method, 1992 +Kaethe Bachler, John M. Living (2007). Earth Radiation. Holistic Intuition Society. ISBN 9780968632352. +Thurnell-Read, Jane (2006). Geopathic Stress & Subtle Energy. Life-Work Potential. ISBN 9780954243944. +Blanche Merz Die Seele des Ortes. Deren Wirkkraft auf unsere vier Körper (eng. The soul of the place. Effect on our four bodies). Herold, München 1988, ISBN 3-921485-05-3 +Later edition: Die Seele des Ortes. Metaphysische Energien und ihre Wirkkraft (eng. The soul of the place. Metaphysical Energy and its Effect). AT, Aarau 2000, ISBN 3-85502-668-8 +Ernst Hartmann, Geopathie (eng. Geopathy), Haug Verlag, Ulm/Donau, 1954. +Ernst Hartmann, Krankheit als Standortproblem (eng. Illness as a Location Problem), Volume 1, Haug Verlag, Heidelberg, (1. Auflage 1964), 5. Auflage 1986, ISBN 9783776006537 +Ernst Hartmann, Krankheit als Standortproblem (eng. Illness as a Location Problem), Volume 2, Haug Verlag, Heidelberg, 1986, ISBN 9783776009118 +Gustav Freiherr von Pohl, Erdstrahlen als Krankheits - und Krebserreger, (eng. Earth Currents as Pathogens of Illness and Development of Cancer), 1932; modern edition ISBN 978377244416-6 +Hubert Palm, Das gesunde Haus: Unser naher Umweltschutz, (eng. The healthy house; our closest environmental protection) 1975; 1992 edition ISBN 9783876670317 + + +== See also == +Dowsing +Electromagnetic radiation and health +Geobiology (pseudoscience) +Radiesthesia +List of topics characterised as pseudoscience + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_denialism-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_denialism-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..76d09a209 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_denialism-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Germ theory denialism" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_denialism" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:16.154342+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Germ theory denialism is the pseudoscientific belief that germs are not the main cause of infectious disease, and that the germ theory of disease does not take into account internal and external factors such as those described in traditional Chinese medicine. It usually involves arguing that Louis Pasteur's model of infectious disease is illogical, and that Antoine Béchamp's theory of disease has more logical merit. In fact, its origins are rooted in Béchamp's theory of pleomorphism. One main, yet discarded, variation is known as terrain theory which postulates that germs morphologically change in response to environmental factors, subsequently causing disease, rather than germs being the sole cause of it. + + +== History == +Germ theory denialism is as old as germ theory itself, beginning with the rivalry of Pasteur and Béchamp. Pasteur's work in preventing beverage contamination led him to discover that it was due to microorganisms and led him to become the first scientist to prove the validity of the theory and to popularize it in Europe. Before him, scientists such as Girolamo Fracastoro (who had the idea that fomites could harbor the seeds of contagion), Agostino Bassi (who discovered that the muscardine disease of silkworms was caused by a fungus that was named Beauveria bassiana), Friedrich Henle (who developed the concepts of contagium vivum and contagium animatum), and others had proposed ideas similar to germ theory. +Béchamp strongly contested Pasteur's view, proposing a competing idea known as the pleomorphic theory of disease. This theory says that all life is based on forms that a certain class of organisms take during stages of their life cycles and that germs are attracted to the environment of diseased tissue rather than being the cause of it. Proponents of this idea insist that microbes that live in an organism go through the same stages of their development. According to Günther Enderlein, the stages are as follows: + +colloid – microbe (primitive phase) +bacteria (middle phase) +fungus (end phase) +Related to this is the disproven premise that viruses are the result of bodily damage caused by unwholesome habits or lifestyle. +Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science church, was another prominent germ theory denialist. When asked in an interview by the New York Herald whether she "reject[ed] utterly the bacteria theory of the propagation of disease", she replied, "Entirely," adding, "If I harbored that idea about a disease, I should think myself in danger of catching it." Christian Scientists deny the material reality of disease and rely solely on prayer for healing. + + +=== Terrain theory === +The terrain theory is a variation of Béchamp's ideas that is also an obsolete medical theory that held that diseases were caused by the composition of the body. The "terrain" will attract germs to come as scavengers of the weakened or poorly defended tissue. Béchamp believed that the pH of the body is important, and that an acidic pH will attract germs and an alkaline pH will repel them. Pasteur disproved spontaneous generation with a series of experiments in the 1870s. +While understanding the causes of sickness does not always immediately lead to effective treatment, the great decline in mortality during the 19th century stemmed from preventing the transmission of pathogens through improvements in hygiene and sanitation. In fact, one of the first movements to deny the germ theory, the Sanitary Movement, was nevertheless central in developing America's public health infrastructure. Providing clean water and sanitation reduced the environment for pathogens to develop, and mortality rates fell dramatically. + + +== Status == +Germ theory denialism is counter to over a century of experiments and practical observations, and the prevailing opinion of almost all doctors and scientists. +A common thread among many alternative medicine proponents is opposition to vaccines, and some use their disbelief in germ theory to justify their claims. Germ theory deniers make many claims about the biological underpinnings of the theory and the historical record that are at odds with what most modern scientists and historians accept. Another claim from the anti-vaccine community involves the theory that all diseases are caused by toxins due to inadequate diet and health practices. + + +== See also == +Vaccine hesitancy +HIV/AIDS denialism +COVID-19 misinformation +Category:Germ theory denialists +Hygiene hypothesis +Pleomorphism (microbiology) + + +== References == + + +== External links == +"RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-04-30. +The Blood and Its Third Element – English translation of Antoine Béchamp’s work (A Distant Mirror) +A Distant Mirror – publisher homepage \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f30902ed1 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 1/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are purportedly haunted by ghosts. The practice has been heavily criticized for its dismissal of the scientific method. No scientific study has confirmed the existence of ghosts. Ghost hunting is considered a pseudoscience by the vast majority of educators, academics, science writers and skeptics. Science historian Brian Regal described ghost hunting as "an unorganized exercise in futility". +Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect "evidence" supporting the existence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters also refer to themselves as paranormal investigators. Ghost hunters use a variety of electronic devices, including EMF meters, digital thermometers, both handheld and static digital video cameras, including thermographic and night vision cameras, night vision goggles, and digital audio recorders. Other more traditional techniques are also used, such as conducting interviews and researching the history of allegedly haunted sites. Dowsing and Ouija boards are other traditional techniques. + +== History == + +Paranormal research dates back to the nineteenth century, with organizations such as the Society for Psychical Research investigating spiritual matters. Psychic researcher Harry Price published his Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter in 1936. +Ghost hunting was popularized in the 2000s by television series such as Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters, combined with the increasing availability of high-tech equipment. The Atlantic Paranormal Society reported a doubling in their membership in the late 2000s, attributing this to the television programs. Despite its lack of acceptance in academic circles, the popularity of ghost-hunting reality TV shows has influenced a number of individuals to take up the pursuit. +Small businesses offering ghost-hunting equipment and paranormal investigation services increased in the early 2000s. Many offer electromagnetic field (EMF) meters, infrared motion sensors and devices billed as "ghost detectors". The paranormal boom is such that some small ghost-hunting related businesses are enjoying increased profits through podcast and website advertising, books, DVDs, videos and other commercial enterprises. +One ghost-hunting group called "A Midwest Haunting" based in Macomb, Illinois, reported that the number of people taking its tours had tripled, jumping from about 600 in 2006 to 1,800 in 2008. Others, such as Marie Cuff of "Idaho Spirit Seekers" pointed to increased traffic on their websites and message boards as an indication that ghost hunting was becoming more accepted. Participants report that ghost hunting allows them to enjoy the friendship of like-minded people and actively pursue their interest in the paranormal. According to Jim Willis of "Ghosts of Ohio", his group's membership had doubled, growing to 30 members since it was founded in 1999 and includes both true believers and total skeptics. Willis says his group is "looking for answers, one way or another" and that skepticism is a prerequisite for those who desire to be "taken seriously in this field." +Author John Potts says that the present day pursuit of "amateur ghost hunting" can be traced back to the spiritualist era and early organizations founded to investigate paranormal phenomena, like London's The Ghost Club and the Society for Psychical Research, but that modern investigations are unrelated to academic parapsychology. Potts writes that modern ghost hunting groups ignore the scientific method, instead following a form of "techno-mysticism". +The popularity of ghost hunting has led to some injuries. Unaware that a "spooky home" in Worthington, Ohio, was occupied, a group of teenagers stepped on the edge of the property to explore. The homeowner fired on the teenagers' automobile as they were leaving, seriously injuring one. A woman hunting for ghosts was killed in a fall from a University of Toronto building. +An offshoot of ghost hunting is the commercial ghost tour conducted by a local guide or tour operator who is often a member of a local ghost-hunting or paranormal investigation group. Since both the tour operators and owners of the reportedly haunted properties share profits of such enterprises (admissions vary depending on the location, length and other aspects of the tour), some believe the claims of hauntings are exaggerated or fabricated in order to increase attendance. The city of Savannah, Georgia, is said to be the American city with the most ghost tours, having more than 31 as of 2003. + +== Notable paranormal investigators == + +=== Harry Price === + +Harry Price (1881–1948) was a British parapsychologist, psychic researcher and author who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and his exposing of fraudulent spiritualist mediums. He is best known for his well-publicized investigation of the purportedly haunted Borley Rectory in Essex, England. Price's exploits were given wide exposure in a 1950 book, Harry Price: Biography of a Ghost Hunter by Paul Tabori. He was also a longstanding member of the Ghost Club based in London. +Price joined the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1920, and used his knowledge of stage magic to debunk fraudulent mediums. In 1922, he exposed the "spirit" photographer William Hope. In the same year he traveled to Germany with Eric Dingwall and investigated Willi Schneider at the home of Baron Albert von Schrenck-Notzing in Munich. In 1923, Price exposed the medium Jan Guzyk. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f07463f9a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,17 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 2/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Price wrote that the photographs depicting the ectoplasm of the medium Eva Carrière taken with Schrenck-Notzing looked artificial and two-dimensional, made from cardboard and newspaper portraits and that there were no scientific controls as both her hands were free. In 1920 Carrière was investigated by psychical researchers in London. An analysis of her ectoplasm revealed it to be made of chewed paper. She was also investigated in 1922 and the result of the tests were negative. In 1925, Price investigated Maria Silbert and caught her using her feet and toes to move objects in the séance room. He also investigated the "direct voice" mediumship of George Valiantine in London. In the séance Valiantine claimed to have contacted the "spirit" of the composer Luigi Arditi, speaking in Italian. Price wrote down every word that was attributed to Arditi and they were found to be word-for-word matches in an Italian phrase-book. +In 1926, Price formed the National Laboratory of Psychical Research as a rival to the SPR. Price made a formal offer to the University of London to equip and endow a Department of Psychical Research, and to loan the equipment of the National Laboratory and its library. In 1936, he transferred his equipment to the University of London Board of Studies in Psychology. +Price had a number of public disputes with the SPR, most notably regarding professed medium Rudi Schneider. Price exposed Frederick Tansley Munnings, who claimed to produce the independent "spirit" voices of Julius Caesar, Dan Leno, Hawley Harvey Crippen and King Henry VIII. Price also invented and used a piece of apparatus known as a "voice control recorder" and proved that all the voices were those of Munnings. In 1928, Munnings admitted fraud and sold his confessions to a Sunday newspaper. +In 1933, Frank Decker was investigated by Price at the National Laboratory of Psychical Research. Under strict scientific controls that Price contrived, Decker failed to produce any phenomena at all. Price's psychical research continued with investigations into Karachi's Indian rope trick and the fire-walking abilities of Kuda Bux. In 1936, Price broadcast from a supposedly haunted manor house in Meopham, Kent for the BBC and published The Confessions of a Ghost-Hunter and The Haunting of Cashen's Gap. This year also saw the transfer of Price's library on permanent loan to the University of London (see external links), followed shortly by the laboratory and investigative equipment. In 1937, he conducted further televised experiments into fire-walking with Ahmed Hussain at Carshalton and Alexandra Palace, and also rented Borley Rectory for one year. The following year, Price re-established the Ghost Club, with himself as chairman, modernizing it and changing it from a spiritualist association to a group of more or less open-minded skeptics that gathered to discuss paranormal topics. He was also the first to admit women to the club. Price drafted a bill for the regulation of psychic practitioners, and in 1939, he organized a national telepathic test in the periodical John O'London's Weekly. During the 1940s, Price concentrated on writing and the works The Most Haunted House in England, Poltergeist Over England and The End of Borley Rectory were all published. +Price's friends included other debunkers of fraudulent mediums such as Harry Houdini and the journalist Ernest Palmer. + +=== Ed and Lorraine Warren === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..55f4ee48f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 3/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Edward Warren Miney (1926–2006) and Lorraine Rita Warren (née Moran, 1927–2019) were American paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent reports of haunting from the 1950s to the present. Edward was a World War II United States Navy veteran who became a self-taught and self-professed demonologist, author, and lecturer. Lorraine professed to be clairvoyant and a light trance medium who worked closely with her husband. In 1952, the Warrens founded the New England Society for Psychic Research, considered by some the oldest ghost hunting group in New England, and allegedly the United States. They authored numerous books about the paranormal and about their private investigations into various reports of paranormal activity. They claimed to have investigated over 1,000 cases during their career, and have been involved with various supernatural claims such as the Snedeker family haunting, the Enfield Poltergeist and the Smurl haunting, as well as claims of demonic possession in the Trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson. +The Warrens are best known for their involvement in the 1976 Amityville Horror case in which New York couple George and Kathy Lutz claimed that their house was haunted by a violent, demonic presence so intense that it eventually drove them out of their home. The Amityville Horror Conspiracy authors Stephen and Roxanne Kaplan characterized the case as a "hoax". Lorraine Warren told a reporter for The Express-Times newspaper that the Amityville Horror was not a hoax. The reported haunting was the basis for the 1977 book The Amityville Horror, which was adapted into the 1979 and 2005 movies of the same name, while also serving as inspiration for the film series that followed. The Warrens' version of events is partially adapted and portrayed in the opening sequence of The Conjuring 2 (2016). According to Benjamin Radford, the story was "refuted by eyewitnesses, investigations and forensic evidence". In 1979, lawyer William Weber reportedly stated that he, Jay Anson, and the occupants "invented" the horror story "over many bottles of wine". +Ed and Lorraine Warren were among the most prominent figures in modern ghost hunting and paranormal investigation. As described by Michael Dale, the Warrens helped popularize ghost hunting through their high-profile investigations, lectures, and extensive media appearances. They claimed to have investigated thousands of hauntings, including famous cases such as the Amityville Horror and the Perron family haunting depicted in The Conjuring film series. While celebrated by many within paranormal circles, the Warrens' work has also been criticized for a lack of empirical evidence and allegations of embellishment. +General criticism of the Warrens include those by skeptics Perry DeAngelis and Steven Novella, who investigated the Warrens' evidence and described it as "blarney". Skeptical investigators Joe Nickell and Ben Radford also concluded that the more famous hauntings, such as Amityville and the Snedeker family haunting, did not happen and had been invented. +Stories of ghosts and hauntings popularized by the Warrens have been adapted as or have indirectly inspired dozens of films, television series and documentaries, including 17 films in the Amityville Horror series and six films in The Conjuring Universe including Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, and Annabelle Comes Home, spin-off prequels of The Conjuring. + +== Belief statistics == +According to a survey conducted in October 2008 by the Associated Press and Ipsos, 34 percent of Americans say they believe in the existence of ghosts. Moreover, a Gallup poll conducted on 6–8 June 2005, showed that about one-third (32%) of Americans believe that ghosts exist, with belief declining with age. Having surveyed three countries (the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom), the poll also mentioned that more people believe in haunted houses than any of the other paranormal items tested, with 37% of Americans, 28% of Canadians, and 40% of Britons believing. +In 2002, the National Science Foundation identified haunted houses, ghosts, and communication with the dead among pseudoscientific beliefs. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1bcd1ce42 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 4/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Skepticism == +Critics question ghost hunting's methodology, particularly its use of instrumentation, as there is no scientifically proven link between the existence of ghosts and cold spots or electromagnetic fields. According to skeptical investigator Joe Nickell, the typical ghost hunter is practicing pseudoscience. Nickell says that ghost hunters often arm themselves with EMF meters, thermometers that can identify cold spots, and wireless microphones that eliminate background noise, pointing out the equipment being used to try to detect ghosts is not designed for the job. "The least likely explanation for any given reading is it is a ghost," maintains Nickell. Orbs of light that show up on photos, he says, are often particles of dust or moisture. "Voices" picked up by tape recorders can be radio signals or noise from the recorder, EMF detectors can be set off by faulty wiring, microwave towers, iron, recording equipment, or cell phones, and heat sensors can pick up reflections off of mirrors or other metal surfaces. Nickell has also criticized the practice of searching only in the dark, saying that since some ghosts are described as "shadows or dark entities," he conducts searches in lighted rather than darkened conditions. +According to investigator Benjamin Radford, most ghost-hunting groups, including The Atlantic Paranormal Society, make many methodological mistakes. According to Radford, "[a]fter watching episodes of Ghost Hunters and other similar programs, it quickly becomes clear to anyone with a background in science that the methods used are both illogical and unscientific". Anyone can be a ghost investigator, "failing to consider alternative explanations for anomalous… phenomena", considering emotions and feelings as "evidence of ghostly encounters". "Improper and unscientific investigation methods" for example "using unproven tools and equipment", "sampling errors", "ineffectively using recording devices" and "focusing on the history of the location... and not the phenomena". In his article for Skeptical Inquirer Radford concludes that ghost hunters should care about doing a truly scientific investigation: "I believe that if ghosts exist, they are important and deserve to be taken seriously. Most of the efforts to investigate ghosts so far have been badly flawed and unscientific – and, not surprisingly, fruitless." +Although the majority of ghost hunters believe orbs are paranormal / supernatural, skeptic Brian Dunning says that they are usually particles of dust that are reflected by light when a picture is taken. In other cases, they may be bugs or water droplets. He contends that "there are no plausible hypotheses that describe the mechanism by which a person who dies will become a hovering ball of light that appears on film but is invisible to the eye." He does not believe there is any science behind these beliefs; if there were, then there would be some kind of discussion of who, what and why this can happen. In his investigations he can not find any "plausible hypothesis" that orbs are anything paranormal. +Science writer Sharon Hill reviewed over 1,000 "amateur research and investigation groups" (ARIGs), writing that "879 identified with the category of 'ghosts'". Hill reports that many groups used the terms "science" or "scientific" when describing themselves; however they overwhelmingly display neither understanding of nor adherence to scientific norms. Hill writes: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f1486cb1b --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,20 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 5/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +ARIGs often promote their paranormalist viewpoint as scientifically based, especially in community presentations or lectures at educational facilities. While scientifically minded observers can readily spot the anemic and shoddy scholarship of popular paranormal investigation, the public, unaware of the fundamental errors ARIGs make, can be persuaded by jargon and "sciencey" symbols. +Hill sees the supernatural bias of such groups as an indication of how "far removed ARIG participants really are from the established scientific community". +In Hill's 2017 book Scientifical Americans, reviewed by historian Brian Regal for Skeptical Inquirer magazine, Regal notes that the book is particularly timely, as it addresses an era when many people question the authority of science. Regal wonders why believers think that "untutored amateurs know more (and are more trustworthy) than professional scholars". He also asks why there is little discussion on "philosophical and theological aspects of their work". For instance, theoretical questions such as "What is a ghost?" and "Does one's religion in life determine if they can become a ghost in death?" are left underexplored. Additionally, Hill gives a historiography of the field of "modern paranormal interest: monsters, UFOs, and ghosts." Hill does not insult or ridicule the people she writes about, but explains their stories through case studies. Regal feels that this book will not deter believers in the paranormal, but it is an important part of a "growing literature on amateur paranormal research". Regal states that paranormal researchers are not engaging in scientific discovery but rather in "blithely in confirmation bias, selective evidence compiling, and the backfire effect while all the time complaining that it is the other side doing it… They, like all of us, are ultimately not searching for ghosts… they are looking for themselves." +Kenny Biddle is the Chief Investigator for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and writes a column for Skeptical Inquirer called A Closer Look (2018–present), on his use of scientific skepticism to investigate paranormal claims, which include ghost photography, ghost hunting equipment and psychic ability. Biddle is a former ghost hunter turned scientific skeptic. +In May 2018, he spent a night in the White Hill Mansion in Fieldsboro, New Jersey, along with a group of fellow skeptics. The mansion, built in 1757, has traditionally been visited by many ghost hunting teams who claim to have experienced paranormal activity and communicate with spirits via EVPs while there. According to Biddle, many of the ghost hunters claimed that the EVPs they obtained "were not just random responses; they were direct, intelligent responses to specific questions". To challenge these claims, Biddle's group conducted a controlled experiment: the group recorded audio while asking any spirits in the Mansion to help them in locating a small foam toy hidden somewhere on the premises by a third party. They asked direct questions, but no responses were detected during review of the audio. Biddle subsequently reset the experiment and has offered a prize to ghost hunters for proof of their claim that they can obtain direct answers from spirits via EVP. +Biddle has also criticized what he calls "paranormal gadgets" that are popular with ghost hunters, such as the Ovilus, a device designed to respond to electromagnetic field variations with words from a pre-programmed dictionary, which, according to Popular Mechanics resemble a "demonic Speak & Spell" whose "phrases often sound like they were cherry picked from a John Carpenter flick". + +== Methods and equipment == + +Ghost hunters use a variety of techniques and tools to investigate alleged paranormal activity. While there is no universal acceptance among ghost hunters of the following methodologies, a number of these are commonly used by ghost hunting groups. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..061bcd00d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 6/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Still photography and video +These may use digital, night vision, infrared, and even disposable cameras. +EMF meter +Used to detect possibly unexplained fluctuations in electromagnetic fields. The Safe Range EMF brand of meter, designed for use with power lines and household appliances, became popular after the Ghost Hunters television series claimed it to be "specially calibrated for paranormal investigators". The Atlantic attributes its popularity among ghost hunters to its brightly colored LED display and propensity for false positive readings. +Tablet PC +Used to record data, audio, video and even environmental fluctuations such as electromagnetic fields. +Ambient temperature measurement +Using thermographic cameras, thermal imaging cameras, infrared thermometers, and other infrared temperature sensors. All of these methods only measure surface temperature and not ambient temperature. +Digital and analog audio recording +These are used to capture any unexplained noises and electronic voice phenomena (EVPs), which may be interpreted as disembodied voices. Cameras are used to photograph / obtain Paranormal Photographic Capture (PPCs). +Compass +Some ghost hunters use a compass to determine the location of paranormal spots, similar to EMFs. +Geiger counter +Used to measure fluctuations in radiation. +Infrared and/or ultrasonic motion sensors +Used to detect possible anomalous movement within a given area, or to assist in creating a controlled environment where any human movement is detected. +Air quality monitoring equipment +This can assess the levels of gases such as carbon monoxide, which are thought to contribute to reports of paranormal activity. +Infrasound monitoring equipment +Used to assess the level of sound vibrations. +Dowsing rods +These are usually constructed of brass and bent into an L-shape. +Ghost boxes +Radio devices which randomly scan AM and FM frequencies, presenting the audio as the words of spirits +Ouija board +Novelty items purportedly used to communicate with spirits. +Laser Grid +A device which projects a laser grid onto a surface, the theory being that if the grid is broken, a shadow will be seen. +Night vision +Both full spectrum video and photography are used by ghost hunters to visualize areas of the light spectrum unseen by the human eye including infrared and ultraviolet. +Trigger objects +These are props or tools that ghost hunters claim can be used to attract an entity to interact. According to ghost hunters, this could be any object which might bring emotion or connection such as a teddy bear, photo or a wedding band, and some pieces of equipment have been designed within a trigger object in order to help detect a presence around the object. +Thermographic cameras +According to ghost hunters these are helpful in detecting and visualizing temperature changes during an investigation. +SLS or Kinect camera +This is a device that uses a pattern of infrared dots to detect objects in complete darkness. Analyzed by Kenny Biddle and found prone to spurious results when used as a non-stationary device. +Vibration Activated Light Spheres +Plastic balls which light up when detecting movement. These were not originally designed for paranormal investigations. Kenny Biddle found them to be very similar to commercial cat toys. +Ghost hunters may employ the assistance of psychics, mediums, or clairvoyants. Trance mediums and other "sensitive" individuals are thought to have the ability to identify and make contact with spiritual entities. Demonologists, exorcists, and clergy may be brought in to say prayers, give blessings, or perform rituals for the purpose of cleansing a location of alleged ghosts, demons, poltergeists, or "negative energy". +Hunters may also collect local testimony and accounts about alleged hauntings, and research the history behind the site being investigated. + +=== Cold spots === +According to ghost hunters, a cold spot is an area of localized coldness or a sudden decrease in ambient temperature. Temperature decreases claimed to be associated with cold spots range from a few degrees Fahrenheit to over 40 degrees. Many ghost hunters use digital thermometers or heat sensing devices to measure such temperature changes. Believers claim that cold spots are an indicator of paranormal or spirit activity in the area; however, there are many natural explanations for rapid temperature variations within structures, and there is no scientifically confirmed evidence that spirit entities exist or can affect air temperatures. + +=== Orbs === +Some ghost hunters claim that circular artifacts appearing in photographs are spirits of the dead or other paranormal phenomena; however, such visual artifacts are a result of flash photography illuminating a mote of dust or other particle, and are especially common with modern compact and ultra-compact digital cameras. + +== Depiction in media == + +=== Television === + +==== Ghost Hunters ==== + +Ghost Hunters features the activities of a Warwick, Rhode Island, ghost hunting group called The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). Since 2004, the program has garnered some of the highest ratings of any Syfy network programming, presenting a mix of paranormal investigation and interpersonal drama. It has since been syndicated on NBCUniversal sister cable channel Oxygen and also airs on the Canadian cable network, OLN. In addition to their television venture, TAPS cast members also appear at lectures, conferences and public events. +Media representations have played a significant role in shaping public perceptions of ghost hunting. According to media scholar Annette Hill, ghost hunting television shows and online media foster a participatory culture where audiences often blur the lines between entertainment and belief in the paranormal. Hill argues that ghost hunting programs combine dramatic storytelling with the appearance of scientific investigation, encouraging viewers to engage emotionally and intellectually with paranormal phenomena. Viewers often participate through fan communities, social media, and amateur investigations, contributing to a feedback loop that reinforces the popularity and legitimacy of ghost hunting as both entertainment and a form of experiential belief. Hill also notes that media depictions tend to downplay skepticism, emphasizing mystery and suspense to maintain audience interest. + +==== Ghost Adventures ==== + +Ghost Adventures premiered in 2008 on the Travel Channel. The TV series features ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff (seasons 1–10), Aaron Goodwin, Billy Tolley, and Jay Wasley as they investigate reportedly haunted locations hoping to collect visual or auditory evidence of paranormal activity. + +=== Films === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-6.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-6.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d9c2d0dfd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting-6.md @@ -0,0 +1,60 @@ +--- +title: "Ghost hunting" +chunk: 7/7 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_hunting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:17.382938+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Poltergeist ==== + +Poltergeist is the original film in the Poltergeist trilogy, directed by Tobe Hooper, co-written by Steven Spielberg and released on 4 June 1982. The story focuses on the Freeling family, which consists of Steven (Craig T. Nelson), Diane (JoBeth Williams), Dana (Dominique Dunne), Robbie (Oliver Robins), and Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke), who live in a California housing development called Cuesta Verde, which comes to be haunted by ghosts. The film depicts a group of paranormal investigators, parapsychologists, and a spiritual medium named Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) in their efforts to assist the family. A reboot of the series, Poltergeist, was directed by Gil Kenan and released on 22 May 2015, that features the host of a paranormal-themed TV show who comes to the aid of the family. + +==== Ghostbusters ==== + +Ghostbusters is a 1984 American fantasy comedy film produced and directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler, eccentric parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City. Ghostbusters was released in the United States on 8 June 1984, and grossed US$242 million in the United States and more than 295 million USD worldwide, making it the highest-grossing comedy film of its time. It launched a media franchise, which includes three sequels (Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), two animated television series (The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters), video games, and a 2016 reboot. The Ghostbusters concept was inspired by Aykroyd's fascination with the paranormal. + +==== The Conjuring ==== + +The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. It is the inaugural film in The Conjuring Universe franchise, in which Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Their purportedly real-life exploits inspired The Amityville Horror story and film franchise. In The Conjuring, the Warrens come to the assistance of the Perron family, who experience increasingly disturbing events in their farmhouse in Rhode Island in 1971. The Conjuring was released in the United States and Canada on 19 July 2013, and grossed over US$319 million worldwide. A sequel, The Conjuring 2, was released on 10 June 2016, and a prequel, Annabelle, directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan was released in 2014. + +=== Video games === + +==== Dark Fall ==== + +A 2002 point and click mystery game set in the fictional town of Dowerton, England, where the abandoned Station Hotel has become the location of numerous disappearances, and is reported to be haunted. The players take the role of a man in the search for his lost brother, an architect who vanished while doing scouting and evaluation for a building company. A local team of ghost hunters disappeared there too, leaving all of their equipment and documentation behind. The game spawned a successful series of sequels, all dealing with the paranormal and mysterious ghost sightings. + +==== Phasmophobia ==== + +Kinetic Games's indie survival horror game sees the player(s) take on the role of ghost hunters contracted to explore various premises for ghosts. The game received a large influx of popularity after its September 2020 release due to many well-known Twitch streamers and YouTubers playing it, mainly for the Halloween season. + +=== Web series === + +==== Buzzfeed Unsolved ==== + +The American entertainment web series BuzzFeed Unsolved included BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural episodes where hosts Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara discussed alleged ghosts, hauntings and demons, often seeking evidence of their existence. In 2019, Bergara and Madej left Buzzfeed to host a web series similar to Buzzfeed Unsolved Supernatural called Ghost Files in 2022, documenting their attempts to find evidence of supernatural beings and occurrences. + +== Tourism == +Interest in ghost hunting has driven tourism to historical sites and locations claimed to be haunted. A study published in the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly in 2020 stated that "haunted tourism has allowed attractions like historic house museums as well as abandoned hospitals, schools and prisons 'to remain intact' or bring in the money needed to make necessary improvements". According to architectural historian Jen Levstik, revenues from haunted tourism can help fund historic preservation, "so long as the tours are also providing historically accurate information related to the property [and] the humanity of the people at those properties, and not just the salacious things that can't be backed up beyond hearsay or rumor." + +== See also == +Legend tripping +List of ghost films +List of topics characterized as pseudoscience +Paranormal television +Stone Tape theory + +== References == + +== Further reading == +Lea, Robert (31 October 2021). "Ghost Hunters Who Use Science Reveal What Other Paranormal Investigators Get Wrong". Newsweek. +ASSAP. "Welcome to ASSAP - ASSAP." Assap.ac.uk, 2024, https://www.assap.ac.uk/ + +== External links == + +"Ghost Hunting in the 19th Century" (Audio with transcript). Science History Institute 'Distillations' Podcast Episode 277. 6 July 2021. +Dunning, Brian (1 January 2008). "Skeptoid #81: Ghost Hunting Tools of the Trade". Skeptoid. +"Ghost Hunting Science Vs Pseudoscience" by Steven Novella +"Proton Packs and Teddy Bears: The Pseudoscientific History of Ghost Hunting Gadgets" by Popular Mechanics \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_plate_trade-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_plate_trade-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..678018f61 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_plate_trade-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Gill plate trade" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_plate_trade" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:18.571334+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The gill plate trade is the buying and selling of stingray gill plates for their use in traditional Chinese medicine. The gill plates are harvested from stingrays that are caught intentionally, or caught as bycatch. The plates are sold whole or in a powder form. A single kilogram of the gill plate can be sold for up to US$350, though the price varies by ray species. + + +== Process == +Stingrays are caught by fishing lines or nets. Private fishermen tend to target these ray species due to the high payout from their gill plates. Large fishing operations tend to catch rays as bycatch when fishing for more desirable food fish such as tuna, where they are brought back to shore and sold regardless of the intention to catch these fish. The gill plates are split in two and dried after they are taken from the dead rays. Once dried the plates are sold whole or ground into a powder. + + +== Uses in traditional Chinese medicine == +Tonics made from stingray gill plates are used in traditional Chinese medicine, but there is no evidence of its effectiveness in any medical treatment. + + +== Impacts == + + +=== On stingray populations === +A few biological factors known as K-selected traits make the stingray more susceptible to population decline. These K-selected traits include, but are not limited to, late sexual maturity, long gestation, and low number of offspring. Because the gill plate trade will accept plates from both immature and mature rays, the number of rays that are able to reproduce is decreased by the capture of these animals. The population is slow to recover from these losses due to the K-selected traits and as fishing continues the population of stingrays decreases at a faster rate than it increases. + + +=== On other marine species === +The gill plate trade affects other marine species in one of two ways. The first is the impact that the fishing has on these other species which inhabit the rays ecosystem is when rays are caught intentionally they are typically caught by longline fishing. Longline fishing involves thousands of baited hooks on one very long fishing line close to the ocean's surface. These hooks draw many species including birds, marine mammals, fish, sharks, and rays. The second impact of stingray fishing and population decline is an ecological effect. The stingrays are keystone predators in coral reef environments, when these species are declined the other reef species are effected through trophic factors, for instance predator populations decrease therefore prey populations increase, and risk effects. Risk effects are the behavioral mannerisms that prey learn to avoid predators, such as where or when to feed without becoming a meal for a predator. Without predators such as stingrays, the behavior of prey species is altered. + + +== Legislation == +It is currently illegal to trade manta and mobula ray species without proper documentation that it is sustainable trade due to these species having been added to the CITES list. Once a species has been added to the CITES list it is internationally protected in legal trade; however, black market transactions still occur. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gishiri_cutting-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gishiri_cutting-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..641718d99 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gishiri_cutting-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Gishiri cutting" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gishiri_cutting" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:19.741830+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Gishiri or gishiri cutting is a form of female genital mutilation performed commonly by the Hausa-Fulani people of northern Nigeria and southern Niger. The procedure is believed by traditional practitioners to treat a variety of gynecologic ailments, although there is no scientific basis for this procedure, and it is considered pseudoscience. + + +== Etymology == +The word "gishiri" is Hausa for "salt". It refers to the practice of Arab traders who still caravan across the Sahara to cities in northern parts of West Africa, such as Kano, Nigeria. When a customer buys a quantity of salt, the trader produces a long knife and cuts a piece off a large block; this knife is similar to the kind used to produce gishiri cuts. + + +== Procedure and risks == +A whole range of gynecological complaints, including difficulty in labor, infertility, dyspareunia (pain during sex), pelvic organ prolapse and urinary retention, are believed to be caused by a vagina that is too narrow in these areas. The traditional treatment is to incise the vagina. A long knife is inserted into the vagina and backward cuts from the back of the vagina down into the perineum are made. +Serious injuries can result, such as fistulae: holes in the vaginal walls that separate it from the bladder or the rectum. Sometimes the knife is inserted down the urethra to make the cut, laying bare the entire lower urinary tract. Many women also die from hemorrhage which results from the procedure. + + +== See also == +Vulvectomy + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ec5c28587 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Goethean science" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:20.907485+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Goethean science concerns the natural philosophy (German Naturphilosophie "philosophy of nature") of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Although primarily known as a literary figure, Goethe did research in morphology, anatomy, and optics. He also developed a phenomenological approach to natural history, an alternative to Enlightenment natural science, which is still debated today among scholars. +His works in natural history include his 1790 Metamorphosis of Plants and his 1810 book Theory of Colors. His work in colour, and his polemics against the Newtonian Optics had a mixed reception from the natural history establishment of the time — under half spoke against Goethe, while a third of natural scientists had favourable reviews of Goethe's colour theory. + +== Background == +The rationalist scientific method, which had worked well with inert nature (Bacon's natura naturata), was less successful in seeking to understand vital nature (natura naturans). At the same time, the rational-empirical model based on the predominance of mentative thinking (German: sinnen) via the intellect (German: Sinn), started by Descartes and advanced most notably in France, was leading to confusion and doubt rather than clarity. Especially in subjective topics, equally rational arguments could be made for widely divergent propositions or conceptions. +The more empirical approach favored in Britain (Hume) had led to viewing reality as sense-based, including the mind; how, what we perceive is only a mental representation of what is real, and what is real we can never really know, according to Immanuel Kant's theory of appearance (Schein) and the thing-in-itself (Ding-an-sich). +As one observer summarizes, there were two 'games' being played in philosophy at the time – one rational and one empirical, both of which led to total skepticism and an epistemological crisis. + +== The Kantian problem == +Immanuel Kant in Prussia undertook a major rescue operation to preserve the validity of knowledge derived via reason (science), as well as of knowledge going beyond the rational mind, that is of human liberty and of life beyond simply an expression of 'the chance whirlings of unproductive particles' (Coleridge). Kant's writings had an immediate and major impact on Western philosophy and triggered a philosophical movement known as German idealism (Fichte, Hegel, Schelling), which sought to overcome and transcend the chasm Kant had formalized between the sense-based and the super-sensible worlds, in his attempt to 'save the appearances' (Owen Barfield), that is, to preserve the validity of scientific or rational knowledge as well as that of faith. +Kant's solution was an epistemological dualism: we cannot know the thing-in-itself (Das Ding an Sich) beyond our mental representation of it. While there is a power (productive imagination – produktive Einbildungskraft) that produces a unity ("transcendental unity of apperception"), we cannot know or experience it in itself; we can only see its manifestations and create representations about it in our mind. The realm beyond the senses also could not be known via reason, but only via faith. To seek to know the realm beyond the senses amounts to what Kant termed an 'adventure of reason'. + +== Goethe's Scientific Approach == + +=== Classification, Causation, and Laws of Nature === +The science editor for the Kurschner edition of Goethe's works, Rudolf Steiner, describes three ways in which Goethe's approach to Science differs from analytic modern science in The Light Course: +I) Classification: First scientists divide and classify the beings and phenomena of Nature. From individual creatures and phenomena, he forms concepts of species, kind and genus. This summing of external sensory impressions of many individual wolves and hyenas into kinds and species is already taken unconsciously for granted. No one reflects they should Examine how these general ideas are epistemologically related to the single data. + +Although we humans cut nature up in different ways, and we have different courses in different departments, such compartmentalization is really artificial. (Richard Feynman) +II) Causation: The second thing modern scientists do, is that by means of experiment, they try to arrive at what are called the 'causes' of phenomena. The forces of electricity, of magnetism, of heat or warmth. In trying to go back to the Causes of Phenomena — Science always goes from what is Known into the Unknown [in a Kantian Critical sense]. Is it really justified when we perceive a phenomenon of light or colour, to say that what we subjectively describe as the quality of colour is the effect on us of an objective process taking place as a wave-movement? To distinguish between the 'subjective' event and the 'objective' — the latter being the wave-movement, or the interaction thereof with processes in ponderable matter. + +Everything we call real is made of things we cannot call real. (Niels Bohr) +III) Laws of Nature: A third way scientists get at the configuration of Nature is by Summing up phenomena into 'Laws of Nature'. Kepler's Law of elliptical orbits, or Netwon's Law of Gravitation — where every body attracts every other body proportionally to their mass and inversely to the square of the distance between their centres. +In these three ways "scientific research" tries to get near to +Nature. Now I will emphasize at the very outset that the Goethean outlook upon Nature strives for the very opposite in all three respects. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c817fe9c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ +--- +title: "Goethean science" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:20.907485+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Goethe's approach to vital nature === +In relation to Goethe's Colour Theory — Ernst Lehrs writes, "In point of fact, the essential difference between Goethe's theory of colour and the theory which has prevailed in science (despite all modifications) since Newton's day, lies in this: While the theory of Newton and his successors was based on excluding the colour-seeing faculty of the eye, Goethe founded his theory on the eye's experience of colour." +"The renouncing of life and immediacy, which was the premise for the progress of natural science since Newton, formed the real basis for the bitter struggle which Goethe waged against the physical optics of Newton. It would be superficial to dismiss this struggle as unimportant: there is much significance in one of the most outstanding men directing all his efforts to fighting against the development of Newtonian optics." (Werner Heisenberg, during a speech celebrating Goethe's birthday) +Goethe undertook his 'adventure of reason', starting with the "crisis" in botany, the merely and purely mechanical classification-taxonomy of plant life. In so doing, Goethe also "wagered a sweeping theory about Nature itself." +Goethe was concerned with the narrowing specialization in science and emphasis on accumulating data in a merely mechanical manner, devoid of human values and human development. Linnaean botanic taxonomic system represented this in his day, a Systema naturae. Goethe intuited the practice of rational science promoted a narrowing and contracting interplay between humanity and nature. For Goethe, any form of science based only upon physical-material characteristics and then only selected external traits, led to epistemic impoverishment and a reduction of human knowledge. +What was needed was increased ability to derive meaning from voluminous external data by looking at it from both external-sensory angles, and from an internal angle where thinking, feeling, intuition, imagination, and inspiration could all contribute to conclusions reached by the experimenter. +Linnaean taxonomy was already coming under criticism from Comte de Buffon, who argued the mechanistic classification of the outer forms of nature (natura naturata) needed to be replaced by a study of the interrelation of natural forces and natural historical change. +For Goethe, the collection of new knowledge is inseparable from a Geschichte des Denkens und Begreifens, a history of thinking and conceptualization. Knowledge is also about association, not only about separation, as Coleridge also explained in his Essays on Method (see Romantic epistemology). +While arranging material phenomena in logical linear sequence is a valid scientific method, it had to be carried out under a correct and humanistic organizing idea (Bacon's lumen siccum), itself grounded in nature, or natural law, often boundaried by multiple, lawful pairs of polarity. +Goethe proposed experimenters seek the natural, lawful organizing ideas or archetype behind specific natural phenomena. Phase One was to immerse one's self in a living interaction with the natural phenomena to be studied, with all available senses. Goethe valued "the labor of experimentation". +This contrasted greatly with a trend in rational Natural Science to 'abandon' nature itself and formulate an abstract hypothesis; then, experiment to test whether your hypothesis can be verified. Goethe considered this an 'artificial experience' which 'tears' individual manifestations out of the meaningful context of the whole (e.g., Newton's color hypothesis). +Instead, Goethe's experimenter must adopt a more living, more humane, approach aspiring to enter into the living essence of nature, as perceived in the phenomenon studied. +For Goethe, success meant penetrating to the crucial, underlying, sensorily-invisible archetype-pattern: the Ur-phänomen. The Experimenter aspires to allow the phenomena to reveal its inherent order and lawfulness. While often invisible, this lawfulness is clearly objective, not subjective, and not invented by the experimenter (see Goethe's description of a dandelion, or Steiner's copied version). +Ernst Lehrs went further in emphasizing how all objective manifestation comes from the movement of physical-material objects as motion comes to rest (Man or Matter, 3rd ed. preferred). +Goethean Science stands apart from Cartesian-Newtonian Science in its alternative value system. Regarding quantification, Goethean Science is nonetheless rigorous as to experimental method and the matter of qualities. +The German philosopher and mystic Rudolf Steiner, who was at one point an assistant editor of the standard edition of Goethe's works, applied Goethe's methodology of a living approach to nature to the performing and fine arts. This gives Anthroposophic visual and performing arts their air of going beyond the mere outer form of things (natura naturata) to discern a more inner nature (natura naturans). Steiner hoped to relate the human sphere with all of Nature through the arts; including, the art of Goethean Science. +When composing his magnum opus, Oswald Spengler acknowledged his enormous debt to Goethe for providing him with the necessary inspiration and guidance, such that he devoted two chapters to describing and explaining Goethe's 'organic' logic - which demands life-experience (rather than the scientific experience associated with inorganic logic). The former consists of "letting the impressions of the world just work upon your senses, enabling you to absorb those impressions as a whole". \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ceb67efcd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,34 @@ +--- +title: "Goethean science" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:20.907485+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Goethe's ur-phenomena == +Five arts was Goethe's method of transmuting his observation of human nature into sharable form. Drawing from his novel, Elective Affinities (Wahlverwandschaften), Goethe discerned a geheime Verwandschaft (hidden relationship) of parts that explains how one form can transform into another form while being part of an underlying archetypal form (Ur-phänomen). +It is this organizing idea or form that guides the consideration of the parts; it is a Bild or virtual image that "emerges and re-emerges from the interaction of experience and ideas". This consideration is a special type of thinking (noetic ideation or denken) carried out with a different organ of cognizance to that of the brain (mentation or sinnen), one that involves an act of creative imagination, what Goethe terms "the living imaginal beholding of Nature" (das lebendige Anschauen der Natur). Goethe's nature (natura naturans, the activity of "nature naturing" – as distinguished from natura naturata, "nature natured", the domain of naturally formed objects) is one in constant flux and flow, but nonetheless governed by law, logic and intelligence above the mind. To approach vital nature requires a different cognitive capacity (denken) and cognitive organ (Gemüt) from that used to perceive inert nature (sinnen based on the Intellect or Sinn). + +== Experiment as interactive experience == +In his 1792 essay "The experiment as mediator between subject and object", Goethe developed an original philosophy of science, which he used in his research. The essay underscores his experiential standpoint. "The human being himself, to the extent he makes sound use of his senses, is the most exact physical apparatus that can exist." +While the fixed Linnaean system, like classical physics, its distinctions broke down increasingly at the border, reflected in the increasing confusion as to how to classify the growing number of plant forms being brought forward. This led to greater division rather than greater unity. Goethe's discovery of an underlying order directly challenged the fixed, static view of nature of the Linnaean taxonomy (based on artificial types arrived at by choosing certain features and ignoring others), but also the tendency of natural science to study vital nature by means of the methodology used on inert nature (physics, chemistry). +The Cartesian-Newtonian method presupposes separation between observer and observed. Goethe considered this a barrier. As Wellmon observes, Goethe's concept of science is one in which "not only the object of observation changes and moves but also the subject of observation." Thus, a true science of vital nature would be based on an approach that was itself vital, dynamic, labile. The key for this is a living, direct, interactive experience (Erlebnis) involving the mind, but also higher faculties more participatory and Imaginative (Gemüt), not dissociative and separative (Sinn). +Only since the 1970s have other mainstream scientists come to be interested in Goethe's more holistic-humanistic approach to experiments. +In his study on color (Farbenlehre), Goethe challenged the view observers can look devoid and naive of theoretical context; likewise, challenging the assumption of shared common neutral language in science research and innovation. Rather Goethe believed every act of looking at a thing turns into observation, every act of observation turns into mentation, every act of mentation turns into associations. Thus it is evident we theorize every time we look attentively out into the world." In support of Goethe, Feyerabend wrote: "Newton... did not give the explanation [of light] but simply re-described what he saw...[and] introduced the machinery of the very same theory he wanted to prove." +For Goethe, the ultimate aim of science was two-fold, both increase to the database of human knowledge; second, as a method for the metamorphosis of the experimenter. In Goethean Science, experiment is the 'mediator between object [natural phenomena] and subject ]the experimenter].' All experiments then become two-fold, potentially revealing as much about natural phenomena as they reveal the experimenter to him or herself. +Goethe's methodology is mutual and intimate interaction of observer and observed; and, what transpires over time. Ideally as the experimenter's observed knowledge grows from his study of natural phenomena, so does his capacity for inner awareness, insight, Imagination, Intuition and Inspiration. +Where Cartesian-Newtonian science accepts only a single, practical syllogism about experimenters and research topics, Goethean Science demonstrates practicing science as an art, practice directed towards refining the experimenter's perceptions over time, heightening them towards Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition. + +== Goethe's epistemology == +Goethe saw the strongest opposition to his ideas in the mathematizing of physics. Goethe pleaded for "participatory recognition" as the way of natural sciences. +Goethe's method of science as art, of experiment as mediator between experimenter and Nature, can be applied to studies of every kind. Where Cartesian-Newtonian science defines and values the expansion of knowledge as a logical and linear march towards accumulating facts, Goethean Science defines and values the expansion of knowledge as: +1) Observing organic transformation in natural phenomena over time (historical progression); and +2) Organic transformation of the inner life of the experimenter. +Goethe developed two dynamic concepts – one of polarity (developed in his Chromatology) and one of logical-linear sequence (Morphology). These are applicable across all domains. +For Goethe understanding vital nature (natura naturans) is very much a function of taking impressions and activating thereby responses via the Gemüt (empathy, perhaps also compassion) so that one 'becomes what one perceives'. This is in line with Aristotle's empiricism. +The Kantian view is the realm of quantity and thing is separate from quality and phenomenon. Therefore, we can never be certain what we perceive is objectively real. +Goethe's new way of thinking (denken) is a parallel order of science [more a distinct, separate, more holistic paradigm], useful for getting past the heavy cognitive curtain erected by Kant, where only utilitarian ideas and science are valued. +As Amrine states, Goethe accepted the mathematical approach (mathesis) was appropriate for inert nature. However to become truly human, we cannot hold mathesis at the center of our life—apart from and dominating over—rational Feeling. Anything less than truly human values at the center of our life are inappropriate and counter-productive. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..14c9612e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "Goethean science" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethean_science" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:20.907485+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Goethe and the idea of evolution == +In the 1790s, Goethe rediscovered the premaxilla in humans, known as the incisive bone. He cited this as morphological evidence of humanity's connection to other mammalian species. +Goethe writes in Story of My Botanical Studies (1831): + +The ever-changing display of plant forms, which I have followed for so many years, awakens increasingly within me the notion: The plant forms which surround us were not all created at some given point in time and then locked into the given form, they have been given… a felicitous mobility and plasticity allowing them to grow and adapt themselves to many different conditions in many different places. +Andrew Dickson White also writes with respect to evolutionary thought, in A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896): + +About the end of the eighteenth century fruitful suggestions and even clear presentations of this or that part of a large evolutionary doctrine came thick and fast, and from the most divergent quarters. Especially remarkable were those from Erasmus Darwin in England, Maupertuis in France, Oken in Switzerland, and Herder, and, most brilliantly of all, from Goethe in Germany. + +== Reception == +Arthur Schopenhauer expanded on Goethe's research in optics using a different methodology in his On Vision and Colors. +Rudolf Steiner presents Goethe's approach to science as phenomenological in the Kürschner edition of Goethe's writings. Steiner elaborated on this in the books Goethean Science (1883) and +Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception (1886). in which he emphasizes the need of the perceiving organ of intuition in order to grasp Goethe's biological archetype (i.e. The Typus). +Steiner's branch of Goethean Science was extended by Oskar Schmiedel and Wilhelm Pelikan, who did research using Steiner's interpretations. +Ludwig Wittgenstein's discussions of Goethe's Theory of Colors were published as Bemerkungen über die Farben (Remarks on Color). + +Goethe's vision of holistic science inspired biologist and paranormal researcher Rupert Sheldrake.He went to an Anglican boarding school and then took biology at Cambridge, studying "life" by killing animals and then grinding them up to extract their DNA. This was troubling. Rescue came when a friend turned him on to Goethe. This old German's 18th century vision of "holistic science" appealed to the young Brit very much. Sheldrake used Goethe to investigate how the lilies of the field actually become lilies of the field. Sheldrake is famous for the term "morphogenetic field" actually a quote from one of Steiner's students, Poppelbaum. +American philosopher Walter Kaufmann argued that Freud's psychoanalysis was a "poetic science" in Goethe's sense. +In 1998, David Seamon and Arthur Zajonc wrote Goethe's way of science: a phenomenology of nature. +Also in 1998, Henri Bortoft wrote The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe's Science of Conscious Participation in Nature in which he discusses the relevance and importance of Goethe's approach to modern scientific thought. +Biologist Brian Goodwin (1931-2009) in his book How the Leopard Changed Its Spots : The Evolution of Complexity claimed that organisms as dynamic systems are the primary agents of creative evolutionary adaptation, in the book Goodwin stated: "The ideas I am developing in this book are very much in the Goethean spirit." + +== See also == +Romanticism in science +Oswald Spengler +Goetheanism + +== References == + +== External links == +Goethe and the Molecular Aesthetic, Maura C. Flannery St. John's University Archived 2010-06-27 at the Wayback Machine +Goethe at the Centre for Philosophy +Goethe's Sensuous Imagination +The Nature Institute +Goethe's Theory of Colours +Seeing Nature Whole — A Goethean Approach Archived 2016-03-09 at the Wayback Machine +Goethe, Nature, and Phenomenology +Doing Goethean Science Archived 2012-05-04 at the Wayback Machine +Exploring Goethean Science Archived 2016-03-09 at the Wayback Machine +Goethean Science Archived 2016-03-09 at the Wayback Machine +Goethean Science, an online book by Rudolf Steiner \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_effect-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_effect-0.md index 1f28b7dc9..819ba2518 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_effect-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_effect-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_effect" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:27:35.846857+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:22.143901+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1cd469340 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +--- +title: "Goop (company)" +chunk: 1/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:23.354349+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Goop is a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by American actress Gwyneth Paltrow. It was launched in September 2008 as a weekly e-mail newsletter providing New Age advice, such as "police your thoughts" and "eliminate white foods", and the slogan "Nourish the Inner Aspect". Goop later expanded into e-commerce, collaborating with fashion brands, hosting pop-up shops, holding a "wellness summit", and launching a print magazine, podcast, and docuseries on Netflix. +Goop has faced criticism for marketing products and treatments that are harmful, described as "snake oil", based on pseudoscience, and lack efficacy. California officials from the Consumer Protection Office have sued Goop for false advertising, asserting that Goop has made unfounded health claims about a variety of products. Goop settled the lawsuit out of court. Class-action lawsuits have been brought against Goop for unsafe products. + +== History == + +Goop was founded in Paltrow's home in London, beginning as a newsletter in 2008, with an editor's note in each email from Paltrow offering insight into her daily life. Goop was incorporated in 2011. According to Paltrow, the company's name came from Peter Arnell telling her that successful internet companies have double Os in their name, and she "wanted it to be a word that means nothing and could mean anything". Adding the double "O" between her initials thus resulted in the company name. Goop, of course, does have a meaning in English. +Seb Bishop was CEO of Goop from 2011 to 2014. Several other celebrities were inspired by Goop to launch their own similar lifestyle websites. In 2014, Goop hired Oxygen Media founder and former CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Lisa Gersh, as CEO. From 2014 onwards, Goop's wellness content became increasingly radical, to the point where doctors would begin to call it pseudoscience and media outlets would describe Goop's content as "no longer ludicrous‍— no, now it was dangerous". +In 2015, Paltrow stated that she wanted Goop to "be its own stand-alone brand". At that time around two dozen people worked for Goop. In 2016 the company's roster had increased to 60 employees. That year, Goop's most searched topic was the term "detox". Later in 2016, Paltrow moved the company's operations to the US from the UK following her separation from Chris Martin and Gersh left the position of CEO. The position remained vacant until early 2017, when the board named Paltrow, who had previously announced in 2016 that she would be stepping away from Goop, to fill the post. +In 2016, Goop moved its headquarters to Santa Monica, California, from New York. The Santa Monica location was previously a chicken coop. The interior warehouse space was designed by Restoration Hardware. By 2017, Goop had 90 employees, and was attracting criticism, including a lawsuit filed by Truth In Advertising. In an April 2017 Jezebel article, Stassa Edwards criticized Goop's marketing and retail strategy, claiming that the company profits "from endless illness". Jill Avery, a brand analyst, has noted how Goop's response to this criticism seems designed to "strengthen their brand and draw their customers closer", noting Goop's use of feminism, traditional Asian medicines and Eastern philosophies, and anti-establishment politics to do so. Paltrow characterizes criticisms as "cultural firestorms" which cause an influx of website traffic, stating that she can "monetize those eyeballs". +In 2018, Goop began assembling an internal science and regulatory team. Goop, in partnership with Google, also began selling Google Home smart speakers and accessories in the Goop Lab stores and holiday pop-up shops, and opened its first permanent East Coast Goop store called Goop Lab at 25 Bond Street (Manhattan). This follows the establishment of a permanent location at the Brentwood Country Mart in Brentwood, California in September 2017. As of March 2018, Goop had 150 employees. +In January 2020, Goop began selling a $75 candle called "This Smells Like My Vagina", based upon a joke with perfumer Douglas Little. Paltrow and Little were testing out various new fragrances, when she found one she loved and said, “Uhh, this smells like a vagina”. The candle quickly sold out and can be found selling on eBay for as much as $250. In late July 2020 Goop moved to their new corporate headquarters in a larger location, also in Santa Monica, whose interior was designed by the multidisciplinary firm Rapt Studio. The company signed a 10-year lease for 57,000 square feet in the newly built Santa Monica Gateway commercial development. By early 2020 it was reported that the company was valued at about $250 million. In early October 2020 Elise Loehnen announced she was stepping down as chief content officer to take a sabbatical to write a book. She will continue as Goop’s editor at large. +In October 2021, it was reported that over 140 Goop employees had left the company since 2019. + +== Funding and revenue == +In 2011, Goop generated £81,000 in sales, and the year after it generated £1.1 million in sales, with a loss of £23,000. As of 2013, Goop had net liabilities of £540,086. Goop doubled its revenues from 2014 to 2015, and again from 2015 to 2016. In 2018 the company tripled its year-over-year revenue from 2017. +In 2016, Goop received $15 million USD in Series B funding from venture capital firms NEA, Felix Capital and 14W Venture Partners. This corresponded with Goop centralizing their operations in the Los Angeles area, where Paltrow is based, and away from New York, where Gersh lives. +In 2018, Goop raised $50 million in Series C funding from firms including NEA, Lightspeed and Felix Capital, bringing total investment in the company to $82 million. The company's valuation rose to $250 million. +Among Goop's financial backers is Greycroft Partners, a venture capital firm which has also backed other businesses including Klout, Huffington Post, Venmo and Ireland-based cosmetic treatment/beauty clinic chain Sisu. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5fad272cd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +--- +title: "Goop (company)" +chunk: 2/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:23.354349+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Products and distribution == +Goop launched an online shop in 2012, and it earned $1.5 million for Goop during its first year of operation. By 2014, the Goop newsletter had an estimated 700,000 subscribers. +In 2015, Goop launched a publishing imprint, Goop Press, with Grand Central Publishing, and planned to release one title per year. +In 2016, additional funds also led to an increase in staffing for Goop, as well as the launch of new products, including a fashion label with a focus on practical, tailored clothing. +In 2017, Goop entered the vitamin and supplements market. Paltrow first had the idea to market supplements after receiving a Myers' cocktail from Alejandro Junger in 2007. The supplement products sold over $100,000 worth of product on the launch day. In April, Goop announced that they had entered into an agreement with Condé Nast to launch a new print magazine under the name Goop. The quarterly magazine was launched in September, but only ran for two issues, with Nast replacing pieces that failed their fact-checking process by travel articles, and a disagreement over the use of the magazine to promote Goop products. In December 2017, Goop announced the launch of a digital shop in Canada, following its first physical store in the country in partnership with Nordstrom. +Goop generates revenue from advertising and also sells a Goop-branded clothing line, a perfume, and books. As of 2017 Goop newsletter readers have an average age of 34 and household income of $100k+ per year. +Goop launched a podcast on March 8, 2018, using Cadence13 as its digital platform. Its first guest was Oprah Winfrey. The podcast reached number one in the Apple Podcast charts the same day it aired- on March 8. It is largely hosted by Goop CCO Elise Loehnen and has a weekly audience of 100,000 to 650,000. The company also partnered with Westin Hotels & Resorts to offer a range of fitness programs called "G. Sport Sessions" later that summer. Goop began streaming their podcast on 600 Delta planes in February 2019. In September 2019, they partnered with Banana Republic for an eight-part podcast series entitled Women on Top. In February 2020 Goop launched a spring clothing line called "Goop Edit" for Banana Republic on the Goop website. The partnership also released its second eight-part series of Women on Top. +Goop expanded its fashion offerings in 2018, hiring Danielle Pergament of Allure to be Goop's editor in chief, directly under CCO Elise Loehnen. Ali Pew of InStyle was hired as Goop's fashion director and Anne Keane, formerly of Lucky magazine, was hired as Goop's fashion strategy director. In 2018 they attended New York Fashion Week as representatives of the company. In June 2018, Goop launched a capsule collection (a smaller version of a designer's larger collection that includes only the most essential or influential pieces from that collection) with fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer. In December 2018, Goop partnered with Universal Standard to add a collection of plus-size clothing to its clothing line. The plus-size collection features US sizes 00-40, (UK sizes 2–44). +In June 2018, Goop opened its first international pop-up shop in London. In January 2019, the shop became a permanent Goop store. The company also hired its first chief marketing officer, Andres Sosa, to work on further expansion in the UK. In August 2018, Goop launched a furniture and home decor line with Crate & Barrel's CB2 brand. +In January 2020 the company’s private label brand, Goop Beauty, began a partnership with Sephora. Distribution began in Sephora stores in January in the US, and then in February, the GoopGlow collection of cosmetics became available in Canada. +In September 2020 Goop joined with French clothing company A.P.C. to launch a clothing collection promoting the two companies' focus on conscious consumption. +In November 2020 the Goop lifestyle brand joined with Los Angeles-based bed manufacturer Avocado, to introduce a “climate-neutral” and “ethically sourced” bed. +Goop's first "Fair Trade Specialty Coffee" was released at the end of 2020. The beans are grown in Colombia by Astrid Medina, who runs a "sustainable and ethical" farm. +Beginning in November 2020 JetBlue Mint business class overhauled customer amenities to include several products from Goop’s cosmetic line. +Thirteen Lune announced in April 2021 its decision to make Goop its first "ally brand", listing some Goop products on its e-commerce website. +As of April 1, 2021, Jenna Lyons listed her DTC eyelash brand LoveSeen on Goop.com. It is LoveSeen's first retail partnership and Goop.com's first time offering fake eyelashes for sale. +In November 2022, Goop signed a deal with Audible for a set of original audio projects. + +=== Brands and product lines === +Since Goop's inception in 2008, it has launched several brands and product lines. The "Beauty" section of the website works in tandem with the products sold in the shop. Goop brands and product lines are sold online, at several in-person "Goop stores" including the Goop Lab in Brentwood Country Mart in Los Angeles, and at pop-up shops in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, the Hamptons, Dallas and Aspen, and in collaboration with Nordstrom stores. Goop-branded products quadrupled in value in 2017. These brands include: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..520b7222c --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "Goop (company)" +chunk: 3/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:23.354349+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Goop by Juice Beauty, a makeup and skincare line launched in partnership with Juice Beauty in 2016, influenced by the popularity of a Goop article the year before about beauty products without formaldehyde and endocrine disruptors. The brand's products are made from USDA certified organic ingredients and are considered to be vegan. +Goop Label, a fashion line launched in September 2016. The collection is based on Paltrow's personal favorites and styles, and has been described as "high-street staples". +Goop Fragrance, an all-natural fragrance line including perfume and scented candles. The first fragrance, Edition 01 Winter, was created by the perfumer Douglas Little and released in November 2016. +Goop Wellness, which sells GMO and gluten-free vitamins and other supplements. The line was launched in 2017, and was influenced by the popularity of a Goop article that year about "postnatal depletion". +G. Sport Sessions, a range of fitness programs offered in partnership with Westin Hotels and Resorts launched in 2018, with classes led by Tracy Anderson, Paltrow's personal trainer. +CB2 x goop, a furniture and home décor line in collaboration with Crate & Barrel, launched in August 2018. +GoopGenes All-In-One Nourishing Face Cream and Eye Cream was launched in early August 2020 with the help of Paltrow's mother, actress Blythe Danner, and daughter, Apple Martin. +In March 2020 Goop launched a limited-edition activewear line in partnership with American designer Proenza Schouler. It was the first activewear collection from PS, and the first time that Goop had a partner in the design of the G. Sport collection. + +== Brick and mortar stores == +Goop opened its first permanent brick and mortar store in Los Angeles in September 2017. On June 20, 2019, Goop opened a store inside the luxury retailer Harvey Nichols’ flagship store in London. In November 2020 Goop opened a 1,012 square-foot shop at the Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Hotel on the Island of Hawaii. The shop was designed in collaboration with interior designers Kate McCollugh and Max Zinser. In February 2020 Goop opened a permanent retail store, Goop’s Sundries Shop, at the Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel in Montecito, California. There is also a Goop Lab store in Brentwood, California and a Goop MRKT in Sag Harbor, New York. Goop opened a pop-up shop in September 2018 in the Notting Hill area of London. Originally planned to close in January 2019, it remained open until November 2020. On March 8, 2021, Goop opened a "ghost kitchen", a restaurant set up for delivery-only, in Los Angeles. Chef Kim Floresca, who worked at restaurants Per Se, Bulli, and The Restaurant at Meadowood, is the chief chef. The menu offers gluten-free and vegan choices. + +== The Goop Lab == + +The Goop Lab is a documentary series promoting the Goop company, which premiered on January 24, 2020, on Netflix. It prominently features Gwyneth Paltrow and Elise Loehnen interviewing experts in different fields. In 2020 The Goop Lab was nominated for two Critics Choice Real TV Awards. The series was nominated for Best Lifestyle Show:Fashion/Beauty; and Gwyneth Paltrow was nominated for the Best Female Star of the Year. However, critics called the series a "win for pseudoscience". In a Skeptical Inquirer interview, Bob Nygaard said, “I wouldn’t presume to know whether or not Gwyneth Paltrow understands the gravity of promoting self-proclaimed psychics … but I, like you, fear that Paltrow’s The Goop Lab episode ‘Are You Intuit?’ will increase the likelihood of more vulnerable people being defrauded.” + +== Wellness summits == + +Goop held its first wellness summit in June 2017. The event had over 600 attendees. The company's second In Goop Health summit was held in New York City in January 2018. Panelists included Kelly Brogan, who has disputed the effectiveness of both vaccinations and HIV medications. The invitation of Brogan has been criticized by Jezebel. The third summit was held in Culver City, California in June 2018. Guests included Meg Ryan and Janet Mock. Paltrow is considering ways to take the wellness summit "on the road", so that it can access a wider audience. In October 2018, Goop held its fourth summit at the Stanley Park pavilion in Vancouver. In March 2019, Goop held its fifth summit at Pier 17 in New York City. In May 2019, Goop held an In goop Health summit at the Rolling Greens Nursery in Los Angeles. Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson attended Goop's eighth wellness summit in Richmond, California. +Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Goop canceled a planned inaugural "Goop at Sea" cruise that had been scheduled to begin in late August. Registrants received 100 percent reimbursement or 125 percent credit for a future cruise. In late April 2021, Paltrow announced that she expected to launch her Celebrity Cruises partnership in 2022. +Beginning in April 2020, in response to the COVID-19 lockdown, Goop began to host, virtual "In Goop Health" summits in partnership with YouTube with no cost to participants. The digital summits were simplified versions of the live events Goop had held in the past in cities such as Los Angeles, London, and New York. +The ninth In Goop Health wellness summit "The At-Home Summit" was live-streamed on September 12, 2020. + +== Convention and summit participation == +In late October 2020 Goop participated in the Philippine Digital Convention 2020. Paltrow, representing Goop, spoke at the plenary session held on the first day. + +== Criticism == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..4efa5f4dd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,22 @@ +--- +title: "Goop (company)" +chunk: 4/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:23.354349+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Goop has been criticized for showcasing expensive products and making "out of touch" recommendations that many readers cannot afford, which Paltrow has responded to by stating that such products and recommendations are "aspirational," furthermore arguing that the items available cannot be made for a lower price, and that the content of Goop is free. Dana Logan argues that Goop is an example of asceticism as part of consumer culture. Goop has also drawn criticism for selling cosmetics containing the same ostensibly harmful chemicals which the site tells people to avoid. +In April 2015, Paltrow and the Goop staff participated in a food stamp challenge in an attempt to raise awareness for the Food Bank for New York City. Paltrow gave up on the challenge after four days, writing that she had expected she would not be able to abide by the budget for the full week. Critics suggested that Paltrow's groceries did not accurately reflect what SNAP recipients usually buy, though Aubrey Gordon notes that the point of the challenge was to show that SNAP benefits are not sufficient, even for privileged people such as celebrities. +A number of products sold by Goop, as well as ideas promoted in its blog posts, have been criticized as "snake oil" for having no scientific basis, not producing the desired results, having no medical benefit, or potentially even being harmful. In January 2015, Paltrow advocated for a spa treatment referred to as vaginal steaming, described as "snake oil," a process she reportedly underwent at the Tikkun Spa in the Los Angeles area, wherein "you sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al [sic]." Paltrow admitted that she thought that the process was "insane" but did not disavow it, instead suggesting that it has "real healing properties." Gynecologists were critical, with Draion Burch, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist, indicating that "there's no scientific evidence that shows it works." An article published on July 18, 2017, in TheStar.com documented the ongoing battle over this issue between Paltrow and Jennifer Gunter, an OB/GYN for Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, whom the Toronto Star dubbed an expert in "vaginal health." +Also in 2015, Timothy Caulfield wrote a book on the negative impact of celebrity endorsement called Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? in which he described the lack of evidence for several products sold by Goop and endorsed by Paltrow, as well as health claims made by other celebrities. In October 2015, in a blog post in Goop, Habib Sadeghi revisited the disproven claim that breast cancer might be linked to wearing underwire bras. The claim was swiftly criticized, with Gunter stating "it’s breast size that increases the risk of breast cancer and not because larger breasts need more manhandling by underwires, but because larger breasts are harder to screen and are associated with obesity, a known risk for breast cancer." + +In January 2017, Goop marketed the "Jade Egg" for US$66 as a form of vaginal weightlifting which, according to their website, is "used by women to increase sexual energy, health, and pleasure." Gynecologists were critical of this product, with Gunter calling it a "load of garbage." In 2018, this post was tagged as an "Ancient Modality." In September 2018 the Goop company agreed to pay $145,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that Goop has posted claims about the eggs and about an herbal remedy, both without scientific basis. +In June 2017, Goop marketed "Body Vibes," wearable stickers that were claimed to "re-balance the energy frequency in our bodies." Originally, the advertisement claimed that the stickers were "made with the same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line space suits so they can monitor an astronaut’s vitals during wear," but NASA denied that they had "any conductive carbon material lining" in their spacesuits, with Mark Shelhamer, former chief scientist at NASA's human research division, going so far as to call the claim a "load of BS." The reference to NASA was subsequently removed from the advertisement, with the manufacturer of the stickers issuing a statement to Gizmodo saying "We apologize to NASA, Goop, our customers and our fans for this communication error. We never intended to mislead anyone. We have learned that our engineer was misinformed by a distributor about the material in question, which was purchased for its unique specifications." +In October 2017, The Skeptic awarded Goop the Rusty Razor award "for the most audacious pseudo-science." The award was decided by readers’ votes, and Goop was the winner "by a landslide." Also in 2017, Goop promoted a coffee enema device from Implant O'Rama LLC, despite a lack of scientific evidence to their efficacy and in spite of evidence of coffee enemas' potentially fatal side effects. +In January 2018, Goop was criticized for posting articles by "medical medium" Anthony William who claims to use paranormal abilities to give advice. Goop has said of William, that he: + +[...] is one of the most unconventional and surprisingly insightful healers today: As he explains, the voice of a divine force called Spirit guides him to identify the roots of his patients’ hard-to-diagnose illnesses and find the best solutions to restore their health. [...] Now, William is sharing four of his wonder foods‍— apples, celery, ginger, and honey‍— with us. Below, he breaks down what makes them so powerful [...] which ailments (from anxiety to Lyme disease, adrenal fatigue, and brain fog) to target with each food [...] +In October 2018, the Good Thinking Society reported the company to the National Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority, claiming that Goop had breached over 113 advertising laws of the UK. Laura Thomason, project manager at the Good Thinking Society told The Independent: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-4.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..bb76d40dd --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-4.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "Goop (company)" +chunk: 5/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:23.354349+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +It is shocking to see the sheer volume of unproven claims made by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop about their products, especially given that some of their health advice is potentially dangerous. [...] Gwyneth Paltrow may well have good intentions, but she and her company sell products with claims that could clearly mislead customers. [...] if Gwyneth Paltrow cannot provide satisfactory evidence behind the claims she makes for her products, she should not be making those claims. +On January 20, 2020, speaking at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, the head of the UK's National Health Service, Simon Stevens spoke about misinformation which harms patients, exemplified by Goop's claim that "chemical sunscreen is a bad idea," and Goop's promotion of colonic irrigation, which Stevens said are "carrying considerable risk to health." + +=== Legal settlements === +Goop has faced criticism for marketing products and treatments that are based on pseudoscience, lack efficacy, and are recognized by the medical community as harmful. In 2017, Truth in Advertising filed a complaint with California regulators regarding over 50 health claims made by Goop, which resulted in a $125,000 settlement and a five-year injunction prohibiting the company from making unsubstantiated claims about the characteristics or health benefits of its products. +In 2016, Goop said it would voluntarily, permanently discontinue claims for Moon Juice "Brain Dust" and "Action Dust" following an inquiry from the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. +In August 2017, the consumer advocacy group Truth in Advertising filed a complaint with district attorneys in the state of California regarding "deceptive" health claims made by Goop regarding 51 products, including Jade vaginal eggs among others. The company settled the suit in September 2018, agreeing to pay $145,000, issue refunds, and be subject to a five-year injunction under which it may not suggest that its products have "sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, or benefits which they do not have." At the time of the settlement, Goop had sold around 3,000 vaginal eggs. + +=== Disclaimers === +Despite routinely posting articles which purport to give health and nutrition advice on a wide range of topics, authors typically end with this disclaimer: + +The views expressed in this article intend to highlight alternative studies and induce conversation. They are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Goop, and are for informational purposes only, even if and to the extent that this article features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. +In early 2018, Goop started labeling articles with disclaimers indicating whether their content is "For Your Enjoyment" or "Supported by Science." +In response, on June 29, 2018, the watchdog group Truth in Advertising sent a letter to the California Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force, saying that: + +[The disclaimers] make clear that the company is aware that it does not have the appropriate scientific evidence to support many of the health claims that it is making in its marketing materials. Further, as a matter of law, these four disclosures cannot be used as cover for unsubstantiated disease-treatment claims. That is to say, Goop is not permitted to make a deceptive health claim and then post a disclaimer saying, 'sorry, there isn’t reliable and competent scientific evidence to actually support that claim but buy our product to treat your [fill in the ailment] anyway.' +Labels and website descriptions of dietary supplement products are required to include the standard wording for the US Food and Drug Administration disclaimer: + +"These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." +Printing this disclaimer on labels and website does not permit health claims beyond the very basic Structure:Function vocabulary regardless of how strong any clinical trial evidence is. +In 2021, Goop was sued over a claim that the "this smells like my vagina" candle "exploded" after having been burnt for three hours. A disclaimer has been added to the candles' pages instructing users to not burn the candles for more than two hours at a time. + +=== Parodies === \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-5.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-5.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ad8fb343e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)-5.md @@ -0,0 +1,23 @@ +--- +title: "Goop (company)" +chunk: 6/6 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goop_(company)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:23.354349+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +In December 2016, a book parodying Goop called Glop: Nontoxic Ideas That Will Make You Look Ridiculous and Feel Pretentious was published and included advice such as: "Our modern lifestyles are absolutely full of toxins—nearly everything we come into daily contact with, from Egyptian cotton sheets to 8-carat diamonds to yacht paint, is dangerously noxious." +By June 2017, the New York Times reported that parodying Goop had "become a national pastime". +In September 2015, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert began a recurring sketch about his spoof lifestyle brand Covetton House, which promotes everyday products with fancy names and jacked-up prices. Paltrow appeared on an episode in January 2018 announcing a collaboration between Goop and Covetton House, featuring a sponge which cost $900. In April 2018, Colbert and Paltrow collaborated on a line of goods to raise money for education in the United States. +In March 2018, Botnik Studios created a newsletter called "goob" parodying Goop, which generated text using predictive text; headlines included "Listen to Your Body: Your Migraines are Podcasts Trying to be Produced." +In October 2018, Heidi Gardner appeared on the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live as "Baskin Johns," a Goop employee, parodying the company as a new employee who knows little about the products she is promoting. The character reappeared in a March 2019 episode of the show, this time with a surprise appearance of Paltrow as "Fifer James," Baskin's manager. +A performance artist sold "Hot Dog Water" outside the fourth In Goop Health summit, a bottle of water with a hotdog inside, which parodied a product sold on Goop with a crystal inside a bottle of water. +In the ninth season of Modern Family, Mira Sorvino plays the recurring character Nicole Rosemary Page, a parody of Paltrow, with the character also being a founder of Nerp, a company similar to Goop. +Toni Collette's character "Joni" in Knives Out (2019) runs a similar wellness "lifestyle brand" company called Flam. + +== References == + +== External links == +Official website \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_supercycle-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_supercycle-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c74b3167a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_supercycle-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +--- +title: "Grand supercycle" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_supercycle" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:25.781590+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Grand Supercycle is the longest period, or wave, in the growth of a financial market as described by the Elliott wave principle, originally conceived and formulated by Ralph Nelson Elliott. Elliott speculated that a Grand Supercycle advance had started in the United States stock market in 1857 and ran to the year 1928, but acknowledged another interpretation that it may have been the third or even the fifth Grand Supercycle wave. However, these assignments have been reevaluated and clarified using larger historical financial data sets in the works of A. J. Frost and R.R. Prechter, and the start is now considered to be 1789, when stock market data began to be recorded. +Like all Elliott waves, Grand Supercycle waves are subdivided into smaller generations of waves. The next smaller generation of waves are those of Supercycle degree. Modern applications of the Wave Principle also describe waves of larger degree spanning millennial periods of time. +Modern application of Elliott wave theory posits that a Grand Supercycle wave five is completing in the 21st century and should be followed by a corrective price pattern of decline that will represent the largest economic recession since the 1700s. + + +== Possible Elliott wave position of world stock markets == +Some Elliott wave analysts believe that a Grand Supercycle bear market in US and European stocks started in 1987. When that was proven incorrect it was later revised to be 2000 and then 2006. +During 2006–2007 the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new all-time high, which has been interpreted by some Elliott Wave analysts as indicating that 2000–2002 was not the beginning of a Grand Supercycle bear market. However, as this new high was merely a nominal new high in US dollars, and not a new high when measured in ounces of gold other Elliott Wave analysts believe this new high to be 'phony'. + + +== Expectation of economic recession == +A controversial issue is whether the severe economic recession accompanying the termination of the current Grand Supercycle will take the form of either a deflationary depression or a hyperinflationary period. Robert Prechter has repeatedly stated that the collapse will take the form of a deflationary depression probably followed by hyperinflation. In an October 2006 interview, when asked to make his case for deflation and the key factors that supported it, Prechter said: + + +== Controversy == +Many controversies surround the concept of the Grand Supercycle: + +Stock transactions did not occur during the first years of the United States and price data is thus not available. The notion of the Grand Supercycle was thus implied by R. N. Elliott by linking together gold prices, British stock market prices, and later U.S. stock market prices, as the U.S. economy surpassed the U.K. It is not clear that this methodology is scientifically robust. +The hypothesized Grand Supercycle is conjectured to span more time than a human life, which some say means it cannot exist. Followers of Saeculum Theory take this view and align instead around a belief that defined sequences of generations relearn approximately the same lessons as their forebears. Similar ideas can be found in the Bible. The Saeculum might map to the Kondratiev cycle. +The idea of a Grand Supercycle bear market may be interpreted to suggest that mankind will never learn from its past mistakes, or become self-aware in a macro-economic sense. The historical study presented in David Hackett Fischer's The Great Wave (Oxford University Press, 1999), however, presents a meticulously argued case that the periodic crises in human history are becoming steadily less volatile, which suggests that some kind of species-wide learning is occurring. + + +== See also == +Business cycle +David Hackett Fischer +Economic cycles +Market trends + + +== Notes == + + +== References == +The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History (2000) ISBN 0-19-505377-X +Korotayev, Andrey V., & Tsirel, Sergey V.(2010). A Spectral Analysis of World GDP Dynamics: Kondratieff Waves, Kuznets Swings, Juglar and Kitchin Cycles in Global Economic Development, and the 2008–2009 Economic Crisis. Structure and Dynamics. Vol.4. #1. P.3-57. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Grander-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Grander-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b57bae897 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Grander-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Johann Grander" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Grander" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:26.936232+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Johann Grander (24 April 1930 – 24 September 2012) was the Austrian inventor of a water revitalization technology, which has scientifically been proven as ineffective. + + +== Life == +Grander was born in Jochberg, Austria, the second of five children. At the age of 13 the Nazi district leadership deprived him of further schooling and sent him to work as an agricultural tractor driver. + + +== Revitalized water == +Grander stated that Jesus had appeared to him and gave him the plan for water revitalization because of his connection with God. +Grander invented a scientifically unproven process for treating water, producing what he called "revitalized water" (German: "Belebtes Wasser"). According to Grander, this improves the water structure and produces a healthy environment for useful microorganisms. +In 1978, Grander founded the Grander family business (Grander GmbH) and focused on research on his technology for original Grander technology. Grander's family continues in activities for the treatment, production and marketing of revitalized water and water treatment equipment. +It is scientific consensus that the claims as to how the process changes water are not supported by physics or chemistry and may be called "esoteric nonsense", in the sense of freedom of speech, regarding a verdict of a lawsuit. +Grander GmbH itself focused on customer evidences and testimonials until 2016. Since 2016 the company claims positive effects for the use of Grander water treatment technology used in the industrial sector or in different trades. Supporters and customers in different professions claim that it cuts the running costs of industry from steel works to fruit canning factories, of public swimming pools, and makes for more effective water-based physiotherapy for injuries. +Nevertheless, the claim lacks any scientific confirmation. + + +== Legal rulings == +In 2005 Ecoworld NZ Ltd was fined $60,000 and ordered to pay $68,000 in compensation to consumers that bought their Grander Living Water units. The judge said that the promotional material for these units "contained inconsistencies, quackery and pseudo-science." +In 2006, the Viennese Oberlandesgericht ruled that the claim that seriously ill people may forgo medical treatment and trust in the effects of the revitalized water does not constitute fraud because the vendor guarantees a right of return. They also ruled that Grander's revitalized water may adequately be described as "esoteric nonsense". +In 2009, another New Zealand company, Big Blue Limited involved in the "energised" water using "Wasser 2000 Vibration Technology" was fined $25,000 in the Auckland District Court for making false claims. + + +== Awards == +In 2001, the Republic of Austria recognized the life work of Johann Grander with the Honorary Cross for Science and Art. A 2008 parliamentary initiative to strip him of the award on the grounds of missing scientific merits was unsuccessful. The reason given was that the only other person stripped of the award was a Nazi doctor and that Grander's case was less severe. +In 2019 Grander was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the German Society for the Scientific Investigation of Pseudosciences, a price awarded to the "most astonishing pseudo-scientific nuisance". + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances-0.md index 00f746a77..631f7fb6a 100644 --- a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances-0.md +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances-0.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1 source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_discredited_substances" category: "reference" tags: "science, encyclopedia" -date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:59:03.476066+00:00" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:49.911207+00:00" instance: "kb-cron" --- diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_esoteric_healing_articles-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_esoteric_healing_articles-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9ff629d55 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_esoteric_healing_articles-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +--- +title: "List of esoteric healing articles" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_esoteric_healing_articles" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:19:32.317550+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Esoteric healing refers to numerous types of alternative medicine which aim to heal disease and disability, using esoteric means, either through faith and human will, or by using pseudoscientific processes. It was first published in the 1950s and was initially inspired by Djwal Khul and Alice Bailey. + + +== Healing == +Alice Bailey § Esoteric healing +Christian Science § Healing practices +Crystal healing +Dianetics +Energy medicine +Faith healing +Gifts of healing +Johrei +Laying on of hands +Liu Zi Jue +Musica universalis +Prana +Prayer § Prayer healing +Psychic surgery +Qi § Role in traditional Chinese medicine +Qigong +Quantum healing +Radionics +Reiki +Royal touch +Therapeutic touch +ThetaHealing +Universal Medicine +Word of Faith § Healing + + +== See also == +Energy (esotericism) +Folk healer +Healing revival +Inner Healing Movement +Long Healing Prayer +Quackery +Quantum mysticism +Scientific skepticism +Shamanism +Traditional medicine +World Healing Day + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Curry-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Curry-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b4296bc70 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Curry-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +title: "Manfred Curry" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_Curry" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:31.039575+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Manfred Curry (11 December 1899 – 13 February 1953) was a physician, inventor, sailor and author of American citizenship. He was born in Munich, Germany; his father (Charles) was American and his mother (Adele) Russian. + + +== Career == +An accomplished athlete and yachtsman who represented the US at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, he sailed more than 1400 regattas many of which he won. In later life he worked as a doctor specialising in bioclimatics and became the self-proclaimed discoverer of the pseudoscientific phenomenon of "geomagnetic lines" or "Earth radiation" (ger. Erdstrahlen) called the Curry Grid. +In 1925, Curry wrote a pioneering book on yacht aerodynamics and racing tactics, published through to the present day and widely translated, describing how he undertook a scientific study on sailboat design, testing various rig configurations in a wind-tunnel at Göttingen. The significance of his book within yachting has been described by stating that he was the first to bring engineering analysis of the design of sailboats to the public eye. In the book, he describes several of his inventions or developments that are in widespread use today, including the fully battened mainsail, developments to Genoa jibsails and spinnakers, the 'Park Avenue' boom and the cam cleat (Called the "Curryklemme" in German). He described two successful racing dinghies as well as innovations used on an America's Cup yacht. +His iconic racing dinghy, Aero which examplars many of his technical innovations has been restored. + +In his home town of Riederau on the Ammersee lake, Curry set up the American Bioclimatics Research Institute. After his early death at the age of 53, his widow Maude Hester-Curry dedicated the new name of Manfred Curry Clinic (which is no longer in existence). Curry also investigated the supposed pathogenic properties of "earth radiation", a concept promoted in conjunction with a fellow medical doctor Ernst Hartmann and engineer Siegfried Wittmann. Earth radiation (E-rays) ger. Erdstrahlen, which can only be measured by the subjective technique of dowsing, are not a scientific field of study and are considered to be pseudoscience. +As a youth, together with his father Charles Curry, he was friends with the Irish republican activist Roger Casement during the latter's stay in Germany. +The street Curry Park in his home town of Riederau is named after him. +The magazine Sailing World inducted Manfred Curry posthumously to its Hall of Fame in 1993. +Curry's 1929 medical doctoral thesis was titled Myom und Altersbild. + + +== See also == +Geobiology (pseudoscience) +Geopathology +Radiesthesia + + +== References == + + +== External links == + Media related to Manfred Curry at Wikimedia Commons \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Doreal-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Doreal-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..da86c080a --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Doreal-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,35 @@ +--- +title: "Maurice Doreal" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Doreal" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:55.710363+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Maurice Doreal (1898–1963), born Claude Doggins, was an American occultist and founder of the Brotherhood of the White Temple. +Doreal claimed that during a 1925 visit to the Great Pyramids of Giza, he discovered a set of ancient emerald tablets belonging to the Egyptian deity Thoth, whom he re-imagined as a king of Atlantis. Doreal then claimed to have translated the text, which he published as the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean (not to be confused with the medieval Hermetic text called the Emerald Tablet). + + +== Occult views == +In around 1930, Maurice Doreal formed the Brotherhood of the White Temple in Denver, having been involved in Theosophy. He claimed that in 1931, in Los Angeles, he met two Atlanteans who took him to a cave underneath Mount Shasta. Doreal quickly developed a cosmology focused on the inner earth, describing "underground races" he claimed to have learned about from the Atlanteans. Doreal developed theories of an underground serpent race. During the 1950s, Doreal incorporated aliens into his views. He combined these all into a theory that in the second half of the 20th century, the serpent race would ally with the Antichrist. He believed that there were "three types of flying saucers including one piloted by 'serpent people' who were once ice-bound in Siberia, became defrosted and then replaced and overthrew the Communist regime in Russia". +In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Doreal relocated the Brotherhood near Sedalia, Colorado, where he predicted that nuclear war would happen in 1953, but that he and his community would be protected by the mountains in the valley they relocated to. He died in 1963. + + +== References == + + +=== Citations === + + +=== Bibliography === +Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520248120. +Guttierez, Cathy (2015). Handbook of Spiritualism and Channeling. Brill. ISBN 9789004264083. +Partridge, Christopher (2014). The Occult World. Routledge. ISBN 9781317596769. +Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2006). Understanding the Dark Side: Western Demonology, Satanic Panics and Alien Abduction. University of Chester Press. ISBN 9781905929160. + + +== External links == +Text of the "Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean" at Alchemylab.com +Text of the "Emerald Tablets of Thoth" at Crystalinks.com \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cremo-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cremo-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..095b8bfc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cremo-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: "Michael Cremo" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cremo" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:21.407744+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Michael A. Cremo (born July 15, 1948), also known by his devotional name Drutakarmā dāsa, is an American independent researcher who describes himself as a Vedic creationist and an "alternative archeologist." He argues that humans have lived on Earth for millions of years. Based on artifacts allegedly found in the Eocene auriferous gravels of Table Mountain, California and discussed in his book Forbidden Archeology, Cremo argues for the existence of modern humans on Earth as early as 30 to 40 million years ago. Forbidden Archeology, which he wrote with Richard L. Thompson, has attracted criticism from mainstream scholars, who describe it as pseudoscientific. + + +== Early life and education == +Cremo was born in Schenectady, New York. Cremo's father, Salvatore Cremo, was a United States military intelligence officer. Michael Cremo lived with his family in Germany, where he went to high school. They spent several summers traveling throughout Europe. He attended George Washington University from 1966 to 1968, then served in the United States Navy. + + +== Religious views == +Cremo is a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and the Bhaktivedanta Institute. He has written several books and articles about Hindu spirituality using the pen-name Drutakarmā dāsa. He has also been a contributing editor to the magazine Back to Godhead and a bhakti yoga teacher. Cremo told Contemporary Authors that he decided to devote his life to Krishna in the early 1970s, after receiving a copy of the Bhagavad Gita at a Grateful Dead concert. In the end of the 1990s he authored a paper on the official ISKCON statement on capital punishment. His work on "Puranic Time and the Archaeological Record" was published in ISKCON Communications Journal and Time and Archaeology. + + +== Forbidden Archeology == + +Cremo's central claim in Forbidden Archeology is that humans have lived on Earth for tens to hundreds of millions of years, and that the scientific establishment has suppressed the fossil evidence of extreme human antiquity. In case of grooved spheres from pyrophyllite mines of Ottosdal, South Africa, Cremo proposes that they might be man-made artifacts, possibly as far back as 2.8 billion years ago. Forbidden Archeology has been criticized by mainstream scholars from a variety of disciplines. + + +== Publications == +Thompson, Richard L.; Cremo, Michael A. (1993). Forbidden archeology : the hidden history of the human race (1st ed.). San Diego: Bhaktivedanta Institute. ISBN 9780963530981. +Cremo, M A. (1999) "Puranic Time and the Archeological Record". In Tim Murray, ed. Time and Archaeology, Routledge, London, +Cremo, M. A. (2002) "The Later Discoveries of Boucher de Perthes at Moulin Quignon and Their Impact on the Moulin Quignon Jaw Controversy". In Goulven Laurent ed. Proceedings of the XXth International Congress of History of Science (Liege, 20–26 July 1997), Volume X, Earth Sciences, Geography and Cartography. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, pp. 39–56 +Cremo, M. A. (2009) "The discoveries of Carlos Ribeiro: a controversial episode in nineteenth-century European archeology", Journal of Iberian Archaeology, vol. 12: 69–89. +Cremo, M. A. (2008) "Excavating the eternal: an indigenous archaeological tradition in India", Antiquity, 82:178-188. +Cremo, M. A. (2008) "Some Angles on the Anglo Debate", Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress, 4(1): 164–167. + + +== Recent years == +In recent years, Cremo has organized a number of conferences where ISKCON-associated academics exchanged views and experiences. In March 2009, Cremo appeared in a History Channel television series called Ancient Aliens, and in 2010 in a mini series of the same name. + + +== See also == +Gaudiya Vaishnavism +Creationism + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Official website +Michael Cremo. "Puranic Time and the Archaeological Record - Vedic Encyclopedia". \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e26746752 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "Terminology of alternative medicine" +chunk: 1/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:47.617551+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Alternative medicine is a term often used to describe medical practices where are untested or untestable. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM), functional medicine, and holistic medicine are among many rebrandings of the same phenomenon. + +== Terms for alternative medicine == +The terms alternative medicine, complementary medicine, integrative medicine, holistic medicine, natural medicine, unorthodox medicine, fringe medicine, unconventional medicine, and new age medicine are used interchangeably as having the same meaning and are almost synonymous in most contexts. + +There is concern that a lack of stabilized terminology for these practices may give the appearance of effectiveness. Loose terminology may also be used to suggest that a dichotomy exists when it does not, e.g., the use of the expressions "Western medicine" and "Eastern medicine" to suggest that the difference is a cultural difference between the Asiatic east and the European west, rather than that the difference is between evidence-based medicine and other forms of treatment. +Some scholars adopt this "Western" and "Eastern" language. For example, in a study done on musculoskeletal pain acupuncture treatment, researchers use the term "Western Acupuncture", which is defined as the acupuncture practices that are evidence based. This term also removes the cultural connotations that are used in acupuncture such as "qi", or "primordial energy". + +=== Complementary or integrative medicine === +Complementary medicine (CM) or integrative medicine (IM) is when alternative medicine is used together with mainstream medical treatment, in a belief that it improves the effect of treatments. For example, acupuncture (piercing the body with needles to influence the flow of a supernatural energy) might be believed to increase the effectiveness or "complement" science-based medicine when used at the same time. Instead, significant drug interactions caused by alternative therapies may make treatments less effective, notably in cancer therapy. Integrative medicine has been described as an attempt to bring pseudoscience into academic science-based medicine. Due to its many names, the field has been criticized by writer Rose Shapiro for what she describes as intense rebranding of what are essentially the same practices. +CAM is an abbreviation of the phrase complementary and alternative medicine. The 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Traditional and Complementary Medicine states that the terms complementary and alternative medicine "refer to a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own traditional or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system. They are used interchangeably with traditional medicine in some countries." + +=== Other terms === + +Traditional medicine comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the era of modern medicine. The 2019 WHO study defines traditional medicine as "the sum total of the knowledge, skill and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health as well as in the prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness." +Holistic medicine is another rebranding of alternative medicine. In this case, the words balance and holism are often used alongside complementary or integrative, claiming to take into account a "whole" person, in contrast to the supposed reductionism of medicine. The "whole" person idea is referring to the 'analysis of physical, nutritional, environmental, emotional, spiritual and lifestyle elements' as defined by the American Holistic Health Association. When specific ailments are diagnosed, or health is being analyzed, things like mental health are factors that are also taken into consideration alongside physical health. According to a random national survey in America of US osteopathic physicians, less than a third of the respondents agreed with the fact that holism is a concept in osteopathic medicine that is distinct from allopathic medicine. This study highlights that osteopathic physicians view that practitioners in the allopathic field also practice holism in their respective practices. + +Functional medicine is a marketing term for alternative medicine created by Jeffrey Bland, who founded The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM). + +== Definitions of alternative medicine == +Alternative medicine is defined loosely as a set of products, practices, and theories that are believed or perceived by their users to have the healing effects of medicine, but whose effectiveness has not been established using scientific methods, or whose theory and practice is not part of biomedicine, or whose theories or practices are directly contradicted by scientific evidence or scientific principles used in biomedicine. "Biomedicine" or "medicine" is that part of medical science that applies principles of biology, physiology, molecular biology, biophysics, and other natural sciences to clinical practice, using scientific methods to establish the effectiveness of that practice. Unlike medicine, an alternative product or practice does not originate from using scientific methods, but may instead be based on hearsay, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f35b18c3d --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,14 @@ +--- +title: "Terminology of alternative medicine" +chunk: 2/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:47.617551+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Challenges in defining alternative medicine === +Terminology has shifted over time, reflecting the preferred branding of practitioners. For example, the United States National Institutes of Health department studying alternative medicine, currently named the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), was established as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) and was renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) before obtaining its current name. Therapies are often framed as "natural" or "holistic", in apparent opposition to conventional medicine which is "artificial" and "narrow in scope", statements which are intentionally misleading. +Prominent members of the science and biomedical science community say that it is not meaningful to define an alternative medicine that is separate from a conventional medicine, because the expressions "conventional medicine", "alternative medicine", "complementary medicine", "integrative medicine", and "holistic medicine" do not refer to any medicine at all. Others say that alternative medicine cannot be precisely defined because of the diversity of theories and practices it includes, and because the boundaries between alternative and conventional medicine overlap, are porous, and change. The systems and practices it refers to are diffuse, and its boundaries poorly defined. Healthcare practices categorized as alternative may differ in their historical origin, theoretical basis, diagnostic technique, therapeutic practice and in their relationship to the medical mainstream. Some alternative therapies, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda, have antique origins in East or South Asia and are entirely alternative medical systems; others, such as homeopathy and chiropractic, have origins in Europe or the United States and emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Some, such as osteopathy and chiropractic, employ manipulative physical methods of treatment; others, such as meditation and prayer, are based on mind-body interventions. Under a definition of alternative medicine as "non-mainstream", treatments considered alternative in one location may be considered conventional in another. +Critics say the expression is deceptive because it implies there is an effective alternative to science-based medicine, and that complementary is deceptive because it implies that the treatment increases the effectiveness of (complements) science-based medicine, while alternative medicines that have been tested nearly always have no measurable positive effect compared to a placebo. It has been said that "there is really no such thing as alternative medicine, just medicine that works and medicine that doesn't", and that the very idea of "alternative" treatments is paradoxical because any treatment proven to work is by definition "medicine." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5d73ccee2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +--- +title: "Terminology of alternative medicine" +chunk: 3/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:47.617551+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +=== Different types of definitions === +Some definitions seek to specify alternative medicine in terms of its social and political marginality to mainstream healthcare. This can refer to the lack of support that alternative therapies receive from medical scientists regarding access to research funding, sympathetic coverage in the medical press, or inclusion in the standard medical curriculum. In 1993, the British Medical Association (BMA) stated that it referred to "...those forms of treatment which are not widely used by the conventional healthcare professions, and the skills of which are not taught as part of the undergraduate curriculum of conventional medical and paramedical healthcare courses". In a US context, a definition coined in 1993 by the Harvard-based physician David M. Eisenberg described alternative medicine as "interventions neither taught widely in medical schools nor generally available in US hospitals". In a definition published in 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO), CAM was defined as a broad set of health care practices that are not part of that country's own tradition and are not integrated into the dominant health care system. A widely used descriptive definition devised by the US NCCIH calls it "a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine". However, these descriptive definitions are inadequate in the present-day when some conventional doctors offer alternative medical treatments and introductory courses or modules can be offered as part of standard undergraduate medical training; alternative medicine is taught in more than half of US medical schools and US health insurers are increasingly willing to provide reimbursement for alternative therapies. In 1999, 7.7% of US hospitals reported using some form of alternative therapy; this proportion had risen to 37.7% by 2008. A 15-year systematic review published in 2022 on the global acceptance and use of CAM among medical specialists found the overall acceptance of CAM at 52% and the overall use at 45%. +An expert panel at a conference hosted in 1995 by the US Office for Alternative Medicine (OAM), devised a theoretical definition of alternative medicine as "a broad domain of healing resources ... other than those intrinsic to the politically dominant health system of a particular society or culture in a given historical period". This definition has been widely adopted, and has been cited by the UK Department of Health, attributed as the definition used by the Cochrane Collaboration, and, with some modification, was preferred in the 2005 consensus report of the US Institute of Medicine. This definition, an expansion of Eisenberg's 1993 formulation, is silent regarding questions of the medical effectiveness of alternative therapies. Its proponents hold that it thus avoids relativism about differing forms of medical knowledge and, while it is an essentially political definition, this should not imply that the dominance of mainstream medicine is solely due to political forces. According to this definition, alternative and mainstream medicine can only be differentiated with reference to what is "intrinsic to the politically dominant health system of a particular society of culture". However, there is neither a reliable method to distinguish between cultures and subcultures, nor to attribute them as dominant or subordinate, nor any accepted criteria to determine the dominance of a cultural entity. If the culture of a politically dominant healthcare system is held to be equivalent to the perspectives of those charged with the medical management of leading healthcare institutions and programs, the definition fails to recognize the potential for division either within such an elite or between a healthcare elite and the wider population. +Evidence-based definitions distinguish alternative medicine based on its provision of therapies that are unproven, unvalidated, or ineffective and support of theories with no recognized scientific basis. These definitions characterize practices as constituting alternative medicine when, used independently or in place of evidence-based medicine, they are put forward as having the healing effects of medicine, but are not based on evidence gathered with the scientific method. Exemplifying this perspective, a 1998 editorial co-authored by Marcia Angell, a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, argued that: + +It is time for the scientific community to stop giving alternative medicine a free ride. There cannot be two kinds of medicine – conventional and alternative. There is only medicine that has been adequately tested and medicine that has not, medicine that works and medicine that may or may not work. Once a treatment has been tested rigorously, it no longer matters whether it was considered alternative at the outset. If it is found to be reasonably safe and effective, it will be accepted. But assertions, speculation, and testimonials do not substitute for evidence. Alternative treatments should be subjected to scientific testing no less rigorous than that required for conventional treatments. +This line of division has been subject to criticism on the grounds that not all forms of standard medical practice have adequately demonstrated evidence of benefit, and that most conventional therapies, if proven to be ineffective, would not later be classified as alternative. Another definition is that alternative medicine refers to a diverse range of related and unrelated products, practices, and theories ranging from biologically plausible practices and products and practices with some evidence, to practices and theories that are directly contradicted by basic science or clear evidence, and products that have been conclusively proven to be ineffective or even toxic and harmful. +Proponents of an evidence-base for medicine such as the Cochrane Collaboration take a position that all systematic reviews of treatments, whether "mainstream" or "alternative", ought to be held to the current standards of scientific method. In 2011, the Cochrane Collaboration proposed that indicators of a therapy's level of acceptance include government licensing of practitioners, coverage by health insurance, statements of approval by government agencies, and recommendation as part of a practice guideline; and that if something is currently a standard, accepted therapy, then it is not likely to be widely considered as alternative. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-3.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-3.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..fc9a6b883 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine-3.md @@ -0,0 +1,38 @@ +--- +title: "Terminology of alternative medicine" +chunk: 4/4 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminology_of_alternative_medicine" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:16:47.617551+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +==== Australia ==== +The public information website maintained by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of the Commonwealth of Australia uses the acronym "CAM" for a wide range of health care practices, therapies, procedures and devices not within the domain of conventional medicine. In the Australian context this is stated to include acupuncture; aromatherapy; chiropractic; homeopathy; massage; meditation and relaxation therapies; naturopathy; osteopathy; reflexology, traditional Chinese medicine; and the use of vitamin supplements. + +==== Denmark ==== +The Danish National Board of Health's Council for Alternative Medicine (Sundhedsstyrelsens Råd for Alternativ Behandling (SRAB)), an independent institution under the National Board of Health (Danish: Sundhedsstyrelsen), uses the term "alternative medicine" for: + +Treatments performed by therapists that are not authorized healthcare professionals. +Treatments performed by authorized healthcare professionals, but those based on methods otherwise used mainly outside the healthcare system. People without a healthcare authorisation are [also] allowed to perform the treatments. + +== Other terms == + +=== Allopathic medicine === + +Allopathic medicine or allopathy is a pejorative term used by proponents of alternative medicine to refer to modern scientific systems of medicine, such as the use of pharmacologically active agents or physical interventions to treat or suppress symptoms or pathophysiologic processes of diseases or conditions. The expression was coined in 1810 by the creator of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843). Among homeopaths and other alternative medicine advocates, the expression "allopathic medicine" is still used to refer to "the broad category of medical practice that is sometimes called Western medicine, biomedicine, evidence-based medicine, or modern medicine." +Use of the term remains common among homeopaths and has spread to other alternative medicine practices. The meaning implied by the label has never been accepted by conventional medicine and is still considered pejorative by some. William Jarvis, an expert on alternative medicine and public health, states that "although many modern therapies can be construed to conform to an allopathic rationale (e.g., using a laxative to relieve constipation), standard medicine has never paid allegiance to an allopathic principle" and that the label "allopath" was "considered highly derisive by regular medicine." +Many modern science-based medical treatments (antibiotics, vaccines, and chemotherapeutics, for example) do not fit Samuel Hahnemann's definition of allopathy, as they seek to prevent illness, or remove the cause of an illness by acting on the cause of disease. + +== See also == +List of forms of alternative medicine +Therapeutic nihilism + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== Bibliography == + +== External links == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..9a5dcfec9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,37 @@ +--- +title: "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" +chunk: 1/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:05.811936+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes as Rhode Island Paranormal Society (RIPS). In 1995, Grant Wilson joined, and the team was renamed The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly American paranormal reality television series on the Syfy channel. The show ran for eleven seasons on Syfy in the US. The show aired in the UK nine months after the US premier on Living It. + +== History and objectives == +In 1990, Hawes began the "Rhode Island Paranormal Society", after having a personal experience with spirits. After RIPS began investigating cases throughout the New England area, Jason met up with Grant Wilson in 1995 and they formed "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" together. Wilson had also had a personal experience. Neither man talks about it in public. The group was originally run out of Jason's basement, and at that time consisted only of Jason and Grant. They pioneered investigative techniques that many other paranormal investigators use. In 2003 they were approached by Pilgrim Films and taped ten episodes of "Ghost Hunters" for the Sci Fi (now Syfy) channel. + +== Media == + +=== Books === +Starting in 2007, Jason and Grant began releasing a series of books related to their work and experiences in the paranormal as well as several fiction books. + +=== Magazine === + +TAPS publishes a bi-monthly publication called TAPS Paramagazine (also known as TAPS Para Mag), which features articles written by group members and information pertaining to the paranormal. Hawes stated in an interview on the skeptical podcast 'Audiomartini' that the magazine is marketed primarily in an attempt to "fund the TAPS operation." The magazine itself states that "TAPS Para Magazine is a financial sponsor of The Atlantic Paranormal Society." The average issue is approximately 39 pages in length and in 2006 was marketed by offering a behind-the-scenes DVD of the show to new subscribers. + +=== Radio show and podcast === +In April 2007, Beyond Reality Radio, a radio talk show that featured TAPS co-founders and Ghost Hunters stars Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, began broadcasting on select radio stations in the New England area. Airing Saturdays from 7 to 10 pm, Jason and Grant interviewed guests about the Paranormal and allowed listeners to call in to contribute to the discussion. The show was produced by Amy Bruni, with help from Dave Gardiner. During the show, listeners could visit the official TAPS website and chat about the show or any other subjects in a moderated chat room. In 2012, Grant Wilson left Ghost Hunters and Beyond Reality Radio. Later on, the publisher/editor of TAPS Para-magazine, JV Johnson took on the role of co-host. Beyond Reality Radio is currently on the air Monday through Thursday, midnight – 2 am ET. +In July 2006, TAPS began releasing podcasts, TAPS Para-Radio, featuring Hawes and Wilson, on a sporadic basis. + +=== Video game === +On December 1, 2007, TAPS released a video game in conjunction with Star Mountain Studios called Apparitions: Red Reef Inn. Available online for PC & Mac, TAPS co-founder Grant Wilson claims that this game is just the start of larger efforts in the interactive media space from TAPS in the future. In January 2010, TAPS and Star Mountain Studios released a hidden object game entitled Apparitions: Kotsmine Hills. + +== Methods == +TAPS sends a group of 3 to 8 members to perform an 8- to 16-hour investigation, covering multiple nights, employing a number of infrared and digital video cameras, thermal camera devices, EMF (electromagnetic field) detectors, digital thermometers, and other equipment throughout the site in question. While at a site, the members of the team often find common explanations for the claims of the occupants. In conclusion, the team will report on its findings, and express their opinion that a site is "haunted" or "not haunted." They distinguish themselves from other paranormal groups by going into a case by claiming they wish to disprove a haunting. TAPS does not charge their clients for the investigations or consulting. + +== Criticism == + +According to investigator Benjamin Radford most ghost hunting groups including TAPS make many methodological mistakes. "After watching episodes of Ghost Hunters and other similar programs, it quickly becomes clear to anyone with a background in science that the methods used are both illogical and unscientific". Anyone can be a ghost investigator, "failing to consider alternative explanations for anomalous ... phenomena", considering emotions and feelings as "evidence of ghostly encounters". "Improper and unscientific investigation methods" for example "using unproven tools and equipment", "sampling errors", "ineffectively using recording devices" and "focusing on the history of the location...and not the phenomena". In his article for Skeptical Inquirer Radford concludes that ghost hunters should care about doing a truly scientific investigation: "I believe that if ghosts exist, they are important and deserve to be taken seriously. Most of the efforts to investigate ghosts so far have been badly flawed and unscientific — and, not surprisingly, fruitless." \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..febb25f86 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ +--- +title: "The Atlantic Paranormal Society" +chunk: 2/2 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atlantic_Paranormal_Society" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:05.811936+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +== Non-profit status issues == +In 2006, a website called "SAPS" ("Skeptical Analysis of the Paranormal Society") conducted an investigation into the status and legitimacy of the TAPS non-profit status. In several places on their website it stated that they were non-profit and did investigations free of charge, however did accept donations and held a raffle to win various branded merchandise. The site claimed that repeated attempts to clarify the subject was met with negative responses. It broadened its investigation by searching for its status both federally and at the state level and found no evidence that they were a registered non-profit organization. They also found that the raffle was in violation of the state's gambling laws as it allowed those that could be under the age of 18 to participate. +In February 2007, TAPS issued a statement regarding the status. It stated that they, "...by no means meant to give the appearance that we had non-profit status. By this, we meant that we do not make any profit at all from investigating. We couldn't simply say 'TAPS makes no money whatsoever' because TAPS does gather meager funds from the occasional donation and membership dues. The money that comes in does NOT come from the client in direct relation to a case, nor does it go into anyone's pocket. So, therefore we used the term non-profit." +They have since changed non-profit to "free volunteer organization" to clear up any misconceptions and have been working on filing for the appropriate status but claim that it is very difficult for a paranormal group to do in Rhode Island. + +== Notable members == +Members of TAPS can be found worldwide. TAPS has also made honorary members of some celebrities who have participated in investigations filmed for the Ghost Hunters TV series, several of whom, such as Tapping and The Miz, appear in programming produced by the show's parent network, Syfy. They include the following people. + +Jodi Picoult – Tag along Member (1996) +CM Punk – Honorary Member (2006) +Elijah Burke – Honorary Member (2007) +The Miz – Honorary Member (2008) +Amanda Tapping – Honorary Member (2008) +Colin Ferguson – Honorary Member (2008) +Meat Loaf – Honorary Member (2009) +Kofi Kingston – Honorary Member (2010) +Joe Maddalena – Honorary Member (2010) +Meaghan Rath – Honorary Member (2010) +Allison Scagliotti – Honorary Member (2010) + +== TAPS Family networking == +Many paranormal investigation groups network and assist similar member groups across the nation and around the world. TAPS invites paranormal research organizations into its own network, and may refer cases to them. These organizations are part of a network called the TAPS Family. Member organizations put a "TAPS Family Member" banner on their websites, which link to The Atlantic Paranormal Society's web page. A list of member organizations is available at the TAPS Family Website. + +== See also == +Ghost hunting +List of reportedly haunted locations + +== References == + +== External links == +Official website \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critical_Eye-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critical_Eye-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..44a0c6c8f --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critical_Eye-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,33 @@ +--- +title: "The Critical Eye" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critical_Eye" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:18:22.558528+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Critical Eye is a Discovery Science Channel documentary series examining pseudoscientific and paranormal phenomena. The eight-part documentary series aired from October 2002 through February 2003 and was hosted by actor and scientific skeptic William B. Davis. + + +== Series description == +The Critical Eye, alternately labeled as just Critical Eye, was produced by the Discovery Science Channel, and was produced in association with Skeptical Inquirer Magazine. The show was described by cosmolearning.org as "William B. Davis hosts this programme bringing to the viewers the science behind the paranormal and the unexplained." + + +== Historical event references == +The series discusses several notable events: + +The 1990 civil trial brought against Judas Priest alleging subliminal messaging in their music +The Stargate Project +The Phoenix Lights +The Roswell UFO incident +Project Blue Book +The Heaven's Gate mass suicide + + +== Episodes == +Each episode of the series consists of four or five segments focused specifically on one pseudoscientific or paranormal phenomenon. Each segment begins by explaining the phenomenon in question, discusses it with both scientists/skeptics and proponents/believers, and concludes with street interviews regarding the legitimacy of the phenomenon in question. + + +== References == \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..17b793db9 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +--- +title: "The Goop Lab" +chunk: 1/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:24.609115+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +The Goop Lab (also known as The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow) is an American documentary series about the lifestyle and wellness company Goop, founded by American actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who acts as host and executive producer of the series. The series premiered on January 24, 2020, on Netflix. +The Goop Lab was nominated for two 2020 Critics Choice Real TV Awards. The partnership with Netflix led to criticism of the streaming company for giving Gwyneth Paltrow a platform to promote her company, which has been criticized for making unsubstantiated health claims. The series presented anecdotes and experiences in place of scientifically validated facts. Some headlines called the series a "win for pseudoscience," while others praised the series for a positive look at women's issues and its exploration of alternative medical interventions. + +== Premise == +In The Goop Lab, Gwyneth Paltrow and employees at her wellness and lifestyle company Goop "explore ideas that may seem out-there," namely, psychedelic drugs, Wim Hof's cold therapy, female sexuality, anti-aging diets, "energy" healing, and communication with the dead. +Topics and the series' presentation have been criticized as pseudoscientific. Prior to each episode, there is a disclaimer: "The following series is designed to entertain and inform – not provide medical advice". + +== Episodes == + +== Production == +In February 2019, it was announced that Netflix had accepted a six-part series showcasing Goop. On January 6, 2020, Netflix released the first trailer, and announced that the series would be released on January 24, 2020. +The series is executive produced by Paltrow, Elise Loehnen, Andrew Fried, Shauna Minoprio, and Dane Lillegard for Boardwalk Pictures. +In September 2020, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season of six 30-minute episodes on Netflix. + +== Reception == + +=== Critical response === + +Before The Goop Lab was released to reviewers, various media outlets criticized Netflix for producing a series with Goop based on previous criticism of the company. Many sources described the show as promoting pseudoscience. Mia de Graaf wrote in Business Insider Malaysia that the series "can legitimize unscientific, magical thinking about health, as well as pseudoscientific therapies... [and] further erode the foundations and trust in scientific professions." Jonathan Jarry of McGill's Office for Science and Society wrote "The core problem with the series, in my opinion, is its coronation of personal experience... [Such] anecdotes are dirty data: they are contaminated by a dozen variables..." Ars Technica similarly accused the series of making as if "the subjective experiences of a few select individuals are equivalent to the results of randomized, controlled clinical trials..." Some of the criticism regarding pseudoscience focused on Netflix. +Other critics concluded that science and medicine are not the correct standards by which to judge the Netflix series. The series announced in a disclaimer before each episode that "The following series is designed to entertain and inform — not provide medical advice." Monica Hesse wrote in The Washington Post: "Maybe you [Gwyneth Paltrow] owe people more than curiosity. Maybe you owe them vigilance. And maybe this is getting too solemn a viewing exercise that was meant to be a lark. 'The Goop Lab' ultimately doesn’t make a serious dent in conventional wisdom. Most of the crazy-sounding claims eventually wind their way toward something reasonable." Jen Chaney wrote in Vulture: "Goop, the website, has been called out before for pushing pseudoscience, and Netflix seems quite aware of that. Every episode is preceded by a disclaimer that says, 'The following series is designed to entertain and inform — not provide medical advice.' The truth is that none of the episodes seems to be trying to provide medical advice, really. And for the most part, the ideas they explore aren’t super-woo-woo as much as they are a bit experimental. If you’re the kind of person who thinks traditional thinking and standard Western medicine don’t always adequately address every ailment that afflicts humans — and a great many rational individuals feel this way — a lot of what’s in The Goop Lab won’t seem completely out there." Regarding the disclaimer's visibility, another review pointed out that it was shown for just seven seconds in each episode, implying it would be unnoticed or ignored by viewers. +BBC News reported on topics covered by three of the episodes: \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-1.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..607347cd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,19 @@ +--- +title: "The Goop Lab" +chunk: 2/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:24.609115+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +Psychedelics psychotherapy: "The use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes has increased in recent years, with continuing studies in the US and the UK exploring their short-term and long-term impact on mental health disorders. They have so far been linked to having potentially positive effects related to the treatment of addiction, anxiety related to terminal illness, chronic PTSD, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety... While it found little to no evidence of participants experiencing increased life satisfaction, researchers indicated there were lower levels of stress and depression reported." Regarding microdosing, they reported "The use of such powerful psychedelics outside of a controlled environment and without the proper medical expertise is not recommended by medical professionals." +Cold exposure therapy: "There is some science behind Mr Hof's claims... However, cold-water swimming can be very dangerous - and there is a significant risk of hypothermia when not done in a controlled setting. There is also a risk from the body's acute cold shock response, which may affect the arm muscles while swimming and can lead to incapacitation and potential drowning within minutes if unsupervised." +Energy healing: "Currently, there is no scientific evidence proving such energy exists." Regarding John Amaral's statements regarding quantum physics' proving his claims, physics professor Philip Moriarty told BBC News that Amaral's attempts to relate the theory to his practice were "pure and utter nonsense." +The final episode on psychic mediumship was called "socially irresponsible" by Bob Nygaard, a private detective specializing in psychic fraud investigations, in an article in Skeptical Inquirer. When asked about Paltrow's motivations for airing the episode, Nygaard said "I wouldn’t presume to know whether or not Gwyneth Paltrow understands the gravity of promoting self-proclaimed psychics… but I, like you, fear that [this] will increase the likelihood of more vulnerable people being defrauded." New Scientist wrote "Paltrow interviews a scientist who says she has carried out rigorous studies that prove mediums are real. But other work has shown that scientists are too easily fooled and that the best people at catching out mediums are professional magicians and illusionists. The researcher rolls out another cliche – 'science is just one way of knowing' – which leaves me sceptical that she is appropriately sceptical." +Arielle Pardes wrote in Wired that "the show has its fair share of 'junk science, gibberish, and unproven health claims from snake-oil-salesmen guests,' as some reviews have pointed out. But there are reputable experts who share real science, too. The first episode, about the benefits of psychedelics, features an interview with Mark Haden, the executive director of MAPS Canada. MAPS, or the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, works closely with the FDA and promotes academic research and clinical studies around the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. Another episode, on female orgasm, features Betty Dodson, the 90-year-old sex educator whose work has been instrumental in understanding pleasure." According to a spokesperson for Goop, the episode featuring Dodson was the most popular of the first season. The episode was shown in a Manhattan movie theater in December 2019 and received a standing ovation. Wired UK, Victoria Turk was positive about the focus on the possible therapeutic applications of these drugs: "in the past two decades, research studies and clinical trials have been conducted that involve LSD, psilocybin and other substances that we usually think of in a recreational context, often with the aim of exploring treatments for mental health disorders such as depression, addiction and PTSD," but bored by the lack of rigorous scientific discussion: "This is where the episode really starts getting boring. ... [T]he exploration of the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics becomes so vague that we don’t really learn anything at all. It’s not that there’s much wrong exactly; it’s more that there’s very little substance to begin with. The Goop members laugh, cry and cry some more. There’s lots of talking about feelings that’s all a bit too much for my British sensibility, and some very awkward-to-watch hugging." +The episode on women's sexual pleasure, in another Wired UK review, Sophie Charara wrote that "Despite its star’s shaky grip on anatomy, this episode manages to cover some of the most damaging sexual myths and taboos that still persist today." Similarly, writing for ABC, Olivia Willis said that since "Goop's record on women's health is not strong... You can imagine my surprise (and utter delight) to find 35 minutes of vulva anatomy, body positivity and frank discussions about women's sexual health and autonomy. The success of this episode is, in large part, thanks to Betty Dodson, a 90-year-old feminist sex educator and her colleague, Carlin Ross, who run workshops that aim to empower women with knowledge about their bodies. Dodson notes that many women feel shame or embarrassment when it comes to sex, and most of the episode is spent trying to counter this." +Critics were also divided on the series' entertainment value. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes shows an approval rating of 29% based on 31 reviews; its "critic's consensus" reads: "Though it benefits from Paltrow's charms, The Goop Lab's pseudoscience holds little water and its stiff format is often more boring than enlightening." Ars Technica, a Condé Nast publication, concluded that "the show is just, well, boring." Writing in Vox under the headline "Netflix’s The Goop Lab pushes flimsy wellness trends. But it’s strong on vulvas," Julia Belluz who had previously published a reaction to the series trailer said that "When we watched the actual show, we found it was generally less edgy than the trailer suggested — some episodes were downright boring (like the 'health-span plan' about dieting for longevity), while others contained useful health messages (such as caring for and loving your body)" +Jen Chaney in Vulture wrote that "I was fully prepared to hate The Goop Lab... I regret to inform everyone on the internet, where it’s become a competitive sport to vocally loathe Paltrow and her website that sells vagina-scented candles for $75, that The Goop Lab isn’t particularly hateable. Some of the episodes are even helpful... the half-hour installments, which each focus on a specific wellness topic and recruit Goop employees to try out various treatments and therapies, are actually interesting and informative. My chief complaint about The Goop Lab, believe it or not, is that its episodes need to be a little longer. I just wrote that sentence and meant it. I know: It’s unbelievable to me, too!" +Variety wrote that "Paltrow is a compelling host — not giving too much of herself away, ever stopping short of pure endorsement of any topic even as she gives it air — on what is a carefully structured, elegantly built, compulsively watchable show about, mainly, complete nonsense." Entertainment Weekly said the series was "either unexpectedly moving or morally disgusting." Reviewing the show for the Washington Post, Monica Hesse was generally critical of Goop but begrudgingly praised Paltrow: "Maybe one day I’ll understand how I can actually love Gwyneth Paltrow, and yet find that, when I open my mouth, only snark comes out. Is it that I find her earnestness both poignant and poisonous? Do I fear my own inner truth? \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-2.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-2.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..de9e4e398 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab-2.md @@ -0,0 +1,29 @@ +--- +title: "The Goop Lab" +chunk: 3/3 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goop_Lab" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:20:24.609115+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +I’d wager that anyone making time for “The Goop Lab” is coming to it from a similar place: A love-hate desire to know what she's actually like when she doles out the advice that usually appears, disembodied, on her website. And the answer is: Thoughtful. Open. Searching. Curiosity is hard to fake, and Gwyneth has it, whether she's asking a doctor to explain his psychedelic research or querying one of her assistants/guinea pigs about the effects of an experiment." Daley Quinn similarly appraised Paltrow: "Despite the fact that many of these episodes made me thoroughly uncomfortable, I couldn't help but become absolutely entranced by Paltrow, with her orphic aqua eyes, pastel outfits and aggressively California-cool-girl vibe. As I binged my way though [sic] the episodes, I found her to be unfailingly funny and entertaining, and I came to understand why so many flock to her site daily in the hopes of Goop-ifying their lives." +In The New York Times, Elisa Albert and Jennifer Block gave a feminist critique of the criticism targeting The Goop Lab and Goop: "what underlies all the overwhelming, predictable, repetitive critiques? What exactly is so awful about a bunch of consenting adults seeking self-knowledge, vitality and emotional freedom? ... The tsunami of Goop hatred is best understood within a context that is much older and runs much deeper than Twitter, streaming platforms, consumerism or capitalism. Throughout history, women in particular have been mocked, reviled, and murdered for maintaining knowledge and practices that frightened, confused and confounded 'the authorities.' (Namely the church, and later, medicine.) Criticism of Goop is founded, at least in part, upon deeply ingrained reserves of fear, loathing, and ignorance about things we cannot see, touch, authenticate, prove, own or quantify. It is emblematic of a cultural insistence that we quash intuitive measures and 'other' ways of knowing — the sort handed down via oral tradition, which, for most women throughout history, was the only way of knowing. In other words, it’s classic patriarchal devaluation." +Pardes focused her Wired review on the idea of hope: "What the show does most candidly, though, is shine a light on the desperation people feel when science cannot understand their pain. Throughout the series, we meet a Goop staffer suffering from a panic disorder, another who’s dealing with the trauma of her father’s suicide, and another who has trouble with intimacy since coming out as gay. Between the interviews and the staff stunts, there are various 'case studies,' like a veteran who tried to kill himself multiple times before finding MDMA-assisted therapy. If The Goop Lab is an infomercial for the products it sells, it’s also a portrait of the average Goop aficionado. They’ve been failed by everything else; if a $300 crystal can make them feel better, why not try? If anyone stands to gain from The Goop Lab, though, it’s not the viewers, or the staffers who jump at the chance to go on a 'shroom trip. It’s the people whose products and alternative therapies are showcased on screen, each of whom can expect a sizable dose of interest after the exposure from Paltrow’s show. After watching so many of Goop’s staffers open up about their personal challenges and traumas, it’s hard not to root for them to find a little peace. If energy healing does the trick, well, so be it." + +=== Accolades === +In 2020, the series was nominated for two Critics' Choice Real TV Awards, which "recognize excellence in nonfiction, unscripted and reality programming across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms." The series was nominated for "Best Lifestyle Show: Fashion/Beauty", and Gwyneth Paltrow was nominated for "Best Female Star of the Year." +In 2021, the series was nominated by the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards as a "Best Critical TV Show." + +== See also == +(Un)well (TV series) + +== Notes == + +== References == + +== External links == +The Goop Lab on Netflix +The Goop Lab episode notes on Goop.com +The Goop Lab at IMDb \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bates_(physician)-0.md b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bates_(physician)-0.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..979689f7e --- /dev/null +++ b/data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bates_(physician)-0.md @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +--- +title: "William Bates (physician)" +chunk: 1/1 +source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bates_(physician)" +category: "reference" +tags: "science, encyclopedia" +date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:17:20.291653+00:00" +instance: "kb-cron" +--- + +William Horatio Bates (December 23, 1860 – July 10, 1931) was an American physician who practiced ophthalmology and developed what became known as the Bates method for better eyesight. The method was based in his theory that the eye does not focus by changing the power of the lens, but rather by elongating the eyeball through use of the extraocular oblique muscles; this model contradicted mainstream ophthalmology and optometry then and now. + + +== Career == +Bates graduated A.B. from Cornell University in 1881 and received his medical degree at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1885. He formulated a theory about vision health, and published the book Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920, and the magazine Better Eyesight from 1919 to 1930. Parts of Bates' approach to treating vision disorders were based on psychological principles that were contrary to many of the medical theories of the time and remain so. The Bates method still enjoys some limited acceptance as a modality of alternative medicine. +Bates treated many patients, who claimed to have been cured of vision defects, especially myopia. This brought him into conflict with his peers. He defended himself by claiming that other physicians were in thrall to the establishment. + + +== Bates' publications == + +Because the copyrights have expired, the original version of Perfect Sight Without Glasses (or The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses) is now in the public domain. In 1943, an abridged version was published under the title Better Eyesight Without Glasses, which removed some of the most controversial points, such as the claim that "perfectly remembering black" is a suitable substitute for anaesthesia, and recommendations to look at the sun. + + +== Disappearance == +On August 30, 1902, Bates wrote a letter to his wife while she was visiting her mother and sent her some books and instruments from his apartment. In the letter he said that he had been "called out of town to some major operations", and would be accompanying an old student, Dr. Forche. Bates expressed excitement over the potential of receiving a large sum of money for this, and promised to write more details later. His wife received no further letters from him. +Six weeks later he was found to be working as an assistant in Charing Cross Hospital, London, after reportedly being first admitted as a patient. His wife then travelled there and found him in a nervous state suffering from apparent amnesia. She invited him to stay with her in the Savoy Hotel. Two days later, he disappeared again. His wife continued searching for him after his second disappearance, but subsequently died before finding him again. +In 1910, an old colleague of Bates, Dr. J. E. Kelly, was travelling through Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he encountered Bates practicing. He subsequently persuaded Bates to return to New York and share an office with him, where he is said to have "worked as hard and as successfully as he had done before his original disappearance". + + +== Personal life == +William Horatio Bates was born on December 23, 1860, to Charles and Amelia Halsey Bates. +Bates was married three times. He first married Edith Kitchell in 1883, with whom he had a son: Charles Halsey Bates; Kitchell died in 1886. He then married Margaret Crawford, with whom he had a daughter, Milo Bates, and a son, William Crawford Bates. After being widowed again, in 1928 he married Emily C. Lierman, his long-time personal assistant. +His son, Charles Halsey Bates disappeared in August 1928. +Bates enjoyed playing tennis and was once the North Dakota State Champion. He was also an avid runner who enjoyed literature and astronomy. +He died on July 10, 1931, after a year-long illness. His will excluded his eldest son, who was still missing at the time. + + +== Discovery of the medical use of adrenaline == +Bates also discovered the astringent and haemostatic properties of the substance produced by the adrenal glands, and its value in medicine, especially in surgeries. The substance was later commercialized as adrenaline. + + +== See also == +Norma Shearer +Daniel A. Poling +Aldous Huxley + + +== References == + + +== External links == +Nate Pedersen (8 March 2018). "The Mysterious Disappearance—and Strange Reappearance—of Dr. William Horatio Bates". Mental Floss. \ No newline at end of file