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Consider for a moment an imaginary planet we’ll call Dentura. Dentura is notable for the remarkably receptive quality of its water. The crystalline structure of Denturan water is influenced by human thought and expression. For example, if one plays an elegantly constructed musical symphony to a bowl of Denturan water, and then freezes that water and takes a photograph of its crystals, one will discover elegantly constructed crystals. If, however, one were to play Denturan heavy metal music to Denturan water, resultant ice crystals would be found, upon photographic imaging, to be harsh and discordant. Imagine further, that the astounding qualities of Denturan water don’t stop there. If pieces of paper on which kind words are typed are then wrapped around Denturan water bottles, pretty water crystals will be found. Harsh language will result in harsh looking crystals. Nor is Denturan water less responsive to human speech and emotion. Water spoken to nicely will form, upon freezing, attractive crystalline structures, while the crystalline state of water subjected to a rebuke will be quite disturbed. One other strange facet of Dentura involves Denturan science. Unlike the science practiced on Earth, Denturan science has no peer review, no burden of reproducibility, no organized controls, and no logical or analytical assessment of data. In considering, The Hidden Messages of Water, the popular book by Masaru Emoto, we find that its author has, using Denturan scientific methodology, discovered the properties of Denturan water in Earth water. When Emoto and his support staff "wrapped a piece of paper with words typed on it around a bottle of water" they discovered that "words meaning ‘thank you’ in different languages , always resulted in crystals that were beautiful and complete." When words which"indicated harm to humans were shown to the water, no crystals formed. It even appears that the words ‘You make me sick’ created the shape of a man with a gun." In terms of the musical sensibility of water placed "on a table between two speakers and expose(d to) a volume at which a person might normally listen to music," Mozart’s 4th symphony "created crystals that were delicate and elegant. while heavy metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals at best." Crystals formed from water exposed to Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel, "as if to mimic the song... divided into two parts." On other fronts "A crystal shown the photograph of a crop circle looked like a UFO." Water told "‘you’re beautiful’ a few times by children’" looks like a partially formed crystal, while water told "‘you’re beautiful’ several times by children’" formed perfect crystals. When the "water was ignored" by the children the crystals were relatively unformed. "Water shown a wholesome television show" resulted in a well formed hexagon while water subjected to a mobile telephone was a crystalline mess. Caroline Myss, best selling author of Sacred Contracts, and The Anatomy of the Spirit declares that "The Hidden Messages of Water is magnificent. Through his genius, and superb scientific skill, Dr. Masaru Enmoto has created a book that is truly a mystical treasure." This assessment is clearly absurd. Nothing could be less scientific that The Hidden Messages of Water. After all, if water is really as receptive to humans stimuli as Emoto asserts, a thousand factors could affect its crystalline integrity. Water exposed to the most sublime music could be fouled on the way to the freezer by a lab assistant in a foul mood for example, or even a lab assistant humming a Metallica song in her head on the way to the freezer. Water held by a thirsty lab assistant could be induced into a molecular panic resulting fused and deformed crystals. Marcus Laux, ND, Editor of Naturally Today, writes that "as with Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, Dr. Emoto clear vision helps us see ourselves and our universe differently." We should note that, in terms of scientific credentials, Dr. Emoto, is a Doctor of Alternative Medicine and nopt a scientist. Dr. Emoto certainly does "help us see ourselves and our universe differently" but perhaps less in the manner of Galileo, Newton or Einstein, and more in the manner of Monty Python, whose credo "and now for something completely different" is in perfect harmony with Dr. Emoto’s work. Hidden Messages in water is a very entertaining book. And if Emoto has mistaken Earth water for Denturan water, and Earth science for Denturan science, where is the harm. If a silly idea taken seriously is harmful we should be guarding ourselves from Monty Python episodes rather than spending good money on obtaining a complete set of DVD’s. If Dr. Emoto wishes his enterprise to be seen as scientific, no matter how ill advised he is to court science for such a dubious, speculative enterprise, we should applaud his judgement therefore, because the book is much more fun as a result. The silliest thing about Dr. Emoto’s book is how anthropocentric it is, how utterly fixated on human expression Emoto depicts water as being. A million other factors might be thought to impact a substance as sensitive as Emoto’s water. A deer coming down for a drink might make it happy, a mosquito eying a water bowl as a potential nesting ground make it unsettled, who knows? Yet Emoto’s water is impacted profoundly, and uniquely by us. And perhaps that’s appropriate, after all it’s not deer and mosquitos that have made The Hidden Messages in Water so popular. |
