The Hidden Messages in Water

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Summary: Pseudoscience at its best
Review: I first became aware of Dr. Emoto's claims through the subway scene in the movie "What the BLEEP do we know?" I applied several tools from Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit to the claims. I searched the peer-reviewed scientific literature in the PubMed database at National Library of Medicine and, among the 12 million or so articles there, I found a single report by Dr. Emoto in what appeared to be a reputable journal. However, upon closer inspection, the article was described in this journal as a "Photoessay" and did not even come close to meeting the criteria for a true scientific study. If anyone can validate the results of Dr. Emoto's version of homeopathy, James Randi may have a million-dollar prize for you. If you want to be truly inspired by the awe and mystery and spirituality of nature, check out Ursula Goodenough's book.

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Summary: This research shows how intention can change matter.....
Review: This book will get you to think about how our intentions can change matter. I've heard of a woman that heals only with water in Mexico, now I understand how she can do it. Water crystals are beautiful with good intentions and malformed with negative intentions. Mr. Emoto has proved water's structure can be altered with thought, pictures and music. Imagine what that can do for us considering we and our environment are mostly made up of water. It's an easy read and I highly recommend this book.

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Summary: Intriguing Research on Healing, Consciousness, & Energy
Review: This is a repackaged version of the research and photos of Dr. Emoto that were originally in a set of books that included a Japanese version of the text. This research has been popularized by a number of holistic health practitioners and new science/new thought metaphysical advocates. Emoto's evidence is very impressive, although I don't think he fully understands how the water reacts to its environment in some instances, such as the response of water to specific words. Words are energetically connected to human concepts, so the word actually transmits the concept/idea/feeling that people associate it with rather than the word actually having an energy apart from the consciousness of those who have used the word. If everyone suddenly decided that "satan" "devil" and "Hitler" were positive forces then those words could become positive influences on water. Water is inherently a neutral compound - neutral pH, etc., which is perfect for transmitting energy and information without corrupting the information. Emoto has done wonderful work examining water all over the world and seeing how water reacts to a variety of environmental stimuli. Follow-up controlled research would be useful to examine how human beliefs, intentions, and consciusness may influence how water responds to various tangible or recordable stimuli. This book is valuable even just for the water crystal photos throughout the book, and should inspire more people with materialistic, mechanistic views to expand their awareness.