Pseudoscience unchallenged at IIT Kanpur
Disclaimer: The views expressed are based on the honest beliefs of the writer, and are not intended for any personal attack on the individuals involved. The following debunking is an attempt to spread scientific temperament and dispelling dangerous pseudo-science in public’s interest.
The biggest spiritual Guru in the world – the founder of the largest spiritual movement, the Art of Living foundation and its trademarked ‘Sudarshan Kriya’ breathing technique – the man popularly known as “Sri Sri” Ravishankar, gave a talk on “Secrets of Success” to students at the flourishing premises of IIT Kanpur, which in its own right is arguably one of the best technical universities in the Indian subcontinent. The entire speech was recorded by Students TeleVision Club, popularly known as STV and a copy of it was posted to YouTube in November, 2011.
In this hour long talk laced with contemporary spiritual jargon, occasional mentions of India’s golden fall from glory, Mr. Ravishankar, at the 42m 23s mark, called for a volunteer to come up on stage for a surprise demonstration, the details of which were not immediately revealed. One of the students from the back rows of the auditorium was chosen to share the dais. The chosen volunteer, a lean-framed male student wearing a black t-shirt with horizontal white stripes, was asked to extend his arm parallel to the floor, clinch his fist and resist the pulling down of his arm. Mr. Ravishankar, gripping the volunteer’s arm near the wrist, was able to pull down his arm easily over and over again, much to the amusement of the audience. He then produced from his pocket a small vial containing an unknown fluid, and shed a few drops on the volunteer’s arm. The volunteer was then asked to rub and spread this oil over his arm. After the volunteer took a step back and a deep breath to relax, the whole exercise was repeated again – except this time Mr. Ravishankar struggled quite hard to pull down the volunteer’s arm, amazing the vast audience. The volunteer, visibly impressed and believing that he had in fact become stronger in a matter of seconds after the application of the oil, went onto fall at the feet (cultural practice of surrender) of his new Guru Mr. Ravishankar. Following the thundering applause from his audience, Mr. Ravishankar went on to urge stronger volunteers to come forth.
The next male volunteer also went on to fall at the feet of Mr. Ravishankar after his new found strength. The frenzy in the arena seemed to have attracted a male skeptic from the audience to volunteer. He was visibly unimpressed by the arm pull down test and the claim of instantaneous improvement of strength and vigor following the application of a few drops of oil. The skeptic boldly asked for permission to perform the same test on his own test subject on the dais. While the skeptic readied his subjects, Mr. Ravishankar began offering an unscientific principle for the efficacy of his oil, that [sic] “one drop of poison can destroy the body. Can it not destroy? One drop of poison can destroy the immune system. No? The reverse can also happen – one drop of nectar can also strengthen your body.” The collective silence in the arena sounded like a silent hiccup in digesting the machinations uttered by Mr. Ravishankar. What happened afterwards was amateurish at best. The test subjects chosen by the skeptic gave testimonies to the audience that they felt “something different,” and the skeptic had to agree, on the microphone, that he was convinced of the gimmick, much to the delight of the student audience that was already spell bound.
The following part of this article would debunk the pseudo-science that was sold convincingly, and with authority, to an audience that was clearly unwilling to be skeptical of a revered spiritual leader.
The mystery oil, supposed to be containing Amruth and three Ayurvedic herbs, seems very similar to a dietary Herbal supplement (revealed on November 27, 2011) called Shakthi Drops, which are sold for €25 in 30ml vials on Art of Living’s EU website. Even though the directions for use clearly state oral administration after dilution in 150ml of water to build up your “immunity”, Mr. Ravishankar’s participants topically applied it onto their skin under his guidance.
Mr. Ravishankar and the participants involved seem to suggest epidermal absorption of this snake oil to boost their muscle strength. Scientific research reveals that it is very likely (though more studies are required among adults) for the human body to dermally absorb some components, if not all, of the topically applied fluid. That, however, does not imply that the absorbed components would instantaneously boost the immunity in the local region.
Modern scientific knowledge of the human body shows us that physical strength depends on various factors, including anatomy and the strength of the neural signal initiating a contraction of the localized muscle. We can safely say that there is no direct correlation between immunity, a biological property involving defenses against infection, and muscle strength in human beings. Therefore, even if we allow the farfetched claim of immediate boost in immunity to stand, it does not explain the immediate boost in muscle strength. None of these complex properties could be improvised within seconds as asserted by Mr. Ravishankar.
Actually, Mr. Ravishankar employed a derivative of the Delta Test or Arm-Pull-Down test used in Applied Kinesiology, an alternative pseudo-scientific practice. The original Delta Test involves having the test subject repeat a claim or swallow food to find a drop in arm’s resistance, which suggests an allergen or a false claim. Naive and unsophisticated as this may sound, the Delta Test demonstration could leave a powerful ‘visual illusion’ if done properly by a conjurer. The multi-million dollar power balance bracelet industry has fooled millions of people, scores of athletes and celebrities time and again into buying their bracelets using the Arm Pull Down test to their advantage in infomercials.
Numerous studies and controlled experiments have been done for this “test” which led researchers to find out that suggestibility, variations in the amount of force, leverage, the follow-through involved, muscle fatigue and distraction of the test subject can influence the resistance in the stretched arm. Armed with their findings on the pull down arm test, we could scrutinize the video evidence to find similar patterns.
On closer examination of the video, it is clear that Mr. Ravishankar uses a combination of tricks to lend credibility to his illusion. It is obvious in the video that the pivot on the volunteers’ wrists was closer in the first attempt than in the second. Mr. Ravishankar also uses a nice little trick, a slight upward motion in his “first” attempt, as he grips the wrist. It causes the muscles to relax, so that the arm can immediately be pulled downwards. The guffaws from the audience add drama to the spectacle that would ensue.
Watch slight upward motion before easy pull down :
Click to view
After applying his snake oil, Mr. Ravishankar either changes the pivot, or momentarily hesitates in the follow through (not discounting the change in grip) – giving time and a much needed stimulus to the arm muscles to provide greater resistance.
Watch momentary hesitation to generate greater resistance :
Click to view
Another observation is that the subjects are asked to rub vigorously, take a deep breath and relax. When they return for the second attempt, their postures have changed and are better balanced to resist the downward action. Though I had previously alluded that the mystery oil was a deliberate product placement to increase curiosity in Shakthi Drops; it is imperative to state that we may never know its contents definitively. It could have contained alcohol or other (easily vaporizing) components dissolved in DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide) which will be readily absorbed by the skin causing a different sensation in the applied region.
To conclude, Mr. Ravishankar’s exposition of instantaneous boost in immunity and muscle strength is scientifically inconceivable; however a rational explanation involving any number of the following factors – change in sensation, grip, pivot, posture of the subject, power of suggestion and increased reflexes – after the first stretch could have attributed towards greater resistance in the subjects even when tested by the skeptical student after applying the snake oil.
In India, Gurus have always been apotheosized and are considered above reproach for any of their actions. This cultural veneration of the master has rendered many to surrender their faculties of reason and skepticism, even when presented with highly questionable “miracles” and other shenanigans. Though it is very disheartening that a simple arm pull down demonstration was more than enough to brainwash bright minds at IIT Kanpur; it is almost frightening to consider the rest of the masses with far less critical thinking skills, who are just waiting in line to be exploited with pseudo-science by anybody.
Guru Ravishankar owes all of us a sincere explanation for his actions at IIT Kanpur.
The author would like to credit Pratibha Nair, Imran Hussain and Jaya Sharma for their help with this post.
Post Edit :
* Added gifs to pinpoint slight updward motion and momentary hesitation done by Sri Sri Ravishankar.
* Added relevant hyper link for Applied Kinesiology as suggested by Milind Kale.
* Added a youtube link that debunks Applied Kinesiology practices as suggested by Dr. Suraj Rajan.
* Added relevant hyperlink for Dimethyl Sulfoxide as a plausible component in the oil as suggested by Hardik.
Subscribe to RSS
Follow us on twitter
Follow us on facebook
Flickr
Youtube
Any explanation for these articles??
On a Possible Psychophysiology of the Yogic Chakra System (Part 1-3)
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2000/cmay00/chakra1.shtml
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2000/djuly00/chakra2.shtml
http://www.yogamag.net/archives/2000/esep00/chakras3.shtml
It relates the endocrine system to the yogic chakras with appropriate references in peer reviewed journals.
Raj,
* Any explanation for these articles?? *
Why don’t you present the explanation?
Before I comment on these articles, a short intro about myself. I do not believe in any personal form of God or the New Age pseudoscience of cosmic consciousness. I am a strong believer of the scientific method and critical thinking.
That said I like to explore different viewpoints out of curiosity but always being skeptic. I honestly feel that while fighting narrow-mindedness due to blind faith, the scientific community should not reject everything associated with religion or spirituality. If there is an iota of truth in the mountain of gibberish out there, that can really benefit people, it is worth spending some time on it.
I found these articles intriguing in the way it is presented. The article is written by Dr.Serena Roney-Dougal, a British woman with a PhD in Parapsychology. A link to her homepage,
http://www.psi-researchcentre.co.uk/index.html
Parapsychology and psi-research are considered pseudoscience by many. So I am not sure about the credibility of this research. I would be glad to listen to someone debunk it
Nevertheless, I felt the paper was worth a read. I will try to explain what I understood of it and propose my humble ideas. They are in no way decisive/final and totally open to critical review. A healthy debate is good for science
As many of us know, the science of the mind/consciousness is highly complex and is closely associated with the Central Nervous System (CNS). Neuroscientists are yet to find the underlying mechanisms and answer many questions still out there. One possible link that we could be missing out is the relation between the CNS and the endocrine system. Though thoughts and feelings keep arising in the mind, they really matter when they manifest as emotions which are regulated by the hormones secreted by various glands of the body. It could be said that hormones dictate the mental state of a person. But what would be interesting is that this may be a two way relation – The state of the mind could regulate the hormones. I think this is what meditation tries to achieve.
Ok so far so good (I hope so). Now coming to the yogic chakra system. I know there is lot of pseudo-science and quackery associated with it and to make things worse, it has a strong religious/spiritual connotation. Let us not be taken aback by it though. It has been a hot topic of debate and scientists/freethinkers have tried to prove it is complete nonsense. I am trying to step back a little bit and double check on that.
For those who are not familiar with the chakra system, kindly read part 1 of the article (link given above).
The article proposes a correlation between each of the seven chakras with a gland in the human endocrine system. The ‘psychic’ aspect or the characteristic of a chakra is associated with the appropriate hormone secreted by its corresponding gland. The most interesting of them is the pineal gland in the brain. This is associated with ajna chakra or ‘gnana-drishti’ as famously known.
The pinoline and melatonin hormones are said to play an important role in the physical aspect due to the activation of this gland. Infact, pinoline is hallucinogenic and is said to be used in lot of tribes for ‘spiritual awakening’ or ‘higher states of consciousness’ (refer to article). This point was exciting to me as this could give a simple explanation to the ‘psychic’ revelations experienced by ‘spiritual’ people. They just got some pinoline secreting from their pineal glands! Please check the article for explanation on other glands.
So we might ask, what use is it to activate these chakras/glands? Is it going to give us miraculous powers? Make us attain ‘moksha’ and reach ‘God’? I do not think so. But a possible benefit in understanding the chakras, essentially the endocrine system, could be to help us control and regulate our instincts/emotions. That would really help us live a more peaceful and meaningful life. This looks sane enough to me.
Comments welcome
PS: Most of spiritual writings are adulterated, filled with jargons and gibberish. But I think even peer review publications are not perfect. As a skeptic, we need to swim through the ocean of irrelevant info to reach the pearl of truth. So please read with caution but do have an open mind
thanks for your insight, I will take a look at those links.
Why go through piles of yogic garbage in the hope of possibly finding few bits of truth about endocrinology when we can obtain all that is to be learnt by reading a book on endocrinology?
Please answer this question with out repeatedly calling yourself a skeptic and a freethinker.
Yes I agree we can read a book about endocrinology if you want to know only about that. But I wanted to suggest that there could be valid science behind the chakra system which seems to link endocrinology and the CNS. This could help mainstream science and medicine to develop and progress in areas which are still not fully understood.
If you think its just total nonsense, then I would like to know if you can point me to some evidence against it. That was why I posted this in the first place. I will be happy to learn about any scientific arguments on this topic.
Thanks
What you find in mainstream scientific literature consists of the body of knowledge build over the years through rigorous and painstaking research conducted using the scientific method. On other hand what you find in yogic literature is stuff pulled out of thin air by a bunch of illiterate gurus from the dark ages. Science has nothing to learn from such gibberish.
But hindutwadis do not understand this. They will pick some terms from yogic literature and say that these terms are the same as the terms in scientific literature and act as if ancient Hindus have something to contribute to the scientific community.
Here is an exercise for the hindutwadis. First start by forgeting everything you know about endrocrinology. Then start from yogic literature and rebuild the body of knowledge that is currently encompassed by the field of endocrinology. Let us see how far you go.
While the hindutwadis will not go too far the scientists can totally ignore yogic literature and still tell how the endocrine system works and how it fails and how it can be fixed it it fails.
That is the difference between science and quackery.
I join you in blasting all who want to piggyback on scientifc findings to justify any religious concepts.
Religion by its very nature is not conceptual but experiential.
It is subjective, not objective.And nothing can’t be called crap because it does not fall into an objective framework. That’s what religions have been doing for long,disregarding that which doesn’t follow their framework. Their is no merit in REPEATING a folly.
However, the parallels in two knowledge systems is an interesting field of knowledge itself. It needs to be given a chance.
On the other hand, just like I would read a book on endrocrinology to know about it, I would need to directly experience my own chakras. No theory can give me a direct shot.Expecting theorotical knowledge to be of help in this matter is a waste of time.
“current body of knowledge about endocrinology”-How old is this “current” knowledge? 400-500 years at max?Do we mean to say that the entire human civilization dating back atleast 10000 years has NOTHING to contribute in our “current” knowledge? Please try cutting out language,geometry,numbers,astronomy from our current civilization and then ascertain whether many parts of the world would have been inhabited in the first place, forget sophiticated infrastructure for scientific discovery.
Many Yogis like Charak, Patanjali etc were also inventors in their own right. As far as chakras go, please appreciate their discovery by pure inner observation in an age without electricity, microscopes, communication networks or any such thing. Isn’t that one hell of a discovery?
Ashmant,
Just like you are entitled to your subjective experiences, so are others. If those others call as nonsense your expectation of what they should be experiencing just because you experienced it, the least you could do is respect their call as their subjective experience and leave it at that. But if you insist on finding fault with their call, then you are appealing to something other than subjective experience and that couldn’t be anything but something to do with an objective framework.
“What you find in mainstream scientific literature consists of the body of knowledge build over the years through rigorous and painstaking research conducted using the scientific method. On other hand what you find in yogic literature is stuff pulled out of thin air by a bunch of illiterate gurus from the dark ages. Science has nothing to learn from such gibberish.” -What you find in Yogic literature is a result of lifetimes of practice.Plus “illeterate” is a very vague term, considering that the whole body of technological education is a relatively young phenomenon in a million year old species. Owing to lack of knowledge on telecommunication systems coz they remained undiscovered in his time, I can call Newton illeterate if I want to. And I’m as sceptical of these displays as any of you. But without experimenting on Yoga yourself, your arguments are a far cry from an open, scientific, experimentative attitude.
Ignorance is being a sceptic and not knowing you are a sceptic. If you think you are a sceptic, you are no longer a sceptic because you have a clue of something beyond. So, in reality, you can never know whether you are a sceptic or not!
A skeptic is stuck in a paradigm and closes all other possibilities. But this creation is of all possibilities. As one understands the paradigm shift, scepticism is removed.
A real scientist can never afford to be a skeptic because skepticism closes down possibilities and does not continue to probe into unknown areas of existence.
In short, skepticism is an “I know it all” attitude, and this attitude is unscientific. Skepticism is dispelled by Knowledge. Perception and inference are two means of knowing.
In every human being deep inside, there is faith and love. What you think is skepticism is only a thin layer. If you hold in your mind that they are skeptics you empower their skepticism.
Do not recognize someone’s skepticism and try to argue with them. Argument strengthens their skepticism. Fear of interference in one’s freedom brings more resistance and causes skepticism.
Your silence and the smile from your heart will dispel their skepticism. There is nothing better than silence to break skepticism. Silence means the quality of consciousness, not just keeping lips tight.
Skepticism doesn’t come up in children. It comes only with people who walk with boundaries. Children have no skepticism. They live in their fantasy world, a world of many possibilities. Their world is one of innocence, joy, beauty, and so much love.
therefore one should not be skeptic when sri sri ravishankar fools people by rubbing oil and sell shakti drops.
How there can be doubt after listening to these knowledge sheets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIsvjul-9sc
Thanks a lot for this article. A lot lot indeed.