It's called placebo, which basically means a harmless substance (or methodology) purported to have beneficial results. If the results are subjective and cannot normally be measured by any standard "yardstick", like pain, drowsiness, perceived energy or vitality, this usually works for conditioned or gullible consumers.
Consider the
BioDisc. It is, for all intents and purposes, a coaster, though there are claims that it is an "energizer". Water poured over it is energized. A glass of water standing over it for at least 6 hours is energized (sometimes de-chlorinated) and a BioDisc left overnight in your fridge is sure to energize
allthe contents of your fridge.
Regarding the product, there is much sensationalist hype on the propaganda detailing energizing water. It lists benefits that are purely subjective and perceptual. It is said to enhance the taste of food and drinks but we all know one man's (or woman's) meat is another man's (or woman's) poison. It also claims to assist in the intake of nutrients, relieve pain, reduce stress, increase blood oxygenation, delays fatigue, improves sleep, hydrates or detoxifies the body. Note that, for average consumers, none of these can be verified with scientific instruments. After all, who among us have medical diagnostic equipment in our home accurate enough to measure oxygen level in the blood, measure nutrient absorption rate or toxicity?
There is another product that, when I was a kid, was pretty much a hype in our country. The
Ernie-form, sometimes known as the Ernie Baron Pyramid, is a tetrahedron composed of 6 long aluminum tubes. The exact science behind its operation is unknown (as it is nothing more than a charlatan's con-job) but it has been detailed as a device harnessing cosmic energies.
There had been lots of claims about the device: it prevents food from spoiling; it energizes whatever is inside the tetrahedron (surprise, surprise); it has also been used by uncrupulous
feng-shui "consultants" to improve the
chi flow in a house. It is also said to be a battery charger, a blade sharpener and, surprisingly, a cheese and salted egg maker. Ha! Can your BioDisc do that?
The most sensational claim, however, was that it makes a person intelligent and, for a while, there was a spawn of students wearing tetrahedra on their heads (a suspension system anchored at the bottom three vertices roughly positioned the brain at the center of the device)
Really, a lot of these "New Age" energy-based devices are no more than inventions of individuals gifted with immensely creative imagination (and the gift of gab, might I also add) Most, if not all, of the time, the effects are perceptual and purely subjective. Testimonials of recoveries are played up while dissenting stories of disappointment were invariably hushed down. I say, the human mind is powerful enough to bring about physiological changes; much can be changed by one's outlook in life. Perhaps the only use these placebo technologies have is in assisting scatter-minded consumers to have something to focus their positivity on.
Oh yeah, I'm selling some gravel, ahem, minerals. Perhaps you'd like to avail of a cure to AIDS, cancer, the common cold or terminal narcolepsy?
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