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Comment Re:Insightful (Score 4, Informative) 652

Presuming that those "tiny ferrite dots being pumped around" are iron in your blood, you're wrong. Blood iron isn't ferrous.

Divining has long been shown to be explained by the ideomotor effect, environmental cues [1], and confirmation bias. It isn't any better than chance.

If you think your abilities are genuine, allow me to introduce you to the 1 Million Dollars that must be waiting for you over at the JREF. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html

[1] Cues that anyone can pick up on, nothing that is unique to dowsing or dowsers.

Comment Re:This is nonsense (Score 1) 248

Evolution occurs on a species level, not an individual one. Also, evolution isn't "directed" towards anything. It's random mutations, and those which end up being more beneficial are the ones that stick around.

In this case, it's entirely feasible to imagine multiple species developing a common scent that is avoided by all. It would after all improve the chances of survival for the _entire_ population. There are many species of insect and plant which have bitter tastes as well. Such features may not be beneficial at all to the individual plant, but to the population they discourage future meals.

Then again, it may have simply evolved in a common ancestor to them all.

Comment Re:It's called creative license (Score 1) 216

Actually, Brown repeatedly contends that his books (at least The Da Vinci Code anyway) are one step away from history books. He has several times stated that the only fiction involved in The Da Vinci Code is the present day action surrounding the main characters. Everything else is claimed to be entirely accurate, including those "facts" which are easily shown to be poorly researched, misinterpretations, or debunked hoaxes.

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