Comment Cost of this research (Score 1) 1156
2.4 MILLION DOLLARS! therecord.com's story
To quote, "The researchers emphasized that their $2.4-million US study could not address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf. The study could look only for an effect from the specific prayers offered as part of the research, they said." And adding insult to injury, "The study 'did not move us forward or backward' in understanding the effects of prayer" and Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School, a co-investigator said, "We cannot come to a conclusion, except to say that by this study design, with its limitations, this is what we found."
Not only do I see this as a complete and utter waste of money (try and prove your religion through science when religion is purely faith based in its foundations, with no connection to science whatsoever -Scientology excluded- and you'll quickly find out that you have nothing meaningful to prove, except that you really should have used that money for a better purpose), it's also an insult to the scientific community in general as this was (I'm saying this from what I have heard reported on MSNBC, etc. last week when this story broke) the most expensive reasearch study of its kind to date.
Let's spend $2.4 Million to study the effects of placing flowers in the hospital rooms of these heart patients and figure out if they help the patient recover in any way, or do they merely make the patient wonder if these flowers might just transfer over to their funeral, and that they'd be none the wiser. Get real.
To quote, "The researchers emphasized that their $2.4-million US study could not address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf. The study could look only for an effect from the specific prayers offered as part of the research, they said." And adding insult to injury, "The study 'did not move us forward or backward' in understanding the effects of prayer" and Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School, a co-investigator said, "We cannot come to a conclusion, except to say that by this study design, with its limitations, this is what we found."
Not only do I see this as a complete and utter waste of money (try and prove your religion through science when religion is purely faith based in its foundations, with no connection to science whatsoever -Scientology excluded- and you'll quickly find out that you have nothing meaningful to prove, except that you really should have used that money for a better purpose), it's also an insult to the scientific community in general as this was (I'm saying this from what I have heard reported on MSNBC, etc. last week when this story broke) the most expensive reasearch study of its kind to date.
Let's spend $2.4 Million to study the effects of placing flowers in the hospital rooms of these heart patients and figure out if they help the patient recover in any way, or do they merely make the patient wonder if these flowers might just transfer over to their funeral, and that they'd be none the wiser. Get real.
