808: The Economic Argument

2013-05-02T12:46:25Z

Lcc1357explain: /* Corrected 'cut great' to 'greatly cut.' */

{{comic
| number = 808
| date = October 20, 2010
| title = The Economic Argument
| image = the economic argument.png
| titletext = Not to be confused with 'making money selling this stuff to OTHER people who think it works', which corporate accountants and actuaries have zero problems with.
}}

==Explanation==
The image shows fields of human life that would be greatly improved and/or allowed a certain people to make a lot of money if some "weird phenomena" things (mostly {{w|paranormal}}) actually worked in reality or were testable and usable concepts. "Weird phenomena", in this case, means counter-intuitive things that usually go against "common sense" and which the science hasn't investigated to the full yet (or didn't find any evidence of in the first place, making claims completely unscientific). As the comic tries to prove, if there were commercial use for it and proofs of it working, there will be high investment made in the technology to use and harness such concepts. So far, only relativity and quantum electrodynamics have found some use in the real world (because they are scientific concepts, as compared to all the other ones).

The non-scientific, disproved concepts trying to pass as real and scientific are as follows:

*'''{{w|Remote viewing}}:''' Alleged ability to see and know things far away with the strength of your mind, without physically being in that place and using technology (cameras, TV screens and so on).
*'''{{w|Dowsing}}:''' Alleged supernatural ability to sense, using two dowsing rods/sticks/pieces of metal where hidden valuables or underground water/oil supplies are.
**Both dowsing and remote viewing would have greatly cut costs to oil companies, because it would have made finding new oil sources easier.

*'''{{w|Aura (paranormal)|Auras}}:''' Non-scientific belief that every human has invisible "energy field" that can affect their health and feelings.
*'''{{w|Homeopathy}}:''' Non-scientific belief that the more diluted the remedy, the more effective it is, and that a remedy (before dilution) should cause similar symptoms to the disease. Often diluted so much that less than one molecule of the original substance will remain, on average. Completely untrue and proven no more effective than a placebo (i.e., not at all). Often advertised as "alternative medicine", which means not a medicine at all.
*'''{{w|Prayer#Prayer_healing|Remote Prayer}}:''' Non-scientific belief. Trying to help a person with their health problems by praying/pleading to a greater supernatural force to help them get better. Scientifically proven not to work, even sometimes having a detrimental effect if the person knew they were prayed for.
**All three would have revolutionized healthcare if proven to work, which is very, very unlikely.

*'''{{w|Astrology}}:''' Trying to predict the future by studying the motions of the planets for answers. Non-scientific and very popular belief that tries to look scientific; was a major focus of {{w|astronomy}} until science began to disprove it in the 1600s.
*'''{{w|Divinatory, esoteric and occult tarot|Tarot}}:''' Trying to predict the future through dealing a {{w|Tarot deck|special deck of cards}}.
**Both would have revolutionized our business planning, saving lots of money and lives, if true.

*'''{{w|Crystal healing|Crystal energy}}:''' Non-scientific belief that crystals can store {{w|Energy (esotericism)|"soul energy"}} which can be tapped into and used by human beings. Not true at all.
**If true and correct, it would have revolutionized the world's technology by replacing energy sources with crystals.

*'''{{w|Curse|Curses and hexes}}:''' Non-scientific belief that a person can cause supernatural harm to people and things by doing certain magical rituals and mouthing magical words.
**If it were true, the military use of such would have proliferated rather quickly.

The title text points out that many people believe still believe in non-scientific, unproven, and disproved phenomena. Thus, it's possible to make money by selling those (claimed) phenomena to such people.

==Transcript==
:[A table is labeled with three columns: Crazy phenomenon, If it worked, people would be using it to make a killing in...; and Are they?]
:Remote Viewing, Dowsing - Oil Prospecting -
:Auras, Homeopathy, Remote Prayer - Health Care Cost Reduction -
:Astrology, Tarot - Financial Business Planning -
:Crystal Energy - Regular Energy -
:Curses, Hexes - The Military -
:Relativity - GPS Devices - X
:Quantum Electrodynamics - Semiconductor Circuit Design - X

:Eventually, arguing that these things work means arguing that modern capitalism isn't THAT ruthlessly profit-focused.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

808: The Economic Argument