Editing 808: The Economic Argument

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**Both dowsing and remote viewing would have greatly cut costs to oil companies, because it would have made finding new oil sources easier.  The U.S. Army did seriously study remote viewing and other paranormal abilities in a series of programs collectively known as the {{w|Stargate Project}}, depicted in the 2004 book and 2009 film {{w|The Men Who Stare at Goats (film)|''The Men Who Stare at Goats''}}; however, the project was concluded in 1995 after reviews concluded that the rate of successful divination of actionable intelligence was no greater than that of random chance.
 
**Both dowsing and remote viewing would have greatly cut costs to oil companies, because it would have made finding new oil sources easier.  The U.S. Army did seriously study remote viewing and other paranormal abilities in a series of programs collectively known as the {{w|Stargate Project}}, depicted in the 2004 book and 2009 film {{w|The Men Who Stare at Goats (film)|''The Men Who Stare at Goats''}}; however, the project was concluded in 1995 after reviews concluded that the rate of successful divination of actionable intelligence was no greater than that of random chance.
  
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*'''{{w|Aura (paranormal)|Auras}}:''' Non-scientific belief that every human has an invisible "energy field" that can reveal and/or affect their health and feelings.
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*'''{{w|Aura (paranormal)|Auras}}:''' Non-scientific belief that every human has an invisible "energy field" that can affect their health and feelings.
 
*'''{{w|Homeopathy}}:''' Pseudoscientific belief that the more diluted a remedy, the more effective it is, and that the remedy should, before dilution, cause similar symptoms to the disease it is said to cure. These "remedies" are often diluted so much that, usually, not even a single molecule of the original substance will remain. It is completely untrue, and proven no more effective than a placebo, so one can instead use much cheaper non-'treated' glucose and have the same effect. It is often advertised as an "alternative medicine".
 
*'''{{w|Homeopathy}}:''' Pseudoscientific belief that the more diluted a remedy, the more effective it is, and that the remedy should, before dilution, cause similar symptoms to the disease it is said to cure. These "remedies" are often diluted so much that, usually, not even a single molecule of the original substance will remain. It is completely untrue, and proven no more effective than a placebo, so one can instead use much cheaper non-'treated' glucose and have the same effect. It is often advertised as an "alternative medicine".
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*'''{{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. While we're not ones to rag on anybody's religion, we don't have scientific proof or empirical evidence of it working; if anything, intercessory prayer seems to sometimes have a ''detrimental'' effect if the person knows they are prayed for (most probably due  to causing extra stress).
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*'''{{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. While we're not ones to rag on anybody's religion, we don't have scientific proof or empirical evidence of it working; such prayer may sometimes have a ''detrimental'' effect if the person knew they were prayed for (most probably due  to causing extra stress).
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**All three would have revolutionized healthcare if proven to work, which is very, very unlikely.  {{w|Tim Minchin}} remarked in his beat poem ''Storm'' (released the year before this comic, adapted into an animated short film the year after) that "alternative medicine that's been proved to work" is simply..."medicine".
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**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 - a non-scientific and very popular belief that tries to look scientific; this was a major focus of {{w|astronomy}} until science began to disprove it in the 1600s.
 
*'''{{w|Astrology}}:''' Trying to predict the future by studying the motions of the planets for answers - a non-scientific and very popular belief that tries to look scientific; this was a major focus of {{w|astronomy}} until science began to disprove it in the 1600s.

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