At 08:50 PM 07/02/2000, you wrote:
>Would not the recent study showing the healing power of prayer serve as
>proof of the existence of supernatural forces, or at the very least
>substantial evidence in favor of their existence?
No. It would merely serve as evidence for some as-yet-unknown force or
process. Why would anyone think that it was a *supernatural* force any more
than they would for evidence that, say, teleportation was possible? The
supernatural is, if it exists, outside the naturally-occurring realm, not
just any fact that we currently don't understand. It is something that
*cannot* be attributed to natural forces that we don't yet know about, or
to aliens, etc.
In any case, the study was badly flawed, or else the *effect* of praying
began *before* the praying did. Take a look at the analysis in the May/June
2000 issue of Skeptical Inquirer. When you hear about studies that are
claimed to show such things, you should be instantly suspicious because so
many similar claims in the past have turned out to be false or outright
fraudulent.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Jul 03 2000 - 09:55:03 EDT