TM™'s PR Emergency Squad Rolls
File under: The Siddhi of PR
The TM™ media control center has turned on the flashing lights:
Scientists stated, “A controversial new government-funded report, which found that meditation does not improve health, is methodologically flawed, incomplete, and should be retracted.Because only studies done on TM™ are any good:
Dr. Schneider also cited a study published in the American Medical Association’s journal Archives of Internal Medicine in 2006—one year after the AHRQ review ended in 2005—which confirmed that the Transcendental Meditation technique lowers high blood pressure in heart disease patients. The study was conducted at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and was funded by a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.Dr. Schneider works for the Maharishi, which leaves little doubt about where his objectivity lies. (We call it in the toilet.)
The TM™ers seem to be in a tizzy over this refutation of their own "science," hence the attack release. We call it running scared, despite the best efforts of their wacky auteur to shore up their flagging market share in the face of their failed world takeover scheme: the Global Country for World Peace.
Bonus reading: You've got to check out the ever expanding and impressive TM-Free blog. Read about failed presidential candidate John Hagelin's claim that TM™ caused the recent upward stock trends.
Memo to John: looks like the market is currently in the crapper. Is TM™ going to take credit for that too?
Labels: The Siddhi of PR
posted by guruphiliac @ 7:43 PM
5 Comments:
This site of yours is sort of funny, in a perverse way, but do you really think you are "REVEALING" anything other than your own inner fears? This preoccupation of yours — putting down other people — is obviously all about yourself, and is not at all about the people you are trying to slam. (People you don't even know!)The laugh's on you. Keep it up if it entertains you, but you'd do better for yourself to find out the truth, say, about TM and how it would allow you get beyond pettiness and enjoy your life more. heeheehee.
emanthemule said...say, about TM and how it would allow you get beyond pettiness and enjoy your life more. heeheehee.
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Since I practiced TM and the TM sidhis for 20 years and personally initiated several hundred into TM, I think you will agree, pardner, that I have travelled beyond pettiness when I tell you how full of eman-mule hocky you are good!
Hi, jody,
If past history is any guide, the TMers will either claim that their numbers of "flyers" were temporarily down when the stock market dived -- or that the dive would have been even worse if it weren't for their efforts. Non-falsifiability is the hallmark of TM research.
John M. Knapp, LMSW
TMFree.blogspot.com
KnappFamilyCounseling.com
Most scientists are so biased in the direction of "Meditation WORKS" that they design horrible experiments... the flaws of which are unrecognized by equally hypnotized reviewers.
For example, one experiment took some number of people who had signed up for a meditation class and told half of them, "Sorry, we're all full at the inn... we'll get back to you later."
Then both groups were given tests to determine their level of happiness/neurosis.
After the course, both groups were tested again and the meditators turned out to be happier.
Sounds good, right? But look carefully at the "control."
The meditators had a MAJOR change in their lives -- they took 1-2 hours out of their day to meditate, they had meetings with others who wanted to reduce stress, they were told that the actions they were taking WOULD work...
To make it fair, the control group would have needed some similar changes in their lives. I'd suggest a number of controls. One group gets a masssage for 2 hours a day, one watches "I Dream of Jeannie" reruns, another has sex with the celebrity of their choosing, etc.
(I'm sure you can guess which of those groups would probably end up the happiest after 8 weeks).
I'm obviously a fan of meditation -- I teach it -- but having less attachment to thinking does not equal not thinking.
Kudos to anyone who honestly explores this "spiritual" stuff, and good luck in managing the enlightened response you'll get from New Age fundamentalists.
The Univ. of Alberta study clearly showed that standard indicators for good science were missing in the vast majority of TM studies. The controls which hide study bias were almost always simply not there. It's very clear that if they had used controls, the small, insignificant positive findings they were able to squeeze out of their numbers would be further diluted and completely insignificant. It would then be abundantly clear that they were either manufacturing results or exaggerating the significance of the results.
However the good news is that more modern research--like the widely lauded Tibetan Buddhist samadhi study on High-Amplitude Gamma Synchrony and some recent vipassana and mindfulness research does adhere to good study guidelines and design, like double-blinding, good controls, etc. A current study underway on Shamatha, Tibetan-style samadhi meditation is very well designed and will be the most advanced longitudinal study of mediation ever done. The control group in that study is set to begin in September 2007 for three months. It will be interesting to see the results of this incredible study trickle in after they finish.
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