Masaru Emoto

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Masaru Emoto (江本勝 Emoto Masaru?, b. July 22, 1943, Yokohama, Japan) is best known for his controversial claim that if human thoughts are directed at water before it is frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the thoughts were positive or negative. Emoto claims this can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water.

Since 1999 Emoto has published several volumes of a widely-selling book titled Messages from Water, which contain photographs of water crystals next to essays and "words of intent". The books have popularized "Hado theory" and enabled Emoto to embark on a worldwide lecture circuit.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Emoto graduated from Yokohama Municipal University with courses in International Relations, and in 1992 he received certification as a Doctor of Alternative Medicine from The Open International University for Alternative Medicine in India. The Open University is listed as an unaccredited institute and has minimal academic requirements, amounting to five papers and one year residency. [1]

Emoto established the International Hado Membership (I.H.M.) Corporation in Tokyo in 1986, which he headed until 2005 when he designated Hirotsugu Hazaka as his successor. He also established I.H.M. Trading Co. In 2004 Emoto set up a second photo lab in Liechtenstein, called Hado Life Europe.

In the late 1980s Emoto became interested in measuring the properties of water. In 1989, with the assistance of his American business partner Dr. Lee H. Lorenzen, Emoto contacted Ronald J. Weinstock, co-founder of Magnetic Resonance Diagnosistics Co. and Hado Music Co. Emoto purchased the exclusive rights to market in Japan a device called a Bio Cellular Analyzer, which he renamed a Magnetic Resonance Analyzer. Emoto's work with water crystals began when he leased a microscope and instructed his employee Kazuya Ishibashi to take photos of water crystals.

Emoto remains the head of the I.H.M. General Research Institute Inc. (his first photo lab) and the "Project of Love and Thanks to Water". Emoto is President Emeritus of the International Water For Life Foundation.[2] He has three children and is married to Kazuko Emoto, head of Hado Education Inc.

[edit] Experimental design

[edit] Photo-taking procedure

Paraphrased from description in The True Power of Water:[3]

  1. Place water in glass
  2. Expose to words, pictures, or music for a while
  3. Divide water into numerous petri dishes, 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter
  4. Freeze at around −25 °C (−13 °F)
  5. Leave for 3 hours, then allow dishes to warm
  6. Examine ice grains through microscope. Crystals may form in some dishes as temperature rises. Photograph. Optional: analyze the aesthetics and quantity of crystals.

[edit] Emoto's photos not usually taken with double blind controls

Ideally, an experiment involves comparing a sample with another sample that has been treated identically in all ways except one. If the samples turn out different, then it may be plausible to attribute the difference in results (such as the formation of more or less aesthetically pleasing water crystals) to the one difference in their treatment (such as praying towards one but not the other).

But if there were multiple differences in the ways the samples were treated (such as the rate of cooling or other factors known to affect crystal formation), then it may not be possible to conclude from the experiment whether it was the treatment of interest (prayer in this example) or the uncontrolled scientific circumstances that caused the samples to turn out differently.

In the past, even sympathetic commentators have criticized Emoto for insufficient experimental control,[4] or for not sharing enough details of his approach with the scientific community. [5] In addition, Emoto has been criticized in the past for designing his experiments in ways that leave them wide open to allegations that human error might have influenced his findings. [6]

Scientists recognize that, even with the best of intentions, cognitive biases can easily lead to the misinterpretation of evidence. For example, selection bias or confirmation bias may occur if the person taking the photographs or the person judging the beauty of the photographs knows which water samples have been sent which messages. The photographer or judge’s attitudes towards Emoto’s claims - either sympathetic or skeptical - could distort their choice and ranking of photos.[7]

Over time scientists have developed ways to reduce the risk of such biases occurring. Double blind experiments are a key method. In this case it would mean having the photographer and the judge carry out their work without prior knowledge of which sample had been sent which message.

Recently, as discussed in the next section, Emoto has participated in a double blind pilot test. However, in the day-to-day work of his labs, the creativity of photographers rather than the rigor of the experiment is the explicit policy of Emoto.[8] Emoto freely acknowledges that he is not a scientist,[9] and that photographers are instructed to select the most pleasing photographs.[10]

[edit] Attempts to replicate Emoto's claims using double blind controls

James Randi, founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation, has publicly offered Emoto one million dollars if his results can be reproduced in a double-blind study.[11]

  • In, October 2006, parapsychologist Dean Radin from the Institute of Noetic Sciences published the results of a "pilot test"[12] of a double blind experiment on Emoto's claims, using four water samples.[13] The study reports that photographed crystals were rated as more beautiful when they came from samples that had been sent a long-distance "prayer of gratitude" by a group led by Emoto. This has encouraged Radin to initiate a more extensive test.[14] Radin serves on the Advisory Board of Directors of Emoto’s International Water for Life Foundation and is featured in the 2006 follow-up of the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!?.
  • A highschool physics class's attempt to replicate Emoto's claims was inconclusive.[15]

[edit] The science of water crystals

Chemistry, water contaminants and crystallographic defects can likely explain the images shown in Emoto's books.

[edit] Other claims and projects

  1. Aside from Emoto's assertion that thoughts can influence water, Emoto also makes claims about the healing properties of water, especially the water that he sells on his web site. No scientific evidence has been published that supports Emoto's claim that, for example, "The client drinks the special hado water that will deliver the necessary vibration and bring balance and harmony to the diseased area. As the process is repeated more and more, healing will occur within the client."[16]
  2. Emoto claims that Hado exists and can be measured with a device which he named a Magnetic Resonance Analyzer (MRA).
  3. Some of Emoto's writing is mixed with Buddhism. For example, in his ’04 The Hidden Messages in Water Emoto states that according to Buddhism the human has 108 earthly desires and concludes that this number corresponds to the number of elements on the periodic table (actually, as of 2005, the existence of 118 elements has been confirmed, 94 of which are found naturally on Earth, the rest of which can be created by particle accelerators). Emoto also states that presently 90 elements have been detected in the human body and that in time, via evolution, the human body will obtain the remaining elements and hence move closer to becoming complete human beings.
  4. Emoto also draws on astrology, stating that each planet in the solar system correlates to both a specific emotion and to a specific element, such that multiplying the number of planets (9 at the time of his statement[17]) by the number of months in a year (12) the result is 108, meaning that one day, according to Emoto, we may be able to identify which planets correlate to which elements (again, mistaking the number of elements confirmed to exist).
  5. Emoto's photographs are featured in the 2004 film What tнe Bleep Do ωΣ (k)πow!?, directed by followers of Ramtha. This film creates the impression that the water crystals it shows were created by mental effort, whereas the procedure as described on Emoto's web sites involves freezing the water.

[edit] Books by Emoto

Emoto claims to have sold 2 million copies of his books.[18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Degree requirements for the Open International University for Alternative Medicine. See also this letter to the editor by Gary Greenberg.
  2. ^ a 501c3 Non-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, founded in 2005.
  3. ^ A more detailed version can be found in How to Make a Water Crystal Photograph, September 15, 2005 entry on Emoto's website
  4. ^ Dr. William A. Tiller, another researcher featured in the movie What tнe Bleep Do ωΣ (k)πow!?, has pointed out that Emoto’s experiments fall short of proof, since Emoto's experiments do not control for one of the three key factors in the supercooling of water. See Tiller, William, 2005, "What the Bleep do we Know!?: A Personal Narrative", in Vision in Action (VIA), Vol. 2, Issues 3-4, pages 16-20.
  5. ^ For example, see Ho, Mae-Wan. "Crystal Clear – Messages from Water", Part 4 of Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) miniseries "Water, Water, Everywhere". See also Emoto’s response to such comments in Giving Up Labels: Noticing the Vibration, an interview of Emoto by Steve Hays in the October 2005 edition of The Light Connection.
  6. ^ For example, see Radin et al, 2006, page 408. See also Matthews, Robert, Water: The quantum elixir, New Scientist, April 8, 2006, Full text here.
  7. ^ For example, photographers may hunt through the diversity of crystals in each sample to look for those that match their expectations.
  8. ^ See extract from a February 2005 interview of Emoto by The Maui News, available on Emoto's web site here; the same extract also appears on pages 21-22 of Askland, 2005, and in Woodhouse, 2005.
  9. ^ See Conover, 2005. Also see March 16, 2005 entry on Emoto's web diary, titled Twenty three- Vision 11 Casting Ourselves from the Principle of Yin and Yang, extracted from his 1994 book.
  10. ^ See 2005 interview of Emoto by Ray Hemachandra in New Age Retailer, The Pioneering work of Masaru Emoto, page 4.
  11. ^ Talking to Water, Commentary, by James Randi, May 23, 2003
  12. ^ The study uses the word "pilot" several times.
  13. ^ Radin et al, 2006
  14. ^ Effects of distant intention on water crystals, October 11, 2006 entry on Radin's Blog
  15. ^ Replicating the Water/Thought Experiment of Dr. Masaru Emoto, posted March 26, 2005 on the web site of the Institute of Noetic Sciences
  16. ^ From Emoto's 2004 photoessay
  17. ^ On August 21, 2006, the IAU officially categorized pluto as a dwarf planet. There are now only 8 planets.
  18. ^ Barcelona seminar, September 14, 2006 entry on Emoto’s website

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Emoto's sites and sympathetic sites

  • Emoto's main commercial web sites:
  1. hado.net, sells numerous products
  2. H2Om, sells water
  3. Hado Life Europe, a photo lab in Liechtenstein
  1. Miraculous Messages from Water, promotional article by Stace Sharp of The Wellness Goods Company Inc., that includes examples of Emoto's photos of water crystals
  • Other articles and interviews:
  1. Researcher Reveals Mysteries Of Water, December 2005 article by NBC10
  2. The Universal Power of Hado, article by Toyoko Matsuzaki
  3. Fox25, January 2006 News
  4. Book review by Edward O'Brian, archived
  5. How Water Senses Emotions and Thoughts, speculative May 2005 article by Alpha Lo
  6. Breakfast with Masaru Emoto, September 2005 interview by Patricia Sheridan
  7. More messages in water, November 2000 interview by Reiko Myamoto Dewey
  8. Subtle Energy: Psychology’s Missing Link, David Feinstein, IONS Noetic Sciences Review, June–August 2003
  1. Project of Love and Thanks to Water
  2. International Water For Life Foundation, includes Emoto Project
  3. Www Dot Love

[edit] Critical sites

[edit] Others

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