“The method has undergone large number of examinations and scientific validation and is considered as an established scientific practice”
See : www.skeptoid.com
Archive for ESP
Jaw Dropping – Derren Brown and Bronnikov
I watched tonight’s Derren Brown investigates with an ever dropping jaw and a sickening feeling rising in the pit of my stomach. Suffice to say I was amazed at Derren’s poise and ability to keep his cool as the apparent insanity and exploitation unfolded around him.
The teenager with cerebral palsy was, for me the last straw. Despite Bronnokov seniors assertion that the method was not about ‘healing’ there had been numerous references to ‘diagnosis’ and ‘improving abilities’ (with a direct implication that there could be an improvement in sight for blind people) in the discussions filmed in the early part of the documentary.
Whilst I for one am happy to accept ‘seeing clearly’ as a metaphor for learning and personal development it seems that The Bronnikov Method is happy to promote itself in an ambiguous manner – implying improvement in sight.
Perhaps Bronnikov is being misrepresented and what he is talking about is the ‘metaphor of seeing’ through the development or extension of human perception… this being the case the marketing needs to be a lot clearer and rely less on targeting people desperate for ‘cures’ to physical ills.
“Teaching the blind to see with Alternative Vision occurs within the first 3 stages of the program. Imagine the potential when the brain, instead of the eyes, sees”
The repeating theme in Derren’s documentary was the inability of the Bronnikov tutors or students to provide evidence to support their claims…. and yes they do make specific claims of extrasensory perception – an ability to see the ‘material world’ without using the eyes directly.
The ‘large number’ of ‘examinations’ and the appeal to scientific validation are not easy to find. There is one endorsement on the main website; no academic references in “pubmed” (an on-line repository of peer reviewed research) and some unreferenced or spurious (unfocussed) quotes on the ‘official’ website (www.bronnikov.org).
As I have written elsewhere quotes taken out of context, or references from ‘scientists’ have little value unless we know the provenance of the opinion. I would expect to find quotes and research from neurophysiologists, neurophysiologists and possibly psychologists to support some of the claims made in the documentary and in their literature.
NATALIYA PETROVNA BEKHTEREVA (the key reference on the Bronnikov’s site) published several papers on neurophysiology including one which makes reference to ‘the Method’. The paper in question, published four years before Bekhtereva’s death in 2006: HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY Vol. 28 No. 1 2002 ) was, and I quote:-
“a strictly qualitative pilot study not pretending to discover any quantitative patterns”
It was a study featuring 7 students who were partially sighted and the ‘blindfold’ method was used. There is NO reference to whether these blindfolds effectively restricted all possibility of seeing (any magician worth his or her salt can perform a fairly convincing sightless vision act).
Clearly this study does not represent a large number of examinations or scientific validation.
Just so we can give the Bronnikov Method a fair shakedown, let’s remind ourselves what the first stage of the training is:-
…..an algorithm of 18 techniques, derived from144 energetic Tibetan techniques. The 1st stage conveys an alternative holistic non-invasive means by which the energetic structures that govern the human body realign.
It is the realignment and harmonization of the energetic structures of the human body that accelerates and optimizes the person’s restorative and regenerative system.
That clear now??
I think it must win a prize for the most meaningless scientific sounding drivel I’ve read in recent months.I particularly like the appeal to ‘ancient wisdom’ with what is the mandatory techniques from a revered culture – in this case the Tibetans, who no doubt were of the Shangrila variety. I wonder if you remember a TV series called The Champions. Three secret agents crashed their aeroplane in the Himalayan mountains; they were ‘healed’ and given ‘super powers’ so they could continue to fight crime and secure freedom for the crime-ridden West….. sounds about as plausible as the Bronnikov Method!
Alan
If you’re interested in developing your critical thinking skills then can I recommend this excellent DVD produced by Brian Dunning of Skeptoid (a great podcast).
