Or even so-called “pamphlets” or “tomes” or “treatises”!
I’ve seen that apartment building in Hong Kong, gobear. Wacky.
The lady who built the house my parents now live in was into Feng Shui. There’s a big mirror just inside the entrance, which is supposed to scare all the evil spirits into leaving. I’m still able to walk in, though, so it can’t be that effective. Plus, this lady was apparently extremely obnoxious to the builders during construction, so we’re constantly finding bizarre little things that were clearly done wrong as revenge. There are three lights in the basement that are controlled by no less than 10 switches in an incredibly complex wiring pattern. We have to station people by the different switch banks and experiment for a while to get the on/off pattern we want.
Astrology has a long history and tradition too. As does a lot of stuff we have found out to be wrong and moved away from. I bet even the super-secret book of “real” Feng Shui bases its principles on stuff like evil spirits and mystic energies. Unless you believe in ghosts and disbelieve the modern theories of energy, you’re probably going to end up thinking it is nonsense. I don’t believe in ghosts, I do believe in the modern physical theories/principles/laws, so for me, it IS nonsense. Fun, interesting, historic… maybe, but still nonsense.
Extracted from Princhester’s List of Woo Woo Rationalisations
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#4. “Many people have the impression that [xxx-ology] is BS, but that is because most people don’ t really know what it is about. If you go to a True Master/read from The Real Manuscripts/study at a Properly Qualified Institution, you will gain the Real Knowledge. If they did, they would find that Real [Xxx-ology] is valid.”
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If the designers of that web site have applied feng shui it, then it’s immediately apparent that feng shui is a steaming pile of crap. That has to one of the most user-atagonistic site designs I’ve ever seen. The thing is impossible to navigate. And what’s with all the white space on this page: http://www.qi-whiz.com/index.html
Although I’m not running to move the orchid from the window (no sharp or spiky objects near windows), I’m not inclined to dismiss it wholesale. Anything that people have worked on and studied for thousands of years is bound to have some solid life lessons and applications in it, if you open your mind and pay attention. Acupuncture comes to mind.
Not to mention religious intolerance and violence.
Or the vast realm of medical quackery. People have been obsessed with their colons and the “toxins” contained therein for thousands of years, which doesn’t make it any less dumb to invest in “colon cleansing” products.
Yup, building your home in a valley instead of on a hill makes it more susceptible to flooding, and placing the doorway in the path of prevailing winds could cause dust accumulation indoors. Buying into the metaphysical gobbledygook that swamps a few obvious basic principles, is merely part of our continued fascination with exotic philosophies that will magically make our lives better.
On the other hand, if anyone can suggest a way to improve the chi of my septic tank, I’m open to ideas.
I haven’t laughed so hard in weeks! Man, could you imagine explaining to your friends when they ask “What the hell is TAHT!” Oh, nothing unusual, just my inflatable replica of the Three-Legged Toad God…don’t you have one? That list actually looks like a day in the life of someone who has a serious case of obsessive compulsive disorder! “If you live to far south – move”
Right. :rolleyes:
Your septic system probably suffers from “Bad Wind”, or “The Vapors”. This can cause an imbalance in your Humors (probably Black Bile). Chewing laurel leaves, swallowing the juices and then placing the masticated pulp in your navel before a bowel movement can help correct this imbalance.
Yeah, well, just after I moved into this house three years ago, I happened to come across a couple of books on Feng Shui. They all said that you shouldn’t have your toilet in the southeast corner of your house, because that would cause all of your wealth to flush away. Why? No explanation, just a flat statement that a toilet in the southeast equals poverty.
Guess what?
Kyoto’s streets are arranged in a grid that is aligned along the cardinal points. My toilet is in the southeast corner of my house. So, I think, ‘I’m screwed! I only rent this house, and I can’t move the toilet!’
Then I remember that the house I lived in for six years before this one had the toilet in the northwest corner. In the house before that, where I lived for three years, the toilet was in the southwest corner.
My conclusion?
Even with yearly incremental pay increases, I can’t save money no matter which corner my toilet is in!
OK, so how does feng shui work, then? What are these energy flows, and how can they be measured? What is the nature of an evil spirit? Does it have mass? Free will? In what manner does not placing sea shells near a red ribbon affect these things?
My mind will remain open long enough for you to have a shot at convincing me.
BTW, I understand that arranging a room has consequences. Placing a couch in a doorway, or placing a toaster in a bathtub are generally bad ideas. But how do they affect the metaphysical?
I’m not here to convince anybody, tdn. I would have thought that the magic initials “IMO” were obvious in my statement, as it was anything but polemic, unlike many of the statements in this thread. Perhaps I could have said “one” instead of “you.”
I happen to believe that there is wisdom to be found in any collection of codified thought and process. Eastern thought happens to resonate with me. Although I know nothing about feng shui, it seems obvious to me that it involves much more than moving furniture around. Smart people have been thinking about it for thousands of years, you know? Bound to have some application in there somewhere, as far as I’m concerned.
As to acupuncture, I’m not going to dig around and play the link game. Allopathic medicine may not have the proof it requires. But, Kaiser Permanente, a huge player in the managed care game, uses acupuncture as part of its detox program, to help lessen cravings. I’ve done several courses of acupuncture and it has lessened or eliminated knee and other osteo pain, made me feel better and sleep better, etc. Again, I’m not going to look for cites, because you’re gonna believe what you wish to, as will I. But I’m not sure that Western medicine poo-poos acupuncture as much as you think, you being priceguy.
My favorite part of this thread is the “Well, I don’t know about x, y, or z, but I’ve been in some feng-shui designed rooms, and they were very pleasant places”.
Well, sure. If someone spends all their time thinking about making rooms pleasant to live in, and gets paid to do it, they’ll probably end up making rooms that are pleasant to look in.
Similarly, dowsers who spend enough time looking for water are going to get quite good at reading features of geography, etc.
Doesn’t mean that Feng Shui and dowsing aren’t total BS.
(You could perhaps construct an experiment to verify feng shui… build a rotating room that can face any of the compass points, put people in it, spin them around, then let them socialize for an hour, etc.)
The first rule of magic, as I remember from my pagan days, is: if it works, use it!
If someone who claims to practice Feng Shui can rearrange my furniture so that I enjoy living in my house more, then I’m happy to have them do it, and even pay them what the service is worth. I don’t care whether they’re rearranging it based on formalist principles of balance and perspective, or on the Flow of Chi, or on Genesis 18:16, or on the advice of the Venusian Guru Al-Murimurimuribong that they channel. Just get the house lookin’ good.
Similarly, if they screw it up, then I don’t care whether their methods are based on what they learned in Interior Design Postdoc work at Harvard or on principles from Feng Shui for Dummies: it’s no good.
My best guess is that the good stuff in Feng Shui is pretty pragmatic aesthetic advice, and it’s often dressed up in language best described as symbolic or metaphorical. I’m okay with that.
I still prefer the ninja version of Feng Shui, though.
<<Again, I’m not going to look for cites, because you’re gonna believe what you wish to, as will I.>>
This here is the problem in a nutshell. You believe whatever it is to you that feels right, while others such as myself, believe only what science can demonstrate to be right. You are, of course, free to hold your beliefs in such a manner, but you should never confuse them with what can be objectively proven correct. Your system is irrational; ours is not.
I was referring to acupuncture, not feng shui, there, Beer. Did you see what I said about Kaiser? Kaiser is very cost-conscious and I seriously doubt they would pay an acupuncturist unless they were convinced acupuncture was effective.
And if you read my first post closely, Science Boy, you may have noticed that all I suggested is that, in the entire oeuvre of feng shui, there may be some wisdom applicable to our modern lives.
I’m a big fan of houseplants, running water, and landscaping. So, I guess I agree that there is about [[sub]this[/sub]] much validity to it all. Aesthetics can make a huge difference is some places. Obviously if the asthetics really suck donkey balls in the first place.
Furthermore, I really like fish tanks. I think that pretty much proves that it’s all valid. Heh.
I liked this part from that CSICOP link back there.
See, glistening water and gardening. What, you liked Mickey Rourke’s apartment in 9 & 1/2 Weeks or something?
Furthermore, they are already on to the next big advance in human thought: fung che. I’m just trying to absorb the great wisdom that flows from SoCal little bit at a time. Next: the power of ro… crystals.