# MAGNETIC THERAPY.......Does it work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 29, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972 "2003-11-29T22:19:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/141 "2015-06-07T14:34:23Z")
> [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](#): > > No answer, Peter? Already given. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/142 "2015-06-07T15:21:11Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > So did you hear? Adolf Hitler, Anton Drexler and Dietrich Eckhart get together on weekends to fuck sheep! I thought they got together on weekends to fuck each other. **Peter** , perhaps you should drop the subject. I would hate to have magnetic therapy become a taboo topic. When I my OCD tries to take over I find Velcroing magnets to my forehead helps me by reminding me that I look like a fool. North poles in, of course. To make sure I don’t accidentally mix poles I cut the magnets in two and throw away the south poles. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/143 "2015-06-07T15:26:00Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > It’s perfectly simple, Bryan. > > Your variety of “skeptic” goes around kicking puppies all day. You justify it to yourself that it will end world hunger, but it keeps failing. Despite a long record of failure, you keep trying. You take pride in your skill and ability to kick puppies. You think it makes you clever. Failure doesn’t matter to you. You think that merely trying is a noble effort. And in the meantime you do a lot of damage to other skeptics. Since you are a puppy kicker, people will assume that all skeptics are puppy kickers. > > So the final score is, you’ve hurt a lot of innocent puppies, damaged the reputation of skeptics, and failed to do a thing about world hunger. So basically you’re fighting this innoccuous joke as a proxy for harsh responses in general, and you don’t care how much you have to twist logic to make it work. You know, if it wasn’t a bad example and your arguments weren’t so inept, I’d agree with you that a lot of “skeptical activism” is a lot better at getting laughs from the choir than at convincing anyone, but instead you’re illustrating a different issue plaguing humanity in general: Our inability to step back and reevaluate things objectively. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/144 "2015-06-07T15:28:53Z")
As a minor comment, if it’s important to know which pole of a magnet touches the skin, you need a reference device. A cheap compass will do. I suppose you could float the magnet in a bucket or balance it on a string and see how it aligns with Earth, if practical. In either case, you’d have to know enough about your local geography to recognize which way is north, or you could set up a crude sundial… This could get complicated, I recognize. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/145 "2015-06-07T17:28:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > As a minor comment, if it’s important to know which pole of a magnet touches the skin, you need a reference device. A cheap compass will do. I suppose you could float the magnet in a bucket or balance it on a string and see how it aligns with Earth, if practical. In either case, you’d have to know enough about your local geography to recognize which way is north, or you could set up a crude sundial… > This could get complicated, I recognize. I think it explains why there are fewer people on the southern hemisphere. They experience the bad kind of magnetic flux. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/146 "2015-06-07T17:40:36Z")
Does any proponent claim a distinction between the fields created by permanent magnets and those created by induction? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/147 "2015-06-07T23:00:54Z")
On an almost entirely unrelated note, I think I first learned about the concept of monopole magnets while playing _Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri_, circa 2000. It was one of the tech advances a player could discover. In retrospect, I think the _Alpha Centauri_ tech tree compares quite unfavorably to the ones in the _Civilization_ series because the latter were historical and graspable, while the former was mired in arbitrary sci-fi terminology: _Civilization_: Your civilization has discovered **gunpowder**. This allows construction of **musketeer** units, the **saltpeter** resource will appear on the map, and your civilization can now research **chemistry**. Me: Cool! _Alpha Centauri_: Your faction has discovered **monopole magnets**. This will allow you to **technobabble** your **technobabbles** and construct **technobabble** units with the **technobabble** capability. Me: Sure, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/148 "2015-06-08T07:47:29Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > When I my OCD tries to take over I find Velcroing magnets to my forehead helps me by reminding me that I look like a fool. North poles in, of course. **To make sure I don’t accidentally mix poles I cut the magnets in two and throw away the south poles.** This can’t work… Stop spreading your goddamn lies! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/149 "2015-06-08T11:37:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > That’s the risk you take when you lie. I’ve seen it happen many times. “Knock, knock.” Hey, Morris, come back. It’s the opening of a joke. Now you say, “who’s there?” No, there’s nobody at the door. Hey, close the door, the ac is on. Oh, Christ, somebody go get Morris; he’s searching outside to see who’s there. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/150 "2015-06-08T15:31:58Z")
If you think it’s funny to knock on someone’s door, only to draw them out and waste their time with looking for the knocker, then I can only pity you and your devotion to deception and evil. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/151 "2015-06-08T15:43:22Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > If you think it’s funny to knock on someone’s door, only to draw them out and waste their time with looking for the knocker, then I can only pity you and your devotion to deception and evil. Plus you might turn society against answering their doors. Even if you hypothetically came up with the best knock-knock joke in history, guaranteed to get a laugh, what makea you think YOU of all people could tell a good joke? I’m personally very disappointed in you. Society will become convinced that all door-knocks are filthy lies. World hunger and astrology will become invincible. Nazis too, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/152 "2015-06-08T15:55:38Z")
If lying about Hitler is unethical, where does that place trying to drop bombs on him? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/153 "2015-06-08T17:02:19Z")
As long as you’re _honest_ about the bombing… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/154 "2015-06-08T17:32:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If lying about Hitler is unethical, where does that place trying to drop bombs on him? My God, he’ll get public sympathy! He’ll be free to invade monoPoland \*and it will be all our fault! \* ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/155 "2015-06-08T19:08:05Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > My God, he’ll get public sympathy! He’ll be free to invade monoPoland \*and it will be all our fault! \* You and your lies! There is no monoPoland. Germany invaded West-Poland, and there’s no such thing as a magnet with only a west pole. Let alone a magnet with west/east poles. Your missinformation could single handedly destroy all we know about European Geography. Humanity itself, could literally be lost. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/156 "2015-06-08T22:02:14Z")
I’m gonna make a fortune selling a home-cure system involving strapping a whole bunch of “Up” quarks to people’s foreheads with velcro straps. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/157 "2015-06-08T22:06:10Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’m gonna make a fortune selling a home-cure system involving strapping a whole bunch of “Up” quarks to people’s foreheads with velcro straps. Charming, but strange. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/158 "2015-06-08T22:08:59Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’m gonna make a fortune selling a home-cure system involving strapping a whole bunch of “Up” quarks to people’s foreheads with velcro straps. Go after the gay market, sell Top and Bottom quarks. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/159 "2015-06-08T22:12:57Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’m gonna make a fortune selling a home-cure system involving strapping a whole bunch of “Up” quarks to people’s foreheads with velcro straps. Doesn’t Pixar own the rights to those? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972/160 "2015-06-08T23:23:49Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > It’s perfectly simple, Bryan. > > Your variety of “skeptic” goes around kicking puppies all day. You justify it to yourself that it will end world hunger, but it keeps failing. Despite a long record of failure, you keep trying. You take pride in your skill and ability to kick puppies. You think it makes you clever. Failure doesn’t matter to you. You think that merely trying is a noble effort. And in the meantime you do a lot of damage to other skeptics. Since you are a puppy kicker, people will assume that all skeptics are puppy kickers. > > So the final score is, you’ve hurt a lot of innocent puppies, damaged the reputation of skeptics, and failed to do a thing about world hunger. Way too close to a personal attack. Back off. [/Moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-therapy-does-it-work/215972.md?page=9)