# Sungazing...WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 3, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333 "2011-08-03T16:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/41 "2011-08-04T17:57:49Z")
There is no such thing as an “accredited” film maker. There may be film makers who are “credited” as making or participating in one or more films. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/42 "2011-08-04T18:05:44Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > IMDB classifies this as an Award Winning Film. Yes, quite the [trophy case of awards](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424769/awards) it’s racked up. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/43 "2011-08-04T18:09:59Z")
According to IMDB, _Peter_ Sorcher is credited with directing and producing _Eat the Sun_. He has no other production or direction credits. He has been an editor of 3 other films. And while the the “storyline” blurb says “award winning” there is no mention that I can see of what this award might have been. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/44 "2011-08-04T18:12:52Z")
There is an article about the director in his local paper [here](http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_13457606?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com): > [@](#): > > At one point, he had his eyes examined at the UCLA’s Jules Stein Medical Center. The examination revealed that he had burned his macula, a small and highly sensitive part of the retina that allows people to see detail and perform tasks like reading. > > The diagnosis threw Dwinell into a tailspin and threatened to put an end to the film. > > Asked if he had any moral or ethical obligation to discourage Dwinell from continuing the documentary when the damage to his eyes became apparent, Sorcher answered, but only after a long and thoughtful pause. > > “It wasn’t my decision,” he said eventually. “I didn’t encourage or discourage him. If you have a burn on your macula, of course you’re not going to keep looking at the sun. But when he said he was going to stop, I thought, ‘Oh, no, there goes our film. I’ve got nothing now.’ Selfishly I felt that immediately. But I gave him my support.” ---
**Author:** ![topaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@topaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/topaz)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/45 "2011-08-04T18:18:40Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Yes, quite the [trophy case of awards](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1424769/awards) it’s racked up. I don’t get it. I ask for people with experience to at least discuss this and I get what? Jabs and jokes and responses from “experts” that must have slept in a Holiday Inn last night. “I know what I know, dammit! Don’t ask me to prove it” I’ve done some research and I know the difference between science and quackery but I have yet to be shown or found on my own that this has been dis-proven. This practice has been around in various forms for thousands of years. I am not defending the subject nor rejecting it, but the responses I have gotten don’t seem to display critical thinking, only prejudice and the desire to defend one’s opinion. And now its resorting to attacking references. I’ll not argue with fools. People won’t be able to tell us apart.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/46 "2011-08-04T18:20:04Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > Seeing is believing. The subjects in the video were quite healthy. The main character in the film runs a wellness clinic. He does not follow the “no food” belief. The film is about his personal journey across America studying this practice and deciding if it is something he wants to continue following. Which goes back to my Wizard of Oz comment you poo-pooed. I can make ANY movie I want and call it a documentary. That doesn’t make what’s in the movie _true_. Hell, rent a documentary called _This Is Spinal Tap_ for example. ---
**Author:** ![topaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@topaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/topaz)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/47 "2011-08-04T18:27:11Z")
I will now wait to reply after someone who has seen this film in its entirety has posted their opinion. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/48 "2011-08-04T18:38:09Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I will now wait to reply after someone who has seen this film in its entirety has posted their opinion. Well, it may be a while before I have a free two hours to watch the film. After I leave work this afternoon I need to go home and do more work. You may do better on another board than this - I do not believe there are many participants here who subscribe to this flavour of woo. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/49 "2011-08-04T18:45:46Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I will now wait to reply after someone who has seen this film in its entirety has posted their opinion. I actually did watch this film. (My mention of half-watching above indicated that I was reading at the same time, as I usually do.) I found it to be quite interesting as I had never heard of sungazing. However, I have seen mention of similar practices like people who say they can absorb nutrients from the air and claim they no longer eat. I have never seen anything resembling objective evidence that those practices worked, and I did not see anything that could remotely be called evidence in this documentary either. Yes, the people looked healthy. Yes, some of them claimed they never ate any actual food. There was no proof provided of those claims, however. You might get answers more to your liking from one of the references mentioned in the documentary. I believe the film referred repeatedly to a Yahoo sungazing group, so you could see if that still exists. They also mentioned the name of their “guru” multiple times (though it escapes me ATM), and you might try looking him up. I’m sure he’d be happy to offer his thoughts, for a fee. ---
**Author:** ![Lestrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Lestrade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lestrade)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/50 "2011-08-04T18:57:15Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I don’t get it. I ask for people with experience to at least discuss this and I get what? > Jabs and jokes and responses from “experts” that must have slept in a Holiday Inn last night. “I know what I know, dammit! Don’t ask me to prove it” > I’ve done some research and I know the difference between science and quackery but I have yet to be shown or found on my own that this has been dis-proven. > [snip] This practice simply cannot work. Asking for people with experience is like asking for people with working perpetual motion machines. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/51 "2011-08-04T19:04:07Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I don’t get it. I ask for people with experience to at least discuss this and I get what? > Jabs and jokes and responses from “experts” that must have slept in a Holiday Inn last night. “I know what I know, dammit! Don’t ask me to prove it” > I’ve done some research and I know the difference between science and quackery but I have yet to be shown or found on my own that this has been dis-proven. Let me repeat what is surely one of the most oft-quoted statements around here. It is not up to US, the reasonable people of the world, to go out of our way to disprove whatever latest batch of nonsense some lunatic plops onto the internet. The burden of proof is on the person making the extraordinary claim. That is, if YOU (generic YOU there) are claiming that food is unnecessary and we can get all of the energy we need by staring at the sun, it is not MY job to go disprove it. It is YOUR job to provide evidence for your claim. I’m a scientist. I’m working on my own PhD. Do you know how much of a living I’d make spending all my time knocking down all these nonsensical “theories” that crop up like mushrooms? Even LESS than working as a scientist, if you can believe it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/52 "2011-08-04T19:05:50Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am not defending the subject nor rejecting it, but the responses I have gotten don’t seem to display critical thinking, only prejudice and the desire to defend one’s opinion. And now its resorting to attacking references. Just pointing out—since you called attention to its IMDb status as an “award winning film” (which implies some degree of legitimacy, right?)—that the only award it appears to have won is the IMDb “Least Number of Awards” award. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/53 "2011-08-04T19:13:55Z")
You mention watching a documentary you don’t even name – and still haven’t, leaving it up to others to find it. You pulled “accredited film maker” out of nowhere. AFAICT he has never made any other film. You say that IMDB “classifies this as an Award Winning film”, which it doesn’t. [Here is Peter Sorcher’s statement about the film](http://www.eatthesunmovie.com/director_s_statement.html), which includes this: > [@](#): > > When we took Mason for an extensive eye exam and they found a burn in the center of his retinas, he was disheartened and discouraged and he stopped sungazing. Why he ultimately decided to continue sungazing to reach HRM’s goal of 44 minutes and risk even further eye damage was testament that he was after something bigger than the physical. How about that? Is that “first-hand” enough? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/54 "2011-08-04T19:26:03Z")
> [@Lestrade](#): > > This practice simply cannot work. Asking for people with experience is like asking for people with working perpetual motion machines. Concur. The op is being unreasonable. In order for the human body to absorb its daily energy requirement in the space of two hours, it would have to soak it up at approximately the same rate as emitted by a good domestic microwave oven for that period. There are straightaway two big problems with this: Even the brightest midday equatorial sunlight does not deliver anywhere near that amount of energy to an area as small as the eyes. And if it did, it would cook the eyes to charcoal in seconds or minutes. Its a claim that cannot possibly have amy basis in reality. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/55 "2011-08-04T20:41:14Z")
Or, if he is looking for a devotional object or a focus for meditation, there are any number of alternatives to the Sun where you do not risk damaging your vision. “Spiritual health” seemed to be one of the OP’s foma; a less dangerous wampeter can be found than the Sun itself. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/56 "2011-08-04T20:52:10Z")
[moderating] Since this has moved well beyond GQ territory, I have moved the thread to Great Debates. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/57 "2011-08-04T21:10:22Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I’ll not argue with fools. [mod note] Personal insults are not allowed outside the Pit. [/mod note] ---
**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:** [August 4, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/58 "2011-08-04T21:12:12Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > Just watched a documentary on “sungazing”. Any body have any first-hand knowledge of this? Do you know anyone who does it and claims to have benefitted from it without damaging their eyes? > The founder of one of the institutes (HRM) claims he doesn’t even need to eat although he admitted later that he does actually consume some food at times. I honestly cannot think of one single member of the SDMB that I would consider dumb enough to believe in nonsense of this caliber. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/59 "2011-08-05T01:06:07Z")
Do they consider the moonlight to be “dessert”? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/60 "2011-08-05T02:05:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I honestly cannot think of one single member of the SDMB that I would consider dumb enough to believe in nonsense of this caliber. And I honestly never thought of you as being that charitable. I’ve seen dumber things believed by “popular” posters on here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333.md?page=4)