# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/61 "2011-08-05T02:41:25Z")
Was reading the [article](http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_13457606?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com)I posted above again and found this little nugget of wisdom from the director of that film: > [@](#): > > But I found that in making this film there are other ways of thinking that don’t necessarily coexist with science or with what one might call rational thinking. I’m sorry, regardless of how you feel about religion and spirituality, there is only one way of thinking about the question “is it a good idea to give up eating and stare at the sun instead” that makes any sense at all, and its the rational, scientific way, that answers “no”. ---
**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, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/62 "2011-08-05T03:02:18Z")
I think what burns me the most about these idiots trying to illuminate themselves by staring at the sun - something that even the birds and beasts of the field know better than to do - is when they do finally go blind, guess whose taxes will be funding their disability checks? ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/63 "2011-08-05T03:06:41Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > I think what burns me the most about these idiots trying to illuminate themselves by staring at the sun - something that even the birds and beasts of the field know better than to do - is when they do finally go blind, guess whose taxes will be funding their disability checks? Look on the bright side, at least we won’t have to pay for their food stamps. Just a little water and an occasional bag of mulch. ---
**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 5, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/64 "2011-08-05T03:10:05Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Look on the bright side, at least we won’t have to pay for their food stamps. Just a little water and an occasional bag of mulch. The even better news is that they won’t last too long. we’re forgetting about their chances of melanoma. ---
**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, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/65 "2011-08-05T03:10:07Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Look on the bright side, at least we won’t have to pay for their food stamps. Just a little water and an occasional bag of mulch. True…and they’ll become carbon sinks! ---
**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 5, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/66 "2011-08-05T06:14:17Z")
The OP might wish to do a board search on the term _breatharian_,as this topic has been discussed a number of times previously. I don’t recall anyone finding it remotely plausible. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/67 "2011-08-05T07:01:07Z")
What’s wrong with just, you know… eating? Will God like me more if I don’t? ---
**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 5, 2011, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/68 "2011-08-05T07:20:30Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > What’s wrong with just, you know… eating? Will God like me more if I don’t? You know, that’s a good question. Are these people just the extreme end of the scale of picky eaters? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/69 "2011-08-05T07:25:34Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > What’s wrong with just, you know… eating? Will God like me more if I don’t? I expect it’s the whole “I am above the concerns of the material world and thus superior” mentality. ---
**Author:** ![topaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@topaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/topaz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/70 "2011-08-05T11:05:43Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > 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. ’ Don’t treat me like a fool. If you would read the original post you would see that I found the character’s (HRM) claim that he did not require food was laughable. The documentary covered a wide range of practitioners with different approaches to the subject. Do you not remember the comedic scene when HRM was confronted after being photographed in the Indian restaurant? Oh, that’s right you were “multi-tasking”. My approach to this documentary was more towards soliciting a reply from people who had experienced positive or negative results after trying this lifestyle. The benefits purported by them are along the lines of SAD therapy. Light therapy has been around for thousands of years. What I found most difficult to believe was the colossal amount of ignorant responses I tapped into with this post. “Oh brave new world…” I’ll take my soma now and shut up. ---
**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 5, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/71 "2011-08-05T11:17:40Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > ’ > > Don’t treat me like a fool. If you would read the original post you would see that I found the character’s (HRM) claim that he did not require food was laughable. The documentary covered a wide range of practitioners with different approaches to the subject. Do you not remember the comedic scene when HRM was confronted after being photographed in the Indian restaurant? Oh, that’s right you were “multi-tasking”. > My approach to this documentary was more towards soliciting a reply from people who had experienced positive or negative results after trying this lifestyle. The benefits purported by them are along the lines of SAD therapy. Light therapy has been around for thousands of years. > What I found most difficult to believe was the colossal amount of ignorant responses I tapped into with this post. > “Oh brave new world…” I’ll take my soma now and shut up. Then why not ask “Does sitting in the sunlight make you feel better?” There was no reason to bring in this woo-woo documentary, following some extreme nutters, if all you you thought you were asking about is light therapy. Given a minute or two of Googling I am sure we can find all sorts of studies that show improvement in moods with exposure to light. You don’t need to collect personal anecdotes from fringe practitioners to get data. In fact, personal testimonials are one of the worst ways to learn whether a health regime actually works. You poisoned this well yourself by starting out asking about the whackos. ---
**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 5, 2011, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/72 "2011-08-05T11:30:17Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > ’ > > Don’t treat me like a fool. If you would read the original post you would see that I found the character’s (HRM) claim that he did not require food was laughable. The documentary covered a wide range of practitioners with different approaches to the subject. Do you not remember the comedic scene when HRM was confronted after being photographed in the Indian restaurant? Oh, that’s right you were “multi-tasking”. > My approach to this documentary was more towards soliciting a reply from people who had experienced positive or negative results after trying this lifestyle. The benefits purported by them are along the lines of SAD therapy. Light therapy has been around for thousands of years. > What I found most difficult to believe was the colossal amount of ignorant responses I tapped into with this post. > “Oh brave new world…” I’ll take my soma now and shut up. Using SAD Therapy to justify looking seriously at this “sungazing” woo just because they both involve light is the equivalent of using acupuncture as an excuse to take voodoo dolls serious because they both use pins. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/73 "2011-08-05T11:44:11Z")
I’m still trying to figure out what response would satisfy the increasingly agitated OP. Ten people recounting their experiences staring at the sun? “It really helped my mood, but the going blind part brought me down again.” It seems to me that a necessarily small portion of the general population would be stupid enough to try this in the first place, and the overlap between that population and denizens of a board generally hostile to the supernatural would be zero. Plus, as VT and others have pointed out, the fact that practitioners are guaranteed to have eye damage makes demanding their presence on an Internet website problematic and comedic. So, for fast food, do these people go to a tanning salon? Or just keep a sun lamp in the car? ---
**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 5, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/74 "2011-08-05T12:06:15Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > The documentary was made by Paul Sorcher, an accredited film maker , ABOUT the main character. > IMDB classifies this as an Award Winning Film. You are upset because we aren’t taking this seriously? 1. It is hard to take your request seriously when you try to pass off the above as fact, then repeatedly refuse to back off from your claims. 2. We are serious enough not to give this _very_ dangerous woo any credit what so ever. The _only_ publicity they deserve is bad publicity, and we are refusing to look at the supposed positive side of going blind and starving to death. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/75 "2011-08-05T12:19:22Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > My approach to this documentary was more towards soliciting a reply from people who had experienced positive or negative results after trying this lifestyle. Try to take your disappointment in stride. I once started a thread to debate the pros and cons of cyanide therapy, and not a _single person_ who’d participated in the ritual bothered to show up. ---
**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 5, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/76 "2011-08-05T12:23:58Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Try to take your disappointment in stride. I once started a thread to debate the pros and cons of cyanide therapy, and not a _single person_ who’d participated in the ritual bothered to show up. So the results so far are 50/50? ---
**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 5, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/77 "2011-08-05T12:32:51Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Try to take your disappointment in stride. I once started a thread to debate the pros and cons of cyanide therapy, and not a _single person_ who’d participated in the ritual bothered to show up. However, several \*married \*people did report the results on their spouses. ---
**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 5, 2011, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/78 "2011-08-05T12:51:33Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > However, several \*married \*people did report the results on their spouses. I bet they were all pretty happy with the results. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/79 "2011-08-05T12:53:55Z")
“… and if you saw their wife you’d stare into the sun too.” (Thank you, I’ll be here all week.) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/80 "2011-08-05T12:58:11Z")
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