# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/81 "2011-08-05T14:06:38Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Look on the bright side That’s what started the whole mess in the first place! ---
**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, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/82 "2011-08-05T14:15:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 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. In case anyone thought that I was using acupuncture as an example because I think it is valid, well…let’s just say that I think it is about as valid and proven a technique as sun therapy, and leave it at that. ---
**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, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/83 "2011-08-05T14:27:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > In case anyone thought that I was using acupuncture as an example because I think it is valid, well…let’s just say that I think it is about as valid and proven a technique as sun therapy, and leave it at that. The dose makes the poison. Even if exposure to full-spectrum light is therapeutically advantageous in some case of depression (what most light treatments are) it does not follow that staring at the sun for extended periods of time is good for a person. Digitalis is a good substance to treat some heart problems. This does not mean that anyone should start including foxglove salads in their diets. (To be clear, I am not disagreeing with you, I am just trying to expand the image.) ---
**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, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/84 "2011-08-05T18:29:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > 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. I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. I never professed to believe the claim that one could live off the sun nutritionally. The effects, however, of looking into the sun and the damage it can cause has been collected by Dr. Andrew T. Young, a professor in the Astronomy Department at San Diego State University. You can read it yourself here: > **[Galileo, solar observing, and eye safety](https://aty.sdsu.edu/vision/Galileo.html)** > > Galileo, solar observing, and eye safety I’m willing to bet you won’t read it in its entirety. There aren’t any jokes, just research and science. It is not about sungazing but it does describe looking at the sun in a safe angle. I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. Shame on you. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/85 "2011-08-05T18:47:28Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. Why don’t you understand that for every rational being on this planet, the two main aspects of “sunglazing”, staring for several minutes into the sun, and feeding on sunlight, are totally, obviously irrational points which make examining the subject further unnecessary? ---
**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, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/86 "2011-08-05T19:00:32Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. I never professed to believe the claim that one could live off the sun nutritionally. The effects, however, of looking into the sun and the damage it can cause has been collected by Dr. Andrew T. Young, a professor in the Astronomy Department at San Diego State University. You can read it yourself here: > > [Galileo, solar observing, and eye safety](http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/vision/Galileo.html) > > I’m willing to bet you won’t read it in its entirety. There aren’t any jokes, just research and science. It is not about sungazing but it does describe looking at the sun in a safe angle. > > I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. > It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. > I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. > Shame on you. I read through your link…which provided numerous cites showing how dangerous prolonged staring at the sun can be. If we joke, it’s because we can’t think of anyone in their right mind who would spend more than a minute of their time before determining that the premise of receiving nutrition by staring at the sun is (warning: tech speak) Bull Goose Loony. There simply aren’t two sides worth looking into, _period_. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/87 "2011-08-05T19:02:08Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. I never professed to believe the claim that one could live off the sun nutritionally. The effects, however, of looking into the sun and the damage it can cause has been collected by Dr. Andrew T. Young, a professor in the Astronomy Department at San Diego State University. You can read it yourself here: > > [Galileo, solar observing, and eye safety](http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/vision/Galileo.html) > > I’m willing to bet you won’t read it in its entirety. There aren’t any jokes, just research and science. It is not about sungazing but it does describe looking at the sun in a safe angle. > > I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. > It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. > I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. > Shame on you. Yawn. You seriuosly expected to find a bunch of sungazers here on the Dope who would be willing to discuss their positive and negative experiences of sungazing? No, you did not expect to find sungazers here. You’re only pretending. You are not a serious person, because a serious person, even if they really were actually interested in sungazing, wouldn’t expect to find a bunch of sungazers here. You’d have to go to some sungazing message board instead. Here, I found a sungazing thread on a woo-woo site with a few seconds of googling: [Conscious Growth Club – Steve Pavlina](http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/health-fitness/23984-i-discovered-something-beyond-raw-food-diet.html) Enjoy your testimonials! ---
**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, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/88 "2011-08-05T19:03:12Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. I never professed to believe the claim that one could live off the sun nutritionally. Then you shouldn’t have started by talking about people who do. To quote: > [@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. That’s you asking specifically about these nuts who think you can feed off the Sun and look at it without harm. Not about the benefits or lack thereof of just sitting in the Sun. > [@topaz](#): > > I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. “Don’t do this, it’s dangerously stupid and can permanently injure you or kill you” is a very constructive thing to say. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/89 "2011-08-05T19:22:31Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. > It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. > I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. > Shame on you. Enough. Another moderator already told you that you can’t insult other people in this forum. This is a formal warning. ---
**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, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/90 "2011-08-05T19:30:34Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. I never professed to believe the claim that one could live off the sun nutritionally. The effects, however, of looking into the sun and the damage it can cause has been collected by Dr. Andrew T. Young, a professor in the Astronomy Department at San Diego State University. You can read it yourself here: > > [Galileo, solar observing, and eye safety](http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/vision/Galileo.html) > > I’m willing to bet you won’t read it in its entirety. There aren’t any jokes, just research and science. It is not about sungazing but it does describe looking at the sun in a safe angle. > > I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. > It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. > I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. > Shame on you. OK from your OWN link its clear, and the Galileo only observed the sun at sunset (which IS still dangerous, but less so), and gave up entirely when his pupil Benedetto Castellidiscovered the projection technique (whereby the light from the sun is projected from the telescope onto a peice of paper): > [@](#): > > And, once his student has developed the projection technique, which allows observations to be made at any time — in particular, in the middle of the day, when the Sun is more likely to be in the clear — Galileo sends with his second letter a set of daily drawings of the Sun, for every day in June but three! (This is remarkable: climatological data for Florence in June show that, on the average, there are 7 rainy days in that month, and only 66% of the possible hours of sunshine. Many of these observations must have been made between clouds in the middle of the day. For comparison, June is “fog season” in San Diego; the local weatherpeople on TV refer to “June gloom.”) So, switching from direct observation to projection immediately allowed Galileo to follow the motion of the spots across the Sun in detail, day by day. ---
**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, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/91 "2011-08-05T19:35:43Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Here, I found a sungazing thread on a woo-woo site with a few seconds of googling: [Conscious Growth Club – Steve Pavlina](http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/health-fitness/23984-i-discovered-something-beyond-raw-food-diet.html) > > Enjoy your testimonials! Heh. Didja notice the one poster there who said, > [@Plato](#): > > Errrmm, I don’t want to be _that guy_ but don’t you have to be a plant for this to work? Everybody seems to ignore him, and then sometime later he was banned. 😛 Actually I’m disheartened to see the level of credulity even there. I know, I know. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/92 "2011-08-05T19:53:55Z")
IF you are a holy man from India, Gase away. In a matter of a few days you will be totally bilind, but still follow the sun from dawn till sunset, seeing nothing else. ---
**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, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/93 "2011-08-05T20:12:46Z")
> [@](#): > > It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. > I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. > Shame on you. Whoever said anything about what anyone here considers themelf? This is the sort of thing someone would say if they came here to yank chains. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/94 "2011-08-05T20:28:19Z")
As an undergraduate I did an Anthropology project involving raw foodist. One of my informants believed that it would one day be possible for her to stop eating and receive all of her nutritional needs from sunlight and water. Unfortunately, I didn’t really have the opportunity to learn more from her. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/95 "2011-08-05T21:37:52Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Do they consider the moonlight to be “dessert”? …mmmmmm… moon pie… ---
**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 6, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/96 "2011-08-06T00:42:57Z")
> [@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. Geez, Larry, settle down there. You did ask for input from people who had seen the film, no? And I did direct you toward a source mentioned in the same film you referenced that would most likely provide you with replies from “people who had experienced positive or negative results” of this, um, therapy, did I not? Have you even bothered to check with people who publicly proclaim they have experimented with sungazing, or is it just more fun for you to hang around here poking people with your rather unimpressive stick? ---
**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:** [August 6, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/97 "2011-08-06T00:50:07Z")
Sounds to me like somebody assumed neutrinos were nutritious. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/98 "2011-08-06T00:55:03Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Sounds to me like somebody assumed neutrinos were nutritious. Neutrinos are stuck up bastards. No matter what I do, they just won’t interact with me. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/99 "2011-08-06T03:34:27Z")
> [@topaz](#): > > I am only curious why no one has attempted to discuss this rationally. Because the vast majority of posters in this forum have at least a high school education and most of us have at least some college and a few of us have advanced degrees. What you have posted, (without providing a single bit of evidentiary support), violates any number of biological and physical laws. If you ask us to comment on the “phenomenon,” we are going to simply look at the claims with a rational perspective founded on some basic education about the real world. If someone came to you and proposed that they had perfected the art of only inhaling, never exhaling, to the point that they could now float into the atmosphere, how much effort would you put into trying to understand their claim or “discussing it rationally”? One supposes that you have a high school education and sufficient intelligence to power up a computer and navigate to the internet. Therefore, one would suppose that you are already aware that inflating your lungs with regular air, just like blowing up a balloon with your lungs, simply compresses normal air into a heavier form and that it will not float, just as a balloon blown up by mouth does not float. You need a gas that is actually lighter than air, (hydrogen, helium, methane), to float and you need to displace enough volume of the air to counter your weight and your lungs are certainly not large enough to do that. What sort of “discussion” would you choose to have with a proponent of "inhaling to the point of floating away? Why should the posters, here, react differently to your odd claims? You are also wrong to claim that no one has “attempted to discuss this rationally.” Why are you ignoring the post that noted that the amount of energy that could be absorbed by the eye was orders of magnitude less that that required to animate a body? > [@topaz](#): > > I am surprised that none of you has anything constructive to say and is more than wiling to post on a subject you obviously know nothing about. > It is laughable that you consider yourselves intellectuals. > I’ll know better than to expect constructive dialogue from this forum in the future. > Shame on you. On the contrary. The posts in this thread indicate that the participants are very much aware of the topic: they are aware that it is bullshit and they understand why it is bullshit. Do you? Why have you completely ignored the serious answers that were provided? If you wondered why everyone was being so dismissive, why did you not simply ask for a clear explanation regarding energy transfer from the sun to humans? You opened the thread with a claim that you did not necessarily believe the kooks making the claims, but all your subsequent posts have either attempted to defend the kooks or attacked the posters on this board. That gives rise to the strong suspicion that you really are a believer. Since the claim is ludicrous, physically and biologically, your apparent defense of the kooks suggests that you are less interested in the facts than in spreading their “message.” That, too, will invite more than a bit of humorous response. If you really are out spreading their message, then the shame would fall on you. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333/100 "2011-08-06T03:46:03Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Maybe they are just eating recreationally, for the fun of it, enjoying the flavours and textures and not because they need the nutrition. Okay, so obviously the sun-eaters are idiots. Moving on, I followed a couple Wikipedia links and ended up at the [Breatharian Institute](http://www.breatharian.com/fivemagicwords.html). These are folks who think that you can get all your nutrition from air, eventually. As for mocking them, well, some people you can’t make fun of, you just quote 'em: > [@Breatharian Institute](#): > > Do the meditation exersize before drinking lots of diet coke in the 20 oz and 1 liter sizes (with caffeine) in the plastic bottles only. Along with a double-quarter-pounder/with cheese meal at McDonald’s only. Always meditate 30 mins to an hour before eating. Try to eat at least one meal a day for a while. Go back to my web site periodically to see if you can start to feel the magic after reading a few paragraphs. > > IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT DRINK WATER OF ANY KIND OR FROM ANY SOURCE AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY,DO NOT EAT ANY FRUITS OR VEGETABLES DOING THIS REGIME!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sungazing-wtf/591333.md?page=6)