A More Complex World Requires A Wiser Approach

A couple of years ago, CNN began an investigation based on a government mail fraud case against a Canadian company accused of processing payments for many rip-off artists from around the world with millions of victims in the US. “Many of the schemes are remarkably similar. They prey on the desperate, sick and elderly -- sending out letters that trick people into thinking they've won the lottery or found a psychic adviser who will turn their lives around.” Every year the scammers stole millions and laundered it through that company.

As follow up and as research for a book on the subject, they wanted to meet and interview a famous French psychic whose name is at the bottom of letters that appeared to be handwritten and personally signed. Addressed to the elderly, sick and lonely, "the letters promised that Maria Duval would use her powers as a world-renowned psychic to help solve their problems. They could recover from ailments, avoid terrible misfortune, win the lottery.” They only needed to send her money first. “At least 1.4 million Americans fell for the scam.”

To be convincing, the “letters contained personal details, like a recipient’s name, age or hometown” but this information is easily obtained on line. They bought mailing lists of people who would likely fall for such a scam. These people would then send in about $40 for each letter giving them guidance from the psychic along with lucky numbers and magic charms. The total collected in this one operation is estimated at over $200 million.

This continued for more than 20 years, but was only the tip of the iceberg. When they got an interview with the psychic, they found that she sold the rights to her name for a fraction of the proceeds. The psychic letter ploy along with other similar scams had become big business with professional copywriters and marketers scattered around the world and linked together by the Canadian payment processors.

It’s true that not enough Americans understand that psychic powers don’t exist. Those that can’t distinguish coincidence from the universe sending messages (or some such nonsense) are easily taken in. It’s true that some Americans don’t understand that you can never win a lottery that you haven’t bought a ticket for. But that’s not the main point.

There is a broader issue here. More sophisticated Americans, who scoff at the victims of these scams, follow fads and trends, are taken in by advertising for products of dubious value and respond with fear to manufactured crises. 

Their lack of critical thinking is evident and somewhat frightening. On one hand, they argue that climate change is real, based on the testimony of so many scientists. On the other, they will reject scientific consensus on many other subjects like the safety of genetic engineering, glyphosate (brand name Roundup) and irradiation of food. They will buy into the concept that locally grown and organic produce is always superior. They put their families on a gluten-free diet when there is no medical reason to do so. They believe there is something magical about sea salt. They put their faith in all sorts of untested dietary supplements. Experts warning against these actions are considered corporate shills or just mistaken. They buy products based on nothing more than endorsements from friends, strangers or celebrity spokespersons. They flock to purveyors of “secrets” that drug companies, doctors, credit card companies, Wall Street and the government “don’t want you to know.”

All this goes on as the world gets more complex every day. Incredibly fast communications bring real and false offers and threats. Advanced robots, AI and autonomous vehicles lurk in the near future, while hackers try to steal our identities and influence votes. Are Americans ready for the future? Behavior shows that today far too many are struggling, victims of scams and their own poor decisions.

Testing Our Critical Thinking

At least once a day, though we may not even realize it, our critical thinking is tested.  I received this in an email from a friend who participates in a weekly walking group at a local nature center.  It’s good exercise and a pleasant time, but one of the participants wanted to let us know about additional benefits.

The article attached to the email was about something called forest bathing, and it tells how walking in the woods can be healthy, in fact, healthier than walking down a city sidewalk.  The headline tells us:  “A Retreat To Nature Can Boost Immunity And Mood.”

But forest bathing is more than just walking in the woods and enjoying the natural surroundings.  The outing in the article was led by a Certified Forest Therapy Guide.  It is the guide’s job to encourage participants to “slow down and become immersed in the natural environment” and to help them “tune in to the smells, textures, tastes and sights of the forest.”  The guide leads them through exercises to help them isolate each of these senses to take in the unique sights, sounds and smells.

It’s clearly not like hiking, because the forest bathers have no particular destination.  It’s a slow, mindful walk, akin to walking meditation practiced at some yoga retreats.  The emphasis is on the present moment, rather than on plans or worries.

After describing the experience, they list the health benefits.  The practice began in Japan where one study showed that walking in a forest environment “led to more significant reductions in blood pressure and certain stress hormones” than walking the same distance in the city.  I followed the link and found that this study had only 16 participants – was that 8 in each group (a test group and a control group)?  If so, that is an extremely small sample size; if not, it's not really an experiment. (And always remember that linked does not mean causes.)

They cite other “preliminary” studies as well.  One referred to as a “small study” and another with no mention of sample size or the experimental design, but both touting benefits of being in close proximity to trees or enjoying certain scents of the forest.

Now comes the worrisome part.  Apparently we are not able to get these benefits on our own.  The Association of Nature & Forest Therapy is training and certifying Forest Therapy guides to help.  Using this rather sparse scientific justification and an unsupported assertion that “work-related stress accounts for up to $190 billion in health care costs each [year],” their representative makes a leap of faith that forest bathing should be part of every doctor’s toolkit and covered by health insurance – "It's my hope that the health care system will include [forest therapy] into the range of services they reimburse for.”

Now I don’t doubt that taking a nice quiet leisurely walk in the woods, being sensitive to and appreciating the natural surroundings is surely healthier and more relaxing than walking down a crowded city sidewalk.  That’s a no-brainer.  But do you need a coach to benefit from it, do you need to pay and should insurance be involved?

The whole thing begins to sound like the case of therapeutic touch, which has no scientific basis, but for which insurance companies reimburse hospitals.  It reminds me of the company that sells scooters to the elderly with the sales pitch, “if Medicare doesn’t pay for yours, it’s free.”  The forest bathing business (and it is a business) wants to slide into that category enjoyed by some other health-related businesses – “your insurance will cover most or all of the cost.”  We’ve heard the sales pitches over and over and should know deep down that when no one is paying, no one is caring how much it cost and no one is concerned about abuse or true quality.  Patients get placebo benefits and the therapists get insurance money.  Our health costs rise and everyone wonders why.

Psychic Healing

In February a Colorado woman was accused of stealing nearly $300,000 from clients and ordered to serve five years in prison and to pay restitution.  According to testimony, she told her clients that she needed their cash to draw out the bad energy and needed to check their credit cards to see how frequently the number 6 appeared.  She kept the cash and used the credit cards at local department stores.  She was found guilty on 14 counts of fraud and 2 of tax evasion. 

Imagine how desperate people must be to consult a psychic healer to help them solve their problems!  Despite articles like this one, and many others besides, that show psychic healing as well as other so-called psychic abilities are unsupported by scientific theory or actual results, Americans still pursue this as an avenue of relief.  In this case they were lucky and may get some of their money back.

Is it fair to paint all psychics with the same brush, labeling them all frauds?  Perhaps not, I’m sure some sincerely believe in the abilities they claim.  Still, James Randi, magician and debunker of things psychic, has for many years offered a $1 million prize to anyone who can demonstrate true psychic powers under controlled conditions.  He has gotten few takers and no winners.  Yet police sometimes call in psychics to help solve crimes.  If they don’t, they risk being accused by victims or their families of not doing “everything possible.”

Back in 1996 a nine-year-old girl for a science project devised a method of testing the validity of therapeutic touch, an “energy medicine” which claims to promote healing and reduce pain and anxiety when therapists move their hands over a patient to manipulate his or her “energy field.”  The girl contacted 21 experienced practitioners, sat them behind a screen and asked them which of their hands was experiencing the energy field from her hand.  Their success in detecting the energy field was no better than random guessing.  Results of this experiment were written up in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Yet the State of California awards continuing education credits to nurses who learn this technique and “an American Hospital survey conducted in 2005 noted that about 30% of 1400 responding hospitals offered [and presumably charge for] therapeutic touch.”  

What we see here are further examples of uncritical acceptance of alternative practices based on anecdotal evidence rather than scientific testing.  This seems to be the trend.  We are encouraged to be open-minded, but there is a difference between being open-minded and foolish when it comes to our health and how we spend our money in general.