The Hidden Messages in Water

Let's just say the scientist in me and the spiritualist in me struggle against each other with books like this. I truly believe in his messages of positive thinking but the science backing them up is...in nice terms...lacking VERY SEVERELY and it has been disproved many, many times over.

With its laughable science and huge leaps of logic, this could just as easily be marketed as a parody of new age tripe. Emoto's pseudoscience is alarmingly concrete and reductive, demonstrating his lack of understanding of physics (yes, including quantum physics) at every turn. To read this as a scientific study of the physical world leads only to incredulous laughter.

It may be better to read it as a spiritual/philosophical text, though Emoto muddies these waters considerably (hah, water-related quip) by claiming scientific status. He has an an unfortunate tendency to make up or possibly cherry-pick data in support of his quasi-religious themes. Emoto doesn't present his data, but only his ideas and purported examples that support his show more assertions. I say "purported" because he has chosen the guise of science (though he describes himself as not a scientist), so he should be accountable to standards such as describing one's obtained data set and using controls. His "studies" meet no scientific standards.

His spiritual assertions ramble and contradict themselves. Emoto frequently appeals to coincidence as significant, then jumps to puzzling conclusions unsupported by his chain of events. An example: If we consider that the human body is a universe within itself, it is only natural to conclude that we carry within us all the elements. According to Buddhism, the human being is born with 108 earthly desires (such as confusion, attachment, jealousy, and vanity), which torture us throughout our lives. I think it is logical to conclude that these 108 earthly desires have counterparts in the 108 elements. (p. 70) He thinks wrong, at least to the extent that just sticking two ideas together doesn't demonstrate a relationship between them. I've read many religious texts that rely on non-Western logic (the Talmud and the Dalai Lama's work among them) and the problem with Emoto is not that the work is spiritual rather than scientific, but that his logic and evidence for spiritual truth are as poorly executed as his science. His logic is more in line with the semantic leaps and condensations made by people who are psychotic. People have done stunning and brilliant work when driven by the idea, It must all mean something. Emoto has not done so.

Oh, by the way, talking negatively to rice causes mold, so water isn't that special. And water has ESP. And stickers of images of ice can be stuck to your wallet to invoke "the God of Wealth." And humans have more "elements" than other animals. And our souls came to earth via extraterrestrial water. I could go on, but suffice it to say that Emoto throws every woo woo trope into the bucket and stirs them into a scrambled, incoherent mass. Okay, one more: The 'C' of E = MC² refer[s] not to the speed of light, but to consciousness.... There is no way of knowing if Einstein himself considered the possibility of C representing consciousness, but since everything in the universe is relative, you can't say that it is a mistake to see the formula in this new way. (p. 145) Well, yeah, you can.

I agree that the experimenter's attitude may influence findings. We see it in Emoto's work, in fact. What I can't support is the idea that skepticism or critical examination will somehow destroy the data; that is, that faith is destroyed by raising any questions about faith. I don't know if Emoto believes what he says or is a charlatan, but he sells water at $35 for 8 ounces.

I highly recommend this book for anyone teaching a research techniques class. It should be very easy for college students to pick this apart. However, based on the many credulous reviews of Emoto's work, you'll also need to have a critical discussion of the longing for a reductive, concrete, anthropocentric, and illogical universe as well.

See also Harriet Hall's useful http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1144934/masaru_emotos_wonderful_world_of_wa... show less

I came to this with a pretty open mind, willing to read it as a philosophical book about consciousness and spirituality. I'm willing to accept that there are things that can't yet be proven to rigorous scientific standards. But even coming from this fairly generous perspective, I was disappointed. Dr. Emoto's theories are interesting, but they aren't well-developed. He believes something, finds one or two suggestive results, declares the theory proved, and uses it as a building block for his next theory. Worse is when his religious/spiritual beliefs are used as proof. I have a pretty healthy suspension of disbelief, but he ran me out of it in a couple of chapters.

The pictures are beautiful and the first couple of chapters are show more interesting, but I ultimately got very little out of this. Depending on what you're looking for, you may have more success. If you're looking for a strictly scientific book, give this one a pass. show less

2005. So this Japanese guy, Dr. Masaru Emoto believes that water forms beautiful crystals like snowflakes if you think good thoughts at it and turns ugly and asymetrical if you send it negative thoughts. Look at his amazing pictures to see. It seems like it ought to be a hoax, but it is also easily tested at home so I'm not sure it is. I'm going to try it.

If it is true, it seems like we should really be trying to think positive all the time and sending each other and ourselves and the planet happy positive energy waves. And drinking happy water. I'll bet it cures cancer too. I'm going to try to drink more water and see what crystals it forms before I drink it so I know if it's really good or not. Because what the heck, it probably can't show more hurt. Masaru sells bottled water, but it is very expensive, so I can't buy his. show less

The renowned Japanese scientist Masaru Emoto discovered that the molecules of water are affected by our thoughts, words, and feelings. He was inspired by the idea that every snowflake is unique. He perfected a way to crystallize water and conducted studies to show how water is affected by us vibrationally.

There were studies with water when listening to Mozart, Beethoven, or Chopin beautiful crystals were formed while hard (angry? There was no mention of the name of the band) rock for instance produced ugly results. There are anecdotes of just with the prayer of a Tibetan monk managed to clear up foul smelling algae in a lake. Finally, there are simple experiments when the word LOVE was taped to the bottle it made some beautiful crystals show more as opposed to the abyss-looking YOU FOOL!

This world and our bodies are largely made of water and water is such a sensitive reflection to vibrations. Judging from the studies of water around the world by Emoto, something is amiss in the world. Do we really need water to figure that out?

Simple read with some fascinating photographs of the crystals (or lack thereof). Short enough to make you want a Tibetan monk to bless your bottled water. show less

Emoto has taken a common concept - that we are all connected through our vibrations - to a new level with his research into water. His work has been to photograph water crystals that have been exposed to different positive or negative impacts through images, music, and talking. The book contains a lot of lovely photographs and is a pretty quick read. Water crystals exposed to positive impacts are more beautiful than water crystals exposed to negative impacts. Emoto's argument is that we must ensure that we understand that something as simple as a negative thought can have an impact on the entire universe.

Beautiful photographs. Emoto's message is well taken. It will be great when the technology to photograph water crystals becomes more widely available --it would make for some fun experiments with words.