this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2024
1415 points (98.0% liked)

Science Memes

11217 readers
2725 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Fleur__@lemmy.world 138 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Lol those losers at cern wasted hundreds of millions of dollars to find out that there aren't frequencies that alter your energy while I only spent 36 dollars.

Get real

[–] Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works 41 points 3 months ago

"I did my research"

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 136 points 3 months ago (7 children)
[–] UprisingVoltage@feddit.it 27 points 3 months ago

Top tier shitpost

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 16 points 3 months ago

I see nothing wrong with this nutritional chart

[–] underwire212@lemm.ee 16 points 3 months ago

Protection against other crystals lol

[–] konalt@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Pondering my blue apatite rn

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 72 points 3 months ago (5 children)

One day at work, I found out a work friend actually believed the whole "crystal energy" thing.

Since she was the first person I had ever met who actually admitted to that, I wanted to know more about what her specific beliefs about them were.

At first she was super bubbly about it, on par with her personality. But then as I asked a couple common sense questions about why science doesnt find anything measurable, and first she got hostile and mad that I would dare question another person's beliefs, but when I explained I was genuinely curious and had no interest in changing her beliefs she just kind of broke down because nobody ever takes her seriously or believes her about her "personal healing journey"

The way I see it, it's for adults who like pretty rocks, but can't come to terms with the fact that they like something "childish" (because for some reason a lot of adults call a rock collection cringe or childish or dumb, but clearly they've never met a geologist) so instead of having a pretty rock and mineral collection, they have "healing crystals", and eventually it just becomes kind of like part of their identity the way a religion is.

I will however, 100% giggle at their expense with my wife, later. Because anyone who buys $50 polished selenite ~~drink coaster~~ "charging plate", and a $200 brass pyramid to "recharge" their $50 "healing quartz wand" while refusing to listen to real science deserves to be giggled at.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 44 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (5 children)

I will however, 100% giggle at their expense with my wife, later. Because anyone who buys $50 polished selenite drink coaster “charging plate”, and a $200 brass pyramid to “recharge” their $50 “healing quartz wand” while refusing to listen to real science deserves to be giggled at.

I mean, humans do all sorts of wierd, irrational, ritualistic things. IMO, whatever floats your boat.

Did you buy your wife a diamond ring? Or at least gold? :P

[–] spankinspinach@sh.itjust.works 17 points 3 months ago

I think this is the perfect response haha. Ppl find comfort where they can in the world, even if it looks a little whacky. So long as it's not hurting anyone, let them have their whacky

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 months ago

humans do all sorts of weird, irrational, ritualistic things

lil private giggles about it seem fairly unobjectionable

[–] Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

No, I made the ring from sapphire (birth stone) and silver. Jewelry is easier than you might think when you've been doing small metalwork for knife handles, pommels, and guards.

[–] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Birth stones huh? More magical woo. No for real that's awesome.

Lol at least she just thinks they're pretty instead of thinking it'll balance her energies.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Kwakigra@beehaw.org 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

In many circumstances the placebo effect is superior to common medical environments. I was completely dismissive of homeopathy until I came to understand its actual appeal. Obviously there is no proven physical mechanism of the substance itself; the water is just part of the ritual. The ritual of being cared for and being paid special attention to by another person who cares that you get better and can do nothing for you but give you that attention you need is 100% placebo oriented medicine and 0% drug.

I was dismissive about crystals as well, but the reality is that if you are aware of them they are in some way altering your awareness by being present. The way they alter your awareness could be as simple as noticing an interesting looking stone, a reminder that there is a vast unknown and many others trying to find their way as you are, or a meditation weight and focus. I don't know about crystal effects on vibrations other than to know that mass is literally energy and different compositions of molecular structures could have effects on the immediate environment beyond our ability to yet measure. I'm most comfortable saying that crystals definitely have some effect, definitely have assisted others in their healing journeys in some form or another, and beyond that I do not know many specifics.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 48 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (5 children)

Meh. Placebos affect people so, I let them have it.

Edit: obviously not to the detriment of real remedies. Calmate

[–] Saganaki@lemmy.one 84 points 3 months ago

If it “makes me feel better”, fine.

If it “makes it so I’m not contagious and won’t give you Covid”, no.

[–] Signtist@lemm.ee 75 points 3 months ago (1 children)

My mom died of cancer a few months ago because she was convinced that a combination of sunlight's natural vibrational frequency and some expensive "medical" herbal teas would cure her. Placebos affect people, but if you let them believe that they're an alternative to actual science and medicine, then they'll use them as such.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 3 months ago (1 children)

you really haven't thought this through, have you?

Not only does this encourage scammers to scam people, which is itself obviously bad, but it also means that some people will buy these things instead of getting actual treatment.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] 7bicycles@hexbear.net 9 points 3 months ago

I feel like with all this placebo stuff you get like 10% increase in perceived well-being vs. a good 10% of the population just going full woo woo about this stuff

[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

Selling people fake remedies is always going to be to the detriment of real remedies unless they are targeted exclusively at conditions for which there are no real remedies.

Furthermore, the real issue isn't about "letting people have their crystals", it's about letting people sell fake remedies, something that should be banned unconditionally. Profiting off of pretending to help people while not helping them is socially malignant.

OP is phrased in terms of attacking consumers because the poster is an idiot, as made evident by their absurd and pandering rhetorical tact.

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 47 points 3 months ago

I'm pretty sure the anti matter "crystals" it produces can alter one's "frequencies" quite well. If we had enough of the stuff. In the mean time eating bananas is a good substitute.

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 37 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There is scientific evidence that backs crystals, it's called the placebo effect.

So, you're wrong.

[–] nexguy@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Science doesn't back the crystals, it backs the placebo effect.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 28 points 3 months ago (12 children)

I forget the YouTube channel name now, but I recall someone testing some of the cleansing bracelets, with "energy" and "healing" powers...

It turned out that the energy was mostly in the form of radioactive materials, and the only thing you would be healed from by wearing it, was your continued life.

Crystals, on the other hand, are mostly just inert and harmless. So if someone wants to keep a "healing" crystal or whatever on them or put it in their office or something, okay sure. It won't do what it claims to, but it won't hurt you.

But if I see someone wearing a cleansing bracelet, I'm going to reach for my Hazmat suit (since I don't own one, I'm just going to keep a safe distance from the person willingly carrying around what is very likely to be radioactive material), and reevaluate my association with anyone willing to buy such nonsense with absolutely no understanding that it's probably harmful.

I forget the radioactive material used. From what I recall, it's not "drop and run" dangerous, but prolonged exposure is probably going to have some unpleasant side effects... Kind of like radon (it wasn't radon... Radon is a gas with an extremely short half life IIRC, but it can be dangerous to have long term exposure - many years, and it's in most homes.... Buy a radon sensor folks, they're not much more expensive than a good smoke detector).

load more comments (12 replies)
[–] Mac@mander.xyz 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Short comment:
Does the LHC explain emotions?

 

Long comment:
Perhaps there are other "forces" in the universe than physical forces. For example what is faith but a non-physical force? And yet it drives people to feel certain ways and do certain things. Same goes for love.

Just like the placebo effect there are many things that affect a person internally even though externally they don't appear to be doing anything.

If something so simple as wearing a bracelet brings balance to someone's troubled mind then I don't see the issue nor do I see the reason to argue about it on the internet.

Now, all that being said, these products are just a grift. We lost the plot when we went from
"pretty rock that eases my mind because I get dopamine from looking at it"
to
"this rock has magical powers and you should buy it because of that".

Conclusion: people are allowed to feel spiritual and psychological connections with things and it is wrong to take advantage of those feelings for profit.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 21 points 3 months ago (3 children)

The premise is flawed. The LHC is looking for specific things, and it takes forever-and-a-day just to look much less decide whether the-thing-being-searched-for is there.

The premise here is that the LHC found All That Is, and it didn’t find [magical-rock-mystery-waves] so pfffttthh stupid hippies.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Until we figure out just what dark energy and dark matter is, we can't throw out there being a fifth force that the LHC isn't even designed to detect in the first place but if you think that humans are affected by things we only tend to notice on the astronomical scale, you're putting the cart way before the horse. The whole reason we can't detect them is because they don't interact with us.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (8 children)

They recently found evidence that not only was Penrose right all along about quantum effects in the brain but there's these crystaline things in your brain that do quantum shit, not very specific on all the details.. but the first thing I thought was

"Can't wait for Spirit Science to completely and delibrately misinterpret this to sell more rocks."

Edit: Maybe I was jumping the gun a bit about claiming Orch-OR itself was proven

Source on "Penrose was right": https://youtu.be/xa2Kpkksf3k

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io 14 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Not to defend these things, I also don't think they work, but the simplest argument is that they work on a metaphysical frequency/energy/whatever, so a physical instrument wouldn't be able to detect it.

[–] grrgyle@slrpnk.net 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Could also be a placebo which has been clinically proven to have some subjective effect. Not worth getting fleeced over, but worth 2 bucks for a nice rock that makes you feel hopeful.

When I was growing up (granola) everyone in my family had a special little crystal that represented them. I remember when we all picked them out from a big bin. Not to say this kind of thinking can't have a dark side, though...

Nowadays I just find "special" rocks while I'm out on a walk feeling a certain way, and like mentally imbue them whatever feeling I need (stability, remorse, etc). Then I keep them around and think of that whenever I look them, until I eventually forget why I even got them.

Got a nice Jasper that's flat on one side helping me through some shit with my family atm

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] JudahBenHur@lemm.ee 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

what do you mean by metaphysical

[–] credo@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago

“Not real”

[–] ImWaitingForRetcons@lemm.ee 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Metaphysical means that it’s beyond the bounds of normal physics - stuff like ghosts, spirits, religious stuff, etc. Basically, you can cover a lot of hokey with it.

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 months ago (10 children)

Metaphysical is a fun woo woo word, because one definition of it is basically as you have said, a synonym for supernatural (ie, physically impossible), whereas the other definition of it relates to metaphysics, the philosophical approaches to understand the rules that govern or give rise to the rules/laws of physics.

So you have one contextual usage that means 'weird unexplained spooky impossible nonsense', and another that means, 'logical structures that seek to explain the nature of reality as understood empirically, often by academics.'

Thus its a perfect word for mystical woo people who love to conflate different contextual meanings of words and pretend they are not doing that.

load more comments (10 replies)
[–] Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Many of them are also dangerously radioactive.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Big_Bob@hexbear.net 11 points 3 months ago

Speak for yourself. My JO crystal is so supercharged I can levitate up to 6 cm from the ground and yell louder than a police siren.

I have won several fights by blinding my opponent with the flash of the JO crystal as I crank my hog with one hand and swing my crystal with the other.

My seed has become so powerful, I'm banned from donating semen in 17 countries, including Papua New Guinea and the Pharoe Island.

I have channeled the unholy energies from my magnetic wristbands and wooden bracelets to erect a dark labyrinth to contain me so I won't accidentally break reality apart when I crank my hawg too hard.

Do not underestimate the power of crystals.

[–] bizzle@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago (10 children)

Now I'm just a humble weed farmer but I've seen "A Boy and His Atom" and it looks an awful lot like waves/vibrations to me. And I'm pretty sure some researchers have seen Lithium atoms collapse into waves near absolute zero. And we know that these waves and particles are effected by observation. And I've also smoked a bunch of DMT and eaten mysterious varieties of mushroom. That's why I believe in m⛤gick.

load more comments (10 replies)
[–] Rachelhazideas@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (7 children)

People will shit on crystals believers in one breath and tell people to 'respect other's religion' in another or gloat about their MBTI assessment. The cognitive dissonance is unreal.

I don't believe in either but at least I'm consistent. If you're not, then you're just finding an excuse to hate on a hobby that primarily attracts women.

This is the same thing that happens to anything that women likes: pumpkin spice lattes, uggs, horoscopes, tarot cards, rose, etc. It's seen as trivial and stupid no matter how banal the average person's interest are regardless of gender.

[–] AVincentInSpace@pawb.social 13 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (5 children)

Pro tip: the difference between faith healers and organized religions and belief systems is that, by and large, priests do not seek out people who are vulnerable, charge them three figures per psychic session, and then try to upsell crystals that do nothing on top of it. You'll never hear someone say "respect their religion" in regards to Scientology.

Also

anything that women like

Bro, have you seen how much people shit on sports, beer, and other stereotypically masculine interests? People shit on basic things because they're basic and some people use them as a substitute for a personality, not because women like them.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Have you considered that there's more than one person on the internet? One person can say one thing and another person say the opposite and no one has been a hypocrite.

Anyway, I'd say we should respect people's right to practice what they want, but we can still make fun of it. I probably would say don't do it to their face, but that's up to you.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] freewheel@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

This concept is just as dangerous as the right wing claiming LHC will open black holes. There's an implication here that just as soon as LHC was turned on it suddenly gathered information about every unknown Force, particle, and energy in the universe.

The Large hadron collider took 4 years to confirm the higgs boson; as of today it is only on its third data collection run. LHC is hardly a silver bullet.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Honestly though?

At least it keeps the gullible from causing real trouble elsewhere.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I see where you are coming from, but if we lived in a world that literally had no scammers, grifters, or corruption, those people might find a hobby that actually helps society as a whole rather than spinning in place.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] mo_lave@reddthat.com 8 points 3 months ago

The person with the crystals has already concluded, by faith or by doing large logical leaps, that those contain new energy.

The scientists behind the LHC have to meticulously find evidence along the way before they can make a conclusion.

They are not the same.

load more comments
view more: next ›