[antiaging]

Well, I have read the reviews and a few excerpts from the book itself, and looked up some info on the studies quoted by the author.

Cleve Backster, first published his studies concerning galvanic 'skin' responses on plants in the International Journal of Parapsychology in 1968, a journal which does not have either peer review or data disclosure.  Further experiments using proper controls and methodology have not been able to duplicate the results Backster's claims. have been thoroughly refuted by qualified scientists using proper controls.  Considering this person's work represents a great majority of the supporting argument for this book, the lack of credibility of the study, and the inability to replicate the results, is a serious blow.

By far the majority of the reviews were written by believers in the paranormal or supernatural, not by people familiar with scientific methodology.  In short, much of the books support was derived from popularity, not from objectivity.  The galvanic skin tester of a lie detector machine is designed to test the conductivity of human skin, which is very different in nature to the cellulose wall of a plant, and there is nothing to indicate that the conductivity of a cellulose wall in a plant would change in response to a perceived threat, psychic or otherwise.

I cannot consider the book "The Secret Life of Plants" to be a credible source of information.  There are simply too many red flags on the experiments.

Anyone that needs peer review to show him if something is true or not may have trouble thinking for himself. Look at the evidence and decide for yourself what is true or not. What is this dependance on peer review. Can't you think for yourself? Research the relative issues and evidence, then decide for yourself.

OK, his research has supporters and detractors. So it is with all frontier science.
I'll believe Backster, as his supporters in parapsychology are doing real scientific research in a real scientific field.
[Main stream science seems to ignore the fact that the mind does exist and it does affect the physical world. This can be demonstrated everytime someone moves his little finger. Main stream science, as it is set up, deals only with the physical world and treats the mental as if it doesn't exist at all. - big error there!]

[Babs]

So, we're talking about mental telepathy in the UFO. The UFO can read your thoughts...or the occupants can read your thoughts. Interesting, and fits all the sightings and abduction stories.

I don't know...

Seems to me that a species so advanced and knowledgble about humans that it can communicate telephaticaly with them would really not have any need to abduct people and stick probes in uncofortable places. How could they know so much about the human mind, and not the body?

Good point.

[antiaging]

I remember that plant experiment. I think it was done once and people wanted to look into it more and found that it didn't pan out. They got different results on the experiments, so you heard no more about it.

What about the plant growing to beautiful music or music that the owner perceived as beautiful? Wasn't that a valid experiment?....along with the threat to a plant 'making it grow even more?'....

There was a guy in England that played classical music to his plants and they grew better; the tomatoes were very large. I remember reading this and seeing something about it on TV. I also read that playing acid rock, near plants, will cause them to try to grow away from it, then they will wither and die.

[Babs]

I actually read about that nearly a decade ago...it seems that the music was responsible for the better health of the plant, but not because the plant cared about the music, but rather because the music made the person taking care of the plant do so in a more devoted way.

I never read that, that's interesting.

[aquatus1]

Anyone that needs peer review to show him if something is true or not may have trouble thinking for himself. Look at the evidence and decide for yourself what is true or not. What is this dependance on peer review. Can't you think for yourself? Research the relative issues and evidence, then decide for yourself.

Do you understand what the purpose of peer review is?

OK, his research has supporters and detractors. So it is with all frontier science.
I'll believe Backster, as his supporters in parapsychology are doing real scientific research in a real scientific field.
[Main stream science seems to ignore the fact that the mind does exist and it does affect the physical world. This can be demonstrated everytime someone moves his little finger. Main stream science, as it is set up, deals only with the physical world and treats the mental as if it doesn't exist at all. - big error there!]

Parapsychology isn't a frontier science. It is a pseudoscience. Frontier science is refered to as that simply becuase there isn't enough evidence to decide things one way or another. Pseudoscience is a pretense at scientific methodology, and attempt to get away with paying lip service to the authority of science, without putting in the work. Unlike the supernatural, which has often been shown to be true phenomena, the paranormal has never in it's history been shown to exist.

[antiaging]

So, we're talking about mental telepathy in the UFO. The UFO can read your thoughts...or the occupants can read your thoughts. Interesting, and fits all the sightings and abduction stories.

I don't know...

Seems to me that a species so advanced and knowledgble about humans that it can communicate telephaticaly with them would really not have any need to abduct people and stick probes in uncofortable places. How could they know so much about the human mind, and not the body?

Don't doctors know about the human body, yet they continue to give physical tests on people to determine an individual's health?
The aliens already know about the human body and have known about it for a long time. They are monitoring and controlling the health of certain individuals, for their own purposes. Sort of like humans using vetranarians to monitor and care for the health of their pets.
The alien abduction phenomenon has been reported to be prolonged in some families, going on from generation to generation.

[aquatus1]

Don't doctors know about the human body, yet they continue to give physical tests on people to determine an individual's health?
The aliens already know about the human body and have known about it for a long time. They are monitoring and controlling the health of certain individuals, for their own purposes. Sort of like humans using vetranarians to monitor and care for the health of their pets.
The alien abduction phenomenon has been reported to be prolonged in some families, going on from generation to generation.

I see.

[antiaging]

Anyone that needs peer review to show him if something is true or not may have trouble thinking for himself. Look at the evidence and decide for yourself what is true or not. What is this dependance on peer review. Can't you think for yourself? Research the relative issues and evidence, then decide for yourself.

Do you understand what the purpose of peer review is?

OK, his research has supporters and detractors. So it is with all frontier science.
I'll believe Backster, as his supporters in parapsychology are doing real scientific research in a real scientific field.
[Main stream science seems to ignore the fact that the mind does exist and it does affect the physical world. This can be demonstrated everytime someone moves his little finger. Main stream science, as it is set up, deals only with the physical world and treats the mental as if it doesn't exist at all. - big error there!]

Parapsychology isn't a frontier science. It is a pseudoscience. Frontier science is refered to as that simply becuase there isn't enough evidence to decide things one way or another. Pseudoscience is a pretense at scientific methodology, and attempt to get away with paying lip service to the authority of science, without putting in the work. Unlike the supernatural, which has often been shown to be true phenomena, the paranormal has never in it's history been shown to exist.

Get on a search engine a look up Chi kung or dim mak and decide for yourself whether the paranormal, mind over matter, exists. There are a large number of kung fu masters doing paranormal things, reproduceably and undeniably.

[aquatus1]

Get on a search engine a look up Chi kung or dim mak and decide for yourself whether the paranormal, mind over matter, exists. There are a large number of kung fu masters doing paranormal things, reproduceably and undeniably.

I've been at this for the better part of two decades. I'm extremely familiar with Chi Kung, Dim Mak, and various other such things. I have seen Kung Fu master doing allegedly impossible things, and have been impressed, but never confounded. I would be willing to say that I have far more field experience as well as research on the subject than a great majority of the people in this forum. I stand by my claim that no paranormal ability has ever been able to stand up to scrutiny.

[Babs]

Yes, that is what I read anti-aging. Then I read more on the experiment, or the new experiment, and it said that the type of music really didn't matter too much_ to the plant_ the plant was actually responding to the emotions of the caretaker. If the caretaker liked loud rock music as opposed to classical, it was okay, the plant thrived.

[antiaging]

Get on a search engine a look up Chi kung or dim mak and decide for yourself whether the paranormal, mind over matter, exists. There are a large number of kung fu masters doing paranormal things, reproduceably and undeniably.

I've been at this for the better part of two decades. I'm extremely familiar with Chi Kung, Dim Mak, and various other such things. I have seen Kung Fu master doing allegedly impossible things, and have been impressed, but never confounded. I would be willing to say that I have far more field experience as well as research on the subject than a great majority of the people in this forum. I stand by my claim that no paranormal ability has ever been able to stand up to scrutiny.

Well, you see, here is the problem. The mind over matter techniques, of whatever sort they are, require unwavering belief in them to make them work. The faith healers, need the faith to do the healing. Even dowsers need faith in it to make it work. Skepticism, itself will prevent it from working.
I am saying this: The psychics or chi kung experts will make it work, and the skeptics trying it won't make it work, simply because in these events of the mind belief is necessary for the event to actually happen.
[Example: Psychosomatic ilness: If someone is hypnotized to believe that they can't move their finger, they won't be able to. Someone with a psychosomatic crippling that is hypnotized to believe they can move, will be able to, as demonstrated by Freud.]
It goes back to these words:
Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

In the paranormal, doubt will stop the experiment. A believer will make work what a skeptic can't make work.
I was in physics class, doing a routine electronics experiment. Everything was connected right, and yet nothing worked. My teacher came over and put his hands on it, but didn't change anything. It worked for him. The parapsychologists in the book PSYCHIC DISCOVERIES BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN, said that they detected the ability of the aura energy around a person to interfere with electrical equipment. My doubt, at not making that electronics work, seems to have prevented it from working, My teacher's belief it would work, seems to have made it work. - I am giving you that as an example.

[Babs]

antiaging...The aliens are monitoring the health of certain individuals for their own purposes? Could you tell me more about this? I've never heard this before and feel that it is very important.

[Babs]

Wow! I totally agree with the open mind bit. You must have an open mind and a belief to get results. Skeptics botch the project.

They get the results they want.

[Babs]

Why would aliens monitor people's health? What's going on?

[antiaging]

Why would aliens monitor people's health? What's going on?

Well if they are the angels of God, then acting in that capacity they would monitor people's health to see how people in a certain area are doing physically. Then they would know if perhaps some changes in the weather are chemicals added to the crops would help them to be healthier.
There are 8 planets, and the weather conditions and temperature conditions on them are in chaos, so that they can't support life. But on this one planet, the temperature and weather and chemical compositions are finely balanced to support life. I believe that this is deliberate, and not caused by chance. The aliens are deliberately controlling the weather and soil conditions, and whatever else, using their energy fields, to support life on this planet.
They would monitor people's health to see if anything else needed to be done to keep the people healthy. Sort of like caring for a pet.