The author argues that seemingly unscientific practices, often labeled as "woo," can possess genuine value despite their practitioners making unwarranted metaphysical claims. Drawing parallels to meditation, which was once dismissed by the scientific establishment but later found to have demonstrable health benefits, the piece suggests that practices like Tarot may also offer utility. While the explanations for these benefits might be flawed or nonsensical, the underlying methods could be optimized for specific purposes, similar to how the rules of chess have evolved for optimal play. AI
IMPACT Suggests that even seemingly nonsensical practices may hold underlying value, prompting a re-evaluation of dismissed methodologies.
RANK_REASON This is an opinion piece by a named author on a blog discussing the potential value of unscientific practices.
- chess
- Herbert Benson
- LessWrong
- Maharishi Effect
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
- Tarot
- Transcendental Meditation
- Yogic Flying
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