Tree Hugging Now Scientifically Validated

reply to post by Nevertheless

Science begun when philosophy changed from reason to fact.

That is a misconception. While part of the modern science evolved from Empirical method, just as huge part evolved from the Hypotheticol-Deductive model. Most modern mathematical models are evidence of this.

No it does not. Science simply does not give a rats behind about things that cannot be proven.
It does not assume that the world can be divided into such things.

Incorrect. String Theory is perhaps one of the most popular unprovable theories.Yet many scientists are working on it.

Yes, and it has not been proven to do anything at all in particular.
However, medicine has found it to be a great tool to relieve pain through placebo.

Au contraire! It has been shown to result in changes in both immune, endocrine systems and sympathetic nerve system.

You may also see the Wang LP single-blinded, randomized control trial with a placebo group. Spoiler: results indicate that group treated by traditional acupuncture methods healed faster.

There are plenty of successful cases and experiments, as well as many cases, where it does not work. It's not a golden bullet, but to consider that it does not work at all is a biased, uninformed opinion.

• Akimoto T, et al. (2003).
  Acupuncture and responses of immunologic and endocrine markers during competition. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo.
  
  
• Andersson S, Lundeberg T. (1995). Acupuncture--from empiricism to science: functional background to acupuncture effects in pain and disease. University of Göteborg, Sweden.
  
  
• Wang LP, et al. (2011) Efficacy of acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis: a single-blinded, double-dummy, randomized controlled trial. Medical University, Beijing, China
  

Having established a hopefully more open minded environment, I would like to proceed by mentioning that Trees Leaves, specifically their electromagnetic properties, have been used as a Bio Markers for detecting levels of pollution. The plant world has recently also been subjected to Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests in hope to better understand their physiology. It seems only natural that the next step would involve testing other subtle aspects.

I've read that plants may be likened to cosmic antennas. If this is the case, we may be hearing interstellar communication for the first time. This could be groundbreaking. This could be the actual "Music of the Spheres". Math and Music are considered to be the universal languages.

If everything is vibration, then trees are too. I think it would have more to do with the water and land of the location than the organisms doing the hugging.

A tree with electrodes on it is a tree that is screaming under the effects of torture from being chained to a machine. The machine lies, translating it as a song when it's tree-scream, as the machine's design itself becomes one with the plant and affects the message conveyed. For the old trees, they are consciousnesses that have sat around for decades as cellular circuits of the Creator, being surrounded by other things.

Cyborg trees. What is the world coming to? Can't those crazy humans keep their circuit tech from perverting nature? They need to tune into tree radio and channel the sound of a tree?

This is unscientific as the girl is no longer talking to a plant, but an electrically modified plant. If that plant weren't hooked up to a machine, its sound and message would be different. That machine could be telling the plant what to say to the girl, we don't know for certain.

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funny I made this today without even thinking about tree hugging thread lol!!

I gave you a star for this. I think trees are wonderful. There's a large banyon tree in St. Pete Florida in the park that people have their pics taken next to. I love the banyon trees with the giant roots. Banyon trees are also very prevalent in India.
One year when I went up into Yellowstone Park, I walked around the paint pots and the walk takes you up by some baby pines, a whole bunch of them, and it was so quiet there you could hear a pin drop, no wind, no sound of birds, no rustling or noises of any kind. Just pure silence...it was most extraordinary.

The pic you provided is also very beautiful and amazing.

ok I'm not a liberal, but can I be one for this post?

Originally posted by Iamschist
I have a very old, very beautiful sycamore in my yard, I talk to him all the time and pat him affectionately when I walk past him. He is a handsome fellow and feels very loving to me, he has known 4 generations of my family.

You are truly blessed to have a tree of such aged wisdom all to yourself.

I have a Plane tree in my church yard, judging by old illustrations of the church, it's at least 300 years old. In the summer people cannot resist walking up to it and hugging it, it seems to invite such contact. There is a grave stone laid erratically at it's base, that it's roots have long since unearthed, I sit on there and have my lunch when the weather permits. If I am lucky, the Wood Pidgeons don't poop on me.

reply to post by KilgoreTrout


If only that tree could talk, what tales it would tell..... It sounds a very friendly tree, inviting hugs as it does. How wonderful to have such company for lunch . Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'power lunch' doesn't it?

reply to post by Iamschist


If only the world was more like Tolkien's vision eh? A lunch with Ents would be a pleasure indeed.

I am certainly able to find happiness a little easier since I moved to a place with a view of trees from my window instead of dispassionate houses.

Like you though too, I find similarly, that stone within touch soothes in ways unknown. The limestone walls, and the sandstone floors of my church, are much loved and frequently caressed.

reply to post by KilgoreTrout


There is no hope for you, a tree hugger and a stone caresser???? Lost you are! Trees and rocks, throw in a few birds, not literally, and you've got a recipe for human bliss. Healing.

Is this for real? I'd love to think it is but anyone know why this book is over 500 bucks on amazon for a new copy in paperback yet only 10 bucks for a copy on kindle? :: cough :: Typo?? Hoax???

"Save the trees"

Blin ded By Science

reply to post by purplemer


Why do you choose to promote pantheistic earth worship?

Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

This is not science but rather new age nonsense.

reply to post by purplemer


I see a lot of dogs humping trees...there's more to that I think, I haven't worked it out yet and besides if I humped a tree in public I would get locked up!

Originally posted by RevelationGeneration
reply to post by purplemer

 

Why do you choose to promote pantheistic earth worship?

Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

This is not science but rather new age nonsense.

Actually you're the one speaking nonsense here my friend.

We are all connected spiritually, because the true god is the Living, the Ever Living. What we perceive as inanimate and unconscious of thought is merely that which we cannot perceive at this present time yet ALL life is concious and aware at it's own level.

Reaching out to other life, letting go of one's own barriers and actually being sympathetic to the universe is our nature, we are empathic creatures after all so I would suggest reassessing your views and accepting that other people have different views (a different perspective) to you.

Sure there is new age mumbo jumbo everywhere but equally there is a lot of fanatical religious nonsense as well. It's about being balanced and finding the middle ground (god willing).

Peace.

People used to make fun of me whenever I hugged the trees at school...

Now I am greatly appreciative of our green friends.

Originally posted by RevelationGeneration
reply to post by purplemer

 

Why do you choose to promote pantheistic earth worship?

Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

This is not science but rather new age nonsense.

Why do you choose to promote the bible... if you do however you should be promoting the principles of stewardship.. The bible says we should look after the earth not destroy it. Is promoting empathy to other living beings and ourselves pantheism..?


Does it say anywhere in the bible that should not hug trees...


"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." Psalms 24:1

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.Genesis 2:15

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth.Psalm 96:11-13.

Every time I here Conservatives deride the "Hippies" I have to wonder -- who is the voice of reason?

So fare, Hippies have been right about absolutely everything. And Conservatives; wrong about video games, wrong about trees. What's it like batting 0 for 1000?

I just read an article on how some plants use networks of fungi to communicate the threat of aphid attacks and then they change their chemistry to be more toxic to the insect.

Make love not war, and ignore a NeoCon. It's what Gaea would want...

Originally posted by Kali74
This is one of those things that I simply don't care if it's science or placebo.
It feels good.
SF

The only problem is that most leftwingers act out of "feeling", such as you "feel" that supporting the AGW lie is good because you "FEEL it is good for the world" and you BELIEVE you will save the world this way...

Most leftwingers "FEEL" that "guns are evil", hence "they must be banned to save the world"...

The above two are only examples of how most leftwingers live, act, and think with their feelings instead of using the brain matter you were born with.

"FEELINGS" are only good for some things, such as how you act with your lover/spouse/family, but not for making decisions that affect every person on this planet.

Originally posted by VitriolAndAngst
...
I just read an article on how some plants use networks of fungi to communicate the threat of aphid attacks and then they change their chemistry to be more toxic to the insect.

Make love not war, and ignore a NeoCon. It's what Gaea would want...

Really?... you just gave an example of how your "Gaea" acts using plants to make WAR on insects... But you don't seem to even realize what you just did...

I find it ironic how most leftwingers, such as yourself, talk big about Earth and nature, and their "delicate balance" yet you really don't know ANYTHING about it...

Earth and nature are not gentle, they can kill you in an instant and neither one would "FEEL" bad about it...

I find it ironic how "leftwingers" CLAIM that "nature is always in balance and only mankind wages war", yet it is obvious leftwingers don't know that in nature animals do wage war against each other and even their own kind... They can be as cruel and evil as the worst human criminal...

There are female animals for example who murder and even eat their own babies...

There are animals which rape, and murder babies, and other weaker animals...

In nature many animals and insects wage war with others over resources, to the point of killing everything in their path, sometimes even their own kind...

But, a majority, if not all leftwingers are unaware of these FACTS... Go figure...

Next thing they are going to start claiming that nature is acting this way because it learned it from mankind...

BTW, I don't agree with clear cutting forests, unless it is done in a way that replenishes forests.

I don't agree with for example the way BP bypassed safety procedures which caused the spill, and others similar.

But neither do I agree with the irresponsible, irrational strategies that leftwingers want to force on every one of us because you "FEEL" you are right when in fact you all are so wrong that the ones who will really destroy life on this Earth is going to be "leftwingers" and their "feelings"...

Originally posted by Theflyingweldsman
Ahem...This has nothing to do with your water memory experiment.

It has very much to do with that and all other nonsense such has treating water with vibrations.
That too is false and not scientifically valid.

It has a lot to do with the PDF list of sources from that book

The result of this author's work is a bit like that of Dan Brown's, except Dan Brown is very aware that he writes fiction.
For the "end-user" though, taking this book as science is like learning history from Dan Brown's books.

and the Article in the OP is referring to the Book.

Yes, and to call it "scientifically valid" is both wrong and a lie. The book is there to bring in money, and, unfortunately, misleading a lot of people (considering the great defense it gets here).

Again, to even begin to dissect the nonsense any further to be able to find parts that are remotely true, it would be quite obvious to start with the claims of properties of water.
The book cannot possibly be scientifically valid if it's not based on what is scientifically valid.
Making things up does not make it scientifically valid.
Basing thoughts on things that are scientifically valid do not make the result scientifically valid.
Explaining how to perform a repeatable experiment and it is successfully done so by the audience, and explaining why that happens does not make it scientifically valid.

I'm interested in the paper that refers to the topic of this thread.

As it appears that you have an ATS-only pc with integrated trollboost, I shall quote...

In a recently published book, Blinded by Science, the author Matthew Silverstone, proves scientifically that trees do in fact improve many health issues such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), concentration levels, reaction times, depression and other forms of mental illness. He even points to research indicating a tree's ability to alleviate headaches in humans seeking relief by communing with trees.

Okay, so there is no paper about this? So it is not scientifically valid? He just tells things in his book?

and again...

So what is it about nature that can have these significant effects? Up until now it has been thought to be the open green spaces that cause this effect. However, Matthew Silverstone shows that it is nothing to do with this by proving scientifically that it is the vibrational properties of trees and plants that give us the health benefits and not the open green spaces.

"Proving scientifically" in his book. Is this the sanity check of this, 1. being true. 2. Actually being scientifically valid (which it is not).

and from the OP,

The answer to how plants and trees affect us physiologically turns out to be very simple. It is all to do with the fact that everything vibrates in a subtle manner, and different vibrations affect biological behaviours. One research experiment showed that if you drink a glass of water that has been treated with a "10Hz vibration" your blood coagulation rates will change immediately on ingesting the treated water. It is the same with trees, when touching a tree its different vibrational pattern will affect various biological behaviours within your body.

Where is the paper on this experiment?

again...Check out the bibliography here...PDF link

All I'm asking is for a scientific paper around the extraordinary properties of water. 10hz treatment, water memory.
I'm not interested in referenses to even more books of nonsense, nor papers on psychology covering how natures affects our mind.

Google + eyes + brain = your friend

As I said before, I haven't found these.

Originally posted by jadedANDcynical
reply to post by Nevertheless

 

You know what? I can agree with everything you've said in this particular post

That being said, you've sent me on another foray into this subject ( the mechanism by which nature provides benefic effects) which I thank you for. I'm always interested inearning new things and this is a very interesting question to ponder.

There is still a need to investigate the mechanisms behind observed health benefits of the natural environment [9,10]. A greater understanding of how nature positively interacts with human socio-biology may be mutually beneficial to both health and the environment.

One idea is to drop the thought of nature for a while and think about yourself and why you feel the way you do.
Why is it that kids find new / certain places frightening?
Why are people sad, happy, laughing or crying when watching TV?
Why do people not like to be hunted by a tiger?
Why do people like to be hunted by a pretended threat?
Why do people like excitement?
Why are people restless?
Why do mammals seem to have certain behaviors "built-in"?
Why are your eyes adapted to work in nature better than cities?
Why would you feel "at home" in nature?

Unfortunately, we have a bit to go to explain why people do what they do in terms of the physical world (but we're on good way now!), and that's why we have the unfortunate genre of Psychology to cover the research in human behaviour.
We know enough from physics/[bio]chemistry that though that our senses combined with previous thoughts (and some built-in features) release chemicals that affect the function of our brains.

However, these two combined gives us a pretty good picture on what is going on, that our perception of our surroundings, both present and previous build us our feelings, and there isn't really any place vibrating water or water memories fit or are needed.

To summarize, our problem is that the human brain is too complex for us to fully comprehend yet. The issue is not that we wouldn't know what affects it (which we do), but how all that information is being processed and how it affects the state of the brain itself.

And please understand that when I said "we know what affects our brain", I don't meanthat we know things such as that the smell of a hedgehog makes us a little bit more randy than petting a box of cheerios.
These are the things that psychology looks at, and positive reactions from trees or water means that there's something "special" there. Our brains are just adapted to work in a specific way.
[..]

It would seem that the nature of exactly how this happens is a question being researched and is admittedly little understood.

Well, we know that we like to feel good. Good stimuli is good for us. See my questions in the beginning.

Another study tha says yes there is a measurable difference that can be attributed to nature but it admits that the mechanism is unknown.

It's not a mystery. The mechanism is quite clear, we just don't know why our brain works the way it does.

Both of these studies are concerning individuals who exercise, so they would be healthier than the average as is, it's being in nature that's the differing factor.

Yes, when comparing different individuals on a specific thing, the problem is that the very thing they are comparing is a deciding factor on their lifestyles.
I know when I like the nature. When I feel like I have the time to rev down and simply enjoy the calm.
There are times when I cannot stand it, because I feel like I "have better things to do".
That too would suggest that it's what our brain wants, not what it gets. So, nature wouldn't necessary be a good thing for me, always.

I tell you what, since you've admitted to feeling and appreciating the effects yourself, why don't you see if you can find some research into the how it happens and bring it back and I will keep doing the same rather than disparaginger the topic.

I guess I've already told how I feel about this, and I don't see a mystery with it. We have some questions left but we're on a good way to solve them soon, I believe. Either way, the mechanics are quite well understood and I'm rather happy with the knowledge, it's a matter of dissecting the inner workings of the brain that is left to put it all together.

I will even agree with you in that the original source for this particular OP is shilling his book, but that's really of little consequence to me in regards to the subject of how does nature affect human biology.

Well, in that case I guess reading about research in psychology is as good as tiny details in chemistry, in the end, it's the end result that counts, no?

That being said, this is why I frown upon non-scientific explanations.