IndianCurry2010
Registered Senior Member
In this video a scientist goes along to a dojo to prove chi is fake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM_qg5d1YGI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM_qg5d1YGI&feature=related
chi does seem a word for concentrated power.
how else could a guy bend a steel rod with his neck. or raise or lower their body temperature with concentration.
who is the gullible ones here? of course the ones in that vid is fake.
it's like saying if one person can't perform a skill, the skill is fake. that is stupid. there are people who can utilize concentrated power better than others, as for knocking them down without touching them is bs.
as for meditation, it's a form of introspection and what you are trying to accomplish during meditation is the objective whether it's as trivial as sorting out the day's going's on or calm oneself down or gain greater understanding of their own inner process. of course it's not magic and of course it's not the solution to everything.
it's not just closing your eyes and being silent (unless that's all they are doing), even if that's what it appears to outsiders.
But what does concentrated power mean? Focus and muscle control? Supernatural contact with the forces of nature? I've always heard of chi in reference to a supposedly commonly witnessed force unlike any natural phenomenon ever observed in the lab. If it just means you concentrate more and perform better as a result, it's kind of like the no true Scotsman fallacy, you just keep redefining the concept until it's vacuous of any meaning and thus self-evident, so it can't be contradicted by any logical argument but doesn't tell you anything new either.
:m::m::m:There are hundreds of volumes of Feng Shui lore in which the primary discussion is of one of landscape, the nature of features, and their implications, but the one theme that ties it all together is the concept of ch’i. Literally thousands of commentaries discuss this concept, each with its own point of view.
In Chinese metaphysics, ch’i is the very essence or element that composes the whole universe--all, forms, all manifestations. Once the universe appears, all its transformations and developments are nothing but the transformations between ch’i and form. In a way, every form is not only created by ch’i, but still contains the ch’i that created it. Metaphysically, you could think of it as a kind of as a kind of primitive string theory, where all the form in the universe comes into being through the phase, periodicity and interference of the vibration of quantum strings.
On a more practical "classical" level, however, it is more like Chaos theory, which describes how things on a classical level flow and fold. In Feng Shui, as in Chaos theory, there are energy sources, and attractors at the bottom of basins (which is what got me interested in it).
In Feng Shui, ch’i is not so much a specific kind of energy as a subjective reaction to the energies in an environment. So, if they are too slow, they "stagnate" leading to a feeling of being phlegmatic. Whereas, if they are too frenetic, it leads to a sense of agitation and unease. If you ever had a bedroom that was in a room that people had to walk through in order to get into another room, you would probably not find that particularly restful--but it would be a good room for, say, an office. Another example is the way clutter adds demands on the eye so that the eye does not flow smoothly around a room. On the other hand, a room which is picked up and squared away the flows more smoothly over the room and takes it in with less energy.
But it is how a person feels in reaction to the flows of a room that he will describe as the subjective feeling of ch’i. Theoretically, when things are flowing "just right" the person feels a sense of being in harmony with his setting, which gives him a sense of confidence which helps him project his intentions into an otherwise labile situation. To bring back Chaos theory, a well-tuned environment is like having everything set near a "tipping point" so that when one exerts one’s self, everything is ready to go, and things seem to naturally fall into place so that everything is accomplished with a minimum of effort. In Taoist thought, this is called wu wei wu or "doing without doing." It is not a force by itself, so much as it is an insight into the situation. It is more like knowing which way is downhill when you push a rock, or knowing which way the wind is blowing when you spit.
Now, this isn’t to say that people don’t claim to "feel" ch’i energy as a ball in their abdomen, and that when they "roll" it around they get an even more definite sense of it. I have found that it is best not to contradict such people since, apart from being rude, who knows what they are really plugged into?
One theory in Feng Shui is that there are subtle electrical fields in the body and the earth, and that if you clear your mind, it is possible to tune in to them. Water underground, in particular, does in fact subtly change the nearby electrical fields in measurable ways--which may explain why some people are more adept at dowsing than others. Or, it may just well be that better dowsers have a better intuitive understanding of geology and hydrology.
There may well be electrical flows along accupuncture meridians (I haven’t studied it so I can’t say), but that’s the theory, and there seems to be some empirical validity to accupuncture points having definite electrical "hot" spots on the skin, and to the treatment itself. It is probably not a "new" or "separate" form of energy, so much as the condition of existing flows and rhythms of the body, of which there are many. And even if it only mobilizes some sort of placebo effect, that may be a worthwhile mechanism to investigate.
As for "proof" I’m not sure that is possible with such a subjective metaphysical perspective. Probably, the better question to ask is whether it works for you--or better yet, if it works for those who are into it. In this, it may be helpful to adopt a more sympathetic frame of mind, since adopting a hostile skepticism (i.e., that it is rubbish until proven otherwise) is apt to negate the cooperation of people you will need to observe in order to tell if it "works" for them. As with many things, it may "work" but not for the reasons they think it does. The asian sensibility which came up with ch’i, does not see things in terms of neatly linear chains of cause and effect, but rather as a tangled web of sanguine human connections (affinities and antipathies) which generate their own complex webs of causation, and their own unique perceptions.
Sources: Shan-
Hey I'll confess, when I was a kid I used to believe in a lot of this stuff too. But if most of these things are being regularly performed as carnival tricks for entertainment, ought we not to be at least somewhat suspicious when someone does the same thing and tells us it's real?
I'm completely taken away by some comments that Im reading.
Gullible people believe in Chi? No you are if you believe this article.
"Scientific proof" Chi is fake!!?? What the fuck, "chi" or "life force" is a Fact.
Wow, stoner boy thinks 'Chi' is real. You have fried your brains, you really have.
you think a life force or energy does not exist?
i can 'feel' different people's unique energy all the time being in their presence.
everyone gives off what is called a 'vibe'. some people even have a very strong energy or vibe too.
either way, it's easily detected just being around people and it varies.
Vitalism has been rather resoundingly disproved. There is no such force, it is imaginary.chi is just energy the body produces
Vitalism has been rather resoundingly disproved. There is no such force, it is imaginary.
~Raithere
Well no, the body doesn't actually produce any energy. It uses energy and like any machine it is not 100% efficient so it leaks a bit of it.really? the body produces no energy?