Energy (esotericism)

Proponents and practitioners of various esoteric forms of spirituality and alternative medicine refer to a variety of claimed experiences and phenomena as being due to "energy" or "force" that defy measurement and thus are distinguished from the scientific form of energy. Claims related to energy therapies are most often anecdotal, rather than being based on repeatable empirical evidence. There is no scientific evidence for the existence of such energy, and physics educators criticize the use of the term "energy" to describe ideas in esotericism and sprituality as potentially confusing. Concepts such as "life force", "qi" and "élan vital" existed from antiquity. In the 18th century, Franz Mesmer ignited debate with his theory of animal magnetism. Attention to vitalism grew in the 18th and 19th centuries. Interest continued into the 20th century, largely fuelled by adherents of the New Age movement. As biologists studied embryology and developmental biology, particularly before the discovery of genes, a variety of organisational forces were posited to account for their observations. German biologist Hans Driesch (1867–1941), proposed entelechy, an energy which he believed controlled organic processes. However such ideas are discredited and modern science has all but abandoned the attempt to associate additional energetic properties with life. It is not the scientific concept of energy that is being referred to in the context of spirituality and alternative medicine. As Brian Dunning writes: That's all that energy is: a measurement of work capability. But in popular culture, 'energy' has somehow become a noun. "Energy" is often spoken of as if it is a thing unto itself, like a region of glowing power, that can be contained and used. Here's a good test. When you hear the word "energy" used, substitute the phrase "measurable work capability". Does the usage still make sense? Remember, energy itself is not the thing being measured: energy is the measurement of work performed or of potential...

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Concepts associés (16)

Earth mysteries

Earth mysteries are a wide range of spiritual, quasi-religious ideas focusing on cultural and religious beliefs about the Earth, generally with a regard for specific geographic locations of historic importance. Similar to modern druidry, prehistoric monuments are of particular spiritual importance to believers in Earth mysteries who consider certain locations to be sacred and/or containing active spiritual energies. The characterization of the term "alternative archaeology" has also been used to describe the study of Earth mystery beliefs.

Reiki

vignette|Reiki en japonais. Le est une méthode de soins non conventionnelle d'origine japonaise, fondée sur des soins dits « énergétiques » par imposition des mains. Elle a été fondée par le Japonais Mikao Usui à la suite d’une révélation mystique qui l’aurait conduit à la fin du à recevoir les « clefs de la guérison ». L'efficacité du reiki est étudiée par la communauté scientifique, qui considère la pratique dans l'ensemble comme une pseudo-médecine et comme une pratique dont l'efficacité n'est pas concluante, les effets positifs allégués résultant de l'effet placebo.

Vitalisme

Le vitalisme est une tradition philosophique pour laquelle le vivant n'est pas réductible aux lois physico-chimiques. Elle envisage la vie comme de la matière animée d'un principe ou force vitale, en latin vis vitalis, qui s'ajouterait pour les êtres vivants aux lois de la matière. Selon cette conception, cette force vitale serait une cause mystérieuse et unique censée être capable d'insuffler la vie à la matière ou de former in vivo des composés comme l'acide acétique ou l'éthanol.

Thermal transport of glasses via machine learning driven simulations

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Accessing the thermal transport properties of glasses is a major issue for the design of production strategies of glass industry, as well as for the plethora of applications and devices where glasses are employed. From the computational standpoint, the che ...

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Dalmine and its Industrial Politics Translated into Type

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The research examines the entanglement of urban rationalities and industrial biopolitics in constructing company towns' identities and spatialities, providing different housing typologies for its workers. An epitome of spatial production under industrial p ...

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Using Gaussian process regression to simulate the vibrational Raman spectra of molecular crystals

Michele Ceriotti, Andrea Grisafi, Mariana Rossi Carvalho

Vibrational properties of molecular crystals are constantly used as structural fingerprints, in order to identify both the chemical nature and the structural arrangement of molecules. The simulation of these properties is typically very costly, especially ...

2019