In my encounters across the internet looking for interesting topics related to art, philosophy, and science, I've come to realize there's a whole bunch of pseudoscience out there, which I've decided to make the topic of this post. One of the more prevalent and interesting examples is the popularity and general interest in the metaphysical and healing properties of crystals. To be upfront, I don't subscribe to any of these types of beliefs, nor find any of them at all plausible. That being said crystalline structures and other organic gemstones are abundantly interesting as scientific and artistic objects of study (at least to me)> They're wondrous examples of the way nature self organizes out of chaos, and illustrate the intersections between physics, information theory, and theories of life. That in itself understandably seems almost supernatural. I still believe in asking big "what if's" as a means of shifting our perspective on real world problems (Philosopher Daniel Dennett would call these “intuition pumps”), but where issues arise is when we make specific claims to reality that are not in any way measurable or testable, and try to construct a hard science based on those claims. That being said, I think crystal healing provides a good demonstration of different ways in which pseudoscience operates and proliferates alongside science.



Most of the pseudoscientific systems that are built around crystal healing revolve around some sort of abstract notion of energy that flows through all living things. You’ll hear it referred to as the Chinese “Chi” or “Qi”, or of the Hindu “Charkras”, or the more credibly scientific “energy grid” or “life force”. In any case these terms appeal to established belief systems in both science and religion. Rhetorically, this is referred to as a “call to authority” and upon any further examination of the content of these words, we find them vague or unmeaningful. All pseudoscience relies heavily on jargon to create false credibility and disguise otherwise empty concepts. Not wanting to be perceived as naïve or unintelligent, we simply nod our heads instead of asking for an explanation; like when a friend asks you if you’ve heard of a band you’ve never heard of, and you say yes out of fear of social ostracism. Contrary to its more esoteric uses, in physics energy is an observable and measurable force, which comes in units such as the Joule, Newton, watt, or calorie. What then is the unit of measure for life force, or chi?