Pyramid Power or Much Ado About Nothing
full article: http://www.skeptics.com.au/journal/paramyth.htm
...The next stage in the saga of pyramidiocy leaves the world of tangible pyramids and enters the realm of pyramid as shape. More particularly, we will look at the effect of pyramids on that shibboleth of the New Age, energies unknown to science, or euts as we will refer to them for typographical reasons.
It was probably inevitable that someone, sometime, would hit upon the idea that the pyramid itself had something to do with the process of mummification. This idea flies in the face of all the evidence of how mummification was carried out, including the records left by the Egyptians themselves, but it is in accord with the thinking of those who persist in seeing a problem where none exists.
Martin Gardner, in his entertaining book The Magic Numbers of Dr Matrix, traces the first reference to this idea to the early years of the twentieth century. At that time, a "French occultist", as Gardner describes him, discovered that a dead cat became mummified after being placed in a model pyramid. As there appeared to be no great call for mummified cats in the ensuing half century, no more research seems to have been carried out.
Then, in the late 1950s, a Czech named Drbal claimed that a razor blade placed under a cardboard pyramid retained its edge for longer than would normally be expected.
Next, we find that various film actors (who may well be the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel) claim to be able to meditate better while sitting under a pyramid. Others have claimed that foodstuffs kept in a pyramid retain all of their freshness, wishes come true when written on paper and placed in a pyramid, pyramids kill bacteria. This is all remarkable stuff, if true, but how true is it?
Let us first consider euts, whether they obey rules, and how a pyramid might channel them.
Whenever a pseudo-scientist or a paranormalist is challenged to explain some phenomenon that science decrees to be highly improbable, he responds with euts. While not wishing to suggest that there are no such things as euts, we are not very encouraged to believe in them by the claims made for them. It appears that they can do anything and are not governed by any rules at all. Proponents of pyramid power have claimed that pyramids can, inter alia, mummify flesh, preserve food in a natural state and resharpen razor blades. It would appear, to the casual observer, that these three acts call for three different applications of energy. To mummify flesh presupposes an ability to remove water molecules; to sharpen razor blades requires the ability to add molecules [editor's note: this would only be true if the blades are restored to their original state; to grind them down and thus sharpen them
again would be in keeping with the water-removal theory previously expressed, I guess]; and to preserve food means preserving the status quo. As the material from which the pyramid is constructed does not appear to effect any of these processes (they are available in cardboard, wood, polystyrene, copper, polycarbonate, steel and many other materials) and as they appear to have no control systems, how is the required process determined? Can the euts itself decide that the object in the pyramid is a razor blade or a dead cat? If that is so, and that appears to be the only logical conclusion that follows from the claims, then we appear to be dealing with some form of sentient energy. This is an extraordinary concept and would require far more persuasive evidence for its existence than is offered by its proponents. Imagine the problems Einstein would have faced with relativity if gravity could think for itself!
Next we ask, "What is inherent in the pyramid shape that allows it to channel this energy when other geometrical solids do not?". We do not hear about Cube Power or Sphere Power (although this article may generate such thoughts in some minds - it has happened before). The answer is that there is nothing about a pyramid that should give us reason to suppose that this shape holds a privileged position in the world of solids. Far more likely that the proponents of this fallacy are seduced by the supposed mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids and that as a result have invested the shape itself with mystical powers.
There is no reason to believe that pyramids exert some sort of influence on energy, be it known or unknown to science. This, of course, would not matter if there were examples of tests that proved the opposite. However, while there are many references in the pro literature to such tests, it is difficult to find reference to any properly conducted tests that give factual results rather than subjective opinions. Those tests that have been conducted using a double blind methodology give no comfort to the proponents of pyramid power.
In a test of French wine, as reported in the Winter 1987-88 edition of The Skeptical Inquirer, wine kept in pyramids was judged to be no different in quality from wine not so stored. Proponents of pyramid power must fall back on the only rule that euts are known to obey. This is the law that states "No paranormal event will occur in any location that contains a sceptic". This law is better known by its common title of "The Psychics Cop-Out", which explains a lot of things other than the failure of pyramids to perform.
To conclude this section on pyramid power, we should refer to the influence of American author and respected sceptic, Martin Gardner, on the level of belief in this unlikely form of energy. In a satirical article in the June 1974
(oops, not 1374) edition of Scientific American , Gardner made a number of outrageous claims for the powers of pyramids, which were being promoted by his character Dr Matrix. Gardner was astonished at the amount of mail generated by this article, from people who were seeking more details of how pyramids could help them. Some of Gardners tongue-in cheek claims still form part of the lore of pyramid power, so do not be surprised if cube or sphere power become New Age phenomena in the future. Although there is nothing particularly mysterious about pyramids, they certainly have exerted an influence upon the imagination of many people for millennia.
