No matter how many times dowsers get scientifically spanked they won’t go away. James Randi tested dowsers long before he was offering a million dollars to anyone who could demonstrate it worked beyond chance and they all failed spectacularly. This article is noteworthy just for the lack of skepticism.
A FARMER’S magical touch found water where a team of specialist engineers failed and saved a popular race series from the threat of cancellation.
With their reservoir running low thanks to the dry weather, organisers of the Dingley Point-to-Point called in Gretton Site Investigations (GSI) to sink a borehole on the course.
But despite drilling five holes at various sites and depths, the firm came up empty.
Running out of ideas, the firm’s manager Mark Ferguson called on the expertise of Stuart Howes, a farmer with a reputation of having the rare talent of water divining.
And armed with only his trusted copper dowsing rods, the 66-year-old found water almost immediately.
Source: Lutterworth Mail
Yes, the use of dowsing or water witching is still widespread. From hunting for water to hunting for ghosts, people do love their divination.
For more on why dowsing fails, look here:
Since dowsing is not based upon any known scientific or empirical laws or forces of nature, it should be considered a type of divination and an example of magical thinking. The dowser tries to locate objects by occult means.
And for teachers, a classroom module exists for you to help explain to students how the ideomotor effect works and show them how convincingly we can be fooled.