From: mcgrath@cs.uiuc.edu (Robert McGrath)
Subject: Re: Voyager(TM) light and sound device
Reply-To: mcgrath@cs.uiuc.edu
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept of Computer Science
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 17:35:25 GMT

In article <8278.19362@stratus.SWDC.Stratus.COM>, lpb@florida.swdc.stratus.com (Len Bucuvalas) writes in part:


|> I am EXTREMELY picky on being honest. I have no reason to lie to
|> you or anyone else and further I dont give a rat's ass what
|> anyone thinks of my opinions! I speak the truth as I know it to
|> be. This does not preclude the possiblity that I have been lied
|> to effectively or that I am deluding myself....but personally I
|> dont think this is the case.
I sincerely apologize if you think I was impuging your honesty.
I actually meant to imply that some of the claims the companies 
make are incorrect, and that THEY are being careless of the truth.
I really, really did not mean to imply that you were lying and
I apologise that my comment could be interpreted that way.


|> I never said it changes EEGs. I said or meant to say that it
|> actually synchronizes the output of both brain hemispheres.
Pardon me.  I thought that "it actually synchronizes the output of 
both brain hemispheres." was referring to EEG's.  If not then I haven't
ANY idea of what you are claiming.  What "output"?  What do you mean
by "synchronize"?

|> It WILL work for EVERYONE. How it will work is the question.
|> Studies HAVE shown that it can induce a seizure in
|> epileptics...so now is THIS a placebo effect? You're crazy! Buy
|> it and find out for yourself...this conversation is a bore.
I am still waiting to see these "Studies".  Just how do you know
this will work for everyone?

|> If you're on this net then you
|> MUST be making the money it takes to test your skepticism. 
Nonsense in general.  There are lots of students on the net,
and I work for a state university--I'm lucky to pay my rent.
Anyway, I'm not complaining about the money, just the doubtful
scientific claims.

|> This is the type of thing where if you want to find out..YOU have
|> to experience it.. 
Excuse me, but the claims about how these things work are the kind
of thing you CAN'T find out by experience, you need proper scientific
experiements.

|> .works via some form of self-hypnotic effect....
or perhaps a placebo effect...or maybe not at all....

|> Megabrain is in Sausalito....there are Voyager
|> reps in the bay area. 
May as well be mars, as far as I am able to find them from here.

|> I am sure that I have a long file on the Megabrain
|> company....today I will go looking and post it for all here.
I don't really care about the company, I jsut want the references
to the studies that show that these products work.  The rest is
just advertising hype, which I can live without.

|> Bottom line here is: if you are REALLY curious..THEN YOU have to
|> try it for yourself and see.....don't take anyone's word for
|> something like this neither do not debunk what you dont know
|> for sure to be true or false!
Wrong bottom line.  If you are curious HOW it might work, then you
have to demand reasonable evidence, preferrably well designed
experiments.  I want to know HOW it works, NOT whether you
like it.  I'm happy you like it.  I just don't believe some of
the claims the companies make.  Your comments have not convinced
me, I'm hoping to get pointers to better info.

-- 
  Robert E. McGrath
  Urbana Illinois
  mcgrath@cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic