Print
British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?
by Guardian
Thanks to Greg Howe-Davies for the link.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/07/education
British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?
Perhaps the government confused fantasy with reality the day it endorsed Brain Gym
Man the lifeboats. The idiots are winning. Last week I watched, open-mouthed, a Newsnight piece on the spread of "Brain Gym" in British schools. I'd read about Brain Gym before - a few years back, in Ben Goldacre's excellent Bad Science column for this newspaper - but seeing it in action really twisted my rage dial.
Brain Gym, y'see, is an "educational kinesiology" programme designed to improve kiddywink performance. It's essentially a series of simple exercises lumbered with names that make you want to steer a barbed wire bus into its creator's face. One manoeuvre, in which you massage the muscles round the jaw, is called the "energy yawn". Another involves activating your "brain buttons" by forming a "C" shape with one hand and pressing it either side of the collarbone while simultaneously touching your stomach with the other hand.
Throughout the report I was grinding my teeth and shaking my head - a movement I call a "dismay churn". Not because of the sickening cutesy-poo language, nor because I'm opposed to the nation's kids being forced to exercise (make them box at gunpoint if you want) but because I care about the difference between fantasy and reality, both of which are great in isolation, but, like chalk and cheese or church and state, are best kept separate.
Confuse fantasy with reality and you might find yourself doing crazy things, like trying to wave hello to Ian Beale each time you see him on the telly, or buying homeopathic remedies - both of which are equally boneheaded pursuits. (Incidentally, if anyone disagrees with this assessment and wants to write in defending homeopathy, please address your letters to myself c/o the Kingdom of Narnia.)
Perhaps the Department for Children, Schools and Families confused fantasy with reality the day it endorsed Brain Gym. Because while Brain Gym's coochy-coo exercises may well be fun or relaxing, what they're definitely good at is increasing the flow of bullshit into children's heads.
For instance, according to the Brain Gym teacher's manual, performing the "brain button" exercise increases the flow of "electromagnetic energy" and helps the brain send messages from the right hemisphere to the left. Brain Gym can also "connect the circuits of the brain", "clear blockages" and activate "emotional centering". Other Brain Gym material contains the startling claim that "all liquids [other than water] are processed in the body as food, and do not serve the body's water needs ... processed foods do not contain water."
All of which sounds like hooey to me. And also to the British Neuroscience Association, the Physiological Society and the charity Sense About Science, who have written to every local education authority in the land to complain about Brain Gym's misrepresentation of, um, reality.
Wander round Brain Gym's UK website for a few minutes. It's a festival of pseudoscientific chuckles where impressive phrases such as "educational kinesiology" and "sensorimotor program" rub shoulders with bald admissions that "we are not yet at the stage where we have any scientific evidence for what happens in the brain through the use of Brain Gym".
Look at the accredited practitioners of the art: top of their list of qualified Brain Gym "instructor/consultants" is a woman who is apparently also a "chiropractor for humans and animals". That's nothing: I read tarot cards for fish.
And check out the linked bookshop, Body Balance Books. Alongside Brain Gym guides and wallcharts, it stocks titles such as Awakening the Child Heart and Resonance Kinesiology, which, apparently, "holds information on how to move forward with truth, without the overlays of people's beliefs and ideas about what is best for themselves and others". Huh?
If we mistrust the real world so much that we're prepared to fill the next generation's heads with a load of gibbering crap about "brain buttons", why stop there? Why not spice up maths by telling kids the number five was born in Greece and invented biscuits? Replace history lessons with screenings of the Star Wars trilogy? Teach them how to whistle in French? Let's just issue the kids with blinkers.
Because we, the adults, don't just gleefully pull the wool over our own eyes - we knit permanent blindfolds. We've decided we hate facts. Hate, hate, hate them. Everywhere you look, we're down on our knees, gleefully lapping up neckful after neckful of steaming, cloddish bullshit in all its forms. From crackpot conspiracy theories to fairytale nutritional advice, from alternative medicine to energy yawns - we just can't get enough of that musky, mudlike taste. Brain Gym is just one small tile in an immense and frightening mosaic of fantasy.
Still, that's just my opinion. Lots of people clearly think Brain Gym is worthwhile, or they wouldn't be prepared to pay through the nose for it. If you're one of them, here's an exciting new kinesiological exercise that should dramatically increase your self-awareness - and I'm giving it away free of charge. Ready? OK. Curl the fingers of your right hand inward, meeting the thumb to form a circle. Jerk it rhythmically up and down in front of your face. Repeat for six hours. Then piss off.
· This week Charlie was startled to discover that he had recently been romantically linked to Courtney Love in the Daily Star's gossip pages: "Actually, 'startled' isn't the right word. Some combination of 'astounded' and 'bewildered' would be nearer the mark." Charlie accidentally urinated on a photograph of Boris Johnson: "The very definition of a gratifying mishap."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/07/education
British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?
Perhaps the government confused fantasy with reality the day it endorsed Brain Gym
Man the lifeboats. The idiots are winning. Last week I watched, open-mouthed, a Newsnight piece on the spread of "Brain Gym" in British schools. I'd read about Brain Gym before - a few years back, in Ben Goldacre's excellent Bad Science column for this newspaper - but seeing it in action really twisted my rage dial.
Brain Gym, y'see, is an "educational kinesiology" programme designed to improve kiddywink performance. It's essentially a series of simple exercises lumbered with names that make you want to steer a barbed wire bus into its creator's face. One manoeuvre, in which you massage the muscles round the jaw, is called the "energy yawn". Another involves activating your "brain buttons" by forming a "C" shape with one hand and pressing it either side of the collarbone while simultaneously touching your stomach with the other hand.
Throughout the report I was grinding my teeth and shaking my head - a movement I call a "dismay churn". Not because of the sickening cutesy-poo language, nor because I'm opposed to the nation's kids being forced to exercise (make them box at gunpoint if you want) but because I care about the difference between fantasy and reality, both of which are great in isolation, but, like chalk and cheese or church and state, are best kept separate.
Confuse fantasy with reality and you might find yourself doing crazy things, like trying to wave hello to Ian Beale each time you see him on the telly, or buying homeopathic remedies - both of which are equally boneheaded pursuits. (Incidentally, if anyone disagrees with this assessment and wants to write in defending homeopathy, please address your letters to myself c/o the Kingdom of Narnia.)
Perhaps the Department for Children, Schools and Families confused fantasy with reality the day it endorsed Brain Gym. Because while Brain Gym's coochy-coo exercises may well be fun or relaxing, what they're definitely good at is increasing the flow of bullshit into children's heads.
For instance, according to the Brain Gym teacher's manual, performing the "brain button" exercise increases the flow of "electromagnetic energy" and helps the brain send messages from the right hemisphere to the left. Brain Gym can also "connect the circuits of the brain", "clear blockages" and activate "emotional centering". Other Brain Gym material contains the startling claim that "all liquids [other than water] are processed in the body as food, and do not serve the body's water needs ... processed foods do not contain water."
All of which sounds like hooey to me. And also to the British Neuroscience Association, the Physiological Society and the charity Sense About Science, who have written to every local education authority in the land to complain about Brain Gym's misrepresentation of, um, reality.
Wander round Brain Gym's UK website for a few minutes. It's a festival of pseudoscientific chuckles where impressive phrases such as "educational kinesiology" and "sensorimotor program" rub shoulders with bald admissions that "we are not yet at the stage where we have any scientific evidence for what happens in the brain through the use of Brain Gym".
Look at the accredited practitioners of the art: top of their list of qualified Brain Gym "instructor/consultants" is a woman who is apparently also a "chiropractor for humans and animals". That's nothing: I read tarot cards for fish.
And check out the linked bookshop, Body Balance Books. Alongside Brain Gym guides and wallcharts, it stocks titles such as Awakening the Child Heart and Resonance Kinesiology, which, apparently, "holds information on how to move forward with truth, without the overlays of people's beliefs and ideas about what is best for themselves and others". Huh?
If we mistrust the real world so much that we're prepared to fill the next generation's heads with a load of gibbering crap about "brain buttons", why stop there? Why not spice up maths by telling kids the number five was born in Greece and invented biscuits? Replace history lessons with screenings of the Star Wars trilogy? Teach them how to whistle in French? Let's just issue the kids with blinkers.
Because we, the adults, don't just gleefully pull the wool over our own eyes - we knit permanent blindfolds. We've decided we hate facts. Hate, hate, hate them. Everywhere you look, we're down on our knees, gleefully lapping up neckful after neckful of steaming, cloddish bullshit in all its forms. From crackpot conspiracy theories to fairytale nutritional advice, from alternative medicine to energy yawns - we just can't get enough of that musky, mudlike taste. Brain Gym is just one small tile in an immense and frightening mosaic of fantasy.
Still, that's just my opinion. Lots of people clearly think Brain Gym is worthwhile, or they wouldn't be prepared to pay through the nose for it. If you're one of them, here's an exciting new kinesiological exercise that should dramatically increase your self-awareness - and I'm giving it away free of charge. Ready? OK. Curl the fingers of your right hand inward, meeting the thumb to form a circle. Jerk it rhythmically up and down in front of your face. Repeat for six hours. Then piss off.
· This week Charlie was startled to discover that he had recently been romantically linked to Courtney Love in the Daily Star's gossip pages: "Actually, 'startled' isn't the right word. Some combination of 'astounded' and 'bewildered' would be nearer the mark." Charlie accidentally urinated on a photograph of Boris Johnson: "The very definition of a gratifying mishap."
Add to del.icio.us
Posted: Monday, April 14, 2008 | PermalinkComments 1 - 50 of 54 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers2. Comment #160467 by ingl0rius on April 14, 2008 at 6:11 am
Haha! Lovely stuff!Other Comments by ingl0rius
3. Comment #160468 by mmurray on April 14, 2008 at 6:13 am
Curl the fingers of your right hand inward, meeting the thumb to form a circle. Jerk it rhythmically up and down in front of your face. Repeat for six hours.
Surely this is only for one gender and won't you go blind after six hours ?
Seriously it does seem that the nutters are taking over the asylum.
Michael
Other Comments by mmurray
4. Comment #160469 by Sally Luxmoore on April 14, 2008 at 6:15 am
When I first read the title, I misread it as BRIAN GYM.Having read the article, my first idea seems to make just as much sense as what's described here, and has the benefit of being funnier.
Other Comments by Sally Luxmoore
5. Comment #160472 by Sally Luxmoore on April 14, 2008 at 6:17 am
I'm wrong!comment no. 3 is MUCH funnier!
Other Comments by Sally Luxmoore
6. Comment #160474 by ThoughtsonCommonToad on April 14, 2008 at 6:26 am
Someone once said If you want to get rich, start a religion. How about just peddling the most stupid bullshit you can think off and dressing it up with sophistry.Ahh bloody tautologies I hate repeating myself. (pun intended!)
Other Comments by ThoughtsonCommonToad
7. Comment #160475 by Mitchell Gilks on April 14, 2008 at 6:30 am
I read the whole thing thinking it was brian gym too, I didn't notice until you pointed it out Sally.
This was a hilarious read, I cracked up in several places. This guys needs to fly off about more stuff.
Other Comments by Mitchell Gilks
8. Comment #160476 by Bigorra on April 14, 2008 at 6:31 am
...Resonance Kinesiology, which, apparently, "holds information on how to move forward with truth, without the overlays of people's beliefs and ideas about what is best for themselves and others".
There is a wonderful case study on how this phenomenon works. It's called the White House.
Other Comments by Bigorra
9. Comment #160478 by Steve Zara on April 14, 2008 at 6:33 am
I like Charlie Brooker. He is like Diacanu, only uses more words. Other Comments by Steve Zara
10. Comment #160479 by ThoughtsonCommonToad on April 14, 2008 at 6:33 am
Charlie Brooker - The 10 biggest cocks in advertisingAnd another Brilliant
Charlie Brooker. Fantastic
Other Comments by ThoughtsonCommonToad
11. Comment #160480 by padster1976 on April 14, 2008 at 6:34 am
Comment 6 -
That was L Ron Hubbard
It's not just that - schools are generally places where reality takes a break.
It's why i left teaching in the first place.
Other Comments by padster1976
12. Comment #160490 by Vaal on April 14, 2008 at 6:48 am
Not any dafter than faith schools. Other Comments by Vaal
13. Comment #160495 by PJG on April 14, 2008 at 6:52 am
It gets worse. A sensible lady of my acquaintance told me how the children at her teacher friend's school were doing "Brain Gym" for about half an hour during their PE (Physical Education) lessons. The teacher found it easier to control the children because they "seemed to enjoy it".
So there you have it folks, we will have kids with fat bodies AND fat heads.
Ahhh, the future of humankind! At least when homo sapiens finally goes extinct, there will be a possibility that a really intelligent species will evolve to fill the available space!
Other Comments by PJG
14. Comment #160496 by phasmagigas on April 14, 2008 at 6:52 am
i saw this product in a shop or online or somehwere. i didnt look into it but i assumed (wrongly)that it was a load of puzzles like suduko and logic. hmm, looks like its actually far, far easier.
for those critics of the skeptics who say 'open your minds, stop being limited by your own limitations of reality' i'd ask them if they would like to accept a single $ or UK pound giving me 20 in return as according to my new theory 'LESS is fundamentally and quasisynergismically MORE and exchanging more for less channels the oojumistic energy fields from one individual to another' so they will actually reap the benefits later on, maybe in minutes, maybe years but you will get the benefits!!
lets see how open minded they are now.
Other Comments by phasmagigas
15. Comment #160498 by Tyler Durden on April 14, 2008 at 6:53 am
From The Official Brain Gym Web Site for the UK:
"The movements are simple to do, but need specialist understanding before they can be used properly with specific learning difficulties, so we strongly recommend that you find a qualified instructor or consultant to guide you in the use of the movements. We do NOT recommend that you buy a book and teach yourself. The books are designed to be used alongside instruction from qualified instructors."My brain hurts after reading that drivel.
Other Comments by Tyler Durden
16. Comment #160503 by alltruism on April 14, 2008 at 7:00 am
I thought it may be related to the 'Brain Training' style of thing (where you perform lots of simple arithmetic, spelling and memory games against a timer), but alas, it isn't. After reading the original article on this Brain Gym nonsense, I vented my thoughts on it here: http://alltruism.blogspot.com/2008/04/got-brain-jim-then-you-dont-need-brain.html
Other Comments by alltruism
17. Comment #160512 by Pattern Seeker on April 14, 2008 at 7:08 am
I just sprained my orbitofrontal cortex while working out my limbic system at the Brain Gym, so I am unable to comment at this time.Thoughtfully yours,
Sara Bellum
Other Comments by Pattern Seeker
18. Comment #160513 by Cartomancer on April 14, 2008 at 7:08 am
Pisco-Cartomancy is a very difficult art to master. You need to laminate the deck first for one thing... Other Comments by Cartomancer
19. Comment #160515 by Jamie Walton on April 14, 2008 at 7:12 am
Like a lot of you, I'm sure, I read Ben Goldacres blog, in this entry
http://www.badscience.net/?p=652
he links to a Paxman interviewing the bloke from this Brain Gym thing. Paxman don't take no shit.
Other Comments by Jamie Walton
20. Comment #160518 by Tyler Durden on April 14, 2008 at 7:13 am
Is it any wonder kids are falling for this nonsense when they're told playing games on the Nintendo Wii now counts as "exercise". Other Comments by Tyler Durden
21. Comment #160519 by MedMonkey on April 14, 2008 at 7:13 am
Hilarious! I don't know what it is, but I definitely read it as Brian Gym at first, too. I think my incredulity that this "system" could be related to the brain at all was too much for my processor.
Brain Gym hasn't made its way to the USA yet, has it? Good Lord knows our public schools are having a tough time with the Truth now as it is!
In response to comment 20 - Have you ever played Wii boxing?!?! That truly is a workout :-)
Other Comments by MedMonkey
22. Comment #160526 by phasmagigas on April 14, 2008 at 7:23 am
'ive been teaching now for 37 years...' says the head teacher on that video.
the kids are more receptive, calm etc, well thats got zero to do specifically with brain gym over the simple act of a group performing some silly little ritual, the novelty of which will get the kids a bit more focused perhaps. I could set up a similar thing where they all form letters of the alphabet with their hands together and hum at the same time, i bet that will calm them all too, $$ please. the neuroscientist mentioned that its just the simple diversion that focuses the kids, teachers have been doing this stuff for years, morning prayer, stand behind desks, sit, fingers on lips, arms folded, all say 'good morning miss teacher' the scary thing is the kids are about to become as daft as those teachers by giving the ritual some specific cult like position!!
my god, so learning difficulties can be overcome by rubbing your chewing muscles?? so ive been a genius all this time and never known it!!
Other Comments by phasmagigas
23. Comment #160543 by eclampusvitus on April 14, 2008 at 7:32 am
That was a scary article. Think about it, one day you wake up to find yourself romantically attached to Courtney Love.ECV
Other Comments by eclampusvitus
24. Comment #160558 by phasmagigas on April 14, 2008 at 7:43 am
for the love of god, the creator of brain gym sorely need to try his own system, hes not even good at hiding the fact he knows nothing, sounds familiar???? that interview is truly gut wrenching to watch, what an ass. Other Comments by phasmagigas
25. Comment #160578 by Jack Rawlinson on April 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
Charlie Brooker is brilliant. I laughed myself silly at this article when it appeared last week. Other Comments by Jack Rawlinson
26. Comment #160579 by coretemprising on April 14, 2008 at 8:00 am
#21Brain Gym hasn't made its way to the USA yet, has it?
see
http://www.braingym.org/
©2008 Brain Gym International. Brain Gym is a registered trademark of Brain Gym International/Educational Kinesiology Foundation, Ventura, CA.
Other Comments by coretemprising
27. Comment #160582 by Geoff on April 14, 2008 at 8:01 am
18. Comment #160513 by Cartomancer Pisco-Cartomancy is a very difficult art to master. You need to laminate the deck first for one thing...
But what about those of us who don't own a boat?
Other Comments by Geoff
28. Comment #160609 by minstrel on April 14, 2008 at 8:26 am
complain about Brain Gym's misrepresentation of, um, reality.
Since when did reality ever get in the way of making money? This is a confidence scam if I've ever heard one.
Other Comments by minstrel
29. Comment #160616 by flobear on April 14, 2008 at 8:30 am
From Cartomancer: he links to a Paxman interviewing the bloke from this Brain Gym thing. Paxman don't take no shit.
Wow, those videos were painful to watch.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if those exercises actually DID improve performance in students. Everyone knows it's important to take short breaks when working for a long time. Obviously if you're stuck inside listening to a boring teacher drone on about FSM knows what, you'll need a break as often as you can get one.
Why schools can't just implement stretching periods or calming exercises and call it just that is beyond me.
On the other hand, this may be a brilliant way of identifying inept educators. I mean, emotional centering? electrical balancing? who could possibly believe that?
Other Comments by flobear
30. Comment #160619 by bamboospitfire on April 14, 2008 at 8:35 am
Great article and highly amusing.
However...
What is going on at the Grauniad when on the one hand they publish wonderful work such as Brooker's article alongside utter bilge like this brainfart from Ravenhill? Is the editorial team smoking crack?
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2273469,00.html#article_continue
Other Comments by bamboospitfire
31. Comment #160629 by bugaboo on April 14, 2008 at 8:44 am
Man the lifeboats. The idiots are winning. Today I read, open-mouthed, a piece in the Guardian on the spread of Dawkins and his secular army and how they must be stopped.Other Comments by bugaboo
32. Comment #160659 by Lucas on April 14, 2008 at 8:59 am
Does it say the author's name somewhere in the article, or do you guys just know it? I looked for it, but it only refers to Charlie at the end. Often there seems to be no author listed in articles here, and I think that should change. It's just nice to know who I'm reading.Tyler - The Wii can be exercise; try doing the boxing game for an hour, nonstop, actually standing and boxing instead of just flicking the controller from the couch, with weighted wristbands.
Sadly, in the US our schools have almost done away with PE entirely, and thus, doing Brain Gym would actually probably get our fat, stupid little kids in better shape, both physically and mentally. For real.
Other Comments by Lucas
33. Comment #160697 by Jamie Walton on April 14, 2008 at 9:45 am
I wouldn't be surprised at all if those exercises actually DID improve performance in students.
I agree, I suspect that the movements are also accompanied by a lot of positive talk from the teacher which has been shown to improve concentration levels. This is a psychological phenomenon called 'priming' (Thanks Prof. Wiseman) and nothing to do with putting your hand on your temples though.
Other Comments by Jamie Walton
34. Comment #160703 by TonyA on April 14, 2008 at 9:55 am
Does it say the author's name somewhere in the article, or do you guys just know it? I looked for it, but it only refers to Charlie at the end. Often there seems to be no author listed in articles here, and I think that should change. It's just nice to know who I'm reading.Most articles, including this one, include a link to the original source. Simply follow that link to see the article in its original habitat.
Other Comments by TonyA
35. Comment #160715 by Elles on April 14, 2008 at 10:08 am
Back in middle school, I got signed up for (I would have to be bonkers to sign up for it willingly) a class named "Relax Now." One day, the teacher let a student share his "ninja meditations." Of course, she wasn't insane enough to tell us that we were learning ninja meditations that day... we were learning how to gather chi...It involved moving our arms around and "feeling" tingly feelings down our spines. Really wasn't anything more than the power of suggestion because... you have to believe in chi to know that it exists, of course!
I protested, and I ended up not getting an A in the class for not being "respectful."
Other Comments by Elles
36. Comment #160743 by flobear on April 14, 2008 at 10:49 am
Elles: In the US, an 'A' is the best grade. I'm guessing it's not where you're from, right? Other Comments by flobear
37. Comment #160751 by Enlightenme.. on April 14, 2008 at 11:10 am
I actually tuned in to Newsnight last week to see the item about the BBC being afraid to allow Muhammad jokes, but was even more worried by seeing this item covered beforehand.
I'm hoping the headmistress of Acresfield primary school has already lost her position, well done to the beeb for exposing it, and Jeremy Paxman for interviewing the shyster who peddles this crap.
Other Comments by Enlightenme..
38. Comment #160756 by Raiko on April 14, 2008 at 11:20 am
Honestly, I think we did that somewhere in highschool, or something similar to it. Our religion teacher made us do it. But at least it was done in the name of relaxation and massage; nothing about energy flow and 'unexplained' scientific phenomena. Other Comments by Raiko
39. Comment #160805 by Sargeist on April 14, 2008 at 12:12 pm
This reminded me of the bit in Brasseye where "Dr Fox" says, "There's no evidence for it, but it's a scientific fact." Other Comments by Sargeist
40. Comment #160820 by Koreman on April 14, 2008 at 12:33 pm
@4. Comment #160469 by Sally LuxmooreI'd prefer Brian Gym. Serious astronomy combined with some fine guitar.
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/04/14/gimme-the-prize/
Other Comments by Koreman
41. Comment #160841 by Lucas on April 14, 2008 at 1:09 pm
TonyA - Right. Point taken. Duh. Still though, it'd be nice if it didn't say "by Guardian". Other Comments by Lucas
42. Comment #160898 by cam9976 on April 14, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I think I pulled a transistor in my pre-frontal cortex while reading this load of bull-crap. Other Comments by cam9976
43. Comment #161121 by KrisRamJ on April 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm
The guy who wrote this article is Charlie Brooker, he's awesome. Another Brooker quote, relevant to this forum:"But then what's science anyway, eh? I mean, it's only a rigorously tested peer reviewed system of knowledge about the way our world works built up over centuries, that's all. It's not a patch on mindless superstition, which has been around for far longer and brought us exciting things like ghosts and demons, witch trials and the tooth fairy."
Other Comments by KrisRamJ
44. Comment #161167 by CJ22 on April 15, 2008 at 1:53 am
Yahoo! Go Charlie... Other Comments by CJ22
45. Comment #161276 by Johnny O on April 15, 2008 at 5:20 am
Replace history lessons with screenings of the Star Wars trilogy?
I wish...
Other Comments by Johnny O
46. Comment #161284 by NewSkeptic on April 15, 2008 at 5:43 am
I think 'Brain Gym' is, to put it kindly, the oxymoron of the exercises applied to that name.(Perhaps the real exercise of 'Brain Gym' is what is happening here; the critical thinking that puts an enormous hole in the propaganda.)
Other Comments by NewSkeptic
47. Comment #161402 by mixmastergaz on April 15, 2008 at 8:53 am
When I was undertaking initial teacher training we (my fellow trainees and I) were 'treated' to a guest lecture on 'brain gyms' and encouraged to lead our classes in these fatuous exercises at the start of every lesson. I thought it was a load of foundationless crap at the time (and said so) but most of those attending the lecture disagreed and many of those pledged to begin their classes in this ridiculous fashion. What I was most struck by at the time was how easily persuaded these people were. I would guess that none (or few) of them had ever even heard of a 'brain gym' before attending the lecture. All it took was someone to vouch for their effectiveness and pass around a poorly-photocopied handout and most were 'converted'. I weep for the state of education in my country! Perhaps compulsory lessons in critical thinking would be more beneficial (actually, there's no 'perhaps' about it; encouraging students to examine the contents of their nostrils would have more educational merit than this garbage).
Assuming that some of those who attended the lecture did incorporate 'brain gyms' into their lessons regularly, it's a sobering thought to consider how much time all those 'five minutes at the start' would add up to across an academic year, and what might otherwise have been learned in that time.
Other Comments by mixmastergaz
48. Comment #161472 by D'Arcy on April 15, 2008 at 10:29 am
I just wonder if we could perhaps persuade the remaining Pythons to make another film:
The Life Of Brain, Jim.
"What did educational kinesiology ever do for us?"
performing the "brain button" exercise increases the flow of "electromagnetic energy" and helps the brain send messages from the right hemisphere to the left. Brain Gym can also "connect the circuits of the brain", "clear blockages" and activate "emotional centering". Other Brain Gym material contains the startling claim that "all liquids [other than water] are processed in the body as food, and do not serve the body's water needs ... processed foods do not contain water."
There you go! You learn something every day!
Other Comments by D'Arcy
49. Comment #161544 by JamesR on April 15, 2008 at 11:52 am
I live in Sacramento CA. On the radio I hear about this marvelous "Brain Gym". It helps with all sorts of learning problems and is effective in helping with many learning disorders.It really pisses me off to know that they are getting away with what amounts to fraud.
Other Comments by JamesR
50. Comment #161570 by hopeful on April 15, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Very amusing article. As disturbing as new-age beliefs are, at least they provide great humour!By the way, I'd be happy if history was replaced with the Star Wars trilogy. The space ships are really cool and the good guys eventually win.
Other Comments by hopeful
Upcoming Events:
About this site
Mailing List Signup: Enter your email
Go to The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science
Richard Dawkins Articles | Comments | Tour Journal
Atheist Resources | Local Groups
Debate Points | Latest Responses
Links:
Quotes of Note:
"Group selection of any kind is not Darwinism as Darwin understood it nor as I understand it."
Richard Dawkins
"There are all sorts of things that would be comforting. I expect an injection of morphine would be comforting... But to say that something is comforting is not to say that it's true."
Richard Dawkins
"The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also"
Mark Twain
"It is the inevitable effect of religion on public policy that makes it a matter of public concern. Advocates of religiosity extol the virtues or moral habits that religion is supposed to instill in us. But we should be equally concerned with the intellectual habits it discourages.
"
Wendy Kaminer
"Science offers us an explanation of how complexity (the difficult) arose out of simplicity (the easy). The hypothesis of God offers no worthwhile explanation for anything, for it simply postulates what we are trying to explain."
Richard Dawkins
Other Recommended Reading
The End of Faith
Sam Harris
Letter to a Christian Nation
Sam Harris
Before the Dawn
Nicholas Wade
Parenting Beyond Belief
Dale McGowan (Editor)
Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters
Donald R. Prothero
More Books
Adjust font size: 
"If this book doesn't change the world -- we're all screwed."
-Penn (Penn & Teller)
The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins
Over 1.5 million copies sold
DVDs
'Break the Science Barrier' DVD
'The Four Horsemen' DVD
'AAI 2007 Conference' DVD
'Root of All Evil? The Original Program' DVD
'Root of All Evil? The Uncut Interviews' DVD
'Growing Up in the Universe' DVD
Books by Richard Dawkins
The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing
by Richard Dawkins
The Ancestor's Tale
by Richard Dawkins
The Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins
The Blind Watchmaker
by Richard Dawkins
Unweaving the Rainbow
by Richard Dawkins
1. Comment #160464 by Adam Morrison on April 14, 2008 at 6:08 am
Sweet, I just need to come up with some dumb-sounding lingo attempting to come across as intelligent and I can make my own fitness program.
- Epithelial Stimulus Therapy
- Synaptological Inducement Training
Alright now I'm off to feed the BS to the masses! Wish me luck guys.
Other Comments by Adam Morrison