‪98.7% Proven Meditation Techniqu‬e - scientific research?

Tybalt

New Member
I often get conspiracy/alternative view/alt-med emails sent by a relative, and most of them are debunk-gold. This one I received a few days ago …

98.7% Proven Meditation Technique: Open Your Third Eye in 15 Minutes (Requiem)


Published on Mar 2, 2013
"There is no secret here, towards the end of each note you hear (assuming you're wearing earphones), upon the heightening of the frequency so too is your central cortex stimulated". - Professor Chris Thorpe BM, MRCP, FRCs.



What you are about to hear is a short audio track designed and prepared by Professor Chris Thorpe (formally of Staffordshire University), who worked closely with three of the top audiologists in Europe to produce this soundtrack. After taking a little over 4 years to compose by teams of experts, along with tireless research and accuracy, this finely tuned 'work of art' as it has been referred to by many, is now available to people to hear worldwide. It somewhat 'guarantees' to influence positivity throughout the mind, creating a bond between the brain and the central nervous system whilst stimulating the pineal gland. Research is still being carried out but to date 98.7% of people tested have reported a very noticeable or drastic increase in confidence and positivity after only listening to this track once.



However Professor Thorpe urges people to listen to it on a regular basis, for at least a week before noticing what he describes as a, "Profound understanding of yourself, along with a deeper understanding of the world around you." He then goes on to say, "the mind can only be cleared once it understands itself and the space within, however this can take time, listening to this audio track once-a-day for a week should be sufficient in giving clear results. There are different parts of the brain the frequencies within the audio masking stimulate - the left, the right and the central cortex, the frontal lobe is also key here. That is why we recommend wearing headphones to achieve optimal results, the eyes must also be closed."

Research undertaken in Birmingham, UK, 2012. 987 people out of 1000 tested claimed moderate to extreme positive psychological results after hearing this track just once.



© Rainford Studios Media


There's quite a bit here to raise the skeptical hackles - "open your third eye"; "guarantees to influence positivity"; "create a bond between brain and central nervous system"; "pineal gland"; "profound understanding of yourself"; "mind can be cleared once it understands itself".

But never mind all that - my first question is - 'is this actual scientific research'?

It's perfectly fine to create an audio loop for meditation, but you can see from the comments on the video that people take it seriously, and that's in large part, I'm sure, because of the claimed scientific credentials. It was sent to me as 'proof' that this stuff is real (I'm not really addressing the claim that this soundtrack will open your "third eye" in this post.).

Anyway, the details of the research all seem rather vague:

- worked closely with three of the top audiologists in Europe
- took over 4 years
- research undertaken in Birmingham

I tried to look up Professor Chris Thorpe BM MRCP FRCS ("formerly of Staffordshire University") but he only seems to appear in conjunction with this video. I know not everyone has an Internet presence, but if someone has a deep interest in something, and they work with some kind of technology, and they do research, that is at least very unusual.

I looked him up at the Royal College of Surgeons (as he has FRCS after his name) but he is not currently registered there. I also looked him up on the General Medical Council website - also not registered.

Next I Googled the exact qualifications - "BM MRCP FRCS" - wanting to know if it was a common collection of titles.

Amazingly - after a few hits for what seems to be a genuine surgeon in Essex, the 6th result gave me this:


The same bumf (central cortex, three top audiologists, creating a bond, etc.) but instead of Professor Chris Thorpe, it was Professor Jeffrey Marlon Harris BM MRCP FRCS, along with researchers at the University of Pembrokeshire.

(There isn't actually a University of Pembrokeshire - but there is a Pembrokeshire College, connected with the University of Wales Trinity St. David.)

I Googled Prof. Harris and found another huge batch of links to the 98.7% video - many no longer existing, but some linking to the YouTube video that now has the name of Professor Chris Thorpe (it does seem as though the video has remained the same but the name in the description has, at some point, been changed - one of the comments under the Chris Thorpe description refers to Jeffrey Marlon Harris (from Aug 2013)).

One particularly interesting result lead to this page:

http://jefferymarlonharris.weebly.com
Government Claims "He never existed; there was no such Professor" But he did - at least up until June 2013 when he mysteriously 'disappeared' & this article may explain why

Professor Jeffery Marlon Harris was sought after by Government officials, driven from his job, his home, and all records of him as a Fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons were abolished immediately after he vanished on June 12th 2013: But why? Because he was about to tell the masses 'The Truth' as he called it?

[snip]

Professor Jeffery Marlon Harris had one goal - to cleanse the masses and most notably "De-calcify the pineal gland" (video [audio track] he produced to do so is available at the bottom of this page - the only thing the government hasn't yet erased in connection with him)

[snip - see rest at link]

Next I decided to look at the publishers of the video … Rainford Studios. There's some interesting stuff here.

The Studios, based in Birmingham (and Whitchurch), are run by a family of brothers, all pretty young (they also have a web design and IT business). It's interesting to note that the 98.7% video is © Rainford Studios, suggesting, perhaps, that they may have more of a stake in it than just publishing it (they also answer some of the comments that ask questions about it, seemingly with some authority on how it works).

Also interesting is that one of the brothers is into making ambient and trippy dance music, and another has published a video with a poem about God (pointing to spiritual leanings).

The most interesting chap is the father - very much into both new-age thinking and internet marketing (note the 98.7% videos bring in the Studios' biggest traffic, and all have adverts attached - just an observation!). He also went to Staffordshire University and lived in Birmingham.

http://strawberryfields.com/?page_id=14

http://creativity4confidence.co.uk/?page_id=19

One Rainford son's LinkedIn page refers to his father as Professor, though I see no qualifications to legitimise that title. Hey, maybe he knows Professor Chris Thorpe? Or Professor Jeffrey Marlon Harris? That may, in actual fact, be why they're publishing the video - similar interests.

So … I'm into the realm of speculation now … is the 98.7% video the work of actual professors and top European audiologists? Or is it the work of an 18-year old computer-music techie in order to get some hits? Or something else?

I'd be interested to see if anyone can delve further and add to this.

‪98.7% Proven Meditation Technique: 1 Hour Track (Serenity)‬

published 7 Nov 2012

‪98.7% Proven Meditation Technique: Open Your Third Eye in 15 Minutes (Requiem)‬

published 2 Mar 2013

‪Powerful Meditation: THETA WAVES - Isochronic Tones‬

published 4 Jan 2014
 
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987 people out of 1000 tested claimed moderate to extreme positive psychological results after hearing this track just once.


Content from External Source
Pleasant music having a soothing effect is not quite the same thing as proving your 3rd eye has been opened :)
 
I will do a full write up with this with references but while I am not into the opening my third eye thing (I do that when I go to the loo) meditation techniques like this certainly do have a beneficial effect although that effect is a subjective one on the client. The university I studied my psychology as well as my counselling ran a degree in Complimentary Therapy from which I was able to garner some skills like Clinical Hypnosis and other more abstract methods like meditation and aromatherapy.

Now to my point, and this is purely anecdotal at present, in meditation and hypnosis (and even aromatherapy) sound is obviously very important. Pitch and tone can give differing results. My supervisor practiced a method involving one of those brass bowls you stir and just taking people through colours or chakras. A person in my group described the session as "near transcendental" (I found it bloody annoying), however even I could see the tangible effect it had on her.

Unfortunately things like this get wrapped up in woo and then suddenly people are expecting real OOBE's rather than feeling chilled out. I will look into the vids when I get the chance. Looks interesting.
 
And likely the 1000 people tested were in the mood already. Sorry, don't look at vids so I may have missed something.

Take 1000 people and have them listen to something like the 1812 Overture, Flight of the Bumblebee (or better yet, the finale of the William Tell Overture), then ask if they felt more energized afterwards. I'd listen to them on the way to a boring job I once had. It just gets you fired up. I'm sure listening to The Four Seasons would have a similar but opposite effect.
 
Just to point out that I'm not really examining the benefit - or otherwise - of some nice soothing soundscapes ( I listened to the Robert Monroe tapes for a few months in my teens, determined to have an out-of-body experience - I didn't, but it was very relaxing) but rather the claim of 4 years of study with top audiologists resulting in a scientifically proven audio experience.
 
Just to point out that I'm not really examining the benefit - or otherwise - of some nice soothing soundscapes ( I listened to the Robert Monroe tapes for a few months in my teens, determined to have an out-of-body experience - I didn't, but it was very relaxing) but rather the claim of 4 years of study with top audiologists resulting in a scientifically proven audio experience.

Sorry mate. I posted to just try to pre-empt a alternative therapy backlash. Most my time is just using a phone for internet access but I will find a PC. I added my stuff to just add context (and a laugh), but I will look into this more.
 
funny enough I have found that extremely aggressive music can have a similar effect to the traditional new age mood music and whale song type of listening these meditation type on concepts favour.

If you can stand the volume and the intensity, go to a hardcore punk or grindcore gig, spend an hour or so listening to stuff like this. (and if your up for it, have a go in the moshpit as well)

When the shows over the buzz is euphoric, and the feeling of joy and comradeship amongst the crowd is something to behold.

Bottom line is music can make you feel good, thats why most if not all human cultures have developed some kind of music fairly early in their history. Although however good certain tunes are in helping you relax, or blow off steam or even helping you touch deep emotions any claims that they will unlock your inner chakra and open your metaphorical inner eye is a bit incredulous to say the least.
 
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