Crime rate & the yoga sutra of peace

[Swati]

ISTPP and TM:

The Yoga Sūtra of Peace
by Thomas Egenes Ph.D. on September 30, 2010
http://www.tm.org/blog/yoga/yoga-sutra-of-peace/

In the summer of 1993, 4,000 individuals gathered in Washington, D.C., to see if practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique in groups for two months would affect the crime rate. Dr. John Hagelin, a quantum physicist, predicted that the crime rate would drop by at least 20%. The chief of police went on the evening news and said that it would take a snow blizzard in the middle of summer to accomplish that.


Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July 1993
http://istpp.org/crime_prevention/

Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization
Carl Sagan
"Perhaps the most successful recent global pseudoscience—by many criteria, already a religion—is the Hindu doctrine of transcendental meditation ™. The soporific homilies of its founder and spiritual leader, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, can be seen on television. Seated in the yogi position, his white hair here and there flecked with black, surrounded by garlands and floral offerings, he has a look. One day while channel surfing we came upon this visage. “You know who that is?” asked our four-year-old son. “God.” The worldwide TM organization has an estimated valuation of 3 billion. For a fee they promise through meditation to be able to walk you through walls, to make you invisible, to enable you to fly. By thinking in unison they have, they say, diminished the crime rate in Washington, D.C., and caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, among other secular miracles. Not one smattering of real evidence has been offered for any such claims. TM sells folk medicine, runs trading companies, medical clinics and “research” universities, and has unsuccessfully entered politics. In its oddly charismatic leader, its promise of community, and the offer of magical powers in exchange for money and fervent belief, it is typical of many pseudosciences marketed for sacerdotal export."
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/does_truth...vilization

[Sajit]

(05-Oct-2010, 09:44 AM)Swati Wrote: ISTPP and TM:

The Yoga Sūtra of Peace
by Thomas Egenes Ph.D. on September 30, 2010
http://www.tm.org/blog/yoga/yoga-sutra-of-peace/

In the summer of 1993, 4,000 individuals gathered in Washington, D.C., to see if practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique in groups for two months would affect the crime rate. Dr. John Hagelin, a quantum physicist, predicted that the crime rate would drop by at least 20%. The chief of police went on the evening news and said that it would take a snow blizzard in the middle of summer to accomplish that.


Effects of Group Practice of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Preventing Violent Crime in Washington, DC: Results of the National Demonstration Project, June-July 1993
http://istpp.org/crime_prevention/

Does Truth Matter? Science, Pseudoscience, and Civilization
Carl Sagan
"Perhaps the most successful recent global pseudoscience—by many criteria, already a religion—is the Hindu doctrine of transcendental meditation ™. The soporific homilies of its founder and spiritual leader, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, can be seen on television. Seated in the yogi position, his white hair here and there flecked with black, surrounded by garlands and floral offerings, he has a look. One day while channel surfing we came upon this visage. “You know who that is?” asked our four-year-old son. “God.” The worldwide TM organization has an estimated valuation of 3 billion. For a fee they promise through meditation to be able to walk you through walls, to make you invisible, to enable you to fly. By thinking in unison they have, they say, diminished the crime rate in Washington, D.C., and caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, among other secular miracles. Not one smattering of real evidence has been offered for any such claims. TM sells folk medicine, runs trading companies, medical clinics and “research” universities, and has unsuccessfully entered politics. In its oddly charismatic leader, its promise of community, and the offer of magical powers in exchange for money and fervent belief, it is typical of many pseudosciences marketed for sacerdotal export."
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/does_truth...vilization

It looks like all the criminals were busy attending this event for two months

[Ron2005]

Studies of this kind( If this can be called a study) always seem to have vague topics and results which can be interpreted differently.

The subject is apparently Violent Crime. Quite a broad classification which supposedly includes " homicide, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery". To support their claims that crime has decreased, they actually have to assume that Crime is a constant even though it is a violent crime. This in turn means that the Columbia Metropolitan Police Department just sit around with their hands crossed.

If the above is not true and the Columbia Metropolitan Police Department are a really good bunch of policemen and taking into consideration the fact that any convicted violent criminal will not be released within 8 weeks, the decrease will be quite justified in itself unless we all agree that Columbia gets a constant supply of criminals!

The webpage also mentions that this is a scientific solution!

[Ajita Kamal]

Which peer-reviewed journal did they use to publish their raw data and statistical methods?

Oh wait, they didn't.... It's not science if we can't see exactly what they did and try and replicate the results.

[Swati]

I had forgotten about Maharishi (India's first yogic guru export?) and his high flying followers like Paul McCartney. I met a retired high ranking army officer recently who waxed on about his personal trysts with TM-Siddhi and mentioned the crime rate experiment as an example of the scientific efficacy of TM. He also told me that I was disagreeing with him because I was confusing weak meditation methods like Vipassana with the really effective one, TM.

[Sajit]

(06-Oct-2010, 11:19 AM)Swati Wrote: I had forgotten about Maharishi (India's first yogic guru export?) and his high flying followers like Paul McCartney. I met a retired high ranking army officer recently who waxed on about his personal trysts with TM-Siddhi and mentioned the crime rate experiment as an example of the scientific efficacy of TM. He also told me that I was disagreeing with him because I was confusing weak meditation methods like Vipassana with the really effective one, TM.

Don't forget his other famous student, Deepak Chopra !