Our guest today is Bill Bengston, a professor in sociology, and the president of the Society for Scientific Exploration, an international group of scientists who conduct investigations on scientific anomalies. In this episode, we talk about the science behind energy healing, the placebo effect, and why being a true skeptic is beneficial. If you are sceptic about energy healing, curious about the unknown and open to learning about a new perspective on healing, then this episode is for you.
Bill’s Journey
“I'm not a psychic. I'm not a believer. I'm not a healer. But when I put my hands on people, interesting things started to happen.”
Bill studied sociology and statistics. During his studies, he worked part-time as a lifeguard and that´s where he also met a psychic who "morphed" into an energy healer. Bill was very sceptical about these things, but as he had experienced chronic back pain for many years, he asked the healer to try his technique on his back and the healer cured his back pain.
He also observed the healer curing many people from serious illnesses and being the scientist he was, he sarted to do systematic research on the method. One of the patterns Bill observed, when the healer was workign on people with cancer, was that benign growths did not respond to the treatment, while malignant growths responded very quickly and dramatically. Bill also realized through testing that this method could be learned and recreated by anybody, including sceptics.
Even though the method was tested and proven many times, Bill could not figure out the science behind it, or explain why healing happened the way it did.
Curing Cancer
“Everything that we expected to happen didn't happen, and everything we didn't expect to happen happened, which is the fun of research.”
After a while, Bill knew that he had to study this method in a deeper way. He started systematic research on mice in labs. Bill injected a particular type of mammary cancer into the mice, which had been 100% fatal in any previous gold standard cancer studies. To his surpirse, they were able to cure the mice with the healing method, and even more surpirsing, these mice became immune to cancer. Bill suspects, that this method works through the immune system, but he could not prove it yet.
In his later studies, Bill also found that distance did not matter in healing, which could point to the fact that it is not actually energy healing. One current hypothesis is that it could be related to how information travels, or how connections form.
Bill also concluded during his studies, that it is not a belief-based system. The method worked on mice, plants, cell cultures, and even placebos. In an experiment, the placebos, made by the FDA, turned out to be biologically active.
Being a True Skeptic
“Now we're looking to see if we can use it and mass produce it.”
Bill’s view of the world and himself changed drastically over the years since he discovered this healing method. He knows that we as humans know very little, does not believe anything, and assumes that anything that anybody says, including himself, is flawed. This gave him a tremendous sense of freedom. He is curious but not attached to any outcome anymore, and that is what he recommends to people too.
Bill is the president of the Society for Scientific Exploration, an international group of about 800 scientists who conduct investigations on scientific anomalies. They look into biology, chemistry, or physics, and look at studies about consciousness, or any topics that are not fully explained yet by science.
Bill is working on scaling his method through treated water, or even digital recordings. This would make the healing method infinitely scalable and could eventually help to cure many people along the way.
Palma’s Reflection On Being A True Skeptic
This week, we invite you to be a true skeptic. Skeptic in a sense of being open, curious, and carrying all your opinions and beliefs lightly.
Notice when you formed an opinion or belief about someone or something before they even share their argument or their point. See if you can remain curious and allow the possibility to be proven wrong.
About Our Guest, Bill Bengston
Dr. Bengston is a professor of sociology, with a specialization in research methods and statistics. In addition, he is president of the Society for Scientific Exploration, an international group of about 800 scientists who conduct rigorous investigations into scientific anomalies. Dr. Bengston has publications in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and Explore. In addition, he has lectured widely throughout the United States and Europe. He also is on the editorial board of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Bill has written a memoir with Sylvia Fraser about his healing experiences and research entitled The Energy Cure: Unraveling the Mystery of Hands-On Healing. A CD audio instruction program, Hands-On Healing, is also available from Sounds True. Dr. Bengston lectures frequently throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, and is frequently interviewed around the world on his research.
A special thanks to Bill Bengston for taking the time to share his inspiring story with us.
Resources Mentioned In The Show:
William Bengston - The Energy Cure
Living Fearlessly With Change And Uncertainty Course On RoundGlass
palma@palmamichel.com
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