Rebuttal Article: “Hidden Messages in Water”
Shayne B. Kendig
BCOM/275
May 21, 2012

Abstract This rebuttal article is about how external environment affects the molecular structure of water (shown as crystal formation) – the controversial experiment was conducted by Dr. Masaru Emoto. He published these results as photograph collections: “Messages from Water 1” (1999), “Messages from Water 2” (2002), “Messages from Water 3” (2004), and “Messages from Water 4” (2008).(Retrieved from http://masaru-emoto.net/english/ephoto.html).

Rebuttal Article: “Hidden Messages in Water”

Dr. Masaru Emoto is very well-known of his experimentation about water crystal formation. He claims that external environment and human consciousness affect the molecular structure of water as shown in crystal formation. According to him, “We start out life being 99% water, as fetuses. When we are born, we are 90% water, and by the time we reach adulthood we are down to 70%. If we die of old age, we will probably be about 50% water. In other words, throughout our lives we exist mostly as water. From a physical perspective, humans are water. When I realized this and started to look at the world from this perspective, I began to see things in a whole new way.” (Emoto 2004)

Studies behind Hidden Messages in Water

Dr. Masaru Emoto started his studies of molecular structure of water by freezing and looking at the crystal. He used different kind of water: tap, natural and distilled. He exposed distilled water to classical music and metal music. He claimed, “All the classical music that we exposed the water to resulted in well-formed crystals with distinct characteristics. In contrast, the water exposed to violent heavy-metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals at best.” (Emoto 2004) This is the effect of sound waves and vibration on water but there is no supporting hypothesis of why classical music produced nice crystal while disturbing music produced malformed crystal. He did not try using another type of music, like rap music, hip-hop, jazz, and soul to see the different effects on water forming crystal. Would a smooth jazz form an intricate crystal? Would rap music produce a fragmented crystal? There was no random sample of exposing water to different type of music to consistently prove that delicate music produces intricate detailed crystal while loud and harsh music barely produces a malformed crystal. In his further research, his claims are getting more questionable. His research continued as he claimed, “We next thought about what would happen if we wrote words or phrases like "Thank you" and "Fool" on pieces of paper, and wrapped the paper around the bottles of water with the words facing in. It didn't seem logical for water to "read" the writing, understand the meaning, and change its form accordingly. But I knew from the experiment with music that strange things could happen. We felt as if we were explorers setting out on a journey through an unmapped jungle. The results of the experiments didn't disappoint us. Water exposed to "Thank you" formed beautiful hexagonal crystals, but water exposed to the word "Fool" produced crystals similar to the water exposed to heavy-metal music, malformed and fragmented.” (Emoto 2004) His second claim of exposing water to positive written phrases makes wonder if water has its mind of its own. His conclusions are based on unsubstantiated claims that do not meet the norms of scientific theory. The first claim involving music would be close to valid conclusion if he has further evidence and hypothesis to support it because sound waves and vibration can affect water based on sound theory. Though according to Kenneth Lebbrecht, chairman of the department of physics at Caltech and a leading ice crystal researcher, ice crystal shape is a factor of both humidity and temperature. Temperature is the most important factor, and plates tend to form in the 0°C to -3°C and -10°C to -22°C ranges (red), while columns tend to form from -3°C to -10°C and below -22°C (green). Lower humidity tends to form simpler crystal shapes, while higher humidity tends to form more intricate crystals. It is currently not known why ice crystals form different shapes at different temperatures, as the physics of how the water molecules bond to a growing ice crystal are very complex and not well understood (Kenneth Libbrecht). Therefore there are a lot of factors to consider in the formation of water crystal – therefore proves that his claims focusing on exposure of water to music and words are bias.

Conclusion

Dr. Emoto’s study of water is very phenomenal. The message of his research is to expose ourselves to positive thoughts, surroundings, music, people and element. Positive energy promotes good health, good surrounding and a better world to live in – which is not negated in this article. The main focus of this argument is the study of water as his basis to prove how words, thoughts, and music affect water’s crystal formation is a questionable claim that provides insufficient evidence and hypothesis which is considered as pseudoscience, therefore is an invalid claim.

References:
Libbrecht, Kenneth. “A Snow Crystal Primer: The basic facts about snowflakes and snow crystals.”( Feb 1999) California Institute of Technology. Dec 2005. http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm . Retrieved from: http://is-masaru-emoto-for-real.com/

Emoto, Masaru. “The Hidden Messages in Water.” (2004) Hillsbro OR: Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. Retrieved from University of Phoenix Library: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=708f2a0b-a4b4-4361-b231-81b408456428%40sessionmgr4&vid=12&hid=115

http://masaru-emoto.net/english/ephoto.html