MythBusters Reveals The One Subject They Refused To Explore And Their Reasons Are Perfect

"There's someone who has this as a living, and I'm not going to tell them they're an idiot."

Stephanie

• Published in Film & TV
• November 27, 2024

MythBusters has revealed why they refused to explore one particular historical practice: Dowsing. If you're unfamiliar with the ritual's meaning, we're here to give you all the details.

Of course, MythBusters is renowned for making science fun and performing mind-blowing experiments to prove (or disprove) common myths. And, while you'd be forgiven for thinking they have covered every topic imaginable, there is one specific subject they most definitely haven't.

That topic is Dowsing, and MythBusters' Adam Savage says they wouldn't touch the practice "with a 50-foot barge pole." The water-locating ritual was prevalent, especially in Europe, during the 1500s.

The method involves using a forked stick as a divination tool to locate groundwater, oil, gemstones, and buried metals. A person would motion with the stick until they located what they were searching for.

The practice is also known as divining, water witching, or doodle bugging and has long been called a pseudoscience with no scientific evidence to back it up. However, scientific proof or not, the ritual has been known to work somehow, which led the Catholic Church to ban it in 1518, saying it broke the commandment of Occultism.

Savage says the practice of Dowsing simply isn't provable. "Unfortunately, it is not based in physics or science-fact, and it has never survived a double-blind test," he said.

Savage said that every time the practice has been tested in the past, "it has come up for naught." Although it would be the perfect story for MythBusters to cover, there are experts on the topic, and they don't want to step on anyone's toes.

"There's someone who has this as a living, and I'm not going to tell them they're an idiot," Savage explained. "I don't think that they're being dumb.

They grew up; they were taught this thing: there may be all sorts of fascinating ways in which the human body can detect tiny changes in gravity or magnetism or just landscape and understand where the water table might be rising closer to the surface," he said.

"All those things are possible and plausible, and that's a level of subtlety that's difficult to get inside the 42 minutes of the show we had to make," Savage said. He also noted that to debunk the myth, they would need to bring in an expert on the topic and "make a fool of them."

The MythBuster crew isn't willing to do that, and we have to admire their integrity. They don't want to belittle anyone or mock people who believe in the practice's validity.

MythBusters has revealed why they refused to explore one particular historical practice.

That topic is Dowsing, and MythBusters' Adam Savage says they wouldn't touch the practice "with a 50-foot barge pole."

The water-locating ritual was prevalent, especially in Europe, during the 1500s.

Dowsing is still being practised today, with some people choosing to use two metal prongs instead of the traditional forked sticks.

Dowsing is still being practised today, with some people choosing to use two metal prongs instead of the traditional forked sticks. And it's considered to be a legitimate technique for many believers.

We would love to hear your opinions on this topic. You can share your thoughts with us in the comment section.

Stephanie