Prayer does not work

[Silver]

This is an older article, but what it states still holds true.

Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.

And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.

The study also found that more patients in the uninformed prayer group — 18 percent — suffered major complications, like heart attack or stroke, compared with 13 percent in the group that did not receive prayers. In their report, the researchers suggested that this finding might also be a result of chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health...d=all&_r=0

[The Valkyrie]

This is an older article, but what it states still holds true.

Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.

And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.

The study also found that more patients in the uninformed prayer group — 18 percent — suffered major complications, like heart attack or stroke, compared with 13 percent in the group that did not receive prayers. In their report, the researchers suggested that this finding might also be a result of chance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health...d=all&_r=0

When I was a student, working at a hospital to make ends meet, there was a really bad accident in which a teenage boy was seriously injured.

He was brought in in critical condition and around 14 doctors and nurses worked on him for nearly 6 hours to stabilise him.

I was nearby when his parents were interviewed by the local news station and they thanks god for their son's life, and said that their prayers had been answered.

Not a mention of the highly trained and dedicated staff who had spent so long stabilising him and saving his life. I still see him occasionally, coming in for therapy.

I guess god only heals people a certain amount. . . .

[Esquilax]

I guess god only heals people a certain amount. . . .

On the seventh hour, he rested.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Actually, prayer DOES work - it's exactly as effective as hoping.

Boru

[Fidel_Castronaut]

It works about as well as doing nothing at all. To paraphrase George Carlin, about 50:50.

[The Valkyrie]

I guess god only heals people a certain amount. . . .

On the seventh hour, he rested.

And all the years since, apparently.

[Walking Void]

Actually, prayer DOES work - it's exactly as effective as hoping.

Boru

Yes, yes. It works. That is to say, X person transfers force onto X's left hand (Y) towards X's right hand (Z). Meanwhile, X is transferring force onto Z towards Y. Y moves 40 centimeters towards Z, and Z moves 40 centimeters towards Y. If X used 10 newtons of force to move each Y and Z, X therefore produced 8 joules of work.

Prayer works!

[freedomfromforum]

I've prayed for two weeks that this thread would not be created

[pocaracas]

Geee... Why am I not surprised?

[Jacob(smooth)]

Old joke in medical research.
Patient. "will this drug work"
Dr. "depends. Define" will" and "work."

I prayed this morning that I'd feel better about some stuff at work. Do you know what? I felt better about that stuff afterward. Thus, by most definitions, prayer worked.

I'm now going to pray for scarlett johansson to appear in my office and do a lapdance for me.


....


Nope, nothing. So by any definition, prayer didn't work.

In example A there was an outcome which was directly attributable to the prayer, and is as repeatable as most things we take as standard "work". So from that point of view prayer works. In some circumstances and for some things. Like my phone works, in some circumstances (battery and signal) for some things (making calls). Does my phone work as a light saber? Tragically not. Doesn't mean it doesn't work.

So for me a statement like "prayer does not work" is too broad. It didn't work, then, for that, as advertised. But it's not strictly true to say it Doesn't work. It depends what you expect from it.