Is water dowsing/water witching a science, art or a con?

Question

eesmith · Accepted Answer

It's not useful, as many attempts to demonstrated its effectiveness have failed.
It can be art, eg, if it entertains you.
It can be a fraud. But it's not a fraud if the people involved think they are honest and even helpful.
So (D) a pseudoscience.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

simonblack · Answer

I'm personally agnostic about dowsing. I'd like to witness it working/not working to sway me to one side or the other.But there are too many farmers, whose livelihood actually depends on water, who swear by dowsing for there to be nothing in it.

Is water dowsing/water witching a science, art or a con?

Is water dowsing/water witching a science, art or a con?

It's not useful, as many attempts to demonstrated its effectiveness have failed.It can be art, eg, if it entertains you.It can be a fraud. But it's not a fraud if the people involved think they are honest and even helpful.So (D) a pseudoscience.See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

I'm personally agnostic about dowsing. I'd like to witness it working/not working to sway me to one side or the other.But there are too many farmers, whose livelihood actually depends on water, who swear by dowsing for there to be nothing in it.

It's not useful, as many attempts to demonstrated its effectiveness have failed.
It can be art, eg, if it entertains you.
It can be a fraud. But it's not a fraud if the people involved think they are honest and even helpful.
So (D) a pseudoscience.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

I'm personally agnostic about dowsing. I'd like to witness it working/not working to sway me to one side or the other.
But there are too many farmers, whose livelihood actually depends on water, who swear by dowsing for there to be nothing in it.