Fake News, Urban Legends, and Popular Stories

The following post was put on my sight about healing (tthought.com). Although it surrounds the story of a man with a disappearing tumor, today's post illustrates the hows and whys we should all be looking closer to the stories we hear from news, on the streets, in sermons and even in schools. Fake news and made up or exaggerated stories are roaming just about anywhere you read or hear.

So there is this story on the internet, in articles and in books used to illustrate how powerful the mind is. It's all about a patient (Mr. Wright) who, under the care of a certain doctor, was given medicine in 1957 that made a cancerous tumor the size of an orange completely disappear. But here is the interesting part of the story. It wasn't the medicine that dissolved the tumor, but it was the man's belief in what turned out to be a worthless medicine. His mind, and only his mind completely dissolved a large tumor. But after discovering the medicine was no good, the man relapsed and the tumor ended up killing him two days later.

As much as I believe that most successful "faith healing" is usually no more than a person's body (and the brain) reacting to expectation of a cure and trust in authority (put more simply - the placebo effect), and even though the story of the disappearing tumor would help me find clarity in an area of healing I am looking for clearer answers, something about this story seemed wrong. I think I wanted to believe the story, but the story looked to fishy. So as with many stories I read that are used to promote or confirm any doctrine or teaching (any side of the issues of today), I decided to research more about this case to see if there was truth behind the stories told.

MARKS OF MAKE-BELIEVE


For the first few hours of research, I thought I would not be able to find the genesis of this story and that it would be nothing more than an urban-legend-like/fake-news-like tales passed on to feed the hunger of the "mind over medicine" fans. The more I searched, the more I was siding with a legendary beginning to this tale. I was beginning to conclude this was one big fake story:

1. I could not find the source of the story. One mark of an urban legend is that most of the stories claim to happen to a friend of a friend. For example: After a trip to Mexico, my brother's friend went to a dentist because he had a large sore on the inside of his back molar. When the dentist poked the sore, dozens of baby roaches poured out into his mouth. One of the signs this is not true is that it happened to a friend of a friend. If I talk to his friend, however, I will find out that it really happened to a friend of his friend. And if I talk to that person, I will hear the same thing. I will never find the source. Mr. Wright's story seemed not to have had a real source, even though books and articles used the story.
2. Secondly, the story seems too good to be true. This is a second sign I thought the story was probably false. When a gun toting fanatic walked into a restaurant in Washington D.C., he was convinced he would find a secret underground vault filled with Hillary Clinton's child slaves. He hated Clinton so much that he bought the story that she kidnapped children and sold them as sex slaves. Where he heard this story is a mystery to me, but not the story itself. This type of story is common the political world because such stories justify fears and hates a group has. In other words, this story for the Clinton haters was too good to be true. Mr. Wright's disappearing tumor seemed too good to be true for a group that wants to believe that modern medicine is superseded by the power of the mind.
3. Thirdly, some of the articles emphasized that the story was true..."this is true." As soon as I read those words, I was led to believe it was probably false. Any story or news station that has to tell you it is true without good evidence should be viewed with skepticism.
4. Fourthly, the stories varied. Variation of a story is expected with popular stories because people adjust stories to fit their purposes for writing or telling the stories. This adjusting happens because people remember certain parts of stories but not all, or adjusting may happen to serve the purposes of convincing others of the story's truth. The biggest variation of Mr. Wright's story was the purpose of the drug involved. One story says it was only used on and successful with horses. Another story states that the drug was being tested in a controlled study on others in the hospital already. And a third story tells us that Mr. Wright had to demand being included in the trial. Each of these stories tell us that Mr. Wright had to force the Doctor to comply with his wishes.

Another variation is in the doctor's name. One article called him Dr. West and another said it was Dr. Klopfer. Once again, this is a sure sign that the story has been evolving. Nevertheless, even stories that have the earmarks of urban legend type of evolution can come from some story that started it all. So I began digging more into the story.

Dr. Klopfer

THE ORIGIN OF THE STORY

I searched the names of the doctors and found one of them led me closer to the source. After several hours of searching the internet, I got closer to the source of this story. It turns out that Wikipedia mentioned that Dr. Bruno Klopfer wrote an article "Psychological Variables in Human Cancer", Journal of Projective Techniques, Vol.21, No.4, (December 1957), in which he described Dr. Wright's condition and response to a bogus medicine called "Krebiozen."

Finding out who the originator of this story was, I wanted to know who he was and if he was some quack. Wikipedia told me that he studied under Karl Jung (impressive), did research at Columbia University (equally impressive), and finally appointed Clinical Professor of Psychology at the University of California in Los Angeles. All of these titles give weight to the fact that the story of the disappearing tumor is legit and that the mind can in fact reduce the size of tumors and may even be able to destroy them entirely. However, being closer to the source and being impressed with the doctor's position, I still have my doubts. I suppose the biggest problem I had was that even though I was close to the source, I could not find the article itself and read what Dr. Klopfer himself wrote about Dr. Wright.

THE ETHICS OF MEDICINE RESEARCH

Several years ago I taught Medical Ethics in a local University. In my studies at that time, I discovered a commonly used trick among researchers and developers. In order to get the money needed to continue research, companies and researchers often falsify their findings, believing that further funds will help them to prove their theories right and thus pay off in the end for investors and for researchers. But this is a tricky deal with the devil, for while it pays off for many (it paid off for Steve Jobs on several occasions), it can backfire if further research does not produce the expected results.

One South Korean researcher, Woo Suk Hwang (in 2004-2005) claimed he had been able to produce cloning from embryonic cells because he was convinced he could with enough money. After being awarded the finances he needed, he was unable to produce his expected findings and went from the country's hero to his country's shame. "He lost his university position and his two important papers on embryonic stem cell research had to be retracted from the journal Science (http://stemcellbioethics.wikischolars.columbia.edu/The+Cloning+Scandal+of+Hwang+Woo-Suk)."

I knew that even the best scientists and teachers can make mistakes or even manipulate their findings. Could Dr. Klopfer have created the story of the disappearing tumor in order to impress his peers and the Journal of Projective Techniques' readers? Did he exaggerate something that happened? Or was he an eye witness to the amazing power of the human body? I wonder if reading the original article would help me answer these questions, but because I don't have the original, I cannot conclude properly. The story of Mr. Wright is not helpful in getting closer to what goes on with faith healing.

ANOTHER CASE FROM MEDICAL JOURNALS

I am still not convinced Dr. Klopfer really saw a tumor dissolve so quickly and so easily. Dr. Klopfer was writing a book and needed illustrations to prove his point and I cannot honor people who are popular or educated on the basis of their popularity or position. I am afraid that I would have to see it or learn more about it in order to believe it.

The story sounds too urban legend-like for me to accept it without further proof, but as I mentioned, whether or not it happened, the stories that came from this article took a life of their own.

On the other hand, there is another story that likewise moves through generations of story tellers. Dr. Mason (1951) who treated a teen with arms covered in warts. "Most of the boy's body -- everything but his face, neck, and chest -- was covered in a "black horny layer" of skin that Mason said 'felt as hard as a normal finger-nail, and was so inelastic that any attempt at bending resulted in a crack in the surface, which would then ooze blood-stained serum (http://www.radiolab.org/story/299045-hypnotist-and-warts/).'"

From Dr. Mason's original report

Dr. Mason used hypnosis (the placebo effect was not yet well known in 1951) and told the boy that one of his arms would clear up in two weeks. The repeated stories (even by NPR) tell us his arm completely cleared up, but the original report (I had to find the original report before I bought this story) said most of his arm cleared up.

After the doctor was told by his peers that what happened to the boy was considered impossible, the doctor was unable to help the teen any further. The doctor blamed his inability to further healing to his lack of belief in the possibility of healing to continue after finding out that what he did was impossible.

Why do I believe this story and not Dr. Klopfer's? Dr. Klopfer's story is too good. It fits too well within the framework of his book and there are no contradictions or failures in Dr. Klopfer's story. It is all too black and white. Dr. Mason however fails in further attempts to help the person.

Another reason I accept Dr. Mason's story is because I can get to the source, see the pictures and read from his experience first hand, as Dr. Mason worked with other doctors and filled out an official report with pictures and statistics which can be read by all (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2021155/pdf/brmedj03456-0026.pdf).

All in all, I conclude that the disappearing tumor story may be true, but without further proof, I don't have enough evidence to buy it to use it in further investigation.

THE DISAPPEARING TUMOR AND FAITH HEALING

I wrote this article because it demonstrates how important research is in the area of healing. A lot of people pass on stories and testimonies because such stories make people feel good, support opinions, "glorify God," and so on. However, even true stories change with each retelling, so in order to get to the bottom of each story, it is important to research.

Many stories will have no known source or sources that cannot be trusted. Most of these stories should be rejected, even when and especially when they support what you want to believe, whether you believe in faith healing or do not believe.

Finally, when I first began reading about Dr. Klopfer and Mr. Wright, I was hoping to find evidence (either way) if a tumor could disappear from a placebo effect or from a healing crusade. Unfortunately, I did not find the answer to this...at least, not yet.

This post is what I wrote for my site on healing. The principles of research should be taken as well into other areas as well. In fact, try taking the next real good juicy story you hear that claims to be true, research to find its source, and compare the differences.

Why Are There so Many Hurricanes?

"It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth."

Revelation 11:18

The U.S. was just hit with two massive hurricanes which came on the heals of a total lunar eclipse. Is the world coming to an end? Is the U.S. being judged by God? Are we doomed for more tragedy?

THE ANCIENT WORLD

If I borrow from ancient culture, then by all means, God or gods are unhappy with the South and is punishing Florida and Texas. When a bridge collapsed in Minneapolis killing 13, I never heard mention that God was angry with those 13 people who died, but when a building collapsed in Jesus' day, killing 18 people, the story was told that those 18 somehow deserved what happened because they had sinned (Luke 13:4). Jesus told his followers that those people were not bigger sinners than the rest of them and he warned them that something worse was coming if they did not turn from their sins. In the Bible days, every natural tragedy outside of war was related to sin.

Natural tragedies were not the only disasters tied to sin. When Jesus and his disciples walked up to a man blind from birth, the disciples asked Jesus, "Who sinned that he was born blind?" For them the question was not, "Did sin cause this blindness?" For them, somebody sinned because this man was born blind. Jesus told them that nobody sinned to cause this. At this point his wording gets a bit tricky, because he added, "but that the work of God might be revealed." Or he may have said, "Let the work of God be manifested." The original Greek can go either way. So either this man's was born blind for the sole purpose of revealing God's work or Jesus was simply saying that no one sinned to cause this blindness, nevertheless, let God be glorified.

When someone could not speak in the days of Jesus, it was commonly held that demons were possessing the dumb and not allowing them to speak. Jesus worked and healed in a world where sin and demons were behind most diseases and natural disasters.

THE ANCIENT WORLD'S INFLUENCE ON TODAY

Not many hold to a purely ancient world view when it comes to modern disasters. We know so much more about the reasons why structures collapse and how people get sick. Even so, there are many who cling to the ancient world views to some degree or another.

When Haiti was hit with a major earthquake that killed tens of thousands, Pat Robertson said the reason the earthquake killed so many was because some 200 years ago the Haitians made a pact with the devil to find freedom from the French.

In the aftermath of recent flooding and destruction in Florida and Texas, plenty of YouTube preachers are saying that this is the beginning of the end. Destruction is the result of sins such as abortion and homosexuality.

Anne Graham Lotz suggests that the recent total eclipse was a warning to the U.S. that bad times could be coming if we didn't change our ways.

In some Christian circles, being sick is often related to sin.

These people hold on to some degree much of the ancient world's reasons for natural disasters and sicknesses.

Most of these Christians blend modern science with ancient thought. They can see that a disaster might be the result of poor building construction. They can see that a disease such as arthritis is brought on by natural wearing and tearing of the body. But many of them also believe that God causes such things or lets such events happen for different reasons (IE: testing our faith, punishment for sin).

GLOBAL WARMING

There is a not so friendly debate going on in the U.S. in general - Christians and non-Christians are siding into one of several schools of thought.

The first camp tells us that the storms and disasters are probably due to global warming. This camp can be further divided into two sub camps. The first agrees that there is global warming but says that the warming is a natural phenomenon unrelated to human activity. The second camp believes that humans contribute to global warming. Both of these camps are willing to accept that global warming may be contributing to an increase of random and/or unusual changes in weather which can include stronger and more hurricanes, tornadoes, hotter temperatures, rising oceans and so on.

On the other hand, there are people who claim that global warming does not exist. Some of these people believe that scientists are political beings who are finding what they want to find with a political agenda in mind.

Either way, the evidence is strong that global warming is happening at an alarming rate. We may not see any drastic change in the next few years, but changes are going to come.

YIPPEE! THE WORLD IS FALLING APART



There are those who believe disasters such as the hurricanes that hit Florida and Texas are sign that Jesus is coming back. Jesus is coming and they are happy to see the world fall apart as it's demise means the soon return of Jesus. Most of these people see the disasters as a result of human sin which God punishes when He has had enough. In many of these people's belief, Jesus promised to keep the godly safe by taking them bodily into heaven while the rest of the world will get worse and worse and suffer more and more. So if the world is falling apart, it is okay.

LET'S GO TO MARS

Then again, there are people like Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking who believe the planet cannot survive another 100 years because of global warming, overpopulation, and Artificial Intelligence. They believe we need to start looking into the possibility of populating another planet.

HELP!

The world could be ending in a few generations. Disaster after disaster could be on the rise killing many of us in the prime or our lives. The future could be very dark for humanity. What should we think about all this?

When I was a young member in the U.S. Coast Guard, a group of us had just finished eating at a restaurant and were paying a hostess for our food. One of the guys (Joe), who was a bit strange and told the hostess, "Jesus is coming back tomorrow!" The hostess was startled when he said that. She looked like she believed him, so I took over the conversation to cover up for my friend's stupidity. "No he's not coming back tomorrow, but if he was, would you be ready?"

The hostess told me she was not ready, so before other customers came to pay for their food, I told her she could take time that night and pray to God and rededicate herself to Christ (I assumed that she had some sort of Christian background by the way she reacted to Joe). She said she would.

The hurricanes and the eclipse may not have had anything to do with God's judgment and may not be signs at all that Jesus is coming back. But if they are...are you ready?

What Is the Unforgivable Sin?

When I was much younger, a lot of people were very concerned that they had committed the unforgivable sin that Jesus talked about in Mark 3:22-30 and Matthew 12:22-32.

I used to talk to people on the street and they would bring up the unforgivable sin and tell me they were concerned because they were convinced they had committed the unforgivable sin. As a young Christian I always assured them that if they had committed such a horrible transgression, they would not be concerned about it at all.

My theory was this:
1. If someone is concerned or wants to come to Christ, only the Holy Spirit could put this desire and concern in their hearts, because the Bible says, "No one can come to me unless the Father...draws him.
2. Those who committed the unforgivable sin in the Bible did not want anything to do with Jesus.

WHAT IS THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN?

Both Mark and Matthew record an event when religious leaders publicly told those who were with Jesus that his power was from Satan. Jesus responded by telling them how their logic made no sense at all. After demonstrating their failure in logic, he told the group that all sins were forgivable but blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. The leaders accused Jesus' power - the Holy Spirit - of being the demonic. That was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and that was a sin that was unforgivable.

CONCLUSIONS

If you still hunger for truth; if you desire to become or stay Christian; if you want to please God; then you have not committed the unforgivable sin.