Ignorance Is Bliss

Secret to a speedy recovery: no prayers, please

By Benedict Carey in New York

April 1, 2006

PRAYERS offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people undergoing heart surgery, a large study has found.

In fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had higher rates of post-operative complications, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers findings have suggested.

One of the cornerstones of faith is that you can't measure it or the results of it; you have to believe. This study implies that the effects of such faith can be detrimental if attempts to measure it are conducted by an external observer; even if such faith is not directly yours, but that of a second party.

I'd like to make some witty comparison to Schroedinger's Cat here.

But wait, of course there are dissenting opinions:

Is it the prayer that's flawed, or the study?

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But in the end, the study's results were immediately questioned.

Ultimately, can science really measure the power of God?

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If God's power is not measurable, does it really exist? Are religion and science so different that one cannot exist in the presence of the other?