Nothing New Under the Sun

Or should I say, “Nothing New on the Earth(ing)”. I’ve looked before at earthing, with my Eye on Ions, and even noted a product, Earthrunners, that runs copper studs through sandals, so you can be both shod and grounded simultaneously, practicing Cargo Cult Barefooting.

But there is nothing new under the sun.

You think earthing is new? Hah! Here’s an article that was making the rounds 124 years ago, in January of 1890.

     COPPER BRADS IN SHOES

     How a Man Restored Himself to a Healthy Condition.

“Do you see these large copper brads in the sole of my shoe?” asked a gentleman of the St. Louis Republic’s Man About Town, as he held up to view the sole of one of his shoes. On being answered in the affirmative he said: “To these simple brads alone I attribute my present good health. For years I was an invalid, subject to dyspepsia, neuralgia, headache, and other innumerable pains, and traveled the country over in search of health. In traveling out west among the Indian tribes I was struck with their remarkable health, and especially their exemption from the maladies that afflicted me and also with the fact that the strongest and healthiest went barefooted altogether. I sought an explanation of the matter and by continued observation and study was finally led to the conclusion that the aches and pains to which civilized man is heir are owing to the manner in which we insulate our bodies from Mother Earth. Science is every day more clearly demonstrating that electricity is the vitalizing constituent of our bodies and that this globe of ours is a mighty battery, continually generating and discharging electricity. Now, I reasoned, if this was correct the secret of the Indian’s health was in his bare feet, which exposed his whole body to the vitalizing influence of the electrical earth currents; while my ill health was attributed to my feet being insulated from these currents. Acting on this hypothesis I sought to restore the broken connection by inserting these brads in the soles of my shoes, and the result, I must say, was astonishing. My feet, which formerly were nearly always cold, soon became warm and moist; my health commenced shortly to improve, and in a few months I was entirely relieved of all my pains, and have ever since enjoyed good health. It is a very simple thing and easily tested, and I feel sure would benefit any one afflicted as I was.

Of course, in the same newspapers you’d also find advertisements like this one:

The Latest . . . of 1890

Don’t forget, the late 1880s was the time of the great war of currents, when electric power was starting to be brought to the cities. It was new; it could do anything; it was magical.

It was the new woo.

Here’s the thing. If there were really something to it, wouldn’t it have really had some support by now? Even with the latest version, all we have are some papers published in “alternative” journals, and quite a few years ago, at that. Why isn’t there the research that follows up on it? Why haven’t studies been funded at reputable universities by professors who know the physiology and the chemistry?

There are also claims that “earthing” neutralizes free radicals. Well, one of the major free radicals is O_2-. It’s already negatively charged, so adding one of the electrons from the earth that you’re supposed to get from grounding is not going to neutralize it. Besides, that’s not how the chemistry works. As I’ve noted before, just adding free electrons to an aqueous solution of NaCl won’t make sodium precipitate out. (Maybe the hydroxyl radical, •HO, which is neutral, could be converted to the safer HO-, but again, that’s not the chemistry.)

It is rather amusing to read the product reviews on Amazon—they sound like typical placebo and woo reports. Folks write that it stopped working after a few weeks. When it doesn’t work, then they users start making up excuses; it’s not the concept of earthing: maybe you should use their grounding rod instead of grounding through your outlets (which, if you look at your house electrical system, goes directly to its own grounding rod outside your house). Hey, grounded is grounded. But there’s always an excuse; real science works consistently (like your car).

Anyways, it was interesting to see that the whole earthing thing is so old. And still undemonstrated with any sort of scientific rigor.