Comment and Opinion

QXCI - Tomorrow's medicine... TODAY!
(A link check done on January 15, 2004, showed the URL www.qxsubspace.com was being redirected to a page on a server in Hungary. The entire contents of that page was "Karbantartas alatt, kis turelmet kerunk!".)
and
QXCI - The Ultimate Website of Elite QXCI Information, Service, & Support

In January 2001, I wrote an item for the Quintessence of the Loon site which had some gentle fun at the expense of a Dr William Nelson and a machine he had invented called the "Quantum Xrroid Consciousness Interface", which appeared to be some sort of mind-reading device. Dr Nelson's site later became unreachable, and I thought no more of it. Someone was thinking of it, though, and I received this email:

From: "QXCI - Global Quantum Quest"
Subject: Dr. William Nelson's Website
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 18:03:21 -0700

Sorry - saw your ridiculous site and thought I would correct you on one of your unfounded lies. QX Ltd. is still healing lives and moving forward strong - Dr. William Nelson's company website is located at www.qxsubspace.com - not to mention our website www.theqxci.com that provides a variety of support and options (including unrivaled Toll Free training support) to those who own the QXCI. I do not see how you can ASSume that this is some "get-rich-quick" scheme. You obviously have no idea how many unpaid hours we have put forth to provide excellent training and support on a device that has proven itself to me time and time again.

In addition, you obviously have quite a few personal emotional issues going on (don't need the QX to see that now do we! haha) that contribute to your "emotional outlet" of such a negative website, so I will leave you to it without further adieu....... you do look quite ridiculous and uninformed so I suppose Kharma is taking care of that! ; )

Have fun spending all of your energy on such negative hobbies - I'm assured you will!

Sincerely,

<name deleted>

Sometimes it pays to keep quiet. Because of the writer's lack of both politeness and a sense of humour I decided to take a closer look at the QXCI machine and its proponents, and I found that it was something which more properly belonged in The Millenium Project rather than in Quintessence of the Loon. The latter site is about things which are weird or funny, but the QXCI machine is just another case of health fraud. Of course, it is dressed up as some sort of science, but anyone who buys one has wasted their money (and is expected to waste more for training, support and software upgrades) and the "patients" that it is ultimately used on are defrauded because the machine simply cannot do what it is supposed to do.

The disclaimer on the writer's site says:

DISCLAIMER: The QXCI system is to be used as a Biofeedback Multimedia System. It is designed for stress detection and stress reduction. The device does not diagnose anyone. Only a Licensed Practitioner can diagnose a patient. This system is callibrated to measure the fine and subtle electrical and subspace reactions to a group of biological and medical substances. The sensitivity is set so fine as to pick up the earliest sign of disease and distress. Thus the results might (may) be below the client recognition. The readings should be evaluated by trained staff.
No claims are made of the system or results.

Translated into English, this disclaimer says that the machine does nothing, it does it using forces and energies unknown to science, it does it so well that it might detect things which are not there, and you need to pay someone to tell you what it is doing. Even though the thing doesn't diagnose anything, it is a reasonable assumption that the operator can use the output from the machine to recommend future courses of action, probably involving some medication (sold by the operator) or more sessions with the magic machine (with a fee each time). It is quackery of the kind that Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier found when they looked at the magnetic treatments of Franz Mesmer back in the 18th century, where you have a magic device that detects the subtle forces within a person, forces so subtle that they continue to exist even if the machine is turned off without the operator's knowledge, but which only seem to be able to cure people who truly believe in the effect. It is a snake oil still, dressed up with an operator in a white coat and attached to a computer to make it look real and legitimate

There are two classes of victims of this fraud. The first is the group of people who buy the machines. Some of these people will buy with the clear intent of perpetuating a fraud, but the majority probably buy with the expectation that they are getting something with therapeutic value that they can use to help people. They may eventually have doubts, but there is a thing called cognitive dissonance which causes us all to rationalise bad actions and decisions and these people may come to believe the myth because to do otherwise would be emotionally painful. The second group of victims consists of the patients who pay for the useless readings from these machines and the useless treatments that are suggested. Most of these patients will only lose money, but some may be diverted from real medical treatment for real conditions, and some may be frightened and distressed by being told of diseases which are "below the client recognition", a quackery term for "things you don't have to worry about".

The real victim of frauds like this is common sense. When nonsense is legitimised by dressing it up in the clothes of science, the value and meaning of science and knowledge is diminished. These people don't just steal money. They steal our faith in knowing how the universe works.

You can read some more information about "Dr" Nelson and the QXCI machine here.

Someone was very unhappy about my comments about the QXCI fraud, quite understandably as they admit to being an active participant in the scam. Of course, the complainer has no credibility as the message came through an anonymous mail service (one which hides the IP address of the sender). It is ironic that this person claims some sort of moral superiority but does not have the honesty to speak without wearing a mask.

From: "Sara" <sarastanton@starmail.com>
Subject: Piece of SHIT!
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 22:25:45 -0500

YOU ARE SUCH A PIECE OF SHIT! I can't believe you would use this webpage http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/comment/qxci.htm to exploit a legal company who has obviously nothing to do with what you posted here. I have no idea what you are talking about as I visited the site you speak of and even searched the search engines and it seems like you are absolutely disillusioned. The only thing you prove are your own malicious lies!!!!!!! As an MD, QXCI Practitioner, and moral human being I found this disgusting display of pathetic self-righteousness (your webpage) sickening. You must be a 'Quackwatch' wanna-be. What a loser you are! If you think this is the end of what I have entered your life for, think again. YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH YOUR BULLSHIT!

Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 14:13:44 -0800
From: Beth Tate
Subject: you fail here by referring Quack Watch

Please do more homework with regard to the QXCI machine. Using Quackwatch as your source is pathetic.

I am not a "believer" of the QXCI, on the face of it I must say it sounds phony...am surfing the net trying to find legit critques...your site does nothing more than add to the bullshit.

Beth Tate

I did not use Quackwatch as my source. I simply noted that someone else had something to say about this fraud. I knew it was a scam as soon as I saw it and I only found out that Quackwatch mentioned it afterwards. All that is required to evaluate this machine is to look around you and observe a universe with rules.

If you are looking for "legit critiques" and expect to find scientific evidence for this thing doing anything except move money between wallets then you will be disappointed.

But Beth was not happy:

From: "B. Tate"
Subject: QXCI.html
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 08:13:31 -0800

Hi,

Not being a believer of the machine, I found the google search I did today brought up my name connected to some fairly unpleasant emails by other folks.

Can you please take off my name as it associates me with this product? Please see last emails.

Thanks

Your original email made it quite clear that you are not associated with the QXCI scam. It did, however, accuse me of parroting Quackwatch and spreading bullshit. These are reasons enough for reproducing it here. It stays.