I think that Bill Harris may very well be afraid of the results of a study testing his product against the placebo effect.

Giving someone a soundtrack of simply bells and rain without any of the "psycho-acoustic" technology (but telling them that it does have it) may have a surprising effect.

How much of it is from expectation, a philosophy, personal investment (in terms of both money and ego), and a result of social influences? Probably an awful lot.

This isn't saying that the technology doesn't do anything, it obviously does. But I bet you dollars to doughnuts that a really good study using the placebo effect will show that some people get real results without the low carrier binaural beats or any of that.

I think the results of such a study would be pretty bad press for Centerpointe. Some people may say "to hell with it" and just start meditating with traditional techniques, or simply spending an hour or so of quiet time just relaxing and being aware.

I think everyone is aware of this already, though. People just choose what they choose. If holosync is something to believe in for someone, then they believe in it, they derive value from it, and it fills a place in their lives.

I've been mad at Centerpointe for a long time. I've been using holosync, giving it a chance, since I was challenged to give it another shot. It's a nice excuse to meditate. The approach is ok, I am not using any particular method of meditation during it. I simply listen and do whatever I want with my mind. It's an hour of quiet time and trance that I use however I wish.

I do like it, but I would not pay $300 a pop for more levels. My choice. If others want to, fine. It's their time and money, and it may well do an awful lot for them. If so, good.

Strangely, I found the Awakening Prologue to have a more visceral effect than Awakening Level 1.

Really, people are making their own choices about it. I am sorry I spent so much time making noise about it and being condescending. People simply make their own choices and that's that. They are usually not dupes. They are aware of the variables involved and make choices based on their available resources and will. And that, I guess, is simply that.

I believe a lot of people want the technology to do things for them that it may not for whatever reason. They paid a lot of money, and they're mad. Others, as we've seen, have experienced quite a bit of pain and suffering. I do not know whether or not these people would have had the same negative results from traditional meditation, my intuition says they probably would ... depending on the technique. I think each of these people deserve, at least, a refund and, considering the marketing, an apology.