Kinoki Foot Pads have shown themselves to be pseudoscientific by nature of the vague claims the product makes, in addition to the fact that the product is demonstrably useless. The ad claims the pads will make the user feel revitalized and invigorated, though such feelings are highly dependent on the individual and not only affected by "toxins" in one's body.

In addition, this video shows that the pads turn brown simply by having water poured on them. Regardless of this fact, the product (or products similar to it) is still sold, often receiving praise from its users.

It's difficult to find anything resembling a legitimate scientific claim concerning the product. Some of the toxins the pads allegedly remove are necessary trace elements in the human body, and the "Elemental Analysis Hair" graph is essentially unlabeled. Even the analogy to trees is, in many ways, nonsensical. Assuming the independent study is legitimate, the pads seem to be able to remove a percent of some substances, but it doesn't show the actual amounts. The percent change may be negligible.

None of the claims are impossible to support. One can measure the change in "toxin" levels, and individuals can report whether or not they feel more energetic. This doesn't add any legitimacy to the product though. The ad simply lacks the amount of data to be able to purport any benefit of the pads.

The appeal of such a product can be rather clear. In general, people want to feel more energetic, and within this group of people, there is a sizable group that is mesmerized by all the wonders of ancient Oriental medicine. By combining "ancient Japanese reflexology" with an "independent study," many will believe the product to be entirely legitimate.

Entry 2 - Paradigm Shift

The most influential example of a paradigm shift in my life (and the first example that comes to mind whenever anyone mentions such shifts in viewpoint) is when my worldview changed entirely, as a result of my renunciation of the Christian faith. My views consisted of everything in the Bible touted by my preacher or family. Primarily I believed that there was one god in existence, and he was the god of the Bible whose son was Jesus. These views were slowly undermined by many small crises, the most notable of which included reading the Bible cover to cover and developing an interest in the life sciences. Though my emotional attachment to the Christian worldview kept me subscribed to those beliefs for a long period of time, eventually I gave it up, due to the overwhelming amount of evidence contrary to those beliefs. Eventually my confidence in the Christian view dropped enough that I adopted an Atheistic worldview. With this current view, I do not believe in any god(s), especially not the god of the Bible. As might be expected, my initial response to this change was one of fear, for a wide variety of reasons. However, the fear eventually dissipated, and I was left a fundamentally changed individual.

Entry 1: Unpacking a KI

1. Over the summer, a friend of mine asked another friend's parent why she always wears gloves when washing the dishes, to which she responded, "Because I'm allergic to water." We all thought she was joking, but she quickly clarified that tap water does, in fact, often irritate her skin.

2. One area of knowledge involved is the natural sciences because our decision on whether or not to believe the mother's statement was based on our knowledge of the natural sciences. Ways of knowing involved include language (because what she said and the way she said affected how we believed her) and reason (because deduction affected how we interpreted her statement).

3. Because of the ambiguity associated with language, we all assumed that the statement about being allergic to water was a joke. The tone of voice she used could have been interpreted as either serious or joking.

4. The knowledge problem is that we interpreted the individual's use of language to mean the complete opposite of how she intended it to mean.

5. Knowledge Issue: What do the limits of spoken language (or lack thereof) reveal about the reliability of language as a method of gaining knowledge?