What is "energy?

[ProfWag]

While my wife was giving me Reiki the other day (no comments from the peanut gallery please...), she was talking about all the energy she was feeling going through her hands and into my head. In another thread a short while ago, Ninja was talking about the energy that comes from people's dead bodies. In the wake of these and other comments on energy, I just have to ask. What the hell is this energy everyone keeps talking about?
I know that energy is something that I pay for so I can read at night and turn on my vacuum cleaner, but what is it in the realm of alternative science? Where does it come from? Are there different types of energy? Can I feel energy without being touched on the head? When I get done with my enchilada and refried bean meal, is that energy that is expelled into the atmosphere that I blame on my dog?
Wag

[NinjaPuppy]

There are two types of energy. This is the one that I'm talking about:

Potential energy appears in many different forms, and is defined as the energy in matter due to its position or the arrangement of its parts. The various forms of potential energy include gravitational potential energy, elastic potential energy, chemical potential energy, and electrical potential energy.

Potential Energy is often referred to as stored energy. Some scientists avoid use of the word "stored" because it inaccurately depicts energy as a substance that is contained within a substance. In other words, some scientists and energy educators believe saying energy is "stored" is a misconception.

[NinjaPuppy]

I believe your wife is talking about this one:

Thermal Energy
When you feel a warm object, you are actually feeling thermal energy, which is the movement of molecules that make up the object. All objects possess thermal energy (even cold ones) since they have a temperature above absolute zero. Evidence of thermal energy can be detected by measuring the temperature of an object.

Although technically incorrect, the word heat is often used to mean thermal energy. A way to think about this distinction is objects possess thermal energy, while heat is transferred from one object to another. Go to More about Thermal (Heat) Energy for more information.

Nope, wrong! Here's a link: http://www.worldtrans.org/TP/TP2/TP2A-68.HTML

[ProfWag]

[NinjaPuppy]

I like this:

It must be understood that the mind exists not only in the brain, but also through-out the body. The nervous system extends to every organ and tissue in the body and so the mind exists here also. It is also known that the mind even extends outside the body in a subtle energy field 2 to 3 feet thick called the aura. Because of this, it is more appropriate to call our mind a mind/body as the mind and body are so closely linked.

[ProfWag]

[NinjaPuppy]

[NinjaPuppy]

If you're even in my neck of the woods, I'll read your aura. While I'm at it I'll do a little witchcraft and voo-doo for you too. If you play your cards right, I might be able to find you a golf course or two.

[ProfWag]

[NinjaPuppy]

[ProfWag]

[NinjaPuppy]

You'll be fine. We don't have clowns. We do have a pro course with an alligator. His teeth can be a bit tricky but if you hit the ball just right, it comes out his tail, hits the bumper and goes right into the hole.

[Nostradamus]

Even in the standard sciences it is hard to pin down energy. The amount of energy in a system is harder to define than the deltas in energy.For example, burn a piece of wood and the released energy can be measured. Not all of the energy is released, but the different between the unburned and burned states can be measured.

[ProfWag]

[Nostradamus]

The difference I see with energy as used in the sciences and in areas not usually considered science is that the energy has to be measurable in science. There has to be some objective way to detect the energy. This means that "feeling" or "sensing" has to be done by a machine.

One of the stories I remember about science is the stories of N-rays. I think this happened about 100 years ago. A Frenchman using a prism discovered some faint lines when breaking down the spectrum. These were just off the violet end of the spectrum. He named his discovery N-rays. People tried to repeat his work. Only a few labs in France were able to reproduce the work. It was suggested that only French eyes were sufficiently sensitive to detect these lines. Eventually N-rays were considered a mistake.

There are good reasons to use tools to measure energy. N-rays is a good example of how suggestion or desire can influence people's observations.

As far as crystals and energy goes, as I mentioned before I've gone around and collected lots of crystals. Most of them are things that are a bit uncommon such as catapleiite. I did get a few big plates of quartz. I had one next to me. It was a junker, which it why I had it in the office. Anyways, the boss brings in this guy to "dissipate the electromagnetic fog" that endangered us in this modern computer environment. So this guy goes around sticking these triangles of reflective plastic all over the offices using balls of silly putty to attach the reflectors to floorboards and walls. After he leaves I pull one off of the floorboards to read the disclaimer in microscopic print on the "device." It says something about being a tested and working EM fog dissipator and something about the importance of the location and orientation with respect to sources of the fog and other dissipators. So this guy catches me reading. I tell him I bumped the floorboard device and it needs to be reattached.

This time he runs his hands over the crystal plate with his eyes closed and tells me, "You are very lucky to have these crystals here. I can feel their awesome power shielding you from the fog." He points out the window to the place where the electrical power enters the building. "You have the most dangerous office in the building. If it weren't for your crystals I don't know what would happen."

I respond by pointing to the crystal plate. "I guess you felt that these crystals are all missing their tips. Must have happened when the dynamite blew the plate out of the mine."

He left my office and never entered again. Why? I don't know. I guess I had plenty of EM fog dissipators.