Illustration by Sally Culp, Michigan, for my book: "Healing: The Emerging Holistic Paradigm
The name “Oura” caught my attention. Doesn’t it sound like and remind of quite another term, i.e., “Aura”? As such, it raises the expectation that it has something to do with the human energy bodies/fields, and that it works in holistic ways to improve wellness, right? Well, it does NOT.
Instead, it is a piece of BIOHACK technology, “smart” technology, mining data about our bodies and more, pretending it is intended to improve our sleep. However, it measures our heart rate, blood oxygen levels, breathing rate, brain wave activity, body temperature, whether you drank too much, and even certain hormone levels! From it, one may (or may not, because the error rate is also great) deduce your menstrual cycle and REM dream phases and hence quality of your sleep. I have been reading through many customer reviews and learned that the evaluation of one’s sleep “quality” differs widely from subjective assessments of having a good night’s sleep. One also has the impression that the “locator function” can be turned on/off—but can it? AND IS THE INFO FLOW, INDEED, ONLY ONLY IN ONE DIRECTION, or could, perhaps, information be “smartly” ADDED to the body and thus stimulate certain brain activity, for example? Even if that’s not happening now, it certainly sounds as if this is a potential use of such technology.
As can be expected from all smart technology, some EMF (blue tooth) radiation does take place, especially with gadgets worn so closely to the body. Although with this ring, such radiation appears low, and they say you can shut off blue tooth energy pulsing from your ring, sensitive people report side effects like “confusion,” “brain fog” and ill effects on cognitive functioning. The internet calls this, “NOCEBO” effect, as there allegedly is no basis for such happenings in the materials or radiation levels, at the time those were measured. “Nocebo” refers to negative effects a person might be expecting and, therefore, has an increased likelihood to actually experience from an “intervention.” It works in the same way as the “placebo” effect which tends to produce positive effects, even in the absence of an intervention. What caught my attention was the frequent reference to NOCEBO under product information side effects! If some degree of “placebo” and “nocebo” ALWAYS happens, with ALL interventions, then why would it warrant special mention here?! Does the incident of confusion and poor cognitive function actually exceed average occurrence of such effects?
Another reported side effect is that there are people who start obsessing over the data reported by their ring and become depressed about their “poor performance” while asleep, even when they felt they had actually been sleeping well. Can this lead to OCD and depression, poor self-image, etc.? Or is there actually something else going on which is not a NOCEBO at all? Without a doubt, such a ring can be or already is linked to the smart 5G grid in our cities and in the country, it can locate us and provide information about what we are doing, any minute of the day or night. Surveillance is an evil thing, under any circumstances. Yet if the name is borrowed from the spiritual arena, this would make it twice as demonic, don’t you think?
Instead, it is a piece of BIOHACK technology, “smart” technology, mining data about our bodies and more, pretending it is intended to improve our sleep. However, it measures our heart rate, blood oxygen levels, breathing rate, brain wave activity, body temperature, whether you drank too much, and even certain hormone levels! From it, one may (or may not, because the error rate is also great) deduce your menstrual cycle and REM dream phases and hence quality of your sleep. I have been reading through many customer reviews and learned that the evaluation of one’s sleep “quality” differs widely from subjective assessments of having a good night’s sleep. One also has the impression that the “locator function” can be turned on/off—but can it? AND IS THE INFO FLOW, INDEED, ONLY ONLY IN ONE DIRECTION, or could, perhaps, information be “smartly” ADDED to the body and thus stimulate certain brain activity, for example? Even if that’s not happening now, it certainly sounds as if this is a potential use of such technology.
As can be expected from all smart technology, some EMF (blue tooth) radiation does take place, especially with gadgets worn so closely to the body. Although with this ring, such radiation appears low, and they say you can shut off blue tooth energy pulsing from your ring, sensitive people report side effects like “confusion,” “brain fog” and ill effects on cognitive functioning. The internet calls this, “NOCEBO” effect, as there allegedly is no basis for such happenings in the materials or radiation levels, at the time those were measured. “Nocebo” refers to negative effects a person might be expecting and, therefore, has an increased likelihood to actually experience from an “intervention.” It works in the same way as the “placebo” effect which tends to produce positive effects, even in the absence of an intervention. What caught my attention was the frequent reference to NOCEBO under product information side effects! If some degree of “placebo” and “nocebo” ALWAYS happens, with ALL interventions, then why would it warrant special mention here?! Does the incident of confusion and poor cognitive function actually exceed average occurrence of such effects?
Another reported side effect is that there are people who start obsessing over the data reported by their ring and become depressed about their “poor performance” while asleep, even when they felt they had actually been sleeping well. Can this lead to OCD and depression, poor self-image, etc.? Or is there actually something else going on which is not a NOCEBO at all? Without a doubt, such a ring can be or already is linked to the smart 5G grid in our cities and in the country, it can locate us and provide information about what we are doing, any minute of the day or night. Surveillance is an evil thing, under any circumstances. Yet if the name is borrowed from the spiritual arena, this would make it twice as demonic, don’t you think?
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