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Basic rhythms follow certain facets of physiological cycles, though they may include others, and the details may vary depending on the source. The three classical cycles of biorhythms are endogenous infradian rhythms. The theory's basis lies in physiological and emotional cycles. They are often represented graphically as either symmetric or asymmetric waveforms, though most theories rely on symmetric forms. The most commonly used form is the sinusoidal waveform, which is thought to be a plausible representation of a bioelectric activity cycle. Due to this sinusoidal nature, the cyclical flow of bioelectric activity undergoes periodic reverses in direction. Each cycle oscillates between a positive phase [0%..100%] and a negative phase [-100%..0%], during which bioelectric activity strengthens and weakens. The waveforms start, in most theories, at the neutral baseline (0%) at the time of birth of each individual. Each day that the waveform again crosses this baseline is dubbed a critical day, which means that tasks in the domain of the cycle are supposed to be far more difficult to carry out successfully than on other non-critical days. The purpose of mapping the biorhythmic cycles is to enable the calculation of critical days for performing or avoiding various activities.
The classical definition (derivatives of the original theory exist) states that one's birth is an unfavorable circumstantial event, as is the day about 58 years later when the three cycles are again synchronised at their minimum values. According to the classical definition, the theory is assumed to apply only to humans. In the classical theory, the value of each cycle can be calculated at any given time in the life of an individual, and there are web sites that do exactly that
SKEPTICAL OUTLOOK
The theory of biorhythms is a pseudoscientific theory that claims our daily lives are significantly affected by rhythmic cycles overlooked by scientists who study biological rhythms. Biochronometry is the scientific study of rhythmicity and biological cycles or "clocks," such as the circadian (from the Latin circa and dia; literally, "about a day"). Circadian rhythms are based upon such things as our sensitivity to light and darkness, which is related to our sleep/wakefulness patterns. Biorhythms is not based upon the scientific study of biological organisms. The cycles of biorhythm theory did not originate in scientific study, nor have they been supported by anything resembling a scientific study. The theory has been around for over one hundred years and there has yet to be a scientific journal that has published a single article supporting the theory. There have been some three dozen studies supporting biorhythm theory but all of them have suffered from methodological and statistical errors (Hines, 1998). An examination of some 134 biorhythm studies found that the theory is not valid (Hines, 1998). It is empirically testable and has been shown to be false. Terence Hines believes that this fact implies that biorhythm theory "can not properly be termed a pseudoscientific theory." However, when the advocates of an empirically testable theory refuse to give up the theory in the face of overwhelming evidence against it, it seems reasonable to call the theory pseudoscientific. For, in fact, the adherents to such a theory have declared by their behavior that there is nothing that could falsify it, yet they continue to claim the theory is scientific.
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To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking
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