The only relevant factor in the dowser's success is on the long term for every $100 you give the experienced old dowser he will save you $1000 of expensive dies

The only relevant factor in the dowser's success is on the long term for every $100 you give the experienced old dowser he will save you $1000 of expensive diesel excavator time. Technically he can probably stay in business providing as little as $103 of value, but it's probably a lot more. The sophistry is the continuous goalpost changing; the dowser can be proven to not have x-ray vision. So? The dowser can be proven to not "sniff" buried water bottles. So? People who have a proven ability to not make money in the field as a dowser, when tested for dowsing abilities, results show they are very bad at it (LOL, this is the funniest). Or in this example, well we've proven rods don't do anything, so ... so what? No one can prove that giving the experienced old guy $100 does not result, in the long run, on saving $1000 of excavator time. I'd keep giving the old guy $100 LOL as I'm not running a charity. Just because you can't replace or even usefully study management skill or artistic ability or technical "hunches" doesn't mean they don't exist, as clearly they're economically viable.