Introduction Originally the title of this book was ?Nosy Be provings?, like ?Lamu Provings? and ?Kenton provings?. But during and after the seminar the theme of outside influences became stronger and clearer. The outside influences of the the regi- on and atmosphere, the background. Added to that are the influences of the provers themselves. Proving reliability Provings have long been considered as being reliable, giving reliable pictures. And many symptoms have been shown to be reliable, sometimes even keynotes. But many proving symptoms are not confirmed in cases, but still retained in the Materia medica. Often this is done out of fear that one might miss some case that, might have that symptom in the proving. In considering remedy pictures it becomes clear that they are not really a picture. I mean they don?t give a real picture, they only give a collection of symptoms that do not make sense as a whole. It looks a bit like pointillism in art, but then without having a real picture. It can look like abstract art, where there is no idea left. One reason is of course that disease is not fully understood at the momentary level of science. But a major reason is that many symptoms are missing and many symptoms are incorrect. The idea that symptoms in proving can be incorrect is denied by Hahnemann in the Organon. My experience is that many symptoms are coming from the provers and from the situation and background where the proving is done. I had this impression already a long time and have expressed it many times. But I also have the impression that many homeopaths have not incorporated this idea in their practical work. Many provers do not see clearly what is going on during a proving and this was the case also in the Madagscar provings.