Hacker News Reader

Comment by rafski | Hacker News Reader

You're saying "placebo effect" like it's a bad thing. Many doctors agree placebo is a powerful drug, and a component of every type of pill administered to a conscious person. Even a consultation with a doctor can have a positive, even if unmeasurable placebo effect on a patient's health. If this method is about effective application of placebo and it works, at least for some people, what harm can be in it?

View on HN

The negativity that you are sensing is not against the placebo effect, but against treatments that claim legitimacy and use anecdotes that are easily explained by the placebo effect as evidence of their effectiveness.

A placebo is by definition something that has no effect at all. Any improvement in the state of someone taking a placebo must be attributed instead to something other than the placebo. However, patients will attribute their improvement to the placebo. This is the placebo effect.

No doctor would literally say that a placebo is a "powerful drug", since it is by definition completely inert. However, they may say so in a figurative manner to mean that patients will claim effectiveness of ineffective treatments due to the placebo effect.

Treatments that rely on the placebo effect have two major negative aspects. First they may prevent people from seeking a truly effective means of treatment. Second, they take money for providing a treatment that has no actual value.

What is "actual value" and how does it relate to subjective use-value? If people value the placebo effect, why is that bad? And if they value the effect, what is wrong with valuing the source of it? (The distinction between placebo and placebo effect stinks of Cartesian duality). Do you see meditation or talk therapy as placebos? Are we obligated to deny people self improvement that isn't a result of ingesting a chemical?

Alcoholics Anonymous has the same effectiveness as cold turkey and a few other sobriety methods (about 10% success). Are you suggesting that alcoholics should never attempt the AA program? Some solutions work for individual cases and are worth being explored on a personal basis.

Placebos are great for things you can do nothing about. If you caught the common cold and a placebo makes you feel better then great. But if you have Repetitive Strain Injury (emphasis on repetitive and injury) and your cure is placebo then you're setting yourself up for something nasty.

I'll quote the article:

> I can type as much as I want, in whatever unergonomic position I want, on any keyboard, without any pain. The amazing thing about this recovery is that the changes I implemented were entirely psychological.

Sounds great, but I'd rather recommend to not buy the book and invest in a good chair with a comfortable desk instead. Also, breaks, stretching and yadda yadda.

So the guy who wrote the article took an open minded approach tried numerous methods until he found something that worked (including all the things you seem to suggest).

Your recommendation not to buy the book is based on what evidence exactly?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com