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Comment by philwelch | Hacker News Reader

"Why would anyone choose to ingest powerful pharmaceuticals if they could experience significant improvements simply by believing that homeopathy works?"

Because if you want to perpetuate a widespread belief that homeopathy works, you have to require an equally widespead ignorance of how real chemistry works. Then, to have a modern civilization at all, you have to also have an elite that does understand how real chemistry works.

I'm sure you can understand how much of a problem this is going to become.

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Well, the placebo effect is also due to real chemistry ... just not chemistry that anyone understands enough to start designing actual patentable pharmaceuticals to harness it (yet).

I would counter that just as many people naively take advil when they get a headache. I think many doctors would say that OTC NSAID abuse is probably at least as big a problem as people not getting rid of their ailments b/c they took homeopathic remedies.

Most people don't have a clue what is really happening when they flip on a light switch in their home ... so by your argument they should avoid electricity, appliances, etc.

The difference is, the light switch switches on the light regardless if I believe in light switches. Thus it is comparable with conventional medicine rather than homeopathy.

And even though - just like with regular medicine - I don't have to know exactly how it works for it to function, I also don't have to have false beliefs how it works.

Do you think mainstream pharmaceuticals are 100% effective? They are analogous to a light switch that switches the light on/off about 60% of the time at best.

The placebo effect works 10-20% of the time. So we're talking about something that is almost as effective.

Most people taking advil OR those little homeopathic tablets know/understand nothing about how they work.

In the case of homeopathy, you don't need to know why it works -- in fact, knowing that it works via the placebo effect might undermine its effectiveness :)

Just to back you up, naloxone blocks placebo morphine.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=567913

The placebo effect only works if you have a false belief, though, and spreading false beliefs is generally something to be avoided.

Ask someone on the street how Advil works. Just because a placebo works only because of a false belief and not just in spite of a false belief does not make those who take it any dumber. :)

Going to become?

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