Why do people believe in homeopathy?!
Question: Why do people believe in homeopathy!?
Hypothetical scenario:
I had cancer!.
At some point during my disease, I drank diet coke!.
My cancer went into remission!.
Now, no rational person would immediately say, "Diet coke must have cured your cancer!" In order to make that claim, rational people would want a battery of controlled test to see if diet coke really does have an effect on cancer survival!.
However, plenty of people believe in homeopathy!. But the evidence for homeopathy is nothing more than people saying, "I had disease X!. I took this homeopathic remedy!. Now I don't have disease X!. The homeopathic remedy worked!." Also, every time homeopathic remedies are tested under controlled circumstances the evidence shows that they are at best ineffective and a waste of money and at worst dangerous!.
So why would an otherwise rational person believe in homeopathy and alternative modalities!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
I had cancer!.
At some point during my disease, I drank diet coke!.
My cancer went into remission!.
Now, no rational person would immediately say, "Diet coke must have cured your cancer!" In order to make that claim, rational people would want a battery of controlled test to see if diet coke really does have an effect on cancer survival!.
However, plenty of people believe in homeopathy!. But the evidence for homeopathy is nothing more than people saying, "I had disease X!. I took this homeopathic remedy!. Now I don't have disease X!. The homeopathic remedy worked!." Also, every time homeopathic remedies are tested under controlled circumstances the evidence shows that they are at best ineffective and a waste of money and at worst dangerous!.
So why would an otherwise rational person believe in homeopathy and alternative modalities!?Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
People love a good story, and talk to a believer in homeopathy and you'll certainly hear lots of stories about various mysterious diseases the doctors couldn't even diagnose were "cured" as soon as they started taking a homeopathic treatment!. Look at the answers you have already, none of them cite the literature, just various personal stories!.!.!.or more commonly, second hand ones!.
The vast majority of people are scientifically illiterate!.(spend a few days on this board if you don't believe me !!) Not their fault really, the school system, especially in the USA , does not teach science very well!. So, the scientific implausibility of homeopathy is not a problem for them!.!.!.they don't know about physics and chemistry and Avogadro's law!. They don't really understand the history of homeopathy either (basically invented by a mystic working in isolation from his peers) and usually don't even really know what it is (see Az R's answer)
Secondly, they don't read the scientific literature and don't know that it is now overwhelmingly against homeopathy!. This is not in question at all!. When subjected to large, randomized, placebo controlled double blind trials!.!.!.!.homeopathy works no better than placebo for any condition studied!. None of this matters to the believer!.!.they ignore it, brush it off and say "i know it works for me and that's all I care about"
Thirdly, people who are drawn to homeopathy, and other sCAM modalities have a bias against science and medicine!. They don't like doctors, they believe in conspiracy theories, and they focus on all the harm that has been caused by science and technology, and ignore the good!. For them, following homeopathy is more emotional than intellectual!. Like all the religious faithful!.!.!.they will believe it inspite of the evidence, and perversely, because of the evidence against it!.
They also tend to yearn for a simpler time, a less complicated world and have an idealized myth of some lost golden age, where everyone was healthy, disease didn't exist, and you could heal yourself with plants and herbs!. la de dah lah de dah
Lastly, the media does an AWFUL job of presenting science!. Every weekend my local paper has some fawning supplement over a detox, or healing crystals or some other nonsense!. They report as a headline some new study that seems to be positive for acupuncture, though when you read the actual study it does nothing of the sort!. The Discovery channel has specials on psychics, the Bermuda Triangle and Atlantis, with only token skeptic (typically portrayed as grumpy cynics) commentary!.
There are many sources of error, and false attribution!. The confirmation bias, the hindsight bias, regression to the mean!.!.!.!.these are things that are common to most "cures" alleged by Alty's!. They rely on most illnesses being self limited or psychosomatic in nature!. They get into a lot of trouble when they treat real illnesses on their own, which is why most of them advocate using AltMed as a "complement" to scientific medicine!. That way, their patients will actually get proper treatment, but Alty's can claim a co-credit!.!.!.or more commonly!.!.!.all the credit!.
The best we can do as "atheists" in this weird world of believers, is calmly point out the errors in their arguments, refer them to other sources of information, and hope that they will educate themselves!. That is the main reason I hang out here, and put up with all the abuse I get!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
The vast majority of people are scientifically illiterate!.(spend a few days on this board if you don't believe me !!) Not their fault really, the school system, especially in the USA , does not teach science very well!. So, the scientific implausibility of homeopathy is not a problem for them!.!.!.they don't know about physics and chemistry and Avogadro's law!. They don't really understand the history of homeopathy either (basically invented by a mystic working in isolation from his peers) and usually don't even really know what it is (see Az R's answer)
Secondly, they don't read the scientific literature and don't know that it is now overwhelmingly against homeopathy!. This is not in question at all!. When subjected to large, randomized, placebo controlled double blind trials!.!.!.!.homeopathy works no better than placebo for any condition studied!. None of this matters to the believer!.!.they ignore it, brush it off and say "i know it works for me and that's all I care about"
Thirdly, people who are drawn to homeopathy, and other sCAM modalities have a bias against science and medicine!. They don't like doctors, they believe in conspiracy theories, and they focus on all the harm that has been caused by science and technology, and ignore the good!. For them, following homeopathy is more emotional than intellectual!. Like all the religious faithful!.!.!.they will believe it inspite of the evidence, and perversely, because of the evidence against it!.
They also tend to yearn for a simpler time, a less complicated world and have an idealized myth of some lost golden age, where everyone was healthy, disease didn't exist, and you could heal yourself with plants and herbs!. la de dah lah de dah
Lastly, the media does an AWFUL job of presenting science!. Every weekend my local paper has some fawning supplement over a detox, or healing crystals or some other nonsense!. They report as a headline some new study that seems to be positive for acupuncture, though when you read the actual study it does nothing of the sort!. The Discovery channel has specials on psychics, the Bermuda Triangle and Atlantis, with only token skeptic (typically portrayed as grumpy cynics) commentary!.
There are many sources of error, and false attribution!. The confirmation bias, the hindsight bias, regression to the mean!.!.!.!.these are things that are common to most "cures" alleged by Alty's!. They rely on most illnesses being self limited or psychosomatic in nature!. They get into a lot of trouble when they treat real illnesses on their own, which is why most of them advocate using AltMed as a "complement" to scientific medicine!. That way, their patients will actually get proper treatment, but Alty's can claim a co-credit!.!.!.or more commonly!.!.!.all the credit!.
The best we can do as "atheists" in this weird world of believers, is calmly point out the errors in their arguments, refer them to other sources of information, and hope that they will educate themselves!. That is the main reason I hang out here, and put up with all the abuse I get!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Some homeopathic remedies have been shown to have some beneficial effect!. For example, the ancient Egyptians used to spread honey over a wound!. As it turns out, honey does have some antiseptic qualities, so there was something to it!. Indians used birch bark as a remedy, which is what aspirin is made of!. Unfortunately, people with life-threatening diseases can become desperate and try anything that could possibly help, leaving them open to unscrupulous people!. Also, there will often be some psychosomatic help, and sometimes that can be enough to help fight the disease!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I agree with you that homeopathy can't cure cancer!. However, there are many homeopathic remedies that do work!. I just used one today, I have carpal tunnel and my wrists were killing me because I decorated the tree, I take vitamins B6 and B12 and they really help!. I also take zinc & echinacia when I feel a cold coming on, they seem to help alsoWww@Answer-Health@Com
There are plenty of conditions that are remedied by natural means!. Cancer is a whole other animal!.
You sound like you work for a pharmaceutical company!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
You sound like you work for a pharmaceutical company!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I think that the mind, sometimes, is a better healer than medicine!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Because most people who endorse homeopathy don't know what it actually is, they confuse it with other treatments like the person who claimed that honey on a wound is homeopathic!. Both of the central premises of homeopathy are so ridiculous that people seem to assume they're made up when they're explained!. To quote Wikipedia (which I hate):
"A central thesis of homeopathy is that an ill person can be treated using a substance that can produce, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the illness!. "
Beyond that, such symptom producing agents are diluted to the point where there is no longer ANY of them in the actual container!. That's right people, your average homeopathic remedy contains nothing but water or ethyl alcohol!. I can take it down the hall to our lovely mass-spectrometer and shoot it inside, and there is nothing but water in those bottles!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
"A central thesis of homeopathy is that an ill person can be treated using a substance that can produce, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the illness!. "
Beyond that, such symptom producing agents are diluted to the point where there is no longer ANY of them in the actual container!. That's right people, your average homeopathic remedy contains nothing but water or ethyl alcohol!. I can take it down the hall to our lovely mass-spectrometer and shoot it inside, and there is nothing but water in those bottles!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Controlled testing often has certain agendas!. Ask yourself what results a drug company testing out a homeopathic product might wish to see!.
"Alternative modalities," as you put it, are the reason I am able to function on a daily basis and walk without a cane today when mainstream doctor after doctor couldn't help me (it's not MS but something else)!. I believe in whatever works for me, and modern medicine is not God although it does think it knows everything!. (My apologies for talking about modern medicine as though it were a person!.) I guess some things people just have to go through in order to understand, although I wouldn't wish anything bad on you!. But you should be more openminded about what you don't really understand!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
"Alternative modalities," as you put it, are the reason I am able to function on a daily basis and walk without a cane today when mainstream doctor after doctor couldn't help me (it's not MS but something else)!. I believe in whatever works for me, and modern medicine is not God although it does think it knows everything!. (My apologies for talking about modern medicine as though it were a person!.) I guess some things people just have to go through in order to understand, although I wouldn't wish anything bad on you!. But you should be more openminded about what you don't really understand!.Www@Answer-Health@Com