Angus McPresley
17th March 2007, 07:37 PM
I also wanted to tell you something about homeopathy. My son had an eye infection (probably more an irritation) recently and because it was on a weekend the only "medicine" I could get was some homeopathic cream. I told the person on the shop that I would not bother and left. My son's eye looked quite badly but within hours it had cleared up, I can just imagine what would happen to someone that did buy the cream – they would have been hooked for life.
That is so spot-on.
Last year I had surgery on my hip, missing the first half of my soccer season. I was having a difficult time with recovery, and a teammate suggested to me some herb or other. I was like, "Yeah, okay, right" then just proceeded with physio. Of course, soon after my hip radically improved, without any help of questionable substances. What if I had taken what he suggested then? I know I'm a skeptic, but the will to believe would have been strong, and I probably would've wondered if there was something to it.
And earlier, back in my mid-30s I started losing my hair. A hairdresser recommended some kooky stuff to me to prevent it, which I looked up and could find no evidence to support, so I didn't take it. My hair loss pretty much stopped after six months, and has gotten no worse in the five years since. But if I had applied something right before it stopped happening, who knows? I'd probably still be using the stuff today.
It's so hard not to believe the results of self-tests. But one has to remember that such tests a) are not even single-blind, and b) have a sample size of one, and no control group.
That is so spot-on.
Last year I had surgery on my hip, missing the first half of my soccer season. I was having a difficult time with recovery, and a teammate suggested to me some herb or other. I was like, "Yeah, okay, right" then just proceeded with physio. Of course, soon after my hip radically improved, without any help of questionable substances. What if I had taken what he suggested then? I know I'm a skeptic, but the will to believe would have been strong, and I probably would've wondered if there was something to it.
And earlier, back in my mid-30s I started losing my hair. A hairdresser recommended some kooky stuff to me to prevent it, which I looked up and could find no evidence to support, so I didn't take it. My hair loss pretty much stopped after six months, and has gotten no worse in the five years since. But if I had applied something right before it stopped happening, who knows? I'd probably still be using the stuff today.
It's so hard not to believe the results of self-tests. But one has to remember that such tests a) are not even single-blind, and b) have a sample size of one, and no control group.