›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

Homeopathy: How Bad Is It?

GregGreg
edited December 2009 in Everything Else
No, Homeopathy is not a viable substitution for medicine from a real pharmaceutical firm. And yes, Homeopathy kills people. However, I think that it can be helpful. My grandmother drinks a homeopathic beverage everyday. Her eastern doctor recommended that she drink this drink, because she had not had a cold in 15 months, and thought that this could be used as a precautionary drug. I do not think that this drink actually makes antibodies for the cold. However, I do think that this precautionary drink helps my Grandmother's mind to think that it is helping her, and it is metaphorically raising the metaphorical moral of the white blood cells. Now, please assault my statement, and completely destroy all my beliefs in this, as I cannot find anyone who will argue with me at my high school.

Comments

  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    edited December 2009
    And yes, Homeopathy kills people. However, I think that it can be helpful.
    However, I do think that this precautionary drink helps my Grandmother's mind to think that it is helping her, and it is metaphorically raising the metaphorical moral of the white blood cells.
    Err, what the hell do you mean by metaphorically raising the metaphorical morale of the white blood cells?
    Sure, the placebo effect is pervasive and well-demonstrated, but we do not need homeopathy to achieve that effect when desired.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • RymRym
    Her eastern doctor recommended that she drink this drink
    He's clearly a fraud.
    I do think that this precautionary drink helps my Grandmother's mind to think that it is helping her
    Is it OK to lie to people if you think you're helping them? You have to maintain the lie for the rest of their lives, and make sure that they're not smart enough to realize that it's fake medicine.
    metaphorically raising the metaphorical moral of the white blood cells.
    If there were efficacy to that, it would come out in studies.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Is it OK to lie in cases of compassion? Such as telling a dieing person that help is on the way and that they will live? What about giving a child a piece of candy instead of medicine when they clearly do not need medicine?

    What about when dealing with a hypochondriac?
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    Homeopathic medicine has no effect, takes money out of he wallets of people who could spend it more wisely and makes people neglect treatment or medicine they could in fact need and would have an actual effect. If you want a placebo effect you can create it one hell of a lot cheaper and without spreading the fake-medicine-meme.
  • VhdbloodVhdblood
    This is all you need.

  • AprecheApreche
    Is it OK to lie in cases of compassion? Such as telling a dieing person that help is on the way and that they will live? What about giving a child a piece of candy instead of medicine when they clearly do not need medicine?

    What about when dealing with a hypochondriac?
    Whether lying is ok or not, it us clearly not ok to sell lies for money.
  • SailSail
    What you're talking about is the placedo effect. Look it up and read about it, I'm sure you can find far cheaper ways of tricking your grandma into taking something she thinks is medicine.

    Also, good for you for coming in here expecting your argument to be torn apart. Definitely a healthy trait to have, especially on this forum.
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited December 2009
    It's quite a coincidence. Two separate people started fake-medicine threads in two different forums I regularly visit. Usually I never encounter these people, which is a good thing. The other guy is going the whole nine yards though. "All natural", homeopathy, anti-vaccer, chiropractic, detoxing, anti-tooth-fillings, "medicine doesn't really work because if it doesn't work they make more money". Of course his mom sells all this kind of Randi-bullshit and he has tried to use thorough medical studies which have uncovered side effects as a basis to try and launch an attack because of course the crap his mom sells doesn't have side effects...
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    edited December 2009
    Such as telling a dying person that help is on the way and that they will live?
    Why does anyone think that is okay. If I was about to die, their would be some things I would want to set straight, tell whoever was with me to pass out relevant information to my friends and family. Heck, I would need to tell them the password to my Laptop/Gmail/whatever so they could retrieve my will, last wished, bank account details. What about plating that tree, I am never going to do that unless I am about to die *sigh*.
    Post edited by ElJoe0 on
  • fooflyfoofly
    I wouldn't mind some Homoeopathic remedy if I was feeling parched.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited December 2009
    However, I do think that this precautionary drink helps my Grandmother's mind to think that it is helping her
    Certainly a possibility, as part of the immune system's ability to combat sickness is rooted in the conscious belief that sickness can be overcome, just as many other bodily functions are tied to commands from the brain. Certainly, the immune system is almost entirely involuntary in its basic function, but placebo effect and the mindset of the individual play at least some role in immune response effectiveness. It might be due to hormonal shifts brought on by mood, but that's conjecture.
    it is metaphorically raising the metaphorical morale of the white blood cells.
    This is where I'm going to call bullshit. Your grandmother, as the sum of her trillions of cellular parts, is a sentient being who can perceive and act according to concepts such as morale. However, her cells, being conglomerates of cytoplasm and proteins with nothing more than a particularly long, double helical molecule to tell these bits what to do and when to do it. The cells have no faculty of perception, which is why any claim to the contrary should be immediately rejected.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • Gabrial FoxGabrial Fox
    I dig a podcast called Skeptoid, by a guy named Brian Dunning. He has spoken better than I could on the subject of Homeopathy, so instead of trying to paraphrase, I'll simply link.

    http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4034

    Enjoy!
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    Because he used "metaphorical", and twice, no less, I really don't understand what he meant with that statement.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    Because he used "metaphorical", and twice, no less, I really don't understand what he meant with that statement.
    Me neither, but my best guess was that it was something like "It metaphorically raises the morale of the white blood cells," or, "it raises the morale of the white blood cells, if you will." Both are, however, patently ridiculous.
  • Dr. TimoDr. Timo
    Whether lying is ok or not, it us clearly not ok to sell lies for money.
    Tell that to the Scientologists, oh wait, over here in Europe we do just that ;-).
  • ElJoe0ElJoe0
    Yay free medicine!
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    The danger with homeopathy is not only that people might be fooled into taking it rather than medicine that is proven effective beyond the placebo effect, but also that people are being bilked for additional money for something akin to a sugar pill. Also, the more people that use it/are duped by it, the more it will be perceived as legitimate and move ever more into the mainstream.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    The danger with homeopathy is not only that people might be fooled into taking it rather than medicine that is proven effective beyond the placebo effect, but also that people are being bilked for additional money for something akin to a sugar pill. Also, the more people that use it/are duped by it, the more it will be perceived as legitimate and move ever more into the mainstream.
    That's the long and short of it.
Sign In or Register to comment.