Sorry for the off-topic [LWN.net]

Sorry for the off-topic

Posted Aug 19, 2012 23:10 UTC (Sun) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091)
In reply to: Diluted sugar by giraffedata
Parent article: Garzik: An Andre To Remember

In fact, you could argue it's unethical to withhold a placebo.

That argument could even be a suitable justification for homeopathic medicine. I am not sure if you want to go there. The thing is that the Hippocratic Oath specifically says "never do harm", but not "avoid useless treatments". It could be argued that using the placebo effect can sooth both patients and their families, in cases where there is no known cure. Sugar pills cannot do any harm...

On the other hand, spreading unscientific theories is a much worse sin in my opinion.

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Sorry for the even-more off-topic

Posted Aug 19, 2012 23:28 UTC (Sun) by neilbrown (subscriber, #359) [Link]

> On the other hand, spreading unscientific theories is a much worse sin in my opinion.

You seem to be spreading the theory that "spreading unscientific theories is harmful".
Do you have scientific evidence for this theory (is so, please provide references), or is it just anecdotal/personal belief evidence?

Just curious...

Sorry for the even-more off-topic

Posted Aug 20, 2012 0:04 UTC (Mon) by man_ls (subscriber, #15091) [Link]

Thanks for the recursive laugh, I always appreciate those :)

Anyway, I don't have any scientific basis to dislike unscientific theories, but I am not right now speaking from an office which is (or should be) based on science. If a professor of Astronomy spoke about the horoscope I would start to worry... And I am not a medical practitioner, thank god, since I think it is one of the hardest professions.

From medical practitioners I expect to get at least a plausible explanation of the causes, or (as in the case of Minoxidil above) an experimental confirmation. We should require both, but life is tough. With homeopathy there are neither, and therefore the iniquity.

To bring this long thread at least a bit back into topic, the psychiatric profession has made wonderful advances both in the determination of the root causes of mental illnesses, and in the experimental treatment of those. If you don't feel well, please go to a doctor (a psychiatrist) in addition to a psychologist.