Wow. I neve thought one of my replies would strike so deep a nerve (ok, that's not true, when I'm replying to YouKnow I am aiming for nerves.)
Dearest Mulan, I am happy that you are happy. Really I am. (Note: that is the same thing I say to people that try to sell me on their religion. It is a sincere response, but it does not go to the question of agreeing with their point of view.)
I know I will regret doing this, since your arguement is IMO very comparable to a good JW defending the Society, but since you asked some reasonable questions, let me answer them. (But for the record, I am not and do not pretend to be an expert on this subject).
Gee........there's a web site about this scam.........it must be true.Point well taken. Just because it is posted on the web doesn't make it false... or true. If you think that the only thing standing against "CAM" (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) is a website or two, you are incorrect. However please realize that the reverse is also true: just because it is posted on the web doesn't make it true (and that is how this thread got started).
I have lived my entire life, with alternative medicine. It works.I am happy it (seems to be?) working for you. Your evidence is what is called "anecdotal" and "testimonial." It is, from a methodical scientific standpoint, incorrect and presumptuous to draw conclusions as to the efficacy of a mode of treatment based on anecdotal evidence.
Traditional doctors are getting more and more into it too.Thank you, you have just made my point. After (not before!) a treatment has been scientifically proven to be effective, it can and does become part of clinical medical treatment. At that point, by definition, the treatment is no longer "Complementary or Alternative." Rather, it is simply a treatment, like any other. For example: studies indicate that Ginkgo Biloba has a slight CNS stimulating effect which may be responsible for its reputed ability to aid memory. Similarly, St. Johns Wort has been shown, after careful clinical trials, to be a mild anti-depressant. Once it has been proven, it is part of the medical arsenal. OTOH "shark cartilage" has never been shown to reduce/stop cancer, at least not in any studies that were reproduced by clinics other than the shark cartilage manufacturers (science has to be objective and independently reproducible). So if you are saying that there are some herbs that have been scientifically verified for potency, we are in agreement... and again, such items are no longer considered "CAM", they are simply "M"
I am an herbalist, and believe in them completely!Well, again I am happy for you. Consider if someone posted "I am a JW, and I beleive in them completely!" As I mentioned before, we can agree on the efficacy of some herbals, however a statement like this isn't even anecdotal, it is by definition a statement of belief or faith; if given the choice between a faith healer and a real healer, I'll take the real one.
Where do you think drugs come from?Well, most drugs are produced in laboratories using chemical processes. However, as I mentioned earlier, some herbals have been proven to be effective. The difficulty for those precious few then becomes one of consistency of potency (it is easier to control active ingredient content in a precisely prepared chemical batch than it is to control active ingredient in a dried plant).
And then there are magnets? Your entire body is magnetic. Why would you think magnets wouldn't work? They do........and fast too.Wow, this is wrong at so many levels, I'm not sure where to begin. First of all, your body isn't magnetic. If it was, you would have trouble using a compass. I would love to think that magnets work. The reason I don't is because they have been tested to have no effect.
I read some time ago about an experiment so simple you could probably do it yourself, if you are sufficiently motivated Mulan. In fact, I encourage you to make this test. Take two identical looking shoe insoles (ok, one left, one right, but otherwise identical). Actually, to do the test properly, you should have several pairs. One is a "magnetic" shoe insole, and one is not. The hard, but vitally important part in order to make this a blind study, is to make them appear identical. You may have to put a piece of metal or other material in the non-magnetic one, so that in look, smell, texture, etc. they are identical. The only way to tell them apart is to hold up a magnet; only the magnetic one will react; there must be not markings, writing etc to indicate on the insole itself which is magnetic.
OK, now all you have to do is put them into the shoes of people and ask them to walk around for a couple of hours. If the magnetic therapy works as good as believers claim, they should be able to tell you which foot had the magnetic insole.
When this test was performed, in double-blind fashion (which mean that the person handing out the insoles and recording the results did not themselves know which was the magnetic insole) using dozens of test subjects, the results were approximately 50% correctly guessed which foot had the magnetic insole. In other words, no better than random chance, like flipping a coin!
Let me put it to you another way. If you can prove that magnetic therapy works, (or for that matter, any other Alternative treatment that traditional medicine calls "quack") using this or any other scientifically reasonable test, and the results are verifiable and reproducible, then you are eligible for a $1,000,000 prize. No, I'm not making this up. Think about it Mulan, $1,000,000 just for doing a bit of easy research. Check out http://www.randi.org/research/index.html
If you win, I'll even take you out to dinner, and will order crow for myself. I'll even pay the bill, even though you'd be the new millionaire! What do you say, do you want to verify and prove your beliefs? Or do you consider me a "CAM Apostate?" and refuse to investigate?
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For interesting Watchtower Society literature quotes, complete with references but without any editorial, check out:
http://Quotes.JehovahsWitnesses.com
