By way of deception, thou shalt wage war...

With the plethora of news sources available today, you'd think that there would be a bit more critical thinking taking place.
Interesting, yet sad zeitgeist.

Source: Economist

Voo Doo Medicine - Degeneration of a Nation?

"Australians are turning in droves to alternative therapies - there has been a 51 per cent increase in the number of people visiting complementary health professionals in the 10 years to 2005." (Sydney Morning Herald)

You would think that our rising education (coupled with unbelievable advertainment) would be creating a nation of skeptics.

Evidently not.

But what about the placebo effect? Surely it's better to take a drop of salt water (homeopathic remedy) that can do NO harm, as opposed to a drug that COULD harm?

Firstly, we are not just taking a substance willy nilly. We are trying to correct a problem or improve a state. (and research has show the inconsistencies between gain vs loss decision making)

Secondly, placebo effects are not confined to alternative medicine alone. They're everywhere.

Finally, surely it's better to keep our cash, (optional: do a free voo doo dance to activate the placebo effect if we must...) and only consider scientifically proven prescription drugs if we really really think the placebo is not delivering the results?

But, I hear you say, implicit in the definition of "placebo" is the BELIEF that it will work. So we would somehow need to fool ourselves that our voo doo dance will work.

Yes. I see your point.
And somehow, paying to fool ourselves makes it easier?

The Wealth of Knowledge

I just came across a video overview/pitch on Sway - a book on irrational behaviour. (watch it here)

My favourite book of all time on the topic, remains Scott Plous's book: The psychology of judgement and decision making.

Happy reading.

If the professionals couldn't see it...

In 1898, delegates from across the globe gathered in New York City for the world’s first international urban planning conference. One topic dominated the discussion. It was not housing, land use, economic development, or infrastructure. The delegates were driven to desperation by horse manure.
[...]
The situation seemed dire. In 1894, the Times of London estimated that by 1950 every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in horse manure. One New York prognosticator of the 1890s concluded that by 1930 the horse droppings would rise to Manhattan’s third-story windows. A public health and sanitation crisis of almost unimaginable dimensions loomed.

And no possible solution could be devised. After all, the horse had been the dominant mode of transportation for thousands of years. Horses were absolutely essential for the functioning of the nineteenth-century city -- for personal transportation, freight haulage, and even mechanical power. Without horses, cities would quite literally starve.

All efforts to mitigate the problem were proving woefully inadequate. Stumped by the crisis, the urban planning conference declared its work fruitless and broke up in three days instead of the scheduled ten.
Source: Eric Morris: “From horse power to horsepower”

Hmmm.... sounds similar to the current climate change prognostications. (we should be so lucky that some wonder-technology swoops in to save the planet)

Yet I found the urban planning conference date interesting, so I looked it up.

Karl Benz built and tested the world's first car in 1886 (powered by an internal combustion engine)

That's a full decade before our experts gave up on the problem!

How many other "solutions" (and yes, note the irony with climate change) are sitting in front of our noses?