Re: snake oil

[John Mallinckrodt <ajmallinckro@CSUPOMONA.EDU>]

On Tue, 11 Jan 2000, Barlow Newbolt wrote:

> I don't in the slightest doubt that the placebo effect
> works for certain folks.  Several treatments have
> demonstrated this:  accupuncture, sugar pills, and
> massage.

Are you claiming that there is evidence that accupuncture and massage 1)
have benefits and 2) achieve those benefits without any direct physical
cause?  If so, allow me to say that I am more than a little skeptical and
would need to see some citations.  Indeed, I am a firm believer in the
important role that skepticism plays in keeping our scientific noses
clean, but I think we violate our own principles and, in the process, do a
major disservice to our cause when we smugly dismiss claims on the grounds
that we don't know of or can't imagine a plausible mechanism.

Lest I be misunderstood, this is not to imply that we shouldn't *say* that
we don't know of or can't imagine a plausible mechanism and it is *also*
not to imply that we shouldn't offer that fact as a reason for being
extremely skeptical.

John Mallinckrodt      mailto:ajm@csupomona.edu
Cal Poly Pomona          http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm