Xavier Thoughts: James Randi explains homeopathy

Sunday, March 11, 2007

James Randi explains homeopathy

Labels: Rocket Surgery

10 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Thank you Xavier for that interesting video.

I learned a lot, and I think it was very helpful.; 11:20 AM
Anonymous said...: It's a pretty dry subject, but he has a good point just by making fun of it. And yet, there are people out there, still today who believe in such bogus medical practices...; 12:20 PM
Anonymous said...: James Randi is a frickin' hero.

I've always pronounced it "homeoPATHY", not "homEOPAthy". Either way, it's a fancy word for snake oil.; 12:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks Xav.; 12:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Homeopathy is bull' and Randy is a brilliant sproponant of scientific rationality, thanks for sharing that with us.

However, closer to home...

Is "conventional" medicine much better? Most of my generation had their Tonsils and adenoids removed, 1 in a few thousand died, a few more were turned into cabbages. what benefit to the rest of us...

In the US, Circumcision is still pretty routine, benefit to the victim? strangely enough higher rates of dick cancers than most of western europe has and where the surgery is for religious reasons only... as for the "degeneracy", Dementia Precox and schizophrenia that it was supposed to prevent in Victorian times...

All the fancy anti psychotic drugs. No more effective than good old potassium bromide, but a lot more proffitable.

Anti depressents which are not "addictive" but have a "re-bound effect" when you try to come off them, and the effect on libido is simillar to bromide.

That is the surgical and pharmaceutical side touched on, now for therapy and freudian analysis?

Keith; 5:29 PM
Anonymous said...: In response to Keith, I think that can be seen in the same light as "Equipment versus Proficiency" debates on gunboards. Many people live unhealthy lifestyles (both physically and mentally) and rather than solve the root cause they take the easier path and try to treat the symptoms. Thus why there are so many happy pills and stomach staplings.

It is kind of like all of the pointless tacti-cool gear being sold on the premise that it will make you into a real "operator."; 12:42 AM
NotClauswitz said...: I believe it actually started quite a bit earlier, in India it's the old and traditional form of medicine - and equally ineffective.; 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: You know, I'm one of those mindless consumers who occasionally give his high energy 2 year-old "Little Teethers" homeopathic sleeping pellets, which are sold at drug stores. And just like clockwork, sometimes it's the only thing that puts her to sleep. Go figure...; 4:08 AM
Anonymous said...: "In the US, Circumcision is still pretty routine, benefit to the victim? strangely enough higher rates of dick cancers than most of western europe has and where the surgery is for religious reasons only..."

I'm no advocate for circumcision, but your reasoning is flawed. Where circumcision is practiced for religious reason only (e.g. Israel and islamic countries) close to 100% of the male population is circumcised and this is nowhere near the rate of circumcision in the US.

If the penile cancer rate is indeed higher in the USA--I don't know that for a fact, I'll take your word for it--where the circumcision rate is lower than say Israel then it follows that the circumcision rate is not the factor. If it were, the cancer rate would be higher in countries where circumcision is quasi-universal.; 7:51 PM
Xavier said...: I think the overall diagnostic rate of CA in the US is greater, hence skewed statistics.; 2:25 PM