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The results suggest that magnetism catalyzes electrolysis by temporarily aligning oxygen electron orbits. There is negligible effect otherwise; if electrolysis

The results suggest that magnetism catalyzes electrolysis by temporarily aligning oxygen electron orbits. There is negligible effect otherwise; if electrolysis happened in ones' wrists, you'd merely experience extreme agony for a while, before exploding. There is also clear, well-documented evidence that homeopathic magnets have no effect beyond a placebo.

eru 7y ago
And as much as we like to make fun of those woo peddlers, they are fulfilling a very important role in the progress of science. See eg https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-out-of-control/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-o... > That is, in let’s say a drug testing experiment, you give some people the drug and they recover. That doesn’t tell you much until you give some other people a placebo drug you know doesn’t work – but which they themselves believe in – and see how many of them recover. That number tells you how many people will recover whether the drug works or not. Unless people on your real drug do significantly better than people on the placebo drug, you haven’t found anything. > On the meta-level, you’re studying some phenomenon and you get some positive findings. That doesn’t tell you much until you take some other researchers who are studying a phenomenon you know doesn’t exist – but which they themselves believe in – and see how many of them get positive findings. That number tells you how many studies will discover positive results whether the phenomenon is real or not. Unless studies of the real phenomenon do significantly better than studies of the placebo phenomenon, you haven’t found anything. > Trying to set up placebo science would be a logistical nightmare. You’d have to find a phenomenon that definitely doesn’t exist, somehow convince a whole community of scientists across the world that it does, and fund them to study it for a couple of decades without them figuring it out.
- neftaly 7y ago
  Absolutely. Placebos also hold an important place in medicine, and the reduction of suffering.
  - evancox100 7y ago
    There's also some evidence that just the care and attention associated with delivering the placebo can have real benefits.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  You've missed the reveal. The next paragraph: > Luckily we have a natural experiment in terms of parapsychology – the study of psychic phenomena – which most reasonable people believe don’t exist, but which a community of practicing scientists believes in and publishes papers on all the time. And now for the cliffhanger: so how does real science fare against its control group? (The answer is in the article.)
  - eru 7y ago
    Well, I already implied the reveal in the introduction I wrote above the quote. I didn't want to repeat the punchline. But we both seem to agree that people should read the article.

eru 7y ago

And as much as we like to make fun of those woo peddlers, they are fulfilling a very important role in the progress of science. See eg https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-out-of-control/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/04/28/the-control-group-is-o... > That is, in let’s say a drug testing experiment, you give some people the drug and they recover. That doesn’t tell you much until you give some other people a placebo drug you know doesn’t work – but which they themselves believe in – and see how many of them recover. That number tells you how many people will recover whether the drug works or not. Unless people on your real drug do significantly better than people on the placebo drug, you haven’t found anything. > On the meta-level, you’re studying some phenomenon and you get some positive findings. That doesn’t tell you much until you take some other researchers who are studying a phenomenon you know doesn’t exist – but which they themselves believe in – and see how many of them get positive findings. That number tells you how many studies will discover positive results whether the phenomenon is real or not. Unless studies of the real phenomenon do significantly better than studies of the placebo phenomenon, you haven’t found anything. > Trying to set up placebo science would be a logistical nightmare. You’d have to find a phenomenon that definitely doesn’t exist, somehow convince a whole community of scientists across the world that it does, and fund them to study it for a couple of decades without them figuring it out.

neftaly 7y ago
Absolutely. Placebos also hold an important place in medicine, and the reduction of suffering.
- evancox100 7y ago
  There's also some evidence that just the care and attention associated with delivering the placebo can have real benefits.
TeMPOraL 7y ago
You've missed the reveal. The next paragraph: > Luckily we have a natural experiment in terms of parapsychology – the study of psychic phenomena – which most reasonable people believe don’t exist, but which a community of practicing scientists believes in and publishes papers on all the time. And now for the cliffhanger: so how does real science fare against its control group? (The answer is in the article.)
- eru 7y ago
  Well, I already implied the reveal in the introduction I wrote above the quote. I didn't want to repeat the punchline. But we both seem to agree that people should read the article.