5 ms·
These two responses are not equal, as every claim made by anyone should fall into category 1 until proven otherwise. Response 2 admits the possibility of better
by hyko 7y ago
These two responses are not equal, as every claim made by anyone should fall into category 1 until proven otherwise. Response 2 admits the possibility of better theories about the world being possible, while refusing to do the actual science that would prove their existence.
Claims about alternative medicine don't even get to start from this generous position because the field has produced reams upon reams of utter-and dangerous-nonsense, so the evidential bar must be set even higher to cut through that noise.
Our collective body of knowledge is not just based on a string of isolated empirical assessments, it has to be integrated into a theoretical framework. Otherwise, you're just left holding a very large bag of statistical anomalies that could basically mean thing anything you want (usually: buy my product!).
- loopz 7y agoNobody is able to practice 2 while holding 1 as belief. The opposite is ironically possible.
- mcv 7y ago2 is not a practice, it's a belief. It's still possible to practice something without believing it works, or without believing some theory behind the practice. People used to navigate by the stars because they believed the stars were fixed points on a dome that covered the Earth. The belief was wrong, but the practice worked.
- loopz 7y agoGranted, 2 as stated, is about faith and open mindedness. However, without experience or practice, there's not much basis. Faith should be != belief systems, which are really often just constraints and thoughts. If you try to think your way through life, you're missing the view for all your own thoughts.
- tsimionescu 7y agoIt's all mumbo jumbo is equivalent to 'it has been proven not to work'. That is a strong position to take, not a default one. The second is too hand-wavy to even really call a position. Note that it's generally important to separate the possible effectiveness of a technique from the beliefs about why it may be effective that practitioners hold. Willowbark is an effective remedy for some ailments, not because of some tree spirit or some alchemical mumbo-jumbo that many may have once believed in,but for different reasons they had no way of knowing. If it turns out under serious study that Reiki has positive effects, we will need further study to understand why, and perhaps distill that into an even more effective treatment. It won't be magical energy, but perhaps there is something to it that can be identified and taught.
- bigfudge 7y agoThe thing is Reiki is just the latest in a long line of fads we have to consider seriously, despite having a (reasonable) prior that they won't work because the physics doesn't make sense. Proponents of woo can keep wasting our time by switching to a newly labelled energy fad. People spent a lot of time and serious money running trials of homeopathy etc. We will see the same pattern here.
- tsimionescu 7y agoThat's the most likely outcome based on prior experience, I agree. Though I would stress again that the fact that practitioners believe they are performing some kind of magic does not prove they can't have stumbled onto an effective practice by accident and long trial and error.
- mcv 7y agoThere is already quite a bit of literature on the placebo effect. I think the effectiveness of Reiki is just another form of the placebo effect. It appears something is being done, and sometimes that's enough to make the patient feel better and help their recovery. More research is absolutely warranted, though. The hows and whys of the placebo effect are still largely unknown.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]