4 ms·

Eastern medicine is not empirical. Very few treatments outperform placebo.

waltpad 6y ago
What do you mean by "empirical"? Are you saying that eastern medicine is not based on empirical evidence, ie. observation and experimentation, but on some other approach?
- CodeyWhizzBang 6y ago
  Isn't the point that "western medicine" is a set of things that have been shown to work based on the outcome of controlled tests - double blind tests and so on. As a result of these tests we say that, in general, statistically, "medicine" cures the condition more than doing nothing does (or, more precisely, more than the placebo effect). If we put something through that process and find that outcome, we classify it as medicine. My understanding is that tests of some Traditional Chinese Medicine (which I assume is what we're talking about here when we say "eastern medicine") aren't able to replicate successful outcomes and so we therefore don't classify those things as medicine in the west. That's not to say they don't help trigger the placebo and so on, just that we haven't proven it through double blind studies and so on - which is my understanding of what OP means by "empirical".
- zouhair 6y ago
  0 proof. It's based purely on magic thinking. If you have any relevant sources that prove other wise I'll be happy to change my mind.
  - waltpad 6y ago
    Why should I have to disprove your claim?
collyw 6y ago
Can't the same be said about a lot of conventional medications? I find it quite frustrating that placebo can be observed to be effective in many scenarios but many scientist seem to dismiss it out of hand.
- perl4ever 6y ago
  It really bothers me to hear that; it's a common statement, but I think when you examine what it means to say a placebo is observed to be effective, it dissolves into logical incoherence. It's pretending that a lack of results is a result, that an unknown source of bias is understood through doubletalk/think. It's worse than homeopathy.
throwaway9482 6y ago
This is not true People who are practiced in eastern medicine don’t bother with rigorous scientific studies as much anyways. What’s the point, you can just see the reasoning and common sense yourself without needing to look at a study, not to mention the countless anecdotes they’ve collected from people they’ve met and who’ve found healing

What do you mean by "empirical"? Are you saying that eastern medicine is not based on empirical evidence, ie. observation and experimentation, but on some other approach?

CodeyWhizzBang 6y ago
Isn't the point that "western medicine" is a set of things that have been shown to work based on the outcome of controlled tests - double blind tests and so on. As a result of these tests we say that, in general, statistically, "medicine" cures the condition more than doing nothing does (or, more precisely, more than the placebo effect). If we put something through that process and find that outcome, we classify it as medicine. My understanding is that tests of some Traditional Chinese Medicine (which I assume is what we're talking about here when we say "eastern medicine") aren't able to replicate successful outcomes and so we therefore don't classify those things as medicine in the west. That's not to say they don't help trigger the placebo and so on, just that we haven't proven it through double blind studies and so on - which is my understanding of what OP means by "empirical".
zouhair 6y ago
0 proof. It's based purely on magic thinking. If you have any relevant sources that prove other wise I'll be happy to change my mind.
- waltpad 6y ago
  Why should I have to disprove your claim?

collyw 6y ago

Can't the same be said about a lot of conventional medications? I find it quite frustrating that placebo can be observed to be effective in many scenarios but many scientist seem to dismiss it out of hand.

perl4ever 6y ago
It really bothers me to hear that; it's a common statement, but I think when you examine what it means to say a placebo is observed to be effective, it dissolves into logical incoherence. It's pretending that a lack of results is a result, that an unknown source of bias is understood through doubletalk/think. It's worse than homeopathy.

throwaway9482 6y ago

This is not true People who are practiced in eastern medicine don’t bother with rigorous scientific studies as much anyways. What’s the point, you can just see the reasoning and common sense yourself without needing to look at a study, not to mention the countless anecdotes they’ve collected from people they’ve met and who’ve found healing