There is scientific consensus that placebos have a subjective effect on symptoms, argued to be some unknown internal/mental effect. This is very widely held in

There is scientific consensus that placebos have a subjective effect on symptoms, argued to be some unknown internal/mental effect. This is very widely held in the medical sciences community, and has more broad acceptance than most things held as a so-called consensus. It is not and has never been a lay person thing. e.g. An article like https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/the-power-... is not kooky or controversial, or the creation of a lay person. It's the accepted understanding of what's happening -- at least what is seemingly happening -- as viewed by medical experts. As an aside, while placebo does come from Latin for "to please", you have it backwards. Placebos are to please either the patient or the participant, giving them a feeling that they're being treated/studied.