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"Evolution could explain the placebo effect" Umm... what else could explain the placebo effect? Evolution can explain every biological aspect ever to have exi
by lukevdp 14y ago
"Evolution could explain the placebo effect"
Umm... what else could explain the placebo effect?
Evolution can explain every biological aspect ever to have existed if you take it to a broad enough level
- aufreak3 14y agoIt is healthy to be wary of "evolution explains X" claims. As you say, evolution theory is intended to explain all biological developments. That doesn't mean that any particular evolutionary pressure we can conceive of that logically leads to the effect is the real explanation.
- dllthomas 14y agoYes, but the headline is still funny. "Evolution could explain the placebo effect" is a fantastic understatement - evolution almost certainly explains the placebo effect. "We could have found the evolutionary explanation for the placebo effect" is less snappy, though, I guess.
- mindslight 14y agoMethinks you need to refine your definition of 'explain'.
- drcube 14y agoNot really. Evolution only explains the persistence of traits which influence survival and reproduction. It can't explain why those traits arose in the first place (random mutation), or the existence of traits which don't affect survival or reproduction. It also can't explain why some traits never arose at all (say, winged humans). And to be really nitpicky, "evolution" is the observed fact that species change over time. It isn't an explanation at all. Natural selection is the explanation for evolution, both in general, and for specific traits.
- sageikosa 14y agoRandom mutation and natural selection. One's a generator, the other a filter.
- nyan_sandwich 14y agoIn the same sense that Physics can explain it... It might be better to refer directly to psychology and neuroscience to explain the placebo effect