Homeopathy: How Popular Is It?

So, uh, how pervasive is this whole homeopathy nonsense?

I tend to have this very naive' view of humankind, which is often willfully ignorant in some regards. Basically, I give people a lot more credit than they're due, and am repeatedly disappointed by them. In some ways, I do this consciously, for fear of becoming a pompous ass like some of my former professors. Also, the idea that I live in a world full of people as stupid as they probably are is depressing to me, so I choose to hide in my imaginary castle instead.

I've recently had a disturbing realization on a popular writing forum though, where I suggested someone not pursue the advice of another user about seeking homeopathy treatments. I had a moderator there swear at me and tell me how full of it I was (in public). I cited the meta analyses disproving homeopathy, and he never responded further to the thread. Other users responded like I was being a jerk for even stating the science on the issue. I was also accused publicly by a moderator of presenting myself as a medical doctor, though I did no such thing. I contacted the owner of the forum and explained that such slander was possibly criminal, but that I wanted to resolve things amicably because I enjoyed the other sections of their community. I promptly found myself IP banned for, "trolling." They seem to have removed the section where I was accused of offering medical advice without a license, which is good, because otherwise I'd have to waste time finding an attorney to sue for libel damages. And I REALLY hate paperwork.

It just seems very strange to me that a community of such well-educated, articulate adults can fervently believe in absurd remedies like homeopathy, and default to confrontational when you explain the science of the issue to them. It's as perplexing to me as intelligent men and women who firmly believe FOX News is the most fair news source in America. How do these dualities exist?! But most importantly, how pervasive is homeopathy? My friends are predominately abnormally well-educated, so none of them would believe in such nonsense. I foolishly assume other people are just as rationale I suppose.

Also, on a side note:

I hate forums and social networking, which bears another question to mind. How badly are most forum communities moderated? I've always considered MAP to have excellent mods. For years, my only exposure here was watching poor Frodo deal with the ninjas, back before I willingly ventured out of the Batcave. For her to still have a sense of humor and sanity after what I've witnessed the poor woman endure, for free, is truly a testament to her character. But my exposure to forums is limited to MAP and video game beta testing forums, which I only post in to be able to play said video game for free. Perhaps I hate forums because so many gaming communities are filled with antisocial children all hopped up on Jolt cola. So, is it challenging to find other online communities as well moderated as MAP?

 

It seems like a lot of people's mental life is primarily emotion based rather than analytical thinking based. So when you call out something as pseudoscience it's not really about the facts, it's about their feelings and their attachment to it.

We're monkeys, lol. Smart, shaven, upright monkeys...but still damn monkeys.

 

No we're not.

We're apes, damn it!

 

i agree with most of this.

except for the fact that we're actually apes.

 

Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty apes!

 

OOK!

 

*walk into thread and looks around*


YOU MANIACS! DAMN YOU! GODDAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!

 

Aw [excrement], there goes the planet...

 

Jolt Cola :' )

For you British MAPers.....

JOLT cola, all the sugar and twice the caffeine of the leading brands.....

Some things I really miss about North America

;' )

LFD

 

Anything above zero is too popular.

 

Homeopathy is bad enough, but what I really can't wrap my head around is the amount of people that believe in Reiki, and not only that but seriously consider that someone can have shamanistic healing powers after a 2 month course and "chakra opening" session.

 

Most of my friends are either doctors or nurses, so their opinions of homeopathy are pretty predictable. It's usually not much more then a cheap joke, and I have to remember that people out there take it seriously.

 

its quite funny as soon as you realise that chakra opening in vedic culture has more to do with vertebrate alignment than magic powers that they claim.
it's why people say yoga "opens your chakras man thats why you feel good" when what is really happening is that the yoga is helping flexibility and corrects posture which relieves nerve impingement (opening chakras) and makes things feel better.

 

I do have some very well-educated friends who believe in psychics and energy healing, but I try not to judge them too harshly for it. They're really moral people, so I just view it like religious beliefs. I don't prescribe to them, but others believe all manner of silly nonsense. I take issue with someone recommending these crap treatments to desperate, sick people though.

 

WTF!




PS: It is "you would probably have needlessly wasted resources!"

 

Homoeopathy jokes are just too easy, aren't they. It's one of my favourite pseudosciences for that reason. I'm still dying to meet a practising homoeopathist to see if I can casually slip in the question about whether or not they flush their toilet.

Regarding the extreme reaction, it's probably a combination of a couple of things. People tend to be more aggressive defending things like homoeopathy precisely because there isn't good evidence for it. Also, it's the internet. People are often far nastier over the internet than they would be face to face.

And as far as moderation of forums goes. I see it as a bit like the wild west or feudal Europe. Each forum is largely a self-contained community unto itself. The owners and mods get a broad scope to make up their own rules. This means you're going to get good places and bad. You're also going to find places where you naturally get on with the mentality and ones where you clash.

 

Oh I'm not suggesting we're a more intelligent breed, but easily duped and misled as a lot of us are by dubious 'evidence', not even the basic research based practice module could fail to demonstrate what a crock homeopathy is

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVV3QQ3wjC8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVV3QQ3wjC8[/ame]

 

http://youtu.be/cVV3QQ3wjC8