to think that anynoe who believes in star signs is a complete numpty?

[bettybosseye]

I mean it's so clearly such a great stinking heap of horse shit, how can anyone actually believe it?
Another mum at playgroup today was telling me what kind of personality my 9 month old will have based solely on her star sign.
All pleasant enough stuff but she actually believed it.
What's wrong with people?

The only problem I have with 'woo' (and I include my own profession in this) is financial exploitation.

Anyone who financially exploits people by peddling woo is scum obviously.

eyeofhorus - It has been "proven" that "water has memory", has it? And it has been also proven that the more you dilute a solution, the more effective it gets?

Where are these proofs, pray tell? Teach us, please.

Whoever came up with these proofs must be keeping them secret, because there is still a 1 million dollar prize outstanding for whoever proves homeopathy to be effective

PMSL at eyeofhorus. Oh, yes. It was getting boring and now we've got a live one.

I think people need to look at this site. It is very fair and balanced and invites debate.

How Does Homeopathy Work?

homeopaths and alternative therapists are businessmen/women not clinical practitioners. the over riding imperative is money and profit from sale of placebo and tap water

their code of pratice allows "consultation" and "treatment" to be linked to profits

If water had memory, it would have to be highly toxic since the same water has been circulating between the seas, clouds, rain, underground currents, passing over corpses, excrement, heavy metals, etc for millennia. Surely, by now, tap water should have a memory of pretty much every single molecule on earth.

If you cannot understand this, it does point to an intellectual problem that you need to work on.

Love that expression (Cote's last sentence) - I will file it and use it in future!

I hope water doesn't have a memory. Otherwise think of all the piss and poo 'memory', not to mention the 'memory' of all the rotting corpses dredged from the nearest river, that you're drinking with every glass you draw from the tap.

Or does it only have 'memories' of good stuff? Woooooo.....

UQD

I think a GP might well set up as a Homeopath. I would give them an ethical way to give out placebos.

Witch - re " if you believe in all these things that have no scientific basis then you must have half a brain cell (and that is if you are lucky) . You wouldn't possibly trust in any of those things if you had some intelligence, would you?"

Yes, that is pretty much it.

"Whatever happened to each their own?"

We all like different colors, different foods > to each their own

We all understand that something is a sham, that there is no proof that it works, that its "theory" is so laughable that it can't work, but a few are incapable of understanding this > possible symptom of hardware ("half a brain cell") or software ("intellectual shortcomings") problem.

homeopathy denies the law of physics. Well it would if it worked, which it doesn't, because things that don't follow the laws of physics don't actually exist.

And I prefer my doctor to understand the laws of physics, and have a rational scientific mind. If you believe in homeopathy, you can't have much of either.

i object to the pseudo-legitimacy of it all.use of terms like treatment,consultation when really it is quacks selling tap water and hermesetas

Well I and my half a brain cell shall bow out gracefully......

I do not as at happens advocate homeopathy, although other "shams" I do believe in, and they cannot be backed up scientifically, I was actually only hoping for acceptance that not everyone believes as you and that believing in something different, regardless of what it is and whether or not you find it ridiculous and the theory behind it laughable.....and of course that perhaps they do actually have some intelligence.

I personally think that God is a sham, and while it is not as apparent, there are people who profit from spreading his word, I think that Christianity and Catholicism is a pile of tosh and any other religion similar, I however, do not presume that those people who believe in it are stupid as some of you obviously believe I am,

Thank you girls ( and bloke I think :) ) it has been entertaining :)

Its true that I'm a typical taurean so maybe there is something in the whole seasonal food thing (although I don't know what sign some kids are going to end up if their parents just eat burgers and chips).

But the daily/ weekly/ monthly forcasts for star signs you read in newspapers or magazines are always so vague they could apply to anyone.
'This week you are going to question someone you love' or 'this month will bring money worries'. Don't things like that apply to 90% of the population? Who on earth writes those articles anyway?

"Why educate them? Heres why"

Cheers buzz, great link.

No-one knows how ECT works but psychiatrists still use it. (And it's quite bizarre - one branch of medicine is devoted to preventing seizures, another one busy causing them.) No-one knows how the medicine I have to take every day works, either. Glaxo still got a licence for it, and I'm very glad they did.

In fact most of modern medicine is not evidence-based. The EBM movement is relatively recent and only covers a tiny percentage of what healthcare professionals actually do.

I know GPs who offer comp. therapies to their patients. They do it because there are patients who need help and not enough tools in the standard toolbox. Living with chronic stress, chronic pain, cancer, all sorts of things, is ruddy hard. And maybe some medical interventions might help but then again they might not - it's often not as easy as 'hello patient, if we do X you will be cured'.

Surgery might be problematic, drugs contra-indicated or there just might not be a magic bullet for that particular patient with their particular mix of problems. People often don't come with ONE thing that's wrong, they have have several, which means they can't take standard drug A because their history means it's not appropriate.

Anything that relieves pain and anxiety is A Good Thing no matter how much people who aren't faced with patients in distress might want to scoff.

There is a reason why the Christie in Manchester has a complementary medicine service. Because living with cancer or caring for someone with cancer is ruddy tough, painful and stressful and complementary therapies can help.

Sadly medicine does not have 100% of the answers to 100% of the problems experienced by 100% of people. And even when it does have an answer, that can cause other problems. Drug side effects can be horrible, drugs can stop working, surgery isn't always possible and even when it is, you might not get a wonderful result - even when technically the op is a success. (I know two elderly ladies who are permanently disabled as a result of knee surgery.)

edam - that is all well and good, but we shouldn't be pretending that the treatments are making a difference, when it is the relief of being able to take some control/have something they can do/placebo whatever.

Some of the treatments DO make a difference, and using evidence based methods you can find out which ones.

ECT really does work for intractable depression, its quite amazing that it does, but it does.

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have looked in detail at the use of ECT and have said that it should be used only in severe depression, severe mania or catatonia. ECT is most often used for severe depression, usually only when other treatments have failed.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is starting to take over from ECT as its more targeted and has less side-effects like memory loss.

controlled and regulated interventions undertaken by registered and accountable clinicians cannot be in anyway compared to quacks selling tap water for profit

homoeopath is unprotected title and anyone can set up and call self such.it has no ststutory regulation.leaving clients vulnerable

psychiatrist is a medical doctor who after further post graduate training specialises in diagnosis,treatment,prevention of mental health problems

UnquietDad, glad you PYSL at my expense, I laugh even more at those ignorant fools who waste all that time and energy in GP surgeries to be prescribed the same antibiotics for everything.......

All of you who think astrology is what's in the papers are even bigger fools; go see a real astrologer who knows what they're talking about; fascinating stuff.rest of you leave your heads in the sand..............

"laugh even more at those ignorant fools who waste all that time and energy in GP surgeries to be prescribed the same antibiotics for everything......."

Eh?

I don't think any doctor would prescribe antibiotics for the things homeopathy are best at curing - a vague feeling of unwellness, stress and bloating.