to think homeopaths really just make money out of the gullible?

[WidowWadman]

A remedy made from diluted bits of the Berlin Wall - seriously, that's surely just a test to find out how far they can push it, isn't?

One of the funniest things I've ever read was on (IIRC) I Fucking Love Science, with some total knobber berating scientists...

"You're just a bunch of assholes trying to prove stuff...."

Well, yes.

I know, Gracelo, it really fucking annoys me. It's so LAZY.

Can you remember at least a couple of words from the quote?

No, none at all, I'm so annoyed that I didn't note it down somewhere.

Bugger.

Have this instead.

thesuperstitiousnakedape.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/science1.jpg

Anyone listening to radio 4 at the moment?

Yes! How very woo is that?

I like the Steven Weinberg quote where he says that most scientists he knows don't care enough about religion to even call themselves atheists. I like all of Steven Weinberg's quotes about religion, I think. It's pretty much how I feel these days, I go "yeah, god, pffft, shrug"

No, but I could wander down to the lab and wrestle control over the radio from whoever is in there atm. Is it worth doing this?

Homeopathy for horses.....

It's a drama about a homeopathic vet's Fitness to Practice hearing

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02qncsf

Ha, I'll listen to it on iPlayer at home.

I know someone who used homeopathy on her dog.
I shit ye not.
Worryingly, she was responsible for financial planning in the NHS.

I was going to try and take part in a thread about meditation over on Philosophy and Religion because I want to learn (from sensible people) how to do it....I reckon deep relaxation is probably just what I need sometimes.

But, natch, the usual crap infected the thread.......someone who harnessed "energy" or something (chemical, kinetic, thermal, magnetic?) and who "hasn't started healing people with crystals yet" but is planning to. I asked her to refrain from attempting to "heal" people this way and stropped off. Not willing to wade through that kind of rubbish for any reason.

I expect my contribution has not gone down well!

I reckon I've thought of a homeopathic cure that would work: the cure for dehydration.

Ellie - saw those contribution and just shrugged tbh. Am anti- woo per se (tho if smelly stuff and sparkly crystals makes people feel better - placebo effect- fair enough as long as not marketed as special powers...) Am v v pro-meditation- not woo at all (hell, even the US army uses it, not that this is a ringing endorsement for me) . it's older than most religions and is an workout of the mind as opposed to the body. Shame to avoid the thread if you're interested though! Why not just ignore such posts? It's not in AIBU like this one after all.

Ohhh..yes... (slowly dawns). Quick, tell everyone, Tim? Richard? Everyone? Hang on...better to a double blind, randomised crossover trial first, you never know, there might be nothing in it?

Salbertina Yes, you're right. I would have ignored it completely if she hadn't started going on about healing others. I find that kind of thing impossible to ignore.

Agree. Nothing woo about meditation.

The woo-merchant in the other thread (and she's a nurse, FFS) is an advocate of Bach Flower Remedies as well as crystals. I had vaguely thought these were just nice-smelling flower extracts, but no:

www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/bach-flower-remedies/#more-20715

The comments, especially the second one, are also enlightening.

exexpat - are Steiner schools subsidised? They do charge hefty fees.

WidowWadman - most of them get state subsidies in Germany, but not enough to make them fee-free.

In the UK they have all until recently been independent and fee-paying, but now several Steiner schools are being set up under the Free School initiative, so UK taxpayers' money will be going to promote anthroposophy, gnomes, homeopathy etc (Steiner schools are often at the centre of measles outbreaks because they also oppose vaccination). One has just been approved in Bristol, another has already opened in Frome, and I think there are several others.

homeopathy is a unproven activity that mimics legitimate medicine and health care
use of terms like treatment,running clinic,staff in white coats,
tap water useful for hydration and boiling year tatties,but tap water isn't medicinal

exexpat - interesting. Didn't know that. My sister went to a Steiner school (my mum sent her there when she was a lone parent and it was the only school which was full-time, allowing her to work, and it's near impossible to let a Steiner kid switch back into a normal school, because it's so different) - and I know they paid quite a lot for it.

I'm glad that my parents didn't buy into the ideology so my brother and I were spared the dancing of our names. (And we're fully vacc'd too.)

Didn't know Steiner schools were so nuts
My cousin reckons she is a healer. She told me a long, drawn out tale about a dog that had been badly treated and was dying. She said she used her healing powers on it
I asked where dog was now - dead but it died more pleasantly :-)

"I think the main reason why your actual, gullible, woo-buying fucknugget gets so howly and defensive and starts almost pooing with rage when confronted with facts is this: woo-lovers hate scientists because woo-lovers are consumed with bitter resentment about the fact that they are stupid. They think that people actually being clever is something clever people do in order to spite them. Woo 'disciplines' make room for the thick and mentally lazy and comfort them with a lot of nonsense that only 'sensitive' ie thick and gullible people 'understand."

I understand what SGB is getting at, but I don't think it is quite right.
There are a lot of intelligent, clever people who do believe in woo - Prince Charles, Cherie et al