cerrado por vacaciones

Estic a La Palma!

homeopathy: how to dilute critical thinking until there's no thinking at all

Homeopathy is a pseudoscience which operates on the principle that by diluting a remedy in water, you can make it more effective. Therefore, if smaller concentrations of the "remedy" are achieved, then it just gets more "effective", fact that is called the Law of Infinitesimals.

There is a very common remedy in homeopathy called Oscillococcinum, which my mother has always wanted me to try but never succeeded. This remedy is prepared by diluting freeze duck heart and liver in a concentration 1 part in 100²⁰⁰ (which is a 1 followed by 400 zeros). It may be known that the laws of chemistry state that there is a limit to how far one can dilute a solution (about 1 part in 100¹² ) which is far greater than oscillococcinum, but this is not considered a problem in homeopathy because of this belief:

"By vigorously shaking the solution, the water will retain a kind of memory or essence of the active ingredient. Thus, even if none of the active ingredient remains in the water, the water will remember it was there and give the same effect".

¡What the hell?!

I would like to show you two visions of homeopathy that I recently found and which I totally agree with.

And finally, another James Randi's talk, that I am sure you will enjoy.

have fun!