Kodos is right, homeopathy is not supernatural to the same extent as mediums and such, of course, but I would certainly say it falls into the supernatural arena. Homeopathy originally relied on the doctrine of 'vitalism' that is that living things are only animated by a 'vital force' and it's disruptions in this force that cause diseases, and only by correcting these disruptions can these diseases be cured. Think of the force that Luke had to master to become a Jedi, but instead of being able to move shit with your mind or manipulate people, you cure diseases that are totally not caused by germs.
Homeopathy was invented by a German man named Samuel Hahnemann, who came up with the somewhat strange concept of 'like cures like' which is really the backbone of what homeopathy is all about. Basically, the idea was that if a person has an illness you should administer to them a substance that induces symptoms similar to those of the illness that the patient already has. This process would allow their 'vital force' to attack and cure the illness. An example of this is Hahnemann using cinchona, the bark of a tree native to Peru, as a treatment against malaria. He noted that when he applied this cinchona into his system that it produced malaria-like symptoms and concluded (with out much testing) that this would do the same on anyone else. This lead Hahnemann to conclude, and I quote: "that which can produce a set of symptoms in a healthy individual, can treat a sick individual who is manifesting a similar set of symptoms'' And as we all know this ground breaking treatment has completely wiped malaria off the map...Oh, wait.
Ofcourse, if one were to give a substance to a sick person that would make them even sicker, that would seem moronic even to the simplest of morons. Therefore, his solution was serial dilution of said treatment. What happens is you take your substance that you will use to cure a disease (even though it causes the same symptoms of that disease) and you dilute it in distilled water down to a ratio of 1 part in 100. Then you take that dillution and dilute it again down to a ratio of 1 part in 100 and you repeat this process not once more, not twice more, but 28 times more. Then you will end up with a 30C solution, meaning the original substance has been diluted by a ratio of 1 part in 100, 30 fucking times. And that is just what Hahenmann thought was correct, there are some homeopathic flu remedies today that are 200C solutions. So...it's water.
He also came up with the law of susceptibility, which I won't go into now, but it basically boils down to this statement: 'If you are ill, it is due to your own negative thinking.'
So, yes, the supernatural elements are certainly there. And Almanacnamedtime, homeopathy is not used in any established medical field, hence why it is described as an alternative medicine. But what do you mean by it is 'explained scientifically'?
Last edited by Harvester_Of_Sorrow; 09-07-2012 at 07:57 PM.
Fun fact: depressed people get ill more often than happy campers. Though this is more likely to be something to do with the placebo effect than anything else. Anecdote: I recover from colds in about 3 days if my attitude is "fuck you cold I do what I like" and in a week if I sit around feeling sorry for myself. He might have been onto something there - psychology...Originally Posted by Harvester_Of_Sorrow
You forgot your F in Modesty.
He thought it also applied to cancer and malaria too. We all know the placebo effect works, in certain circumstances, but nobody knows why. This guy certainly didn't.
the interesting thing about placebos is not only the fact that they work so well, but they also work when the person using the placebo knows its a placebo
I know, it's weird, isn't it? There is also the Nocebo effect, which is essentially the opposite of the Placebo effect and, again, nobody knows why that works either. I agree that the power of the mind is certainly a huge factor both for and against dealing with illness, in some cases at least, but that doesn't mean you can sell somebody water and tell them it will help their diabetes. That's just lying.
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