Manfred comments on Fallacies of reification - the placebo effect - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (55)
To repost skeptical lurker's link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/dec/22/placebo-effect-patients-sham-drug
The placebo effect could be driven by mechanisms unrelated to whether or not you believe you're being treated and still mean pretty much the same thing - similar to priming, it could just be that mentioning the right words before giving people a sugar pill is enough, you don't have to actually make them believe you're giving them a painkiller.