Just because some studies were done that show negative results? If I looked into this seriously, I would want to know who did the studies and what their interests were, who paid for the studies, and I'd want to read the studies themselves to discover the methodoligies, how subjects were selected, etc. All of these things are relevant and can affect results.
Well, have you done any of those things or not? I suspect not. Instead, you have fastened on to the notion that perhaps all of the studies that have ever been done all suffer from questionable methodology, and, if it's possible that they do, then you can dismiss them all and cling to your cherished belief.
When scientists decide to investigate any of these things in a proper organised, well-funded way, let me know.
You are hereby put on notice, based on Granny Magda's message 90, immediately above yours, that many studies and at least two meta studies have been done that found negative results. Now the ball's in your court. You can choose to completely ignore them and go on your merry way.
The one good thing you have going for you is that all you are going to be doing is drinking water, which at least can't do any harm. However, I'd strongly suggest that if you want medical help for anything more serious than a hangnail, that you talk to a real physician instead of relying on Dr. Moist.
Does that mean that someone who uses homeopathy is "irrational"?
Sometimes. Sometimes they're nothing more than dupes. It's not necessarily irrational to be taken by a con man. It could be a simple mental mistake, which we all make from time to time. However, if one is aware of studies which show the ineffectiveness of a discipline and one ignores those studies based on the reasoning that "It works for me so it must be legitimate," I'd say that that at least approaches irrationality, particularly if one is also aware of how often and how easily people fool themselves into believing something that just ain't so simply because they want to believe it.
Wouldn't you use something that was safe and made you feel better, if that was what you discovered it seemed to do?
In other words, would I pay good money to benefit from the placebo effect? Well, I certainly wouldn't if I had a genuine medical problem that could actually be helped or cured by someone who knew what he was doing.
Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin Franklin
We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat
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