RE: Help: jumped on for seeking scientific proof of spiritual healing
February 17, 2015 at 9:53 am
(This post was last modified: February 17, 2015 at 9:55 am by watchamadoodle.)
@emilynghiem, I like thinking about woo too.
- An alternative medicine I've heard about is foot massage. Supposedly that helps chemo patients. How do we have a double blind test for foot massage?
- Another issues is the placebo effect. Let's say a shaman's rituals seem to heal patients, but they only work if the patients are aware of the rituals. Is that proof that spiritual healing doesn't work? Hypnosis and the placebo effect are very effective sometimes.
- Also there are some forms of spiritual healing that require the cooperation of a deity. Prayer is an example. That provides plenty of room for confirmation bias.
So spiritual healing needs a clear definition. That's a problem for woo and spirituality in general IMO.
- An alternative medicine I've heard about is foot massage. Supposedly that helps chemo patients. How do we have a double blind test for foot massage?
- Another issues is the placebo effect. Let's say a shaman's rituals seem to heal patients, but they only work if the patients are aware of the rituals. Is that proof that spiritual healing doesn't work? Hypnosis and the placebo effect are very effective sometimes.
- Also there are some forms of spiritual healing that require the cooperation of a deity. Prayer is an example. That provides plenty of room for confirmation bias.
So spiritual healing needs a clear definition. That's a problem for woo and spirituality in general IMO.
