Close Your Mind (To Water Having A Memory)

"Homeopathy is amongst the worst examples of faith-based medicine that wins shrill support from celebrities and other powerful lobbies in place of a genuine and humble wish to explore the limits of our knowledge using the scientific method.

If homeopathy is correct, much of physics, chemistry and pharmacology must be incorrect.

To have an open mind about homeopathy or similarly implausible forms of alternative medicine – for example, Bach Flower remedies, iridology, spiritual healing or crystal therapy – is therefore not an option.

Should we keep an open mind about astrology, perpetual motion, alchemy, alien abduction and sightings of Elvis Presley? No, and we are now happy to confess that our minds have closed down on homeopathy and similarly irrational concepts in the same way. Here’s why:

1. Homeopathy is based on an absurd concept that denies progress in physics and chemistry,...We feel it is time to move on.

2. Homeopathy is advocated for mostly self-limiting conditions – for example, it ‘cures a cold in seven days’, practitioners say; in fact a cold normally clears up within that timeframe. The totality of the evidence from 200 years of inquiry remains unconvincing as to homeopathy’s efficacy.

3. There are no ‘advances’ in homeopathy. The field is stagnant and further attention to it is a waste of resources.

4. Homeopathic principles are ‘bold conjectures’. There has been no spectacular corroboration of any of its founding principles.

The true sceptic therefore takes pride in closed-mindedness when presented with absurd assertions that contravene the laws of nature or deny progress in science.

But hey, what’s wrong with offering placebos for the worried well with self-limiting conditions? Well, firstly it is considered unethical for modern medical practitioners to sink to this kind of deception that denies the patient his autonomy.

Secondly, by opening the door to irrational medicine alongside evidence-based medicine, we are poisoning the minds of the public, an effect that extends far beyond the realm of healthcare.

Thirdly, if we don’t put a break on the increasing self-confidence of the homeopathic establishment, they will cease to limit their attention to self-limiting or non-specific maladies. Already an investigative journalist has exposed the willingness of homeopaths to offer homeopathic prophylactics for malaria and the UK Society of Homeopaths recently organised a conference on homeopathy for AIDS.

An open mind is normally a prerequisite for scientists. But there are limits. We believe that, in the interest of progress, the overtly false and regressive concepts of homeopathy and similarly absurd alternative therapies deserve a closed mind."

-- Michael Baum and Edzard Ernst, a surgeon and professor of complementary medicine, writing for Spiked!