Comments on: Taking the P out of pseudoscience http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/ Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:12:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Damon http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195949 Damon Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:53:09 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195949 Well that was 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Thanks, BA. Well that was 10 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Thanks, BA.

]]> By: Bahdum (aka Richard) http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195948 Bahdum (aka Richard) Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:35:16 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195948 Wait...isn't succusion supposed to be ten actual strikes, instead of the 2. Come on, now, how are you gonna convince us on the fence if you ain't gonna play by their rules. Repeat after me: 10 hard taps, 1o taps to the left, 10 taps to the right, put your right foot in, put your right foot out, put your right foot in, shake it all about, do the hokey pokey and you shake yourself around, and that's what it's all about. Sorry, I got even sillier than homeopathic preparation. I did some further research and it turns out that in fact, the taps range from 2 to 100, to simply vigorous. This apparently reputable "medicine" is a science, except the part that's an art. And by "the part" I mean "the whole diluted enchilada, 100 c, yo!" There, I think I made a very potent point there. Wait…isn’t succusion supposed to be ten actual strikes, instead of the 2. Come on, now, how are you gonna convince us on the fence if you ain’t gonna play by their rules.

Repeat after me: 10 hard taps, 1o taps to the left, 10 taps to the right, put your right foot in, put your right foot out, put your right foot in, shake it all about, do the hokey pokey and you shake yourself around, and that’s what it’s all about.

Sorry, I got even sillier than homeopathic preparation. I did some further research and it turns out that in fact, the taps range from 2 to 100, to simply vigorous.

This apparently reputable “medicine” is a science, except the part that’s an art. And by “the part” I mean “the whole diluted enchilada, 100 c, yo!” There, I think I made a very potent point there.

]]> By: Flying sardines http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195947 Flying sardines Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:56:43 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195947 Aha! Finally seen it &, yes, it was worth watching. 30 cups of increasing diluted urine. Well after 12 cups water but then water=urine anyway. Good thing its sterile. Is it wrong to say "bottoms up?" ;-) Hmm ... Did he actually do glass 16 or do it twice too, may have to go back & check again ... As someone noted in the comments there homeopaths believe the product in glass 30 is a lot more potent than that in glass 1. But I wonder how many of them would have the guts to put that to the test by drinking that first glass? ;-) Aha! Finally seen it &, yes, it was worth watching. 30 cups of increasing diluted urine.

Well after 12 cups water but then water=urine anyway. Good thing its sterile.

Is it wrong to say “bottoms up?” ;-)

Hmm … Did he actually do glass 16 or do it twice too, may have to go back & check again …

As someone noted in the comments there homeopaths believe the product in glass 30 is a lot more potent than that in glass 1. But I wonder how many of them would have the guts to put that to the test by drinking that first glass? ;-)

]]> By: TechyDad http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195946 TechyDad Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:42:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195946 @MadScientist Says: The P isn't silent, it's just been diluted a few times. This means, of course, that you might not be able to hear it, but it is still a much more potent P. @MadScientist Says:

The P isn’t silent, it’s just been diluted a few times. This means, of course, that you might not be able to hear it, but it is still a much more potent P.

]]> By: Jeremy Henderson http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195945 Jeremy Henderson Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:01:39 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195945 "And is that really how homeopaths do the mixing? Just banging it on the table? I was expecting a vortex mixer of some sort." Homeopathic texts generally recommend vigorously the dilution container repeatedly against a hard but slightly flexible surface, such as a leather bound book. Apparently Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, had a special board made by a saddlemaker for just such a purpose (I'm surprised they don't try to sell specially energized boards for this nowadays...hmmm...). Also, I love this quote from Wikipedia on 30C solutions: "Dilution advocated by Hahnemann for most purposes: on average, this would require giving two billion doses per second to six billion people for 4 billion years to deliver a single molecule of the original material to any patient." “And is that really how homeopaths do the mixing? Just banging it on the table? I was expecting a vortex mixer of some sort.”

Homeopathic texts generally recommend vigorously the dilution container repeatedly against a hard but slightly flexible surface, such as a leather bound book. Apparently Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, had a special board made by a saddlemaker for just such a purpose (I’m surprised they don’t try to sell specially energized boards for this nowadays…hmmm…).

Also, I love this quote from Wikipedia on 30C solutions: “Dilution advocated by Hahnemann for most purposes: on average, this would require giving two billion doses per second to six billion people for 4 billion years to deliver a single molecule of the original material to any patient.”

]]> By: Crispian Jago http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195944 Crispian Jago Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:48:16 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195944 Thanks for watching Thanks for watching

]]> By: MadScientist http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195943 MadScientist Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:05:20 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195943 @shane: Hmm. That brings back repressed memories of swimming in a pool in winter with the neighbor's kids all in; once in a while I'd swim through a warm patch. It also brings back high school pranks like spiking someone's drink with Methylene Blue before the swimming class. My health was much better in those days; maybe I have all the kids to thank for the homeopathic cures. @shane: Hmm. That brings back repressed memories of swimming in a pool in winter with the neighbor’s kids all in; once in a while I’d swim through a warm patch. It also brings back high school pranks like spiking someone’s drink with Methylene Blue before the swimming class. My health was much better in those days; maybe I have all the kids to thank for the homeopathic cures.

]]> By: Flying sardines http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195942 Flying sardines Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:33:45 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195942 D'oh. <i>"Video not available - please try again later"</i> is all I got there. D’oh. “Video not available – please try again later” is all I got there.

]]> By: shane http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195941 shane Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:39:13 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195941 @MadScientist There is that "warm" feeling that lets you know it's there. @MadScientist
There is that “warm” feeling that lets you know it’s there.

]]> By: One Eyed Jack http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195940 One Eyed Jack Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:38:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/09/13/taking-the-p-out-of-pseudoscience/#comment-195940 Since I noticed some comparisons of a "30C" dilution to ppb, let's take a moment and do the math. Ignore the 1/101 dilution and call it 1/100. Ignore the poor mixing, and ignore the poor pipette technique. 30 serial dilutions of 1/100 results in a final concentration of 1/1.0x10^60, or 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. A 1 ppb solution would be 1/1.0x10^9, or 1/1,000,000,000. As insignificant as a ppb seems, 30C is staggeringly more dilute. Since I noticed some comparisons of a “30C” dilution to ppb, let’s take a moment and do the math. Ignore the 1/101 dilution and call it 1/100. Ignore the poor mixing, and ignore the poor pipette technique.

30 serial dilutions of 1/100 results in a final concentration of 1/1.0×10^60, or

1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

A 1 ppb solution would be 1/1.0×10^9, or

1/1,000,000,000.

As insignificant as a ppb seems, 30C is staggeringly more dilute.

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