/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.5165491]

A lot of my close friends are strongly into herbal medicine and homeopathy. The herbal medicine side I can deal with to some extent, but they call me naive when I dismiss their homeopathic medicines.

I simply say that in the 200~ years it's been around, there has been no evidence apart from placebo effects. They simply call me close minded and to tell me to "keep an open mind" about it. It's worth mentioning that all of their parents practice homeopathy, along with believing in ghosts and star signs and whatever.

What's a good point to argue back to them? I am always polite and simply say I don't believe in it, yet holding back the whole "what the fuck are you guys talking about, it's obviously bullshit" talk as they're my friends. They have even made fun of me for believing in scientific journals too much.

[Anonymous No.5165528]

get less gullible friends.

[Anonymous No.5165532]

It sounds like your friends are morons.
You will never be able to convince them otherwise.

If you have a problem with your friends being fucking idiots, there's nothing you can do about it other than find new friends.

[Anonymous No.5165535]

Show them this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH93G9U

If James Randi can't do it, nobody can.

[Anonymous No.5165540]

>homeopathy
Ask them why, if adding miniscule quantities of the thing that causes the illness cures the illness, injecting more bacteria into a sick person does not cure their infection.

Also, explain that it's diluted past the point that there's any of the original substance left, water does not have memory, no mechanism that's remotely plausible with anything in chemistry, etc. Try using some of the sources from Rationalwiki.

With that said, if they grew up with it they'll probably never grow out of it.

[Anonymous No.5165544]

>>5165491
you need to work on an extremely derisive laugh. That way you can be all. "So you think I'm naive for trusting thoroughly tested research, instead of goofy folk-remedies?" (derisive laugh goes here)

Remember to laugh from your belly and for upwards of twenty seconds. But you need to practice so it doesn't sound forced.

[Anonymous No.5165551]

>>5165491
Ask yourself why you care.

[Anonymous No.5165562]

>Tell your friends that you are sorry for being so close-minded.
>Agree to only use homeopathic treatments from now on.
>A week later, inject yourself with a deadly virus.
>Refuse all modern medical treatments and only accept homeopathy.
>Thank your friends for showing you the power of homeopathy.
>Tell them how you believe your life will be saved by homeopathy even as the disease slowly eats away at your body.
>No regrets until the very end.
>Die.
>Your friends learn lesson that homeopathic medicine is useless that they will never forget.
It's as simple as that, OP!

[Anonymous No.5165572]

>Homeopathy thread.
>Not citing Dr. Werner.

SIGGYDIGGYDOO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0c5yClip4o

[Anonymous No.5165583]

You can only tell them that the phrase "keep an open mind" in this context is a guise for willful ignorance. If a straight forward "medicine" cannot pass a double blind trial then it isn't helping anyone more than a placebo, and it's not cheap. An open mind accepts new information rather than sticking with old prejudices, so tell them to open their minds to new information.

Or you could suggest they drill a hole in their scull to relive a headache, can't get more open than that. No, that's silly but water with a log book is plausible.

[Anonymous No.5165589]

[Anonymous No.5165602]

“You cannot reason people out of a position that they did not reason themselves into.” ― Ben Goldacre, Bad Science

Ben Goldacre and that website actually have the best content on the web debunking homeopathy, he is a known for it in the UK and is a doctor/writer (i think for the guardian, but no one is perfect).


why do you care whay they think anyway?
chanser are they are too ignorant to understand the arguments against it.
if you dont know what "order of magnitude" is then your a perfect candidate for homeopathic medicine.
if you say 2pi*r^2 and they say why cut two pies into squares you have no hope.

[Anonymous No.5165610]

>>5165491
OP needs new friends. Stupidity loves company and by you not ditching them, it only furthers their belief that you yourself are the one who is naive, not them. That trend will continue until you are old enough to understand that and eventually you all go your separate ways. If that doesn't happen however, it means that either you eventually gave into the beliefs of the others or they gave into the beliefs of yourself. Seeing as you are the odd man out, it will probably be the former.