Hack 73. Fool Others into Feeling Better (2)
Sometimes a placebo effect seems to be triggered despite the absence of other people and the absence of deception. If you have ever felt better after taking a homeopathic remedy, for example, or after applying dock leaves to the pain caused by a stinging nettle, that was almost certainly a placebo effect, because it has been scientifically proven that such treatments are completely bogus. The essential factor, however, must still be presenta belief that this kind of treatment will help. Once you discover the truth about such bogus treatments, therefore, they cease to be capable of producing placebo effects.
Because it is hard (some might say impossible) to deceive yourself into believing something that you know to be false, deception is important for most placebo experiments. This plays a central role in many psychological experiments, and raises serious ethical problems. In universities and other research environments, an ethics committee must, quite rightly, approve experiments before they are allowed to proceed. It is therefore advisable to conduct the following experiment in the privacy of your own home, where ethics committees have no jurisdiction.
First, take an old medicine bottle and clean it thoroughly. Then fill it with a solution of tap water, sugar, and food coloring. The next time someone you know gets a headache or is stung by a stinging nettle, tell her that you have a special remedy that will help. If she asks what it is, tell her that it is a special solution of water and sugar and food coloring, and say that you have read somewhere (in this book) that this will help her feel better (that way, you won’t even be lying!). Give her the colored water and ask her to drink a teaspoonful (if she has a headache) or to rub a small amount onto the affected area (if she has been stung by a nettle). See if it helps her feel better.
It will, if she believes it willand if there’s nothing really wrong with her (be careful here; don’t delay medical treatment for someone who is hurt because you want to see if you can placebo-cure her).
Taken from : Mind Hacks
