[FRIAM] the cancellation arc

[Steve Smith]

On 9/15/21 3:46 AM, uǝlƃ ☤>$ wrote:
> Well, I love Rebecca (and the rest of the hard-nosed skeptics) who regularly trashes things like homeopathy (https://skepchick.org/2021/09/us-politicians-want-less-regulations-on-snake-oil-medicine-during-a-pandemic/). But there's some confusion around "placebo" versus "non-specific" effects. This is especially true when the application of something like an "essential oil" or other tincture is _ritualized_. Trying to channel Dave, I would say that even if the tincture is diluted to nothing, its role as a ceremonial talisman might be critical to the non-specific effect induced, much like the white lab coat effect.

in my attempt to be succinct I missed a key point.   You suggested
topical application as a way to "learn to fly" and I tripped on the
popular name "fly agaric".

I'm in agreement with the value of ritualizing (most anything) to
enhance (define) it's effects.

>
> And even though this is tangential to cancel culture and hammering down the nails that stick out, tangential doesn't mean inappropriate or ill-fit-to-purpose. When some aliberal lefty shuts me down at the pub for saying something off-the-cuff-misogynist to Renee', both my misstatement and the lefty's shutdown are *real* things, to be respected, not to be ignored. It's part of the contextual milieu we swim around in.
>
> What I find funny is the reaction I get from such people when they see that I do take them seriously. It's amazing how an ordinary person reacts when someone, like a clinician, actually sits down, listens to the patient's in-context narrative, and engages ... something a Hopi friend of mine once called "good medicine".
>
> On 9/14/21 4:39 PM, Steve Smith wrote:
>> Regarding your /muscaria/fly agaric/ aspirations, I'm hearing something more like homeopathy or law-of-similars since the "fly" in /fly agaric/ comes from etymologically the habit of using it to poison flies by infusing it in milk to attract flies.    Maybe this is entirely a tangent (most of my observations here *are* tangents?).
>