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- Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
- Path: sparky!uunet!mcsun!julienas!babbage!cosmos.imag.fr!cosmos!phs
- From: phs@cassiopee.cosmos (philippe schnoebelen 303v)
- Subject: Re: homeopaty... NBC's dateline
- Message-ID: <PHS.92Dec17164639@cassiopee.cosmos>
- Sender: news@imag.fr
- Nntp-Posting-Host: cassiopee
- Reply-To: phs@lifia.imag.fr (Philippe Schnoebelen)
- Organization: Institut Imag, Grenoble, France
- References: <1992Dec3.210720.9159@donner.SanDiego.NCR.COM> <Byuw0z.97s@fc.hp.com>
- <1992Dec8.200023.28457@walter.bellcore.com> <6657@tuegate.tue.nl>
- <1992Dec10.172102.6968@donner.SanDiego.NCR.COM>
- <1992Dec13.181921.2935@rhrk.uni-kl.de>
- Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 15:46:39 GMT
- Lines: 42
-
-
- In article <1992Dec10.172102.6968@donner.SanDiego.NCR.COM>, kraus@.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Dave Kraus) writes:
- >It seems to me that the use of vaccines is very similar. You inject an
- >irritant similar to what you are vaccinating against. The body builds
- >up antibodies to that irritant, which allows it to fight off the
- >disease being protected against. The difference being that vaccines
- >are taken before the fact.
-
- This is only a very superficial similarity. And the difference you mention
- is very important.
-
- If you are a scientist, you know that such similarities exist everywhere
- and prove nothing (or rather, everything). If you don't look out, you'll
- end up saying that it is not Pasteur (or whoever) who discovered vaccines,
- but the guy who first said "One must fight fire with fire."
-
- Another difference between homeopathy and vaccines is that vaccines teach
- the body to build antibodies against germs etc., not against "diseases" and
- vague "bad health" and "broken legs". It is important to know how vaccines
- work, so that we know when they work (and why).
-
- Homeopathy is nice as a theory to play with. Indeed it gives you a great
- research program (test any substance on subjects and note the effects) !
- But it is very poor at explaining anything. Well, I guess "the body heals
- itself" and "it finds back its equilibrium" will suffice as an explanation.
- Note that the same explains how acupuncture works. So ACU. and HOMEO. must
- be the same. (NB: I believe they are. Really.)
-
- Note that you don't need to know the difference between a liver and a heart
- to understand homeopathy theory. [You don't need to know that you HAVE a
- liver.] Of course, you don't need to know what are germs and, indeed, they
- were not known in Hanneman's time.
-
- I would very much like to read a unified presentation of acupuncture,
- homeopathy, etc. as pre-scientific medical theories, reasonable FOR THEIR
- TIME, providing you with a research program and some hope (for the time) of
- solving important health problems. Any suggestion ?
- --
- Philippe SCHNOEBELEN, LIFIA, 46 Av Felix VIALLET, 38000 Grenoble, FRANCE
- email: phs@lifia.imag.fr
- "Algebraic symbols are used when you do not know what you are talking about."
-
-