# Healing, does anyone else realize it exists??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 17, 2002, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511 "2002-05-17T07:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dunne\_u.wurrie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@dunne\_u.wurrie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dunne_u.wurrie)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/21 "2002-05-19T07:18:57Z")
I love telling this one: At a party in L.A. Granola Woman: I once accidentally cut half my toe off Me: Oh, my God… Granola: It’s OK, I used my psychic energy to grow a new one. Me: Ahhh… ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/22 "2002-05-19T07:39:48Z")
Faith healers work so much better when they are well paid, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/23 "2002-05-19T15:02:42Z")
Sigh. Demonstrate it double-blind, or face the wrath of the lords of placebo and statistical error! Oh, yeah, the O.P. No. And homeopathy is actually not that bad of an alternative healing method, in that it does nothing, rather than doing something potentially harmful. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/24 "2002-05-19T15:59:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*homeopathy is actually not that bad of an alternative healing method, in that it does nothing, rather than doing something potentially harmful. \*\* But sometimes nothing is the wrong thing to do. Other than that minor quibble, I agree with you completely! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/25 "2002-05-19T21:32:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Feh, you couldn’t say things like “water is wet”… \*\* Only under certain conditions… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/26 "2002-05-19T21:43:17Z")
The late skeptic (Carl Sagan) in his book (THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD) relates that a study of the accepted healings , at the Catholic shrine of Lourdes, revealed that these healings occurred at a rate below that of random chance. Is anybody aware of any recnt work on the lourdes phenomenon? Why would people continue to travle to this shrine, if there were not some rational basis for healing? ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/27 "2002-05-19T21:57:26Z")
Yeah. Good book. (crosses self over Carl, remembers why he is here, stops, does it anyway because it makes him feel better) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/28 "2002-05-19T22:14:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ralph124c \* > \*\*Why would people continue to travle to this shrine, if there were not some rational basis for healing? \*\* Perhaps because they feel the ‘rational’ world has failed them so they seek out the IRRATIONAL to soothe themselves. Either that or people are just dumb. I tend to support the latter thesis. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![berdollos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@berdollos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/berdollos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/29 "2002-05-20T15:14:01Z")
of the types I have mentioned exists. Isn’t there even one other person out there who has seen or experienced or read about genuine healing from a real healer??? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/30 "2002-05-20T15:59:34Z")
and distorting the energy fields around my carefully-feng-shuied monitor. Shame on you. ---
**Author:** ![Regina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@Regina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regina)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/31 "2002-05-20T19:46:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robertliguori \* > \*\*And homeopathy is actually not that bad of an alternative healing method, in that it does nothing, rather than doing something potentially harmful. \*\* Some homeopathy works in some instances; for instance, curing headaches with white willow bark tea, and maybe some vitamin-deficiency syndromes can be cured with vitamins. “Natural healing” with herbs, vitamins, etc., can sometimes be helpful, depending on the problem, and is certainly “real,” but it is a different thing from the sort of “spontaneous” healing asked about in the OP. I guess. If the OP is asking only about “spiritual” healing where no treatment is given but prayer/meditation/chanting/screaming/whatever, then I think that the coincidence factor is what heals those who believe they are healed. A certain number of people are going to get better anyway. You could have that number of people get better and claim it was from a wand-tap from Fairy Gladys. Or their “illness” (usually blindness, paralyzation, or some such) was actually psychosomatic. So, any examples that may be given here (and boy they’re sure adding up fast) cannot be attributed to the prayer/whatever alone, much as the “healer” may wish it can. And to answer your last question, **berdollos** , while I have not seen or experienced genuine healing from a real healer, I have read about it. I’ve also read about aliens, seances, and this evil spirit that enters your body as vapor through your nose and then takes you over and makes you gullible. You say **you** have “seen instances” of faith healing, and cite rapid-healing of arthiritis as the example you’ve “seen.” What were the circumstances of this and why did it convince you that it was “real?” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/32 "2002-05-20T20:19:41Z")
Let’s be clear about the difference between herbal medicine and homeopathy. Much of the stuff sold as “homeopathic” isn’t really homeopathic. Homeopathic medicine, strictly speaking, is distilled water. If the medicine actually retained more than a few molecules from the herbs/substances it was prepared from, then it isn’t homeopathic. Homeopathy\<\>Herbal medicine. I mean, penicillin could be considered herbal medicine, since it can be prepared from naturally occuring molds. A homeopathic remedy would be diluted so much that no more molecules were left. ---
**Author:** ![Regina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@Regina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regina)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/33 "2002-05-20T20:43:58Z")
Thanks, Lemur 866, I was just (incorrectly) lumping homeopathy, herbal medicine and naturopathy together. I did a little research and now understand that neither homeopathy (read: quack) nor naturopathy (read: quack) really has anything to do with herbal medicine (read: may be helpful to some), although naturopaths may use some herbal medicines. Instead, I will now lump “faith healing” in with homeopathy and naturopathy and leave herbal medicine out of it. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/34 "2002-05-21T06:15:58Z")
occ wrote: > [@](#): > > And while we’re all being skeptical, why is it that we ridicule centuries-old European medical practices, but fawn over centuries-old Eastern medical practices? Because getting stuck with acupuncture needles isn’t **quite** as yucky as getting leeches slapped onto your skin. Now go over to my ancient European medicine chest and get me my mandrake roots, sonny! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511/35 "2002-05-21T12:28:19Z")
Two words: 1. Predictable 2. Reproducable Anything else is wishful thinking [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healing-does-anyone-else-realize-it-exists/109511.md?page=1)