Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Interesting things can be learned from the Discovery Channel....
I was watching this thing on the Discovery Channel (i think) about "faith healing" and if it is really miracles that are being performed. The doctors brought up something called the placebo effect. It explained how wonderful the human brain is. Because being in the environment that those people are in, these healing sessions, and being "encouraged" by the "healer", the person believes he will be healed and so he/she gets out of that wheelchair or drops those crutches and starts walking then running. But, this is what's called the placebo effect, not actual healing. These people after going through this "miracle" return to their previous state, back in the wheelchair, etc.
An experiment was also performed with 10 people. They were placed in a room, one at a time, and they were asked to lie down on the bed and relax and meditate. There was also this box in the room with a one-way mirror and they were told that a "healer" was sitting in there and he was going to "heal" them. And, of course, they couldn't see him. What they didn't know was that for half of the group, the “healer” wasn’t even in the room. What do you think the results were? All of them reported that they felt a lot better and benefited greatly from the experience. So, again, it’s all in the mind.
And if these people do feel better, it doesn't last very long. One of the "healers" interviewed stated that that is what happens. They jump off the wheelchair that day, the next they're back in it. It's all in the mind.
Itte rasshai. [that's Japanese for "so long"]
