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Should I tell someone the truth about a placebo?
I was about to link my mother (a firm believer in homeopathic healing, but an otherwise extremely intelligent woman) to some James Randi youtubes about homeopathy, and I ran into a conundrum: Is the benefit of reducing someone's ignorance (and wasted money on sugar pills) worth the cost of destroying their faith in a placebo?
She only uses homeopathy for nuisance remedies (colds, allergies, etc), not as a replacement for modern medicine, and in this capacity, she seems pleased in their 'effectiveness'. Should I rob her of that in the name of enlightenment?
edit: For the purpose of this thread, plz assume that it is proven that homeopathy is placebo only. I do not wish to debate water vibration memory.
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twisted no more
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