also who believes in auras and stuff like that because i've got to do this as part of my course at college and i really don't believe all the rubbish my tutor is saying.
2006-09-22 01:53:58 · 9 answers · asked by tanj_maria 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
It's the placebo effect.
You think it's doing you good, so your body heals itself. It's clinically proven.
2006-09-22 01:58:01 · answer #1 · answered by le_coupe 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When I think of complimentary therapy, I consider things such as taking a medication to help with an illness and also exploring and making corrections to the lifestyle or psychology that caused the illness in the first place.
A simple example would be heartburn due to stress. An antacid to relieve the heartburn and then some mental work to eliminate the stress. You have to consider that taking the antacid alone would only temporarily relieve the problem and continued stress would cause its return.
As far as the auras and stuff, there is evidence that the body give off a type of radiation which is measurable. However, it is in the spectrum that does not register to the human eye. If someone tells you they "see" your aura, you need to be cautious about that. However, that being said, there are some instances where people may be sensitive to that energy given off by others. As a simple example, have you ever walked into a room having other people in it, and just knew that right before you got there, they were arguing?
There may be more than one explanation for a lot of things, but what one needs to consider is that there are laws that govern all things. (call them natural laws, or laws of physics or whatever) When something happens that appears to defy these laws you must decide whether it is untrue, or perhaps a use of a law in a manner that is as of yet unknown. There are no such thing as miracles, only an unknown use of an existing law.
2006-09-22 09:24:43 · answer #2 · answered by fra_bob 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Please define 'complementary therapy' and 'work'.
If by 'work' you mean 'have a measurable physical effect', then most 'complementary therapies' don't work. If you mean 'makes the patient feel better about themself', then a large number do seem to work.
This is called the placebo effect, whereby, if you tell someone that a pill (which has no medicinal properties whatsoever) will make them better, they will subsequently report an improvement in their condition. But if you don't tell them anything about it, then they won't report any improvement. (And if you tell them that its 'side-effects' will make them feel worse, guess what happens...?)
Which really only tells you that most people will believe what they're told (which would explain a lot about the modern world...)
Having said that, herbal remedies have been around for thousands of years, and actually a lot of modern medicines are based on traditional remedies (aspirin being the most obvious example). Herbal remedies have active ingredients and measurable effects, and therefore can be scientifically validated (but that does not mean that all have been, as 'complementary medicine' does not legally have to be subjected to the stringent trials that 'pharmaceutical medicine' does).
Some forms of non-Western medicine (e.g. acupuncture) do seem to 'work', although no-one can adequately (i.e. in terms of what is known about the human body from formal scientific study) explain why sticking a needle in your foot makes your headache go away. That can only be explained with reference to the ancient Chinese texts which instruct in its use, which is a material fallacy—a proposition can only be proven true by extrinsic arguments.
But that doesn't matter to the patient whose headache is cured, and might mean only that science hasn't figured out why it works YET, not that there is no 'scientific' explanation.
However, homeopathy cannot 'work' in the way described by homeopathists (i.e. dilute a substance to such an extent that there cannot be anything left but a 'memory' of the substance, which has the desired effect). But if taking a homeopathic remedy makes someone 'feel' better, then some might say, what's the difference?
(To which I would answer, the ridiculous expense, and the fact that people try to justify it in pseudo-scientific terms, which I consider a debasement of real science. But that's just my humble opinion. Don't even get me started on crystal therapy, or faith healing—has anyone successfully cured terminal cancer with these yet? Thought not...)
2006-09-22 11:30:19 · answer #3 · answered by tjs282 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
By "complementary therapies" most mean anything that isn't orthodox Western medicine. By "work" most mean do they have any direct therapeutic effect on the pathological process. In this context the answer is "no", though in medicine absolutes virtually never exist ;-)
However this doesn't mean they have no beneficial effect. If the problem is not a hard pathology, ie it isn't a well-defined disease process, these therapies can make you feel better, which is after all, all we really want. What's wrong with that?
Always get checked out by a proper doctor first though, 'cos if you have something really serious wrong with you, they'll be the only ones who can actually really help.
2006-09-22 09:11:10 · answer #4 · answered by servir tres frais 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
most complementary offering of words have great ability to do the most profound work in softening up someone for the evil stuff that comes with complaints that will fallow. its suggestive and will work on half the people the other half like you will have to be bribed into believing for the first time. Auras come in time to those who don't need them, they are the profound facts that led to self evident knowledge, some paranormals have extra sensory perceptions which cause illusions of a multiplicity of air born theologies illuminating atmoshereically charged seers who will say something nice to you and you'll feel compelled to learn about rubbish
2006-09-22 09:33:27 · answer #5 · answered by bev 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Some dietary supplements have a good rate of success - glucosamine sulphate for example. Same for some homeopathic remedies - eg arnica.
2006-09-22 09:07:53 · answer #6 · answered by Drew - Axeman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i believe in aura. I smile a lot and make people around me happy, which made me happier. I have a aura of happiness around me and people love sticking around me
2006-09-22 09:21:22 · answer #7 · answered by Baby_Apocalypse 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What
makes a good ambience or atmosphere in a pub, concert etc?
Can it be measured and put in a bottle?
2006-09-22 09:09:49 · answer #8 · answered by Perseus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope. Load of codswallop!
check out, for example;
http://www.quackwatch.org/
2006-09-22 09:01:38 · answer #9 · answered by Avondrow 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You think it's doing you good, so your body heals itself. It's clinically proven
2006-09-22 09:03:43 · answer #10 · answered by sami n 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋