Can hope fire a neuron? How can a believer get bit by a rattlesnake and not die? If a fake drug is believed...

Question

If a fake drug is believed to get rid of an illness, and the illness goes away, does that not belie the true nature of illness?

Answer 1

A rattlesnake bite isn't the most dangerous bite you can get. What happens depends on how much venom the snake has (it gets used and takes time to replenish) and how much it injects. So "believers" can be bitten and not die. They can also suffer permanent muscle damage around the bite, or die. It happens regularly.

Your fake drug question is about the placebo effect. Drugs were tested against fake versions to see if there was any difference in reaction. The only thing that was never tested was the "placebo effect" itself--it was merely assumed to exist. Once they tested for it, they found it was very much smaller than they once suspected and may not exist at all.

So no, physical illness is not all in the mind.

Answer 2

hope neuron what????
not all snakebites are fatal
no, that is silly. it's called the placebo effect

Answer 3

no