Posted: Jun 21, 2010 6:47 pm
Dudely wrote: If I claimed I could cure people by talking to them on the phone and attempted to do so thousands of times (or, hell, even a half dozen) I would have a great many successes. There would be many people completely convinced and ready to back up my powers with the greatest of conviction. I could even cure powerful diseases like cancer and HIV, since there have been cases where those diseases go away randomly on their own for no apparent reason. If I "treated" someone right before that happened then it would appear to be my doing. Yet none of this is evidence and, most importantly, none of this makes my claim even INTERESTING to those who understand what's at work. I'd just be some random guy spouting bullshit and ripping people off (Oh I would charge of course. Can't let such a gift go to waste). Such things are common.
It's interesting you should bring that up.
My favorite of all the discoveries of homeopathic *ahem* scientists is the one by Jacques Benveniste wherein he found that the curative properties of homeopathic preparations could be transmitted over the telephone. I believe this is the paper wherein he described that miraculous effect.
Benveniste, Jacques, J. Aïssa, P. Jurgens and W. Hsueh. “Transatlantic transfer of digitized Antigen signaling at high dilution.” FASEB Journal A602 (1993)