| | Jody,
Thank you for your concern. I live in Merritt Island, on the east coast of Florida, so all we got was a little rain.
About homeopathic medicine, it is a field where much research has been conducted in other cultures (like Brazil). Much of the material I read in the past is in Portuguese and, frankly, I am way too busy with other projects and under severe time constraints to go off on this tangent. As it is an alternative approach, many players who have a financial stake in making our society an addicted one (to prescription drugs) actually have people under contract to debunk such alternative approaches. If you are reading one such debunker, be forewarned that his "facts" might be extremely slanted.
I am pretty sensitive about all drug use (which should be obvious, if you have read much of what I have written on Solo recently). When I came to the USA after over 30 years in Brazil, one of the things that screamed out at me and sounded all kinds of warning bells in my head was the vast number of drug advertisements all over the place.
OK, now there is a purple pill and "better is better." But dayaamm, that huge quantity of prime time advertisements on all major (and minor) channels running for several months goes into big bucks. In Brazil, average meals are much healthier than here. Look at all the fat walking around. People eat so much crap piled on top of crap mixed in with crap in the USA that now they have a wonder pill to make it stop hurting. The emphasis is on taste and not nutrition. This is a huge discussion for another thread, but I see no good at all in unhealthy habits and overkill on a drug to make you feel better, but leave the noxious effects of your unhealthy habits.
On proof, one good way to go about "proving" alternative medicine and get around these "debunkers" is to use the results of studies sanctioned by the FDA, which is an approach being brilliantly conducted by a guy called Doug Kaufman (his program is called "Know the Cause.") Objectivists probably will not sympathize with him because his show is on a Christian channel and he is religious. But he hardly discusses religion at all and his findings bear up to every rational standard I can think of.
His idea is that fungi are the main cause of a huge majority of ailments because they produce mycotoxins, which do not go away after the fungi die. This includes antibiotics, but his main focus is on all fungi, wherever they are found. Where he gets his facts from are the drug companies themselves and he tells people that instead of stopping to see their doctors, they have to educate them. Also, his treatment actually works on a preventive level and his approach is starting to be incorporated (very slightly, but starting) by major health industry players.
I do not know of this kind of approach for homeopathy. I do know of several organizations in Brazil (with registered sanction from the Ministry of Health) that carry out scientific research on it. Some debunkers I have read attack the methods used, results obtained and whatnot. I personally have seen it work with great efficacy on people. Of course there is some snake oil in the culture. Science should weed this out over time. (btw - Your questions were extremely general, somewhat akin to asking how many words are in a book.)
On using the scientific method for psychotherapy, one of the main problems to using a laboratory method - with blind controls - is that the elements to be used are actual human beings with problems. It is hard to find two with the exact same problem to the exact same degree with then exact same degree of emotional stability or instability and receptivity. As this field is in its infancy and is growing, I have no doubt that methods for controlled experiments not only will be developed (as many already have started to be), but techniques like hypnosis, brain entrainment and other manners of altering the minds with sensory input will be used to great effect (as they already have started to be).
All this goes way beyond mere counseling and being labeled as unscientific.
Michael
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