a micro article
Ancedotes and testimonials are the lowest form of evidence
by Paul Ingraham, Vancouver, Canada MOREclose
Credentials and qualifications
I am a writer and retired Registered Massage Therapist (unusually well-trained for a massage therapist, a 3000-hour program). I’m almost done with a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. I am a peer reviewer for The Natural Standard, and a copyeditor for Science-Based Medicine. My most important qualification is more than a decade of workaholic post-graduate study, clinical experience, and constant conversations with readers from around the world, including many experts who have provided countless suggestions and criticisms.
For more information, see: Who Am I to Say? More information about my qualifications, credentials and professional experiences for my readers and customers.
Credentials and qualifications
I am a writer and retired Registered Massage Therapist (unusually well-trained for a massage therapist, a 3000-hour program). I’m almost done with a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree. I am a peer reviewer for The Natural Standard, and a copyeditor for Science-Based Medicine. My most important qualification is more than a decade of workaholic post-graduate study, clinical experience, and constant conversations with readers from around the world, including many experts who have provided countless suggestions and criticisms.
For more information, see: Who Am I to Say? More information about my qualifications, credentials and professional experiences for my readers and customers.
There are many ways that we can fool ourselves into thinking that a therapy works when it actually doesn’t. Historically, people have been enthusiastic believers in many snake oils. “Cures” that seem laughable today once generated glowing testimonials. How? Most problems resolve on their own, but snake oil often gets the credit. People are often doing more than one therapy at once, and the wrong one gets the credit. Humans are naturally suggestible, as you can see at any hypnosis show: we believe what we are told, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Often people believe that therapy worked for problem they never actually in the first place (which makes it awfully easy to cure). Our hopes and wishes make us remember anything that confirms what we want to believe, and ignore everything else. We never want to admit, to ourselves or anyone else, that we’ve wasted our money. We want to special and “in the know.” We want to please (authority figures especially), and so we often say nice things and then come to believe them because we’ve said them. Anything we say, we start to believe, because a basic principle of human nature is that “saying is believing.” Our memories are notoriously poor.
Dr. Harriet Hall, The SkepDoc, published an excellent article about how we are fooled on Science-Based Medicine: Why We Need Science: “I saw it with my own eyes” Is Not Enough.