#1 ·
(Sorry if this post is a bit of a marathon; I couldn't figure out how to trim it down without cutting bits I really feel are important for context. My question is at the very bottom.)
For the longest time, I’ve always been kind of fascinated by all those stories about "Alternative" medicine—you know, the healers and all that sort of thing—but I always felt a little twinge of pity for the people seeking them out, mostly because I assumed they were only turning to those methods because they were in some kind of desperate, extreme agony. Back then, I used to wonder to myself if my own perspective would shift if I ever found myself standing in their shoes one day.
And then, just the other day, it hit me: wait, I actually *am* in that situation 😵! I’ve been dealing with this rare, chronic, and incredibly painful condition for nearly ten years now. Modern science doesn't know much about it, mainstream medicine doesn't have a real cure, and they can't even give me a clear prognosis on how things will ultimately play out. It isn't going to kill me, but it’s already starting to take a toll on my appearance, my ability to move around easily, and just my general quality of life.
The funny thing is, I never once considered looking for "Alternative" solutions to my problems, aside from standard medical treatments, even though their effectiveness in my case is pretty limited. It never even crossed my mind to try something like homeopathy, energy healers, prayer-based healing, or anything similar, and I don't recall anyone ever even suggesting those things to me. Even when browsing through support groups on Google, I never seemed to run into people talking about those kinds of treatments. I suppose I subconsciously filtered them out, right along with the pop-up ads and all the other digital noise. To me, this illness just never felt like something that fit into the classic "Alternative" category. But honestly, it fits perfectly! It’s hard to even gauge how advanced the condition is—actually, it's hard to even diagnose—so it relies heavily on subjective feelings. It’s basically a goldmine for the placebo effect 😬!
To be completely honest, I have thought about a few "Alternatives." However, most people would probably categorize my specific "Alternatives" as being part of conventional medicine.
Let me give you an example of one method I did try, though I wasn't exactly super diligent about it. It actually had quite a few points in its favor: it was developed by a doctor who spent years specializing in this specific disease, there were several serious scientific papers supporting its efficacy, you can find plenty of anecdotal evidence on Google showing how it helped people, there's a relatively solid explanation for how it works against the disease, it's inexpensive, low-risk, and there isn't any big pharmaceutical interest group that stands to make money from it, so there's no incentive to twist public information in its favor.
But, it comes with a lot of baggage: all the scientific papers claiming the method works were written by people who are professionally interconnected. Other, independent studies haven't been able to replicate those results. Doctors haven't officially adopted the method, so it's mostly promoted through support groups, often by people who seem almost irrationally convinced of its power. Worst of all, the method is over 20 years old now. This field of medicine is starving for any kind of progress—any insight into how this disease actually functions would be worth its weight in gold to a young researcher, even if it didn't offer a direct therapy. But in the last decade, there hasn't been a single new study published. It seems everyone has just decided it's a dead end.
Anyway, I tried it for a couple of weeks and, seeing absolutely no improvement, I gave up. I'm sure the advocates of this method would argue that I just didn't try hard enough. Maybe they're right, but at the time, I made a rough calculation that the ratio of expected benefit to the effort required was just too low, and it made more sense to put my energy into proven methods.
If there were, say, a homeopathic therapy for my condition (maybe there is?), that ratio would definitely be even, even, even worse. Everything is stacked against it: the lack of scientific studies (which is crucial, since everything else only matters if the results of multiple independent, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials are inconclusive), the lack of a theoretical foundation, its age, the influence of Big Pharma, and the cost. On the plus side, it would probably be harmless, and maybe there would be some nice stories to tell.
The same logic applies to the millions of potential therapies popping up all over the world every single day. Honestly, why wouldn't I just try every single one of them—or at least as many as my schedule, my current health status, and maybe a little bit of luck would allow? After all, there’s a real possibility that one of those treatments might actually be a lifesaver. Why should I limit myself to just the cheap, low-risk stuff I happen to stumble upon, like saying a quick prayer or driving out to see some local "spiritual healer" in a small town?
Part of the reason is simply that when I run the numbers, the math for these methods is just devastatingly bad; even something as trivial as spending two hours of my time feels like an absurdly high price to pay for a benefit that is practically zero. It honestly feels like someone is walking up to me and asking for twenty bucks for a literal brick.
But, if I'm being totally honest, the bigger factor is probably my own intellectual pride. It’s just really difficult for me to act like these methods hold any practical value when I can't see a single valid reason for them to work, especially since they often strike me as nothing more than transparent scams.
Which brings me (finally! 🙄) to my actual question: is my refusal to use unproven treatments in this specific situation actually irrational? And why is it so incredibly hard for someone like me to even consider such an option, while other people in similar circumstances—people who are just as smart and well-educated—end up pouring massive amounts of money, time, and hope into them?
For the longest time, I’ve always been kind of fascinated by all those stories about "Alternative" medicine—you know, the healers and all that sort of thing—but I always felt a little twinge of pity for the people seeking them out, mostly because I assumed they were only turning to those methods because they were in some kind of desperate, extreme agony. Back then, I used to wonder to myself if my own perspective would shift if I ever found myself standing in their shoes one day.
And then, just the other day, it hit me: wait, I actually *am* in that situation 😵! I’ve been dealing with this rare, chronic, and incredibly painful condition for nearly ten years now. Modern science doesn't know much about it, mainstream medicine doesn't have a real cure, and they can't even give me a clear prognosis on how things will ultimately play out. It isn't going to kill me, but it’s already starting to take a toll on my appearance, my ability to move around easily, and just my general quality of life.
The funny thing is, I never once considered looking for "Alternative" solutions to my problems, aside from standard medical treatments, even though their effectiveness in my case is pretty limited. It never even crossed my mind to try something like homeopathy, energy healers, prayer-based healing, or anything similar, and I don't recall anyone ever even suggesting those things to me. Even when browsing through support groups on Google, I never seemed to run into people talking about those kinds of treatments. I suppose I subconsciously filtered them out, right along with the pop-up ads and all the other digital noise. To me, this illness just never felt like something that fit into the classic "Alternative" category. But honestly, it fits perfectly! It’s hard to even gauge how advanced the condition is—actually, it's hard to even diagnose—so it relies heavily on subjective feelings. It’s basically a goldmine for the placebo effect 😬!
To be completely honest, I have thought about a few "Alternatives." However, most people would probably categorize my specific "Alternatives" as being part of conventional medicine.
Let me give you an example of one method I did try, though I wasn't exactly super diligent about it. It actually had quite a few points in its favor: it was developed by a doctor who spent years specializing in this specific disease, there were several serious scientific papers supporting its efficacy, you can find plenty of anecdotal evidence on Google showing how it helped people, there's a relatively solid explanation for how it works against the disease, it's inexpensive, low-risk, and there isn't any big pharmaceutical interest group that stands to make money from it, so there's no incentive to twist public information in its favor.
But, it comes with a lot of baggage: all the scientific papers claiming the method works were written by people who are professionally interconnected. Other, independent studies haven't been able to replicate those results. Doctors haven't officially adopted the method, so it's mostly promoted through support groups, often by people who seem almost irrationally convinced of its power. Worst of all, the method is over 20 years old now. This field of medicine is starving for any kind of progress—any insight into how this disease actually functions would be worth its weight in gold to a young researcher, even if it didn't offer a direct therapy. But in the last decade, there hasn't been a single new study published. It seems everyone has just decided it's a dead end.
Anyway, I tried it for a couple of weeks and, seeing absolutely no improvement, I gave up. I'm sure the advocates of this method would argue that I just didn't try hard enough. Maybe they're right, but at the time, I made a rough calculation that the ratio of expected benefit to the effort required was just too low, and it made more sense to put my energy into proven methods.
If there were, say, a homeopathic therapy for my condition (maybe there is?), that ratio would definitely be even, even, even worse. Everything is stacked against it: the lack of scientific studies (which is crucial, since everything else only matters if the results of multiple independent, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials are inconclusive), the lack of a theoretical foundation, its age, the influence of Big Pharma, and the cost. On the plus side, it would probably be harmless, and maybe there would be some nice stories to tell.
The same logic applies to the millions of potential therapies popping up all over the world every single day. Honestly, why wouldn't I just try every single one of them—or at least as many as my schedule, my current health status, and maybe a little bit of luck would allow? After all, there’s a real possibility that one of those treatments might actually be a lifesaver. Why should I limit myself to just the cheap, low-risk stuff I happen to stumble upon, like saying a quick prayer or driving out to see some local "spiritual healer" in a small town?
Part of the reason is simply that when I run the numbers, the math for these methods is just devastatingly bad; even something as trivial as spending two hours of my time feels like an absurdly high price to pay for a benefit that is practically zero. It honestly feels like someone is walking up to me and asking for twenty bucks for a literal brick.
But, if I'm being totally honest, the bigger factor is probably my own intellectual pride. It’s just really difficult for me to act like these methods hold any practical value when I can't see a single valid reason for them to work, especially since they often strike me as nothing more than transparent scams.
Which brings me (finally! 🙄) to my actual question: is my refusal to use unproven treatments in this specific situation actually irrational? And why is it so incredibly hard for someone like me to even consider such an option, while other people in similar circumstances—people who are just as smart and well-educated—end up pouring massive amounts of money, time, and hope into them?