Placebo effects are a fascinating phenomenon already. But it gets weirder (and more fascinating): Experiments indicate that the placebo effect seems to work even if patients are told that they are given mere sugar pills. How is that possible? The medicine professor who conducted the experiments: «First of all, I have no idea.»
From Weekly Filet #235, in June 2017.
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Humans are notoriously bad at understanding probability – and as a consequence make bad, unreasonable decisions, both in experiments and in real life. When you’re in a hospital, you better hope your doctor knows a thing or two about probability. This excellent piece goes deep on the issue (and serves as a reminder that you should read Kahneman’s «Thinking, Fast and Slow» if you haven’t already).
From Weekly Filet #227, in February 2017.
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