- Homeopathy
tallguywrites- June 28th, 2010
A 19 page strip about homeopathy. My follow up story-strip to the one I did on the MMR vaccine scare, and another chapter of my ongoing book about science. This is, in effect, the beta version of the strip. There will, I'm sure, be mistakes dotted throughout that I haven't spotted. So do feel free to point out any errors. The references will be in the next entry.
In part 13 panel 3 says "survay" instead of "survey".
Re: Errors-I spotted "This advise would put any child at risk"
Edited at 2010-06-28 03:19 pm (UTC)
Well told. I'm enjoying these.
I think the 'reader's voice' tags are less necessary. It kind of detracts from the focus a bit, and, if the reader is actually asking the general kind of question written, it doesn't need to be pointed out.
Other than that and the spelling tags brought up already, it's a very strong issue. Love the water imagery and I love that you always have real-world evidence to back your shit up.
Homeopathy works,
I will change my mind,
I will spin on a fucking dime.
I'll be as embarassed as hell,
Yet I will run through the streets yelling,
It's a MIRACLE!
Take physics and bin it!
Water has memory!
And whilst its memory
Of a long lost drop of onion juice is infinite,
It somehow forgets all the poo it's had in it.
I think you would love Tim Minchin's Storm.
Pg 3 - 'vigorously' not 'vigourously'
Pg 6 - I didn't really understand why the samples were taped to the ceiling? presumably to keep them out of the reach of the homepaths but I thought this was slightly unclear.
I actually wasn't aware of the psychotherapy part of the treatment and it seems similar to the way chiropractic medicine can be helpful to people in that it is just helpful to be massaged and listened to.
However I agree that if these practitioners are not willing to be realistic and put the health of their patients above their business it can't be allowed to go on.
There are a couple new clinics here Stateside that are trying this out. Larger exam rooms, longer appointment blocks with more doctor/patient face time, etc. Last I read about them they were doing well - now we just need to get basic doctor care to everybody else...
I would put "Sense About Science" in inverted commas, as on first reading I thought you were saying that she had "the charity sense" about science.
One thing that does bother me a little is the idea that all alternative medicine is as bad as homeopathy - I don't know if that's what you meant to imply, but several panels refer simply to alternative medicine as a whole rather than homeopathy.
There are some natural cures that do work - hell, modern medicine often takes inspiration from nature. I've also heard that recent research showed there is at least some truth to acupuncture, which is also often grouped together with homeopathy (wish I could point to a source for that, mind you). I'm not saying these things -do- work, but we shouldn't simply dismiss them. Homeopathy on the other hand is internally inconsistent - even if it did work, it wouldn't be for the reasons homeopaths state, so they would still need to come up with something better.
I love how the main character does random stuff, like feed the fish during the conversation. It makes it feel very personal and homey.
I do note, that the one place it has worked which has kept me engaged is with my cats. They do not benefit from the placebo effect. But, perhaps the are simply benefitting from "illness running its course". All I know is that they respond better to treatment, or, in the case of one cat where there was no treatment, got better and lived to 19.