> I usually balk at herbal cures, but it's actually a really dumb thing for me to do, eh?
No, you're in the right direction. The difference between a folk remedy and medicine is a lot of scientific inquiry, peer review, and reproduction of results. It's an error to lump folk remedies in with scientific findings. That's not to say folk remedies don't work; it's to say we don't have much objective proof that they work.
I'm fine with making objective proof (through hypothesis testing, precise measurement, reproducible results, etc.) my threshold for acceptance.
> there is something to be said for herbal cures, meditation, etc., I think
Certainly. We should say, "Wow. That's worth some scientific inquiry to see if and how it works."
It's not worth cutting corners on this stuff. Some plants interact with medication or affect fetal development. We need experimentation and trials to rule out negative effects as well as prove positive results.
No, you're in the right direction. The difference between a folk remedy and medicine is a lot of scientific inquiry, peer review, and reproduction of results. It's an error to lump folk remedies in with scientific findings. That's not to say folk remedies don't work; it's to say we don't have much objective proof that they work.
I'm fine with making objective proof (through hypothesis testing, precise measurement, reproducible results, etc.) my threshold for acceptance.
> there is something to be said for herbal cures, meditation, etc., I think
Certainly. We should say, "Wow. That's worth some scientific inquiry to see if and how it works."
It's not worth cutting corners on this stuff. Some plants interact with medication or affect fetal development. We need experimentation and trials to rule out negative effects as well as prove positive results.