Homeopathy: The Test, with James Randi

Shown: BBC Two, Tuesday 26 November, 9pm – The reddit.com discussion.

The BBC programme Horizon decides to see if they can win the James Randi Educational Foundation prize of US $1,000,000 by proving that homeopathy works. And let’s not flit about the question. They failed in proving anything.

And even though the programme is shown, chances are people will still believe in homeopathy. Why people persist in believing that all those quack-tales are anything but faith- and hope-based is beyond me. Delusional and irrational hope that there’re some magical quick-fix for life and death?

One of the more interesting parts:

atbarnes: how do you explain the posative results, in the two earlier experiments, shown in the documentary ?

James Randi: I strongly suspect that there might have been unknown and unrecognised influences brought to bear. Recent experiments on homeopathy done in the United States have shown that when one certain person was actively involved in the experimentation, they were always positive. When that person was absent, that experiment showed no results. This is an interesting thing to think about. I am also curious about why Dr Ellis changed her mind about participating in the Horizon experiments.

 
 
And his brilliant finishing statement:

James Randi: I was not surprised by the results of the Horizon experiments, but I remain willing to observe and consider any and all other tests that are done under similarly precise conditions. I do not expect that homeopathy will ever be established as a legitimate form of treatment, but I do expect that it will continue to be popular.

 
 
This man is my hero, and I’ll finish with this amazing angle on homeopathy. I couldn’t stop laughing when I first saw it. I still can’t.