RE: Chinese Pseudoscience #2: Cupping
You've opened up a very large area of debate that warrants at least one post on its own, which I think would be best in this case. All I can really suggest for the sake of comments if you wish to continue is provide me with some kind of scientific evidence, rather than anecdotal or promises, that TCM is effective beyond placebo.
To be clear, I didn't say all, so of course I'm aware, for example, of TuYouYou's achievements, and I know that, purely through trial and error, superstition and so on that various herbs and such have been found to have some positive effects.
But, when it comes to the crux of the belief, the QI, the meridian pathways, the five elements, and so forth, it's just as bunk as any other scam out there.
Being right sometimes does not make a trustworthy science. It has to go through the correct, rigorous process, and that's where TCM unavoidably fails.
To be creative and demonstrate:
A doctor comes to me with a knife and says:
'according to this ancient chart that was dismissed as false by its own original people for thousands of years but was returned because the authoritarian leader said so to save money, if I stab you in the arm, it might heal your headache. This is because metal and blood clash against skin and pain in the spiritual Blorg. That's what the chart says!'
And then when he does it, it turns out there was a worm under my skin that was releasing headache-inducing chemicals, so the knife stab successfully cured a headache.
From that day on, people know that there is a headache worm that can be stabbed with a knife all thanks to Traditional Knife Medicine, which goes on to make a chart of where Blorg points are, which happen to be locations where the worm likes to breed. So this is evidently scientifically legitimate form of medicine, Right?
Sorry, that's now how it works... except with TCM. For some reason that gets a pass to slip past the scientific process.
Anyway perhaps my 'most is placebo' statement isn't entirely accurate - but perhaps it is, I haven't run the numbers but I think i'll make a post on that very thing. But the bigger issue here is that the very premise of TCM is bunk, and regardless of how many individual occurrences actually have a positive effect, it's not because of TCM, it's because of chance encounters and circumstantial happenings over thousands of years of trial and error through blind superstition. Mostly error. And I want no part of that, and the world could very well do without it, too.
Maybe I am being unreasonable in trying to convince you otherwise. For me to actually to be able to convince you would require such a tremendous amount of work for something to which there is no fruit other than to say "HA I told you so!?" something I don't care about.
All of the studies that are out there address the most outlandish claims of TCM, of which there are many and none of which I am denying.
How much study have you put into TCM to fully understand it? or do you dismiss it to the point where its not worth your time to learn?
I'm being as open minded as I can here by asking for evidence that simply passes the requirements that all other medical research has to go through. If that doesn't exist, then of course I'm going to dismiss it. If it does exist, it shouldn't be too hard to show it to me, I'd even add it in a follow up post. A safe medical alternative to heavy drugs is only a good thing!
Its really hard to have a debate here.
Anyway, one last comment for me with a short example. And personally I believe that the TCM is an on going medical research in clinical trials all the time~
Arsenic oxide is one of the TCM with different biomedical applications with the long history, so when it applied for FDA approval, it is one of the quickest approved one if i am not mistaken.
(Would it be a example for you, as an on going clinical trial for hundreds of years and was acknowledged by western scientific medical research?)
PS: TCM is more like result orientated, and keeping the good results and experience, instead of scientifically logically development.
I've put arsenic oxide on my list of stuff to check out thanks. 'Result oriented' is possibly the problem I'm trying to get at, but again, I'll explain what I can in follow up posts (perhaps not the next one since I want to focus on placebo specifically first) since these comments are getting really long. And, I'm sure I'll learn more as I go too!
Ha no worry ~
TCM is somehow like a black box to me.
(oh by the way I was told that neuron network for AI is also like a black box as well, ie: it works but you just dont know why; but I am not and expert on it and thats just what I heard)
You raise an interesting point that "qi", and I and my supervisor have some debate on it and have some interesting view point on it scientifically.
And by the way, in the Chinese doctor, if you get certain kind of diseases, they will tell you "you should eat this and not this this this" and like a long check list; if you dont follow that, you will get worse quickly, and I got a considerable number of friends having the same situation, which actually supersize me.
One of the few examples would be those with rheumatism, eating goose and drink beers would get worse quickly. Everyone with rheumatism agree that.
haha examples pop up from time to time
Anyway ~
TCM is such a wide field.
Tell me where you want to start looking first. What have you already looked at. What are you trying to achieve?
You're asking the equivalent of "show me that psychology works"
Well that's the beauty of it, show me anything. So right now all I've covered is acupuncture and cupping. Perhaps you can find something in those areas. If convinced I'd be happy to do a follow up post