Homeopathy: The Test - webchat with James Randi
James Randi went online to answer your questions about homeopathy, the Horizon experiment and his approach to debunking pseudoscience. This is a transcript of the questions he was asked and his responses.
Lee Cook: Do you think that homeopathy is okay if it makes someone "feel" better, even if it is only in their mind?
James Randi: Heroin also make people feel better, but I wouldn't recommend using heroin.
James Randi: Feeling better is not actually being better.
JohnkBristol: What commercial impact do you think that this episode of Horizon should have, and what impact do you think it will have in reality?
James Randi: I think it will have very little impact, unfortunately...
James Randi: I have been through similar situations where believers will insist on believing despite the evidence no matter how strong that is.
BrianM: James, were you ever worried that you would lose the million, you looked a bit tense early in the results
James Randi: Bear in mind that I am also an actor.....
stuzza: which paranormal or psuedoscience do you think will win the million?
James Randi: I don't expect that the million will ever be won, simply because there is no confirming evidence for any paranormal claims to date.
James Randi: Tomorrow, who knows?
chrism: Have you been given any explanation as to how the 'memory of water' works
James Randi: Yes, I've been given many long and very boring explanations...
James Randi: None of them are plausible, none of them are likely to be true and I believe that Horizon has established the reason for all this.
zarbid: Have you tried using homeopathy for your self?
James Randi: No. I haven't. I am far too busy with handling a real world, and I owe my life to orthodox medicine.
john1: whats the strangest claim you have had maide to you?
James Randi: This is an impossible question to answer. I have had people claim that they actually make the sun rise every morning,..
James Randi: and I've offered to test them by shooting them, to see if the sun rises the next morning.
James Randi: So far all these people have not responded to my endeavours.
king: will you ever consider using homeopathu if you had an illness that could not be cured
James Randi: No, for the simple reason that I can't waste my time when I'm sick. I would much rather pursue something which has a track record of being effective.
James Randi: ...I would also resist praying to idols and doing incantations.
robin: Have you ever lost any of your bets?
James Randi: First of all, this is not a bet. It's a prize offer. And, no, we have never lost a dollar or a pound of the million that we offer..
neorattler: Do you think that it would ethical for the medical profession to prescribe homeopathy accepting that it is nothing more than a placebo?
James Randi: I think that it would be an excellent move for the medical community to do this, but knowing these..
James Randi: people, I expect that they will choose to be "politically correct".
matt: How many people have actually gone through all of the experiments as part of your challenge, only to be proved wrong?
James Randi: First understand that there is always a preliminary test that would proceed the formal test..
James Randi: We have only put one hundred or so people through the preliminaries, and they have all..
James Randi: failed. There are many more who apply, but they don't seem to be able to make a statement..
James Randi: about what they can actually do.
MoRiAR: What is your motivation for putting up a million? Is it to reinforce your stance on the paranormal or are you encouraging people to investigate things that interest them?
James Randi: I have no "stand" on the paranormal. I merely wish to find what is truth, and what is not.
James Randi: The million dollar offer came about when I was challenged to "put my money where my mouth is"..
James Randi: and it's been in place for years now.
biodeterministjoe: hey Randi, much respect for putting your money out there in this challenge, can you really afford to lose the million $$$
James Randi: First, it's not my million dollars. It belongs to the foundation that I represent and judging..
James Randi: from so many past encounters - and tonight's Horizon programme - that money if pretty safe.
Vista: If the results were positive, would you still be sceptical?
James Randi: Yes, I will always be sceptical of things that are not likely to be true. Now, Sophia Loren,
James Randi: that's a different matter.
blah: would you have taken the results from the programme as final ? or would you have asked for a "recount" if it hadn't gone your way
James Randi: I think I declared myself quite firmly, in advance, and that's the way I do all my business.
Aidan: What separates a homeopathist from a confidence trickster. We don't like to be conned so why do you think people accept homeopathy?
James Randi: I really think that most homeopaths believe that their practice is genuine..
James Randi: That's hard to believe, I know, but my experience in this field has shown me that the true believer will ignore all contrary evidence because he or she needs something to be true.
max: Do you classify religion with the paranormal?
James Randi: Yes, I certainly do. The only difference is that religion is much better organised and has been around much longer, but it's the same story with different characters and different costumes.
briz: There seems to be a lot of money to be made in homeopathy, does this anger you?
James Randi: There is a lot of money to be made in all forms of quackery and in other scams.
James Randi: This is a matter of history, which teaches us that honest people often don't do as well as the con artist.
jaimielou: do you believe that homeopathy is basically a way for people to get counselling for their problems which in turn helps them to get well through psychological means?
James Randi: Any form of quackery can encourage the patient in his or her battle against illness.
James Randi: The big question here is, in my opinion, whether or not "feeling better" is what we are looking for,
James Randi: or recovery.
James Randi: Oh yes, of course. No amount of evidence will ever disabuse the true believer and, there is a lot of money in homeopathy.
SteveC: Do you believe acupuncture is quackry or real?
James Randi: Acupuncture is just a much older form of quackery. We have offered our million dollar prize..
James Randi: to the acupuncturists too. Where are they?
checkmate: Were you always a skeptic?
James Randi: Yes, because I've always been a thinking person. Skepticism is not a bad attitude at all.
James Randi: If we have more skeptics we would have more problems.
strumpet: Is there anything you believe in that you can not prove?
James Randi: Oh yes! I believ in the basic goodness of people but I can't prove that until I've met every
James Randi: person on Earth. I'm sceptical only about those things which appear unlikely to be true.
ioan: Do you agree it would a dull world without hope?
James Randi: I don't quite see the intent of your questions. Hope should be based upon evidence, in my
James Randi: opinion, and it should be evidence that is satisfactory to the task at hand.
JP: If we cannot prove something according to modern science then we label it as quackery. May be our science is not upto proving it yet?
James Randi: There are many things that science has not proven and perhaps will not ever be able to prove.
James Randi: Then again, designating something as quackery because it has not been proven, is not ridiculous.
blah: do you believe in life after death?
James Randi: No.
spoon_bender: are americans easier to scam than brits?
James Randi: Since I've never tried to scam either side of the ocean I really wouldn't know. However, from
James Randi: my experience I would expect that there is equal naivete on both sides of the Atlantic or Pacific.
Baz: Du you feel that there is a general increase in gullibility among the general public for this sort of thing?
James Randi: There has always been a great deal of naivete, and I think it is only easier to access information through the media and the internet.
merlin: Do you think there are still areas of science that we don't understand? Does your money cover explanations of such areas?
merlin: Do you think there are still areas of science that we don't understand? Does your money cover explanations of such areas?
James Randi: Yes, of course, or we would close all of the science glasses, fold our hands and go to sleep.
James Randi: Our prize is available to claims of pseudo-science and we have to be prepared to handle new developments in real science as well.
Paul_B: Does your innate skepticism not bias your investigations?
James Randi: Good question. No, we designed all of our tests in such a way that personal biaises or preferences cannot enter into the process.
James Randi: See our webpage for details. (You can find the link on www.bbc.co.uk/horizon)
_OliverHaskell: Would you personally drink a glass of homeopathic-strength viper poison?
James Randi: Yes, and I have done so in the past. We have used strychnine and arsenic in those tests.
James Randi: I also consumed sixty four times the prescribed dosage of homeopathic sleeping pills and didn't even feel drowsy.
James Randi: I did this before a meeting of the US congress - which if that doesn't put you to sleep, nothing will.
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.
James Randi: Recent experiments on homeopathy done in the United States have shown that when one certain
James Randi: person was actively involved in the experimentation, they were always positive.
James Randi: When that person was absent, that experiment showed no results. This is an interesting thing to think about.
James Randi: I am also curious about why Dr Ellis changed her mind about participating in the Horizon experiments.
Vista: If the scientific world at large accepted homeopathy, would you change your skeptism?
James Randi: Not necessarily.
James Randi: Us scientists make mistakes, too. Thus if very firm evidence, in repeatable double-blind experiments were produced, I would certainly accept them and
James Randi: I would put my million dollars up as well.
mikeuk: Do you think that more experiments need to be done to confirm the results in the programme?
James Randi: I would certainly encourage more experiments to be done so long as there were done with the same rigour as the Horizon tests.
James Randi: However, I believe that it would be difficult to have legitimate scientists agree to participate.
Webgnu: What are your views on the apparent positive effects of homeopathic remedies on animals?
James Randi: The problem with those experiments has always been that human beings make the decisions on whether or not the animals have benefitted from the treatment.
James Randi: If we were to see experiments done with animals in a double-blind fashion, and those proved to be positive, I would accept them as evidence of homeopathy's efficacy.
Time for a final word from James Randi.
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.
