Mass Homoepathic Overdose on Parliament Hill

[Gisburne2000]

What do they put on the ingredients label for these things? Surely that is going to catch them out legally if someone subsequently tests it and what they say is in it is not in it (please parse that last bit responsibly). If I buy something and it says 'contains xyz', then it had better actually contain xyz. (If not, it's back to the alphabet soup shop for a refund)

[Aprilshowersss]

@Gisburne2000 the bottle that we took claims to be a remedy for "Intellectual fatigue". The ingredient listed is simply a chemical called Kalium Phosphoricum at a dilution of 30 c. So... basically id have to take about 4 universes worth of these tablets in order to get one molecule of the active ingredient. So it isnt necessarily a LIE, because if you understand anything about the dilution process, by reading the label you will understand that the active ingredient isnt in there.

[Gisburne2000]

@Aprilshowersss Not only are the remedies useless, they've come up with medical conditions for which we don't even need a cure! 'Intellectual Fatigue'?!! Wait, isn't that what you get when you try to explain for the thousandth time why this is all nonsense? And I still maintain that if they SAY it contains Kalium Phosphoricum, then that can be scientifically shown to be true or false. If it can't be detected they shouldn't be able to say it's in there.

[Aprilshowersss]

@Gisburne2000 lol... yeah.. i definitely agree that an ingredient should be detectable at least. Hat's donkey crap analogy is s good example.. I could contain just as much of that as whatever else they claim is in it. And yes "intellectual fatigue" was the most ridiculous one we could find. Thats why we got it. lol.

[Gisburne2000]

Wait a minute, a thought just occurred to me. Since it's supposedly more effective the more diluted it becomes, why don't people just buy one dose and mix it into a gallon of water? Then when you're down to a cup-full, mix THAT into another gallon of water for super-strength remedies! Do that for a year and one drop put in a river in Africa will cure all know diseases. But I expect such radical ideas will be suppressed by the water, er, homeopathy companies :o)

[AtheistInTheHat]

@Gisburne2000 You can't forget about the succession though. You can't JUST dilute it, you have to shake it up and down, left and right, and back and forth too...THAT is what makes the water *cough* remember *cough* what was in it. I really wish I was making that up...

[Gisburne2000]

@AtheistInTheHat Are electric whisks homeopathy-friendly? Failing that, I'm big on traditional methods - bucket + wooden spoon = FTW! What happens at homeopathic restaurants? Do they give you an empty plate and say 'don't worry, the plate remembers there used to be a steak on it'?

[AtheistInTheHat]

@Gisburne2000 No no...you can't STIR it. You have to SHAKE it. Why they think that matters, or even THEORETICALLY how that might make the water "remember" what they put into it, I have no idea...and neigther do they, because no one has ever offered an even remotely scientific mechanism for the effect they claim. But then...how could they, since it doesn't actually work. heh.

[Gisburne2000]

@AtheistInTheHat Cocktail shaker! Come come, this is no challenge at all to a man of science!

[AtheistInTheHat]

@Gisburne2000 That would work...or..well...you know what I mean.

[Gisburne2000]

@AtheistInTheHat Does this method for making things remember when you shake them also apply to children? Just for future reference, in case I need a legal defence... er, never mind.

[AtheistInTheHat]

@Gisburne2000 I don't know of any study that has tried that, but people ARE mostly water, so logically I can't see how it would be any different. Still won't work, but for all the same reasons :)

[Gisburne2000]

Homeopathy 'works' on the principle that the less concentrated the 'medicine' is, the more effective it becomes, so by taking more of it you'd be putting more in your system and thus making it less effective, rather than overdosing... er, yeah, I just read that and the 'reality' of homeopathy really is as stupid as I just sounded! Great to bring attention to this quackery - keep drinking your water!

[AtheistInTheHat]

@Gisburne2000 Seriously, no matter how you slice it, it's crazy. Trying to use reason to maximize the supposed effects can never work, because the supposed mechanism it is based on isn't rational. Example: Unless it's REALY purified, there are more molecules of donkey crap in any homeopathic "remedy" than active ingredient. But even if there isn't, that just means it's been diluted out even more than the active ingredient, which means it's MORE effective as donkey crap by their standards.

[holyprimate]

Woot! Good to see we're quick with the media! Photos will be going up soon :-)

[AtheistInTheHat]

@holyprimate Awesome! And yeah, now that I see how decent the videos from my phone can be, I'll probably be doing a LOT more CFI related bursts of on-the-spot vids and pics. Fun times!

[Aprilshowersss]

I didn't miss it! haha! Hurray for "ODing" on government property!

[AtheistInTheHat]

@Aprilshowersss Yay!

[kjlg74]

Had I still been in Ottawa, I'd have joined in :)

Good turnout. Are you all wearing matching toques?

[AtheistInTheHat]

@kjlg74 A bunch of us were, yeah. They have the #ten23 logo on them, with "Homoepathy. There's nothing in it."

[kjlg74]

@AtheistInTheHat Excellent :)

[MicroVlogging]

Damn I *AM* missing it! That phone of yours gets pretty good video.

(This is JVo135 btw from my new channel, in case you were confused :)

[AtheistInTheHat]

@MicroVlogging Was a lot of fun! And CTV showed up, so there will probably be a local news blurb about it at some point. Good times!

[MicroVlogging]

@AtheistInTheHat Cool, sounds awesome!

[timothypilgrim]

@AtheistInTheHat There's a video posted on YouTube of the CTV broadcast. Only mentioned CFI, not OS.

[AtheistInTheHat]

@timothypilgrim Yeah I know. I guess CTV figured the CFI, being an international organization, was what they should mention, ignoring the Ottawa Skeptics (and a few other people that showed up seemingly at random, which was kinda cool). The CTV blurb (which is also found on my channel, not sure if that's the version you meant or not), doesn't even mention the 10:23 Challenge, which was the whole point of having the event yesterday, and was mentioned on ALL OF OUR HATS. Local news fail.