SSS(12of14) - The Placebo Effect and Psychic Surgery

[MattyJThomas]

brian ur a legend mate! please come to australia and do a lecture some time in the course of your life. we need more people like you to educate us beyond this world of bullshit! =D

[TheSnuzzle]

David was so ticklish! xD

[MrGabs22]

pls pls pls go to philippines

[chrissanne14344]

My dad have several books by Jaime Licauco on UFos, ghosts and of course, PSYCHIC SURGERY. Jun Labo, Tony Agpaoa, Eleuterio Terte- fcuking assholes. Im a Filipino, and I fcuking hate them. Worst is, Jaime Licauco is the forerunner of paranormal scams, and serves as the unofficial lobbyist of the psychic bullshit in the Philippines.

[wrongserver]

Where in Arkansas was this filmed? I live in Texarkana Area.

[peaceprophecy]

If you do a little more research you'll find out a lot more about the placebo effect and realise that it more powerful than simple conditioning. I read a book called 'quantum health' by depak choprah (google him if you don't know him) that is full of case studies of placebo effects and other similar healing techniques. I feel sorry for people that believe whole heartedly that they know the answers. they will always find evidence to support what you believe and never look at the alternative.

[kamikazov]

The placebo studies are mind-blowing. I have always wondered, can there be such a thing as a (dis)placebo effect? For years they've printed horrible health warnings on tobacco. What if this actually increased the number of deaths?

I know you should take into account the people who stopped smoking due to them although its probably rather low.

[edcrypt]

@kamikazov It's sometimes called "nocebo", but it is the same thing as placebo, just not resuting in a positive effecr.

[mahfood1990]

@kamikazov

Yeah, it's the nocebo effect. And you actually got a point here, did somebody do a research on it, the smoking thing I mean?

[alfproperjohn]

@kamikazov The placebo effect only really applies for small things, "symptoms of life" like headaches, joint pains and perhaps general feeling of wellbeing. It'll never work for something like cancer, so you won't get people being cured of cancer or aids with sugar pills. conversely, you won't get people getting cancer because of "sugar pills" (in this case the warning labels). But it's an interesting point for more mundane maladies.

[kamikazov]

@alfproperjohn So you don't think that being bombarded with pictures of disfigured lungs and being told 'SMOKING KILLS, SMOKING KILLS' every single day of your life has ANY effect whatsoever on the incidence of illness? If a dog being injected with adrenaline responds in the opposite manner it should, why shouldn't the same principle apply to us?

[alfproperjohn]

@kamikazov The fact that, under certain conditions, adrenaline injection into dogs caused bronchoconstriction rather than expected bronchodilation isn't exactly related to the negative placebo (nocebo) effect. To conclude that, therefore, disease can be induced by placebo-like suggestion would be a non-sequitur.

[alfproperjohn]

@kamikazov The placebo and nocebo effects only work for subjective ailments, where the person feels better, but really isn't. Sugar pills (or warning labels) don't have a pathophysiological pathway to cure/cause serious, non-subjective conditions (like cancer, compared to things like fatigue or pain), so a warning label has no means to cause cancer in a person. So yeah, I don't think that the smoking kills message is killing people, that seems absurd to me.

[bahnspl]

Hmmm. Honestly with things like cancer I am not sure about. But ! they have cured ulcers with placebo effect. Actually have taken pictures of stomachs before and after the placebo effect and there was a good percent of people that didn't have ulcers anymore...They suspect our mind controls our body much more than once speculated

[alfproperjohn]

@bahnspl googled that and found it (first hit for ulcer placebo lol)

and you're right that's pretty fucking amazing. But until I see evidence for cancer (and I did look) that's just a little too far out :p

[cacaolover1]

@kamikazov I totally agree!

[cacaolover1]

@alfproperjohn how do you know this? There was placebo chemotherapy done with fake radiation and several people actually lost their hair! There have been mulitple personalities who when they think they are one person have diabetes and when another have nothin wrong with them!

[alfproperjohn]

@cacaolover1 go on, cite your sources.

[betterthanbarker]

They did the psychic surgery at the end of man on the moon:)

[masterbelg]

this guy is james randi's copycat!

[AmethystEyes]

they all work together to stop these charlatans

[Nashy119]

I'd be interested in finding out how much the placebo effects affects drugs and if there is an effective way to mimic the placebo effect by knowing that's in your mind.

[jnm2008]

Brian,

Thank you immensely for the work you do, the world could use more people like yourself to give us both laughs and a reality check every once in a while. love scam school and would love to see you in Madison some time.

[gschjetne]

It's scary how quackery seems to be on the rise nowadays. I've confronted a few myself, but they are hard to get rid of.

[DLPBurke]

humans are thick on the whole. That is how such crap survives

[gschjetne]

But where did we go wrong?

Is it the schools, that failed to teach critical thinking? The church, who actively discourages critical thinking? Or the parents who are just as easily deceived?

Probably a combination of these.

[DLPBurke]

It is the social structure. The church isn't to blame because we had great minds and an intelligent law abiding society when people were god fearing.

It is the lack of respect and the leftist politically correct atmosphere but most of all its the dumbed down media which is only after profit.

[gschjetne]

I agree about the media. It's very rare to find good investigative journalism in commercial media today. But is it a symptom, or is it a cause? Commercial media is influenced by advertisers, who are in turn influenced by how much bullshit they can get away with.

[gschjetne]

As for left vs. right wing, I actually think centrists are on average the least gullible, simply because the extremes always attract people who are likely to jump on bandwagons, and it's the extremes that are most likely to use indoctrination techniques. Mind you, there is a big jump from mainstream right-wing politics and rabid nationalism. Also keep in mind that right and left wings are used in different contexts in different countries.

[DLPBurke]

I would say it is a cause and a symptom in a vicious circle ;)

[Aaberg123]

Hahahahaha. We've never had a more peaceful society than the one we have now.

Add to that, that some of the most atheistic (the Scandinavian) countries are also the most peaceful and non-criminal.

You are a dumb, brainless tool DLP. You wrong on all levels.

[squiggly9]

or you're looking in the wrong places

you're offering rhetorical questions as answers, dude. for someone who believes himself to be a critical thinker (i assume), you dont offer much leeway for solutions

[gschjetne]

What do you mean?

[squiggly9]

You wrote: "But where did we go wrong?

Is it the schools, that failed to teach critical thinking? The church, who actively discourages critical thinking? Or the parents who are just as easily deceived?"

what if it isn't from any of those places. you offer answers in the form of rhetorical questions, and that's it. It's very boxed in.

[gschjetne]

I never said those are the only options. I just posted them here because I wanted to get someone else's opinion as well. Because the issue is obviously not that simple.

Where do you think gullibility comes from?

[squiggly9]

well yeah, i figured. its a bit deceiving though

personally, i blame modern media (internet, television, etc.). I'm not saying all media is the devil or anything. it just bothers me how everyone seems to have a "source" when really it was very likely one insubstantial news article, biased broadcast, falsely based documentary, or, worst of all, some unknown website

[gschjetne]

One thing that happened in Norway a few years back was that a high school history textbook made a comparison between nazi Quisling and socialist hero Gerhardsen, and their respective forms of government. This was a major controversy. The students were outraged, a spokesperson said that "We're busy with our exams, we don't have time for critical thinking. Our textbooks must be 100% truthful".

[squiggly9]

wow... I see what you mean

[nbenjam2]

All of the above!

[tonyrueb]

where are the last 2 videos?

[empire666]

if i know Brian as well as i think i do im guessing that he put that there to scam or fool every one to see the out come

a lot of his stuff relates to psychology really well especially every study he presents

so this could also be a study

or i could be completely wrong =P

[deathcreator]

His hair is so spikey.

[borrofburi]

Of all the sections, this is actually the most interesting in my opinion. I like them all, but this one shines above the rest.

[watchmaker37]

It's like in Space Jam when all the characters drank "Michael's Secret Stuff" to be great basketball players, but it was really water.

Or maybe it was homeopathic...

;)

[Catherine8here]

this is realy interesting

[zmyr88]

WE should Research the placebo effect. and its twin sister, nocebo effect. HEY mind over matter, is always discussed by these people. they might actually have something. if you can trick the body into doing something, GO FOR IT!!! if its really easing your problem, (less pain) go with it!

[RuudJH]

Kicking in some open doors.

[thelumberjackjohn]

i wonder how much he charges for these presentations that coudld be a scam scaming dumb people by teaching them how not to get scamed

[borrofburi]

Either you've lived a sheltered life being kept from the surprising stupidity of people, or you missed the point. I'm inclined to think the latter, because despite being a well educated and intelligent cynical skeptic, one or two of the things in this presentation still tricked me, even after I knew there was going to be a trick, even as I was looking for the trick, I still fell for one or two of the interactive ones.

[94kwaki]

i think the placeblo eeffect is because your mind tricks you into thinking you are better like i don't remember where i learned it but it was that if you think you feel better than you will normally feel better

[spanishlake]

He didn't "rip off" Randi. He's worked with Randi and the other writers at Skeptic magazine.

[NicNasty1981]

its great that you have him exposing all these scams but i think its more shocking that he has to do this, ive never heard of half of this shit and its shocking that people would believe any of it. at the start on part 2, 52% believing in spiritualism? thats just wierd!

[thegoonist]

where's 13 and 14?

[cocteautwins111]

Great presentation.

Does anyone know what the track is at the end? It sounds like a trip hop version of Spooky or something. I'd love to know what it is.

[Videogamewalkthrough]

this is great...very interesting thanks for posting

[glasmania1111]

who are you? the body or the spirit?

[jdsilver86]

did he rip off randi or vice versa

[smaakjeks]

"did he rip off randi or vice versa"

Randi was doing this in the 70's.

[edjunior]

People have been doing this for quite a long time, lecture and exposing the scam is what Randi popularized, it is nice to see others walking in his footsteps and promoting skepticism.

[smaakjeks]

Yep, it sure is!

[vulcanus30]

@edjunior James Randi (visited Estonia 12-13 june2010) said that the placebo effect only makes you feel better on a psychological level, but does not cure you. I think that's rubbish.

[catspaw7]

A spiky headed smart guy!

[Kalcite]

His head is spiky

[silentDMX]

this is intresting damn...

[SouthernBelleGen]

btw, where is 11? and 9?

[SouthernBelleGen]

These are so interesting! thanks for posting!