Mr_Grue wrote:In my albeit limited experience I have mainly encountered alternative therapist doctors who have either been struck off as MDs or simply adopt the title of "doctor", it not being a protected term. Anyone can call themselves a doctor and get away with it (including the entirety of the chiropractic profession, who had the balls and nounce to refer to their qualification as a "doctor of chiropractic". And Jonathan Royle). Luckily over here if they try and advertise anything remotely connected to treatment of illnesses or ailments and refer to themselves as a doctor they will feel the full force of the ASA on them. For all the good that does.
The remaining genuine MDs who practice alternative medicine, I suspect, are those that wish to prescribe placebos but are hampered in doing so for medical ethics reasons - that whole "risk / benefit" thing that they're supposed to discuss with their regular patients.
Actually, over here the AMA will hang you if you call yourself a Medical Doctor and get caught "practicing" said trade... it is a federal offense that has some serious consequences.
All in all, what you say here is but another excuse or way of explaining things away, one of the more typical maneuvers of the cynic's society.
As to the charge that I do not provide "proof"... I'm not a librarian that is going to run out and find all the cross referencing material, Nor and am I as anal as some tend to be when it comes to having list upon list of "I challenge you to doubt" type"fact lists" as we seen thrown about continuously in threads of this nature.
When I was working with Marketing groups as well as Market Research companies I learned quickly what statistics were all about and how fast and easy it is to deliver the "right" data to any and all clients participating in a given product test. I can assure you that the whole Scientific research arena is the same load of stuff in that you can pile up all the B.S. researchers (as in B.S. degrees or greater... take it as you will, along side the term P.HD)you wish just as someone taking an opposing view can do. It is a get nowhere debate, not only have I pointed this out at least three times now, in hope of closing this thread in some facsimile of agreement and respect to one another, but it has been said EVERY STINK'N TIME THIS SORT OF DIATRIBE COMES AROUND.
No one is ever going to change my point of view on the things I know based on experience, not just the reading of a book or two or going to this or that gathering where "like minded" folks can be found. No one is going to change the views of those that want to lean on such articles and resources rather than step into the real world and weigh just how such things are viewed and experienced by the majority of the world population. But that's the big rub, as a skeptic I do walk into those circles where I seek a better sense of understanding on things. I don't count on one sided opinion or even my own assumptions until I have taken a fair and reasonable look from the middle of things.
Loathe me all you wish but I don't think there's one amongst you that doubts that I know more than just a little bit about magic and the psychology used in its presentation both, in performance and as a con artist. So maybe you might want to stop laughing as hard as you have been until you can match my actions and knowledge around such things...
... and yes, that's quite an arrogant comment and deliberately so for what should be obvious reasons to anyone that's actually read my posts on this and similar issues...
ENOUGH!
