The birth of superstition...
Post Hoc Fallacy
The post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this therefore because of this) fallacy is based upon the mistaken notion that simply because one thing happens after another, the first event was a cause of the second event. Post hoc reasoning is the basis for many superstitions and erroneous beliefs.
http://skepdic.com/posthoc.html
Coincidence or ????? You be the judge!
As some of you may recall, I fearlessly swallowed three homeopathic remedies on Friday, one of which was for "bladder irritation."
This weekend I had to seek emergency treatment for passage of a kidney stone. How do you think that makes my bladder feel?
To me, this is a good example of the way people become superstitious believers in the paranormal, pseudo-scientific and supernatural.
The neighbor from whom I borrowed the homeopathic remedies is convinced my medical emergeny was the result of taking the bladder irritation pill when I did not, in fact, have bladder irritation.
When I was a child, and all the way through my teen years, I was susceptible to post hoc reasoning. If I had not been actively taught to recognize fallacious reasoning, then I, too, would probably be thinking the sugar pills had done me in.
The facts of the matter are that I began experiencing some sharp kidney thumps on Wednesday, several days prior to my fearless gulping. The pills and liquid I swallowed on Friday were inert substances, except for the lactose and alcohol base.
The medical evidence indicates that I was going to experience a kidney stone episode, no matter what. This was not a new experience for me. Imaging tests a while back showed I still had a speck of sand in the interior of my left kidney. The medical decision was made to let it be. Unforturnately, a tiny little speck of sand feels like the Rock of Gibraltar when it makes its exit.
There is a part of me that wishes that I could go to the Vitamin Shoppe and buy an $8 bottle of homeopathic remedy that would fix me right up. Treating that kidney has cost thousands of dollars, not all of which is covered by insurance.
I do not blame people for wishing and desperately hoping that homeopathy will help them. In the USA, the cost of medical treatment and insurance is staggering. According to recent news reports 47 million Americans went without medical insurance during all or part of the last two years.
My personal goal is to help actively teach critical thinking skills to folks in my community who have been let down by our educational system. I also work as a community activist to help people receive proper medical care.
More and more M.D.s in this community refuse to see patients who cannot put down cash on the barrelhead. A single 15 minute doctor's appointment may cost more than an entire day's wages for a service worker who does not have medical insurance. In my experience, Europeans and well-insured Americans have trouble understanding the desperation of the uninsured and under-insured low-wage worker in the USA.
The lack of affordable access to basic medical care is one of the factors that drives some people to seek less expensive pseudo-scientific and quack options. I'm working in my community to change that, even if it's only one person at a time.
Right now ... I need a few days to recover. I would still drink a quart of water-based homeopathic remedy without fear. The doctors wants me to drink more water than usual, so I would actually be following my westernized doctor's orders.
Gayle
moment. Yep, it was like that with me too, and the same for plenty others here, according to separate threads on homeopathy.
