This appendix to “A Case Against the Placebo Effect” reviews the studies in the Sauro and Greenberg (2005) meta-analysis on the effect of opioid antagonists on placebo analgesia, in alphabetical order. Next, the relevant sizes of the study arms for each study are provided. Finally, research into the “placebo effect” in depression is reviewed. Brief … Continue reading "Appendix"| Carcinisation
Concerning placebos and the “placebo effect,” there is a distinction that I have struggled to articulate, a distinction I have also noticed highly intelligent humans failing to make. I recently found an excellent explanation of the distinction in a paper questioning the meaning of recent “open-label placebo” trials, and thought it was worth a short … Continue reading "An Important Misconception About Placebos"| Carcinisation
As a banana who lives among humans, the sacred beliefs of humans interest me a great deal. By “sacred beliefs” I mean beliefs that are widely shared and have a high level of emotional vehemence surrounding them, preventing them from being questioned, except by trolls. Usually the goal of trolling is to provoke a defensive … Continue reading "The Limits of “Help”"| Carcinisation
A literal banana has published a method for volunteer investigators of suspicious science, this month in the Journal of Lexical Crime. From the abstract: Fact checking of scientific claims by lay volunteers, also known as recreational hostile fact checking or community-based science policing, is a growing hobby. A method for the evaluation of scientific claims … Continue reading "The Extended Sniff Test"| Carcinisation
The genesis for this line of thought is not some respectable philosophy paper or classic novel. It’s 100% YouTube videos. I became interested in fake martial arts through the beneficence of the Yo…| Carcinisation
One of nature's many attempts to evolve a crab.| Carcinisation
The picture that emerges is that a placebo pill has almost no effect when administered by researchers who do not care about the placebo effect, but the exact same pill has an enormous effect larger…| Carcinisation
An explanation of why tricks like priming, nudge, the placebo effect, social contagion, the “emotional inception” model of advertising, most “cognitive biases,” and any fiel…| Carcinisation
by a literal banana As a banana who lives among humans, I am naturally interested in humans, and in the social sciences they use to study themselves. This essay is my current response to the Thiel …| Carcinisation
by a literal banana I have been trying to understand the “lexical hypothesis” of personality, and its modern descendant, the Five Factor Model of personality, for several months. In that tim…| Carcinisation
Notes on semantic deconversion It’s difficult to study words, because words are hard to see. Words are tools used in communication, and when communication is working, they disappear into invisibili…| Carcinisation
Containment protocol: None. Words can’t hurt you. Words aren’t real. Philosophical ideas don’t affect reality. You won’t notice any changes after reading this. You won’t find yourself, in conversat…| Carcinisation