Conclusion
You may have noticed two numbers next to each subtitle throughout this book. The first number is a safety score. The treatments are given a rating on a scale of one to five with five being the safest. The second number is a rating of potency as an NPI with five being the most potent.
For example, acupuncture scores a five in terms of potency as an NPI but it only rates a three for safety. On the other hand, sham acupuncture with a telescopic needle would be a (5/5).
I would not recommend any form of placebo medicine that rates less than a four on either scale.
Cost is also a factor but I would like to see an across the board uniform cost schedule for all NPIs. It does not matter whether you are getting a Bach nosode or a complete course of magnetic therapy, the cost should be the same.
I would also like to back track a little and apologize to those practitioners of totally fake treatments who are not so stupid. It turns out that a number of individuals get trained in either acupuncture or Chiropractic care and subsequently don’t fully buy into all its teachings.
These individuals will focus on things that they can reasonably do such as pain management and relaxation with acupuncture or physical therapy for neck and back injuries with Chiropractic. They steer away from false diagnostic tools and they don’t make false claims or attempt to cure every ailment.
I have learned two lessons in life:
(1). Everyone is an idiot.
(2). Not everyone is an idiot.
For example, the placebo medicine industry in this country is enormous but there are a number of individuals who will use it and, yet, still use regular medicine. Just because my friend David is going to buy some Zicam® today does not mean that he won’t go to his internist if he coughs up some blood. Even though most people are stupid, they are usually not that stupid.
You will see a lot of crazy things out there and if you surf the net you will be amazed. It will soon seem like everyone is losing their minds. There are plenty of individuals who fully buy into all the placebo stuff but most folks simply do not.
I have determined that having a ridiculous belief is a ubiquitous human characteristic. Everyone believes something that is clearly not true. I’m not just talking about religious beliefs but little things you don’t realize are false.
For example, I used to believe that the word SHIT was an acronym that stood for Ship High In Transit. Someone once told this to me and it sounded reasonable. I believed it for a long time. When the truth was pointed out to me I realized that I had been gullible and I changed my thinking.
As you read this book and find things you may have once believed and now see the reality, what is your reaction? Do you continue to believe your original belief or are you able to adjust your thinking and believe something new?
It does not matter if you believe something that isn’t true. What matters is whether or not you have the ability to evaluate things. In other words, are you able to figure out what is likely to be true and what is likely to be untrue?
If you adopt a pre-set notion about how the universe is, then you will have greater difficulty evaluating new things.
If you are rigid and inflexible in your thinking, then you will have greater difficulty evaluating new things.
If you have a strong desire to always be correct, then you will have greater difficulty evaluating new things.
If you don’t care what is real and what is fantasy, then you will have greater difficulty evaluating new things.
If change of any kind makes you extremely uncomfortable, then you will have greater difficulty evaluating new things.
If you have a strong desire to follow the herd, then you will have greater difficulty evaluating new things.
I don’t care if you can’t evaluate new things. Most people can’t. I will still love you and I will still care about you and you can play on my softball team. However, I probably don’t want to invite you over to my house for dinner.
Yes, I dine alone on most evenings.
Dr. Levy does speaking engagements to both professional and non-professional groups on a sliding scale. Read his bio and contact him at: Morgan L. Levy, MD
Register to receive notification of new content.