Placebo Paradoxes [1]

[2]Tracy Kolenchuk, Guest
Waking Times [3]

When you research medicines, alternative medicines, even medical treatments that do not involve a physical substance, you will see reference to the “placebo effect.” Statements like:

X is no better than a placebo.
Y is probably just a “placebo effect“.
Treatment X is just a placebo.
Medicine X failed to beat a placebo in controlled clinical studies.

What is a placebo? What is a placebo effect? Are they real, fake, or something else? Is the placebo effect magic? No, but placebo effects are a paradox. Merriam Webster defines placebo effect thus:

“… improvement in the condition o...