The Strange Powers of the Placebo Effect

A look at the many strange effects of placebos.

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Recommended Links:
Ben Goldacre's book 'Bad Science' has an excellent chapter on placebos

The Wikipedia page on Placebos is pretty excellent too:

[mattwilliams]

"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he"

[MohannadGoesRawr]

When I was little, my mom would give me "medicine" (it was just candy in reality) for my headaches, and actually it did work. The concept is just fascinating.

[BurstofVerseProductions]

"the mind can heal most ills of man, but only for those who believe it can" - Roderic Reece

[kirstygray]

I had warts on my hand for about 18 years. More and more kept popping up and I had tried absolutely everything to get rid if them. One day I remembered my human bio teacher telling us about the placebo effect. He said in order for it to work, you have to truly believe in it. So I thought I'd give it a go. It didn't happen over night, but about a month later of constantly telling myself that they would go away, they did. Every single one. And there was around 30-40 of the little bastards.

[victorolivares]

The power of the mind if you Belive you can do it then you can

[trombone]

When you are inclined to speak, you have an internal state that feels somehow urgent, you find the words for this state as you speak, and relate to the person you want to inform. Placebo is proof of the opposite. A doctor speaks to you about what a pill does, you break down what he says logically and semantically in your brain and find a way to modulate that into your internal state in every fiber of your body. 2 directions. 1 verbal-biochemistry track.

[DrHenryDimaano]

@TheProfessorFunk
welcome. oh, and thanks for including the link for Bad Science. Ben Goldacre's observations on medical research are just top notch.

[ce.nz]

This is a excellent video. Very well done.
A lot of people are arguing about the buttons. I don't know about crosswalks, but I do know that the 'close door' button depends on the elevator. Sometimes it is a placebo, sometimes not.

[CANNIBoy]

If you watch this video once a day, you’ll never get poorly.

[soyourcar]

@danielgrantnewton Sorry for the delay, but you are very welcome! I'm glad I could help

[MrxstGrssmnstMttckstPhlNelThot]

Don't even mention the guy who almost OD'd on placebos? For real. I read somewhere (I don't presently remember where, but I think it was at least a semicredible source) that a guy took too many placebos and actually started experiencing the symptoms of a drug overdose until he was told by the doctors it was fake and he immediately recovered.
THAT'S pretty freakin' weird!

[jeremydavid]

Who is that guy's voice in the video!?!?! I feel like I hear him everywhere!!!

[UltraGalacticSuperFantastic]

It's kind of annoying when people take Psych 101 terms and try to apply it to everything...this goes to whoever said it's all confirmation bias. The placebo effect has real merit beyond just drugs, but you can't know that it was a placebo. The belief behind it is what fuels it, and because our beliefs form our thoughts, and actions, and habits, and beyond, it can become a very powerful effect. If you think you're going to feel better, it's likely your brain releases hormones to actually make you feel better. You're making yourself think more positively which has a real electro-chemical benefit to your body. Stress is like poison to the body. But you can't force yourself to feel this way, it has to be a genuine belief. Else it's straight up magic. Haha

[cinevidproductions]

@AgeMarkus He said at a busy intersection. The circuit ignores the button when the traffic is going to change anyway. The buttons work when an intersection won't change unless there's opposing traffic or a button push

[pyromachine]

Since when Youtube became my only source for info.

[jordanwademeier]

At the beginning it says placebo is "something with no known therapeutic value". However, after watching this video, it seems that everything is capable of having a therapeutic value.

[SeveralGhost]

I lost it when he said "shiny and shit"

[GamerFromStraya]

Where are your references, i am doing a major research project on the placebo effect as one of my senior classes, and this has crucial information that I am looking for, however I need to be 100% sure that everything is viable, and non-bias.

[dj_tika]

What I find even more interesting is a placebo can work even if you know it's a placebo. 🤯

[TheProfessorFunk]

@Tanikaze2 Yep. Particularly busy intersections and elevators will have them deactivated. You can press them all you want and it wont change the pattern of closing / opening / walk times. You can test for yourself. Just ride an elevator and count how long it takes for the doors to close when you do and you don't press it,