[pyre]

With respect to psychedelics, they actually do affect your brain. You'd be hard-pressed to tease apart what portion of the outcome was unaffected by the drug when claiming that the results were all due to the Placebo Effect.

[lutusp]

That's true, but there's no chance to have a control group. No one having an acid trip can possibly compare his subjective experience to someone who's taken a sugar pill. And without control groups and other strict controls, human studies are next to useless.

The above means that the Placebo Effect cannot be realistically guarded against or dismissed.

[pyre]

> The above means that the Placebo Effect cannot be realistically guarded against or dismissed.

This is a little different than the parent's statement (which I was responding to):

> I tend to view them mostly as analogous to Dumbo's magic feather.

[rthomas6]

To be fair, so does lifelong religious devotion.