Zero Percent - 0%

[El Greco]

Of course, all this won't convince true believers. And I've discovered that the worst of the worst true believers were usually the ones who shouldn't be, e.g. nurses working in our clinical pharmacology department , pharmacists , and quite a bunch of medical secretaries who then leave their job in order to open their own "clinic" (obviously believing medical knowledge can be acquired by osmosis at the contact of physicians ...) ...

Here all homeopathic doctors are required to be legitimate doctors as well. AFAIK many among them are true believers and they're not in it just for the money. So you can see that all those years of education were in vain...

 

[ChrisC]

One of the problems with explaining why homeopathic remedies are junk is the fact that it's such a stupid concept in the first place that many people don't take you seriously when you tell them "it's like a drop in a swimming pool". It sounds like an exaggerated example to make your point (and being the 'skeptic', of course you'd hate it.). "No way! How could it even be legal to sell something like that?". Often it just doesn't click because it sounds so ridiculous. This seems especially true for people who think it works, but are unaware of the 'theory' behind it, which are the majority that I talk to.

 

[Elizabeth I]

There goes my hope for humanity.

If it makes you feel any better, I used to use homeopathics, but when I found out about the dilution factor (just didn't know it before), I quit.

 

[clarsct]

I did get to speak to some folks about homeopathy and had them agreeing with me by the end of it. But they started neutral.

Go search for Kumar thread and MAS threads here if you're looking for a headache involving homeopathy.

 

[ChristineR]

I dunno, there are a lot of people who don't have the slightest idea how homeopathy is supposed to work and often mistake it for some kind of "natural medicine". In my experience, explaining the ridiculous concepts of dilution and succussion to these people is usually enough to convince them that homeopathy is BS. Of course the 0% argument isn't going to convince the nutters who believe in water memory etc., but debating them is like debating religious fundamentalists. Hopeless and frustrating IMO.

All sorts of herbal nostrums are now being labeled "homeopathic" like 1X homeopathic alfalfa tonic. (Alfalfa tonic contains some vitamins and was a cheap and popular supplement once upon a time. It still is popular in poor countries.) Then there's the absurd claim that homeopathic remedies "support" your body's own disease control mechanism, which sounds enough like vitamins to impress people.

And of course many herbal drugs are sold with meaningless phrases like "supports the immune system" when in fact what they really are is poorly tested drugs from natural sources.

 

[SwissSkeptic]

All sorts of herbal nostrums are now being labeled "homeopathic" like 1X homeopathic alfalfa tonic. (Alfalfa tonic contains some vitamins and was a cheap and popular supplement once upon a time. It still is popular in poor countries.)

Thank you, I wasn't aware of that.

If it makes you feel any better, I used to use homeopathics, but when I found out about the dilution factor (just didn't know it before), I quit.

Yes, it does make me feel better.