The Science behind "Leap of Faith"

[DDV 36]

I know, Leap of Faith is pretty old, but I thought it would be pretty interesting to talk about.

 

After watching Leap of Faith, I wondered why Granny Smith could swim and dive and do all that jazz despite the elixir being nothing but a hoax. I then remembered this phenomenon in science called the placebo effect.

 

What is the placebo effect? According to Wikipedia, it is when a patient perceives that he/she has gotten better since taking a certain drug. The thing is, the drug does nothing. This is what I saw during the episode: Granny Smith has confidence to swim again, but the elixir's nothing but apple juice.

 

So, what do you guys think about it? If you want to read more about the placebo effect, here are some links:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo

WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect

[Celestial Wish 349]

I know, Leap of Faith is pretty old, but I thought it would be pretty interesting to talk about.

 

After watching Leap of Faith, I wondered why Granny Smith could swim and dive and do all that jazz despite the elixir being nothing but a hoax. I then remembered this phenomenon in science called the placebo effect.

 

What is the placebo effect? According to Wikipedia, it is when a patient perceives that he/she has gotten better since taking a certain drug. The thing is, the drug does nothing. This is what I saw during the episode: Granny Smith has confidence to swim again, but the elixir's nothing but apple juice.

 

So, what do you guys think about it? If you want to read more about the placebo effect, here are some links:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo

WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect

 

 

Been watching House a lot... and gotta say. Dat science and psychology can be confused for one another easily XD

[SwigglySwiggly 358]

What is the placebo effect? According to Wikipedia, it is when a patient perceives that he/she has gotten better since taking a certain drug. The thing is, the drug does nothing.

 

I'd like to also state that drugs are not required.

Studies have shown patients who were Told that they were going to get better, ended up better.

The phenomenon still needs more research though, the ability to heal at will is something we need to perfect.  

Edited April 22, 2014 by SwigglySwiggly

[DDV 36]

 

 

Dat science and psychology can be confused for one another easily XD

Happens waaay too often to me :/

 

I'd like to also state that drugs are not required.

Studies have shown patients who were Told that they were going to get better, ended up better.

The phenomenon still needs more research though, the ability to heal at will is something we need to perfect.  

Hmm. I'm going to read up on this.

 

I've also watched this experiment where teens were given non-alcoholic beverages, but the conductors said they were alcohol. Boom-they acted like they were drunk, but they were not at all intoxicated. Yeah, science does all this crazy stuff.

[ShadOBabe 19,028]

Yep that's how it works.

Granny always had the ability to do all those things. He struggles were in her own mind. Her fear of being hurt and the association of a precious injury to water, PLUS the likely lost confidence in herself as someone who is aging, all added up to a psychological barrier.

 

Her belief that the tonic would help her gave her the confidence to try getting in the water again, and when it didn't hurt her, she believed it was the tonic that "cured" her, instead of it just encouraging her to try swimming again.