Lin sent me a copy of the WebRN-Macular-Degeneration News “article” (read advertisement) for Saffron 20/20. I did not know whether to laugh or to scream.
Oh, they were very careful. Nowhere in there did they say “cure”. Nowhere did they say “proven”. They did not even get a toe across the line and use the word “treatment”. All they did was ask why we should not listen to “regular people” just like me and you. Very clever.
I enjoy seeing clever manipulation. The art of the con is time-honored in America and Great Britain and probably a couple of thousand other places. P.T. Barnum opened a museum that was so popular people would come and stay all day. There was no room for any more paying customers.
Barnum solved the problem by putting up a sign saying something like “This way to the amazing egress!” It was only when they were standing on the sidewalk outside the building that they figured out egress is another word for exit! People just followed along.
The word shill is thought to come from the British word shillaber. A shill is a plant. He is the “lame” guy at the medicine show who ends up dancing the jig. He amazes people into buying the snake oil potion.
In other words, never trust testimonials. You just might end up going to see the egress!
That said, I use turmeric every day. Someone told me it would help with my rotator cuff tendonitis and I decided it couldn’t hurt and it just might help. I also started using a muscle rub and tying my arm to my side when I slept. The better not to sleep with it above my head, my dear. Something worked. I have no clue which change it was, but it worked.
Remember how I parrot my father and say do as I say, not as I do? This is another instance of that. I have gone about this turmeric thing totally WRONG. The turmeric people may have me buying something worthless because a yoga acquaintance said it works.
Although I trust the girl who told me about turmeric, she may have sent me to see the egress.
What should I have done? How to Properly Self-Experiment with Supplement, Herbs and Functional Foods is an article outlining how it is done.
First of all, the author suggests you do your research. Is there evidence this stuff may work? In my case, yes, turmeric is a known anti-inflammatory. But after that, I went off the rails.
I didn’t change one thing at a time. I changed three! Wrong! I never researched dosage. Two in the morning and two in the evening seemed right. I also never kept track of my progress. No pre- or post-testing. I failed scientific method 101.
Testimonials, anecdotal evidence, are not “bad”, but they are not the complete truth either. At best, they are not much more than a hint of what might be true. At worst, they are a purposeful con.
If you want – and it will not cost you much in time, money, and perhaps even more importantly, in misplaced faith – go ahead and try things “real people” endorse. But do it wisely. Follow the guidelines in the article, not the guy who tells you the egress is amazing.
Written September 30th, 2018