Was Albert Einstein a Proponent of Alternative Medicine....



K

[email protected]

Guest
in particular, Homeopathy??

The reason I ask this is that I notice on so many homeopathic internet
sites that his name & his theories are invoked as proof of the "life
force" (or "quantum something or other"), which two words seem to be
used frequently in homeopathy, along with a few other alternative
medicine. Search Einstein+homeopathy & you'll see what I mean.

Although I never read any of Dr. Einstein's biographies (he had an
interesting personal life), I can't find any indication he had an
interest or belief in homeopathy even though he came from Germany &
would have been certainly aware of it. I would think if it had been in
line with his physics theories, he would have made use of it.

So is another case of a "dead celebrity" ripoff?
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> in particular, Homeopathy??
>
> The reason I ask this is that I notice on so many homeopathic internet
> sites that his name & his theories are invoked as proof of the "life
> force" (or "quantum something or other"), which two words seem to be
> used frequently in homeopathy, along with a few other alternative
> medicine. Search Einstein+homeopathy & you'll see what I mean.
>
> Although I never read any of Dr. Einstein's biographies (he had an
> interesting personal life), I can't find any indication he had an
> interest or belief in homeopathy even though he came from Germany &
> would have been certainly aware of it. I would think if it had been in
> line with his physics theories, he would have made use of it.
>
> So is another case of a "dead celebrity" ripoff?

Yep. Pseudoscience at its worst. By abusing difficult to understand theories
like quantum physics or chaos theory (another which is frequently abused to
serve altie purposes) its easy to overwhelm patients. Most patients aren't
capable of seeing through the fallacies, half-truths and outright lies
(simply because they don't know the theories involved) and can be easily
lured into using that particular modality. Through in some famous names,
like Einstein, and it'll sound right even if it is BS.

--

Robert Bronsing

Can't you see?
It all makes perfect sense,
expressed in dollars and cents, pounds, shillings and pence

(R. Waters)
 
In article <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]> wrote:
>in particular, Homeopathy??
>
>The reason I ask this is that I notice on so many homeopathic internet
>sites that his name & his theories are invoked as proof of the "life
>force" (or "quantum something or other"), which two words seem to be
>used frequently in homeopathy, along with a few other alternative
>medicine. Search Einstein+homeopathy & you'll see what I mean.
>
>Although I never read any of Dr. Einstein's biographies (he had an
>interesting personal life), I can't find any indication he had an
>interest or belief in homeopathy even though he came from Germany &
>would have been certainly aware of it. I would think if it had been in
>line with his physics theories, he would have made use of it.
>
>So is another case of a "dead celebrity" ripoff?

I think so. But even if it's not, it doesn't matter that much.
Einstein was a physicist, not a doctor (even if they did name a
college of medicine after him). Whether he was in favor of alt
treatments is of no great significance -- it's like "Dr" Cee quoting
Edison.

-- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net
These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct.
"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants
were standing on my shoulders." (Hal Abelson, MIT)
 
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (David Wright) wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >in particular, Homeopathy??
> >
> >The reason I ask this is that I notice on so many homeopathic internet
> >sites that his name & his theories are invoked as proof of the "life
> >force" (or "quantum something or other"), which two words seem to be
> >used frequently in homeopathy, along with a few other alternative
> >medicine. Search Einstein+homeopathy & you'll see what I mean.
> >
> >Although I never read any of Dr. Einstein's biographies (he had an
> >interesting personal life), I can't find any indication he had an
> >interest or belief in homeopathy even though he came from Germany &
> >would have been certainly aware of it. I would think if it had been in
> >line with his physics theories, he would have made use of it.
> >
> >So is another case of a "dead celebrity" ripoff?
>
> I think so. But even if it's not, it doesn't matter that much.
> Einstein was a physicist, not a doctor (even if they did name a
> college of medicine after him). Whether he was in favor of alt
> treatments is of no great significance -- it's like "Dr" Cee quoting
> Edison.

Indeed. It's like Linus Pauling becoming an adherent of alt-med and
megadoses of vitamin C in the latter part of his life. He was defintely
a brilliant chemist who richly deserved his Nobel Prize in Chemistry for
his work on the nature of the chemical bond, but unfortnately his
understanding of medicine and biochemistry was definitely suspect.
Sadly, the alties who invoke his name all the time frequently point to
his Nobel Prize, as if saying, "Look, he won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
He must know what he is talking about!" Unfortunately, expertise in one
area of science does not necessarily translate into other areas.

--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
....
>
> Although I never read any of Dr. Einstein's biographies (he had an
> interesting personal life), ...

You should... but be sure to gather up a more recent biography, one that
includes the Princeton papers that were not allowed to see the light of day
until both loyal assistents died. Because of them, not even his son could
write truthfully about him. That said... there are still folks who buy into
the myth generated around him.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Orac <[email protected]> wrote:
>In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (David Wright) wrote:
>
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >in particular, Homeopathy??
>> >
>> >The reason I ask this is that I notice on so many homeopathic internet
>> >sites that his name & his theories are invoked as proof of the "life
>> >force" (or "quantum something or other"), which two words seem to be
>> >used frequently in homeopathy, along with a few other alternative
>> >medicine. Search Einstein+homeopathy & you'll see what I mean.
>> >
>> >Although I never read any of Dr. Einstein's biographies (he had an
>> >interesting personal life), I can't find any indication he had an
>> >interest or belief in homeopathy even though he came from Germany &
>> >would have been certainly aware of it. I would think if it had been in
>> >line with his physics theories, he would have made use of it.
>> >
>> >So is another case of a "dead celebrity" ripoff?
>>
>> I think so. But even if it's not, it doesn't matter that much.
>> Einstein was a physicist, not a doctor (even if they did name a
>> college of medicine after him). Whether he was in favor of alt
>> treatments is of no great significance -- it's like "Dr" Cee quoting
>> Edison.
>
>Indeed. It's like Linus Pauling becoming an adherent of alt-med and
>megadoses of vitamin C in the latter part of his life. He was defintely
>a brilliant chemist who richly deserved his Nobel Prize in Chemistry for
>his work on the nature of the chemical bond, but unfortnately his
>understanding of medicine and biochemistry was definitely suspect.
>Sadly, the alties who invoke his name all the time frequently point to
>his Nobel Prize, as if saying, "Look, he won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
>He must know what he is talking about!" Unfortunately, expertise in one
>area of science does not necessarily translate into other areas.

Another fine example is Kary Mullis, who won a Nobel and then starting
making a number of very strange pronouncements about HIV and AIDS,
which the alties seized on, because, after all, "he has a Nobel."

SPY Magazine used to run a feature called "ask the Nobelists," where
they'd call up a bunch of Nobel Prize winners and ask them questions
like "Is Rock and Roll dead?" or "Where do butterflies go when it
rains?" The answers, although usually rational, were not always
correct, thus proving that even a Nobel Prize winner is not
infallible.

-- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net
These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct.
"If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants
were standing on my shoulders." (Hal Abelson, MIT)
 
So were "the myths" personal or professional?

I know he & his later first wife gave up a child to adoption. And that
he abandoned that wife to marry a cousin (a couple x removed?) I've
read some reviews of the latest biographies.

Who needs fiction?
 
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> So were "the myths" personal or professional?
>
> I know he & his later first wife gave up a child to adoption. And that
> he abandoned that wife to marry a cousin (a couple x removed?) I've
> read some reviews of the latest biographies.
>
> Who needs fiction?

Mostly personal... like the supposed myth that he was bad at school (no),
that he was a nice family man (no). Etc.

When he moved to the States many thought his wife's daughter was his... not
realizing that he had a son. Actually he had two, one who was even more
brilliant... but was institutionalized (where they did things to him that
made him worse). He still went to visit him with wife #1.

This is from memory... I read it a long time ago. I think the book was
something like "The Private Lives of Albert Einstein". There may have been
more recent ones written.
 
Albert Einstein had nothing to do with alternative medicine, nor with homeopathy. The mechanism of action of homeopathy is still unknown, but it´s efficacy and superiority to the placebo effect are well documented in the scientific literature. A theory was recently proposed, claiming that homeopathy could be explained by macro-entanglement, a concept derived from the weak quantum theory (http://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/73475); that's why Einstein's name has been related to homeopathy. This theory is, of course, hypothetical, but not without sense. We are far from understanding the nature of the homeopathic remedy, but we're advancing in the understanding of it's action: It has been demonstrated that homeopathic medicines, diluted beyond Avogadro's limit (>12C), can change gene expression, the expression of several proteins and receptors, the histology of certain tumors, the electrical activity of the brain, the clearance of certain minerals in experimentaly intoxicated mice, and the resistance to certain infections. None of these effects can be explained by farmacology, nor by chemistry; since there isn't a single molecule of solute at those levels of dilution. Saying there is no effect, or saying this results can be explained just by the placebo effect, is to deny the facts; since all these investigations, but one, were done in cell cultures and mice; and all of them are placebo controlled. The fact that homeopathic cures can´t be explained, doesn´t mean they aren't real.

If you are intrested in learning more about homeopathy, look for George Vithoulkas's book: "Homeopathy".

If you would like to take a look at the experiments I mentioned, check this links. For some of them you'll only be able to read the abstract:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229998800253
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2011/286320/abs/
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2004/134143/abs/
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00011-009-0044-4
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1475491612000367
http://desbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jcim20120314-Homeopathy-and-genetic-regulation.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147549160800009X


"Never judge before investigating."
E. Morales Prado
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom Back