Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Alternative (complementary) medicine: A cuckoo in the nest of empiricist reed warblers

  • Rabin Medical Center Israel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Empiricists are not equipped to recognise the loud signals of alternative medicine as false. A deep model of the physical world is essential for choosing hypotheses to be tested and for learning from failures. Practices of alternative medicine that do not fit even at the far fringes of the model should not be tested in humans. Our decisions on which practices to test and which to adopt should be based on three things: empirical evidence; our deep model of physical world; and our commitment to the wellbeing of our patients.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1629-1631
Number of pages3
JournalBMJ
Volume319
Issue number7225
StatePublished - 25 Dec 1999
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Alternative (complementary) medicine: A cuckoo in the nest of empiricist reed warblers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this