Here is a translation of the entry "How to become a charlatan" published on Christmas Eve 2012 by Prof. Edzard Ernst, one of the two authors of the book "Healing or Seduction". The entry was translated by Basmat Leibovski for the blog "Sharp Thinking", where it was first published.
In these bleak and difficult times, it is my duty, I think, to direct the attention of fellow citizens to a possible source of additional income that almost everyone can relate to: be charlatans, and most likely your financial difficulties will be a thing of the past. To achieve this goal, I [with tongue firmly in cheek] offer a simple and direct approach, step by step.
Find an attractive treatment method and give it a fantastic name
Did I say "simple and direct"? Well, the first step is not so simple, after all. Most of the really psychic ideas are already taken: ear candles, homeopathy, halo massage, energy healing, urine therapy, chiropractic, etc. As true charlatans, you want to have your own scam. You will therefore be forced to think of a new idea.
Something that is really completely absurd would be ideal, like the claim that the ear is a map of the human body that allows you to treat all diseases by performing a strange act on that part of the ear - oops, that territory has already been taken by the ear acupuncture brigade. What about claiming you have superhuman powers that allow you to send 'healing energies' into patients' bodies so they can repair themselves? This is also problematic: Reiki healers may accuse you of plagiarism.
But you get the drift, I'm sure, and you'll be able to come up with something. When you do, give it a memorable name, the name can make or break your new initiative.
invented a fascinating history
Once you've defined your treatment and given it a fantastic name, you now need a good story to explain how it all came to fruition. This task is not that difficult, and may even turn out to be fun. You can think of something touching, such as - that your treatment saved your little sister who was prone to death at the age of 6, or that you were inspired in a dream by your elderly aunt who just passed from this world to a better place, or maybe you want to create some kind of religious connection [have you ever visited the tomb of Meir Baal Hans? ].
There is no need to limit your imagination, just make sure your story is fascinating - one day, maybe they will make a movie about it.
Add a touch of pseudo-science
Whether you like it or not, we live in an age where we cannot completely ignore scientific considerations. At the very least, I recommend throwing in a little "scientific" terminology between the lines, and since you don't want to reveal, choose something that only a few experts understand. Quantum physics, entanglement, chaos theory and nanotechnology are all great options.
It may be more persuasive if you imply that leading scientists like your ideas, or that entire teams from universities in faraway places are working on the mechanisms underlying the invention, or that the Nobel Prize committee is interested, etc.
If possible, add some hi-tech to your new invention, some shiny new device with flashing lights and digital displays will do the trick. The device can be empty of content - as long as it looks impressive, that's fine.
Don't forget to season with a pinch of ancient wisdom
With all this science - sorry, pseudo-science - don't forget that you must remain firmly rooted in tradition. Your treatment should be based on ancient wisdom that you have rediscovered, modified and perfected. I recommend pointing out that some of the oldest cultures on the planet already knew the central foundations on which your invention proudly stands today.
Anything this ancient has stood the test of time, which means your treatment is both effective and safe.
They claimed to have a cure for all diseases
To maximize your income, you want as many customers as possible. It would therefore be unwise to focus your efforts on one or two medical conditions. From a commercial point of view, it is much better to state in words that are not ambiguous, that your treatment is a cure-all, Pankeya. Don't be concerned about the implausibility of such a claim. In the realm of fraud, it is certainly acceptable, and even common to behave in an eccentric manner.
Deal with the evidence problem and the pesky skeptics
It's depressing, I know, but even the most talented charlatans are bound to attract skeptics of all kinds. Sooner or later skeptics will demand evidence from you. In fact, they are obsessed with it. But there is no need to stress - it is definitely not as serious as it seems. The obvious solution is to provide personal testimony after personal testimony.
You will need a website where satisfied customers tell impressive stories about how your treatment saved their lives. If you don't happen to know these types of customers, invent them. In the realm of fraud, there is a time-honored tradition of writing personal testimonials yourself. No one will be able to tell the difference!
Demonstrate your mastery of the fine art of cheating with statistics
Some skeptics may not be impressed, and when they start criticizing your 'evidence', you may need to go a step further. An excellent method to delay them, at least for a while, is to provide statistics. The general consensus among charlatans is that about 70% of their patients experienced extraordinary benefit from whatever placebo was thrown at them.
So my advice is to improve it a little and cite a series of at least 5,000 patient cases of which 76.5% showed marked improvement.
What, you don't have such a case series? Don't be stupid, be creative!
Earn points with Big Pharma
You must know who (will be) your (future) customers: they are established, have received a good education (no doubt without much success), and are middle-aged, tend to believe easily and are deeply immersed in the alternative. Think of Prince Charles! Once you've bought into this mindset, you can profitably exploit these people's persecution complex.
An easy way to achieve this is to claim that the people at the drug companies have heard about your innovation, they are clearly afraid of losing millions, so they are doing everything they can to keep it quiet. Not only will this earn you the trust of the lunatics on the fringes of society, it will also provide a perfect explanation as to why your breakthrough discovery was not published in the leading medical journals: the editors are all in the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies, of course.
Ask for money, lots of money
I left the most important thing for last. Remember: your goal is to get rich! Therefore, charge high, even exorbitant prices.
If your treatment is a product that you can sell (for example via the Internet, to avoid supervision), sell it at a high price.
If it is a treatment that requires a face-to-face meeting, charge sky-high consultation prices and claim exclusivity.
If it is a teachable technique, start training other therapists at high prices and demand royalties from their future earnings.
Overcharging is your best chance to become famous - have you ever heard of a charlatan who became famous for his affordable prices? It will also rid you of the mob you don't want to see in your clinic. Poor people may even get sick! No, you don't want them, you want the 'healthy, concerned rich' who can afford to see a real doctor when things start to go wrong.
But most importantly, high prices will be really good for your bank account.
Now you are ready. But to prevent you from stumbling at the first hurdle, here are some useful answers to the questions you will inevitably get from skeptics, that pesky breed that is never happy. The answers are not intended to convince them, but to be published in the public. They will ensure that the general opinion is on your side, and this is of utmost importance in the realm of fraud.
Q: Your treatment may cause considerable damage, is it your responsibility?
A: Damage? Do you have any idea what you are talking about? of course not! Every year, hundreds of thousands of people die from drugs they receive from conventional doctors. This is damage!
Q: Experts say your treatment is biologically implausible, what is your answer?
A: There are many things that science does not understand yet and many things that it will never understand. In any case, there are other ways of knowing, and science is only one of them.
Q: Where are the controlled studies that support your claim?
A: Clinical studies are of very limited value, they are too small in scope, often biased and never simulate real life situations. This is why many experts favor better ways to demonstrate the true value of medical interventions.
Q: Professor Ernst recently said that your treatment is unproven, is that true?
A: This person cannot be trusted, he is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry! Of course he would say that, wouldn't he?
In any case, did you know that only 15% of conventional treatments are truly evidence-based?
Q: Why is your treatment so expensive?
A: Years of training, a full research program, constant auditing, regulatory compliance, and a large team of colleagues - you think all of this comes for free? Personally, I would love to treat all my patients for free (which happens sometimes) but I have obligations to others, you know.
So far the guide. If you yourself do not need additional income, you are invited to distribute the guide among your loved ones who do need it.
We brought up ideas for charlatan treatments here not long ago, and from the readers' responses it is clear that each of them could have fooled the masses to the same extent. It's all just a matter of creativity, initiative and courage.
31 תגובות
Nice article made
and good to describe
In good taste the sick bad
There is a well-known joke (I hope I quote more or less correctly): a Jew comes to his Polish Fritz and promises that he will teach his horse to speak within 10 years, and this, for the purpose of the matter, in exchange for a sum (adjusted for our time) of: half a million NIS to be paid in advance upon signing the agreement .
The Fritz agrees, gives him the horse and the money.
The Jew returns happy and kind to his wife and tells her everything. His wife is horrified and tells him "are you crazy"?!
The Jew answers her: "Don't worry. Ten years is a long time, and many things can happen. In 10 years maybe the fart will die or the horse will die, or I will die or - who knows, maybe the horse will start talking...".
In short, many diseases go away by themselves, therefore there are positive results for placebo.
Regarding alternative medicine, I think it can help in the field of preventive medicine / preventive medicine, if you don't overdo it.
In my opinion - alternative medicine is healthy food, a little exercise, a little faith, a job that brings satisfaction to the worker and a lot, a lot of love, belonging and living among supportive and loving people.
Good night and all the best to all readers 🙂
jubilee
Medicine does not work at best and is harmful at worst. Otherwise, it is called "medicine".
If you have evidence for your claims - we'd love to hear it.
A therapist who promises 100% success is a charlatan.
Complementary medicine helps many things
that western medicine has failed them,
Complementary medicine comes in addition out of place.
but,
What to do that behind the doctors there are drug companies whose goal is to sell as many drugs as possible for patient maintenance.
How many times have you seen
People who had high blood pressure or diabetes or cholesterol and took a pill for two months and recovered?
0
Complementary medicine comes to help
Anyone who promises a quick and 100% cure is a charlatan and as in any field there are those who take advantage of the situation to cut a coupon
Yoav
My origin is very true. A placebo at best has a small and temporary effect. What happens in the test you described is that it is known that the very act of doing the experiment will affect the patients. A placebo doesn't cure an infection, it doesn't cure cancer, it doesn't cure a lot of other things. No doctor in the world gives a placebo in order to cure!!!!
And I will explain again the problems of "alternative medicine":
1. People die from it. I have already given 3 examples and it is possible to bring many more.
2. The therapists lie about the effectiveness of the treatments they provide. Maybe I'll come to your home and install an alarm system for you at a huge cost that doesn't work at all? This also has a placebo effect - after all, in most cases houses are not broken into and we will never know that the system is not doing anything.
3. The world of lies of alternative medicine includes slander of real medicine, of the drug manufacturers and of anyone who does not believe in these methods.
4. It makes people say embarrassing things like for example …. "Of course I agree that it is neither slow nor illegal and there are many other things that are wrong with a doctor who dispenses a placebo as medicine, but in general, if the test result shows that there is an improvement, then again I ask: what is wrong?"
Miracles.
Your origin is incorrect. Certainly placebo helps.
Every time a new medical treatment is tested, there is a control group that receives a placebo and there is always an improvement for both groups, and if the difference is not large enough, it is proof that the new treatment is ineffective.
I of course agree that it is neither slow nor illegal and there are many other things that are wrong with a doctor who dispenses a placebo as medicine, but all in all, if the test result shows that there is an improvement, then again I ask:
What's wrong?
Knowledge level for matriculation in physics (Yoav)
First of all - a headache does not disappear because of an alternative treatment. Take sugar for a week and the runny nose will go away. So what? Experiments have shown that all the fuss has no effect on health.
Second thing - if it is a doctor who gives a placebo to a patient without informing him (that he may be receiving a placebo), then the doctor commits a felony (and I think also a criminal one). And if he is not a doctor, then the patient who went to him is a moron.
Miracles
It may not cure cancer, but sore throats, headaches and even depression sure can go away.
To say that the effect of placebo is small? It may be difficult to measure it, but relative to nothing in pita it does a lot.
And if it does do something and doesn't cost much, why wouldn't the doctor sell it as a medicine, it will only improve the effect of the pita
Knowledge level for matriculation in physics
He who gives medicine is a doctor. Placebo is allowed to be given only if no harm will be done to the patient.
There are many cases of people dying because of this nonsense. A couple of parents in Australia are in jail today because their daughter died as a result of homeopathic treatment. Steve Jobs also died from this stupidity. Also Anat Gov.
A placebo sometimes works, and it has a small effect. It certainly does not cure cancer!!!
I don't know how right it is, but you can't say that charlatans just sell placebos?
After all, it is proven that placebo does help - what's wrong with buying a fake drug that helps?
Gilad, thank you for your answer, I will check the 5th part of the series and see if it answers my questions on the subject.
My problem with the topic is that the writer believes that everyone who deals with the alternative issue is a fraud, and does not understand that there are people who really believe in what they are dealing with.
No, they do not have a scientific education and therefore they also do not understand what the claims are made against them.
Their point of view is different, they may be wrong and misleading but that does not make them charlatans.
I have also heard from other people that certain alternative therapies have helped them, and even changed their lives.
If it helped them to be perfumed...
It's true that it's not a statistic, but on the other hand I don't know many researchers who are interested in looking into the issue, and there aren't many studies on the matter either...
Oren - it is certainly possible - although it is not really likely that something in Chinese acupuncture has some kind of non-psychological effect. The Torah itself, however, is charlatanry for its own sake because studies have shown that changing the places or replacing the needles with something that pierces in a much shallower way does not change the effectiveness - which means that there are two possibilities - or that the effect is caused by something that is common to both the original acupuncture and the sham forms - or it is a placebo or diseases that are limited in time.
Thanks Oren.
1) First of all, to be precise, the change in her condition was "after" the treatment. In general, we tend to conclude too quickly that this is a change that occurred "because of" or "thanks to" this or that treatment. This is the inflection "after and therefore because", and we fall into the trap many times. It is very difficult to prove causality, except in a controlled experiment.
But let's assume for a moment that it did happen because of the treatment, or, as research shows, because of the placebo response to the treatment. Your question is of course in place, "what does it matter why it was useful, the main thing is that it was useful". But I addressed this issue in detail in the 5th part of the series of articles. I will add and ask, if it is a placebo, maybe there is an even better placebo? In any case, you should investigate and understand what is really happening here, and not stop at some belief system about meridians.
2) There are two forms of sham acupuncture. One is acupuncture at "wrong" points, and the other is the use of special needles that do not penetrate the skin, but go into the outer plastic tube (like a stunt knife in movies). It is of course possible to combine the two techniques.
I think that in the more modern experiments needles of this type are used, meaning that in any case the needle does not penetrate the skin. You need to check specifically in each study.
The problem with this article is the assumption that the owners of the pseudo-medical treatments really make a lot of money, which is completely wrong, except for a few, because there are many, many like them. Also, the author's economic model is completely wrong, as in any commercial industry, too much reduces the number of customers, and most importantly, contrary to the author's opinion, customers of the Nell methods are often completely satisfied, and satisfaction is worth paying for.
Hi Gilad, thank you, it's fascinating, I already saved this article (from your blog) to read in the past, now I read it a little more carefully.
I have two questions right now:
1. Regarding my relative who underwent the acupuncture treatment, bottom line: following the acupuncture treatment, she went from a state of almost complete dysfunction due to frequent severe headaches, to a state of full function and without any pain, that is, in a practical way, the Chinese acupuncture solved her problem, So why is it bad? And why not recommend to other people who suffer from headaches (migraines) to undergo acupuncture treatment?
2. Regarding sham treatment with acupuncture, theoretically it could be that the healing is caused by the sensation of the acupuncture itself, and it doesn't matter at all which point on the body, that is, in such a case there shouldn't be any difference between real acupuncture (at specific body points) and just sham acupuncture (or even Acupuncture sensation) at random points, what do you think?
A few more tips for the novice charlatan
* Hang impressive dedications of thanks on the walls, you can also hang photos of yourself with important people.
* Scent and light play an important role, incense, candles, etc..., you can also add a weak background melody of Superman.
* People who research too much and ask questions, wave, it's a waste of time, you need to make money.
My "recommendations" for the charlatan:
The diseases that your medicine will treat:
1: Diseases that respond well to placebo and are limited in time of effect are ideal for treatment.
2: Diseases that have no medical cure are also a good cause - despair will make people buy all kinds of things they would not normally buy. Especially if it is a chronic or terminal illness.
3. Diseases with a strong psychological connection - not only do they have a tendency to respond many times to the placebo effect, but we are also talking about a population that is less sane by and large, so they are also a good target.
4. Diseases that do not exist at all.
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type of treatment.
Basically, most of your customers will ignore the idea of a double-blind test - but if you want a chance to reach a slightly (but not really) skeptical audience - you need a type of treatment that cannot be harmed by such a test -
Acupuncture, for example, is a treatment method that is very problematic to conduct a double-blind experiment.
Try something like "modern dance therapy for treating liver problems" go think about how you do a double blind experiment on that!
It is also advisable that if you have therapists, then A. they form a strong relationship with their patients so that they create emotional dependence - B.
They will believe in themselves that the method is effective - of course.
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It is advisable to combine useful things such as exercise or eating right - if you do it right your treatment will take the credit for any benefit these things bring.
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The more scientific you sound, the better off you are. Use a lot of terms from the front of medicine that were heard in the press - the most important thing is that they know that you are cutting edge.
Even if you are going for a treatment that is mystical in nature, more scientific words can't hurt.
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Price:
Price your treatments and medicines in a wide spectrum and regardless of their cost -
Something more expensive will translate to people as something better. A ceiling for this drug is Panacea Forte and they will buy it after Panacea doesn't work well enough. There must not be any chemical difference between the two drugs. Or some chemical difference between the drugs and tap water with sugar. - The label is what is important.
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As someone who read Repo or Temptation and found out what chiropractic really is - no chiropractic is not science and it is pure charlatanism - the problem in this field (according to healing or temptation) is that conventional medicine does not know how to treat back problems much better than the placebo or the physiotherapy that chiropractic performs.
If the charlatan gives the correct medicinal herb claiming that it drives away evil spirits - he is still a charlatan.
Classical chiropractic talks about energies flowing in the spine (or something like that)
Basically, acupuncture is something that is difficult to test in a double-blind study - but according to a more serious organization than the World Health Organization - the Cochrane group tested and saw that there is probably no more to acupuncture than placebo.
Another effect that heals people is time - there are diseases and pains that are simply limited in time, which also contributes to the phenomenon of charlatans
Cassiopeia
A chiropractor is not a medical doctor!!!! I didn't see two and a half men??
In the USA, every university lecturer is called "professor" - it is a profession, not a title. A chiropractor deals with something close to medicine but is not a doctor - in particular, he is not allowed to provide a prescription for drugs.
Hi Oren,
Regarding acupuncture, and in general, it is very important to understand the issue of the placebo response. The comparison should always be between treatment and providing a sham treatment, since the treatment itself (and all the rituals involved in it) have significant effects on the patient's feelings (although apparently not on physiological changes in the course of the disease - the evidence for this is few and weak).
Here I tell about an instructive experiment with asthma patients, which illustrates the difference between objective improvement and subjective improvement:
(Search for the phrase "as part of a study published in the summer of 2011")
http://wp.me/p1K6uX-MM
(Sham acupuncture was also involved there).
Additional studies on acupuncture that demonstrate the same result - a significant effect beyond no treatment, but not different from sham acupuncture - can be found here - http://wp.me/p1K6uX-N0
Why is chiropractic considered quackery? In the USA it is an official medical profession and its graduates hold a Doctor of Medicine degree.
The chiropractor I see helped me much more than the family doctor who only offered steroids and other drugs
Pine
She says she did treatment and after the treatment she recovered. That's not how you do a test. Did you ask how many people did treatment and did not recover?
Miracles
There is a demand for it so who cares, the suckers will pay. Someone needed to put an end to this mess once and for all.
I have a naive perception that charlatans belong in prison.
Look at Oren,
Most of the successes of charlatanism in the world work by luck, and especially the absence of a real problem in the patient.
Most of the time, scientifically unexplained chronic pain is only a psychological problem, so when the person turns to the competent therapist, the accepted rabbi and the common charlatan, he believes that this specific person will help him. Like faith in God only that you deal with something small. In the case of migraines, which occur in about 15% of the population and have been known for thousands of years and turned out to be neuroinflammation in the brain, charlatanism is an excellent escape hatch. The preventive treatment is difficult and the suffering from the disease is great and many people take advantage of this for charlatanism, for example if you type grana in Google the first 3 responses are advertisements for the treatment in addition to 50 advertisements on the side. (Most of them are for "unique combined natural" treatments provided by "Dr. *** Specialist chiropractor” or
"**** ******** integrated complementary medicine"). Food for thought 🙂
She insists that the acupuncture treatment really helped her, she claims that before the treatment she could not function at all because of the pain, and that no conventional treatment helped her, but after the acupuncture treatment the pain disappeared immediately and she returned to full function. Several years have passed since then and the pain has not returned to this day.
I am also very skeptical about alternative treatments, but her story (which I heard firsthand) sounds very reliable, it seems that the acupuncture treatment really helped in her case.
Gilad, what do you think?
ארי
Charlatanism is not an offense against the law. Every rabbi who gives a blessing is a charlatan - and that's what the legislator is afraid of.
The health funds also engage in quackery: "alternative" treatment...
Pine
Acupuncture is on the border of charlatanism. There are studies that show acupuncture has a limited numbing effect. Beyond that, acupuncture has no effect.
Whoever claims otherwise... let him invent the evidence (and not an anecdote...)
Hi Gilad, what about acupuncture, is it also in the field of charlatanism? A relative told me that for a long period that lasted for several months she suffered from severe headaches (migraines) and no treatment helped, but as soon as she started undergoing acupuncture treatment the pains disappeared immediately and have not returned to this day, for several years.
What do you think? How to treat it?
Thanks in advance.
Why can't fines be imposed for the use of charlatan methods?
The most important element, and I haven't seen it mentioned, is the use of intimidation. Intimidation also has sophisticated methods.
By the way, these methods are really very similar to the methods used by pharmaceutical companies.
My argument is, and I don't think anyone will disagree with me, that when someone wants to help you, you should check how much he earns from it. And the bigger the profit, the stronger the proof that his proposal works should be.
And what is profit? Profit can of course be money, or control, or respect, or anything that satisfies the therapist's needs.