Oh, joy! I had my idea: Your Friday Dose of Woo!

(And what better way to

start off the long 4th of July weekend here in the states than with a bit of
woo?) Not only did I have my idea, but I had my first topic. Just a look at the
abstract will tell you why:

Quantum theorys notions of non-locality and entanglement have previously

informed attempts to model the therapeutic process. Of these, Weak
Quantum Theory (WQT) and Patient- Practitioner-Remedy (PPR)
entanglement are developing into mathematically- based models of
homeopathy. Objective: The present study attempted to identify
fundamental concepts within quantum field theory (QFT) that could be used
to broaden the scope of PPR entanglement models, prior to constructing a
more rigorous mathematical treatment. Methods: In QFT, particles and
forces are considered as fully interacting relativistic quantum matter and
force fields, respectively. These interactions are visualized graphically as
spacetime Feynman diagrams. Further, these interacting field systems can
have ground states with broken symmetry; the so-called Higgs field being
responsible for this symmetry breaking. In the new model, patient,
practitioner and remedy are imagined as fully interacting quantum-like
fields; patients and practitioners in terms of quantum matter-type fields, and
remedies and diseases as quantum interaction-type fields. Results: Disease
manifestation by the Vital Force (Vf) could be an event similar to
spontaneous symmetry breaking in QFT: the curative remedy acting to
restore the broken symmetry of the Vf field. Entanglement between patient,
practitioner, and remedy might be representable as Feynman-like diagrams.
Conclusion: QFT demonstrates that quantum properties can be physical
without being observable. Thus, an underlying similarity in discourse could
exist between homeopathy and quantum theory which could be useful for
modelling the homeopathic process. This preliminary investigation also
suggested that key elements of previous quantum models of the
homeopathic process, may become unified within this new QFT-type
approach.

Wow. I stand in awe.

Where did a chemist who apparently specializes in designing new molecules

to be used in photodynamic therapy get such talent at throwing around
quantum mechanical terms willy-nilly and applying it to the quackery known
as homeopathy? Somehow, reading this, I got the feeling that, even though
this particular journal claims to be rigorously peer-reviewed, the reviewers of
this particular article were not quantum physicists. Homeopathy, as you
recall, is the quackery in which it is claimed that by diluting an active
substance to the point where not a single active molecule is likely to be
present, somehow imbues the water diluting it with its therapeutic power:

Homeopathic products are made from minerals, botanical substances, and

several other sources. If the original substance is soluble, one part is diluted
with either nine or ninety-nine parts of distilled water and/or alcohol and
shaken vigorously (succussed); if insoluble, it is finely ground and pulverized
in similar proportions with powdered lactose (milk sugar). One part of the
diluted medicine is then further diluted, and the process is repeated until
the desired concentration is reached. Dilutions of 1 to 10 are designated by
the Roman numeral X (1X = 1/10, 3X = 1/1,000, 6X = 1/1,000,000).
Similarly, dilutions of 1 to 100 are designated by the Roman numeral C (1C
= 1/100, 3C = 1/1,000,000, and so on). Most remedies today range from 6X
to 30X, but products of 30C or more are marketed.

[]

Actually, the laws of chemistry state that there is a limit to the dilution that
can be made without losing the original substance altogether. This limit,
which is related to Avogadros number, corresponds to homeopathic
potencies of 12C or 24X (1 part in 1024). Hahnemann himself realized that
there is virtually no chance that even one molecule of original substance
would remain after extreme dilutions. But he believed that the vigorous
shaking or pulverizing with each step of dilution leaves behind a spirit-like
essence no longer perceptible to the senses which cures by reviving
the bodys vital force. Modern proponents assert that even when the last
molecule is gone, a memory of the substance is retained. This notion is
unsubstantiated.

So, when well-established laws of chemistry and physics supported by high

levels of data and experimentation demonstrate that, barring the
supernatural or some new discovery yet to be made that would invalidate
many of our presently understood scientific laws and theories, homeopathy
has to be a sham, whats an altie to do? Invoke quantum mechanics, of
course! All sorts of strange things are postulated in quantum mechanics,
nonintuitive things. I particularly like Dr. Milgroms claim that quantum
properties can be physical without being observable. Never mind how that
quantum theory was derived from physical observations that didnt fit with
the existing theory of the day. Never mind that effects predicted by
quantum mechanics can be observed experimentally, effects such as wave-
particle duality. Speaking of which, I wonder if hes worked out the wave
function for the practitioner and the patient to use in this quantum
entanglement that hes talking about. Of course, the fact that quantum
entanglement does not violate Einsteins Theory of Relativity, as information
is not transmitted, does make the above explanation sound a bit dubious.
For homeopathy to work, some sort of information would have to be
transferred to the water or, in the case above, between the practitioner and
the patient, perhaps via the water, all of which sounds a lot like magic
(which is all homeopathy really is, magical thinking). Besides, quantum
entanglement refers to particles, such as photons, and in large numbers of
particles, these effects tend to average out. Prometheus explained it well in
a piece he did on quantum quackery a while back:

Many of the quantum promoters use entanglement as an explanation of

how everything in the universe is connected. This supposedly explains
how we can influence objects and draw energy from them. This is about as
far from real quantum entanglement as it could possibly be.

Quantum entanglement occurs when two particles (usually photons) are

emitted from an atom in a singlet (or neutral) state. Because of the
conservation laws, the photons (for instance) will have the same polarization
[the identical polarizations cancel out because the photons are heading in
opposite directions for a much better explanation, see Victor Stengers
The Unconscious Quantum]. No matter how far they travel, these two
photons will have the same polarization they are considered to be
entangled.

What entangled photons have to do with quantum healing or remote

viewing or anything of that sort is unclear and probably imaginary. The
basic problem is that the interesting quantum effects average out as you
get more and more particles together. This is referred to as decoherence
and explains why we dont see footballs (soccer balls, to those raised in
the US) changing into waves during the World Cup.

How appropriate an analogy, given that were in the thick of the World Cup
competition right now.

In any case, no observable, experimentally verifiable connection between

quantum theory and the alleged therapeutic effect of homeopathy has ever
been shown. Of course, it doesnt have to be, does it, if you can get away
with the claim that quantum theory somehow provides a mechanism. Its
apparently a possible mechanism for homeopathy that, if we are to believe
Dr. Milgrom, might not be observable even though it is physical
(whatever Dr. Milgrom means by that). Even though I hadnt taken quantum
mechanics since Physical Chemistry in college, I recognized a lot of hand-
waving woo when I saw it. I had to get a hold of the whole article. So I fired
up my trusty browser just before I was going to leave work to see if I could
download a copy of this amazing piece of quantum homeopathic altie woo in
its entirety. My critical thinking skills shuddered in anticipation of the
pseudsocience and quantum mysticism likely to be found within. (Deepak
Chopra, anyone?) I couldnt wait to see what kinds of equations and
throwing about of quantum theory jargon Dr. Milgrom used, seeing if any of
it would stick.

Then I hit my first roadblock.

Apparently, my university in its wisdom has not purchased an online

institutional subscription to this particular journal. I cant imagine why. After
all, Im sure loads of investigators like me are dying to get a hold of the
research articles contained in Forsch Komplementrmed. I like to think
that the people in charge of deciding which journals the university will
subscribe to have some critical thinking skills, but, more likely than not, Im
guessing it has more to do with the fact that most of the articles in this
particular journal happen to be written in German, as this Table of Contents
demonstrates.

So I looked to see how much it would cost to buy the article for download
and recoiled in shock. Theyre asking $25 just to download a PDF of a
stinking article! Gentle readers, my dedication to delving deep into the
bowels of quantum obfuscation, all for your education and amusement, is
strong indeed, but, alas, it does have its limits. One of those limits happens
to be forking over that much of my hard-earned green for the one-time thrill
of subjecting myself to altie woo of the highest order for the sole purpose of
generating blog fodder. Its too much for something that would amuse me
for the couple of hours that it took to write the blog post (plus however long
the discussion engendered by this post lasts before petering out) and then
be promptly forgotten. Im sorry, but when it comes to woo, particularly
quantum altie woo, I like my thrills cheapor, even better, free. After all,
were this not the case, I might actually have purchased one of Deepak
Chopras books or (shudder) even Kevin Trudeaus book, putting my critical
thinking skills in grave jeopardy. Fortunately for future Respectufl
Insolence, I never did. (Of course, if any reader who does happen to have
online access to this journal wants to send me a PDF, Ill be grateful. I think.
Also, no guarantees that Ill post a followup. Theres only so much my poor
neurons can take.)
So instead, I looked for other articles on the topic, and boy are there a lot of
them! One in particular caught my eye:

Walach H, WB Jonas, J. Ives, R. Van Wijk, O. Weingartner, and P. Nat (2005).

Research on Homeopathy: State of the Art. J. Alt. Compl. Med 11:813-829.

Its a truly what the military (and we in the skeptic biz) call a target-rich
environment, and I might have more to say about its other content in
future posts. However, for purposes of this discusssion, after laughing
myself silly at the claim that homeopaths were pioneers in science and
doing double-blinded clinical trials, I zeroed in like a laser on the section on
quantum theory as a justification for nonlocal effects:

Generally speaking, the starting point for these theories is the observation
that, in quantum mechanics, so-called nonlocal correlations in well-defined
quantum systems are operative. While these decay through interaction with
the environment, it might be the case that under similar, isomorphic
conditions nonlocal correlations are established in analogy to holistic
quantum correlations. A theoretical framework exists that predicts such
nonlocal correlations, and some efforts have been made to apply such a
scenario to homeopathy. While some observations speak in favor of such
models,182 direct experimental evidence for the existence of nonlocal
correlations outside the realm of quantum mechanics is still wanted.

These models have a common consequence: If homeopathic effects are the

result of nonlocal correlations, by definition, they cannot be distilled out as
causal signals, like in drug therapy. Attempts at strict and direct replication,
are doomed to failure. This has to do with a rather technical argument that
prohibits the use of nonlocal correlations as direct signals. (Otherwise, time-
reversal paradoxes could be created that contradict special relativity.) As
long as the original context is not disturbed and no signal can be distilled
out of a setup using such correlations, they could be a very elegant way of
coordinating behavior.

The practical consequence of this theory is that clinical research is best

conducted by not disturbing the normal clinical practice through
experimental interventions such as blinding and randomization and that the
placebo-controlled trial is probably a suboptimal method of testing, not only
for homeopathy but also for conventional pharmacology. A serious problem
with the nonlocal model is that it may not

be directly testable in the clinical setting and so cannot be proven as an

explanation for homeopathy. Only indirect experimentation is a potential
avenue to prove it and this has yet to be established.

Leaving aside the unsupported assumption underlying the article that

homeopathy actually works and that does something more than provide a
nice cool drink of water to the patient seeking an actual remedy, the above
explanation is breathtaking in how utterly ballsy it is. It basically comes right
out and says that you cant prove that homeopathy works and that
randomized clinical trials arent the way to test homeopathy! After all, to the
woo brigade, if homeopathy works by some sort of nonlocal effect
mediated by quantum mechanics (quantum entanglement, for example, as
discussed by Dr. Milgrom), then its mechanism can never be experimentally
tested and verified in a double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled trial,
nor, apparently, can its effects be predictable or reproducible! If
homeopathy works by these mechanism, then, if we are to believe the
above, time reversal paradoxes will prevent its mechanism from ever being
scientifically studied and validated! I wonder if hes saying that studying
homeopathy would cause time to reverse itself. (Now that Im on the wrong
side of 40, Id certainly be willing to pay for that. Imagine the possibililties
for using homeopathy to reverse aging!)

In any case, what was it I said again about homeopathy being nothing more
than magical thinking?

After delving deep into quantum homeopathic woo, I have to wonder what
the Bad Homeopath or fellow ScienceBlogger and physicist Chad Orzel
would have to say about all this.