This post is inspired by an article by Michael Miller entitled ‘6 Reasons Why People Believe Health Misinformation‘ published recently in PSYCHOLOGY TODAY. Miller identified the following reasons:
- Reasons 1 and 2: Mistrust of Experts and Personal Autonomy
- Reason 3: Misinformation Makes Money (and Advances Other Agendas)
- Reason 4: Misinformation Sounds Like It’s True
- Reasons 5 and 6: Charisma and Simplicity Sell Soothing Misinformation
In my post, I will try to avoid much overlap with Miller’s paper and name 6 reasons why people believe misinformation specifically about so-called alternative medicine (SCAM). The evidence for the reasons I list comes from 30 years of research into SCAM and from stuying many thousands of papers published on these and related issues.
VIPs
Almost 20 years ago, Max Pittler and I published an article entitled ‘Celebrity-based medicine‘; here is its abstract:
Objective: To collect contemporary accounts of celebrity use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), to aid clinicians in determining which CAM treatments patients are likely to use.
Design: Articles published during 2005 and 2006 reporting celebrity use of CAM.
Results: 38 celebrities were found to use a wide range of CAM interventions. Homeopathy, acupuncture and Ayurveda were the most popular modalities.
Conclusions: There may be many reasons why consumers use CAM, and wanting to imitate their idols is one of them.
Lots has changed since but wanting to imitate idols, VIPs and celebrities is still a powerful motivator, in fact, more powerful than ever before. The number of VIPs who have jumped on the SCAM bandwaggon has increase manyfold. As we have often discussed here, many of them now have even started to profit from the need of consumers to admire their stupidity of using worthless, expensive and often dangerous treatments.
Desperation
Many people who employ SCAM are unwell, suffer symptoms or even fight for their lives. They are desperate and leave no stone unturned to get better. In their desperation, they come across the many irresponsible promises of the SCAM industry. Like drowning individuals they cling to every bit of straw they can grab. And SCAM practitioners are often only too willing to offer (and charge for) false hope.
Consumers want to believe
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” We all – well almost all – want to believe that there is more than our rationality lets us to believe. Science does not know everything, many feel, and turn to pseudoscience. From there it it only a small step to turn from medicine to SCAM, particularly if they have enough money in their pocket to give it a try. This is regrettable, no doubt, but it also is the undeniable truth.
Journalists’ promotion
Journalists have a bizarrely keen interest in SCAM. This is presumably because certain sections of the public – those who are in favour of SCAM – like to read about it. And this means that a reinforcing spiral drives the odd phenomenon: plenty of people are in favour of SCAM –> they want to read positive things about SCAM –> journalists deliver what is wanted, namely uncritical promotion of SCAM –> more and more people get convinced about the value of SCAM.
Disappointment
Many of us are disappointed with what conventional healthcare offers to them. I can fully understand this sentiment. In theory, modern medicine is better than it ever was. In practice, it all too often is abominable. This can be due to phenomena ranging from human or professional incompetence to marode healthcare systems to financial constraints. Whatever the reason, people who are disappointed look elsewhere and, for many, SCAM seems an obvious solution.
Naivety
I often tell people: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS. It’s a simple principle that sadly is not often heeded, particularly by individuals who are gullible and tend to believe or even lap up whatever SCAM practitioners promise. Some may call it ignorance or even stupidity, I prefer naivety – whatever it is, it renders people easy prey of the SCAM industry.
The list of reasons why consumers believe the misinformation that is currently abundantly available about SCAM is almost endless. Different people have (and different situations bring forth) different reasons. Understanding them might enable us to minimise some of the damage misinformation causes.
One key element of damage limitation must be reliable information which is the raison d’etre of my blog.
2 Responses to Six reasons why consumers believe in misinformation about so-called alternative medicine (SCAM)
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This is an interesting question, and I think that the answers given explain quite a lot already, but I also think that there are some more points that can be made.
I agree that the #1 reason for believing in SCAM treatments is the fact that people believe and trust other people, especially people who look like us and appear to be well-disposed towards us (which of course SCAM artists are). This default trust is an evolutionary trait that makes our life a lot easier and safer, as it prevents us from having to find out everything through personal experience. But yes, it makes us also vulnerable to charlatans and criminals. Luckily, the latter groups are small minorities.
However, I think that one other very important reason for belief in SCAM is that it appears to work: 1) people get sick, 2) they seek treatment, and then 3) they (often) get better.
Now there is of course causality between 1) and 2) – but not necessarily between 2) and 3). Alas, evolution (again) has equipped us humans with a turbocharged capability to see patterns everywhere, including this causal pattern, no matter if it’s real or not, so literally everyone, even the most ardent skeptic, will automatically link their recovery to a preceding treatment. It takes an awful lot of effort to ‘unsee’ that direct link, and take the scientific position to check for evidence first.
This is also why many SCAM artists themselves believe that they are actually healing people, which, if anything, makes them even more convincing. Just look at our resident homeozealots for a good example.
Science also plays an interesting role here – or rather: several interesting roles. On the one hand, science has produced an astounding amount of what can almost be called miracles, many of which now govern our daily life. I think this has the side effect that people will not be surprised or suspicious when they hear pseudoscientific claims. With the result that lots of charlatans make outlandish claims about ‘quantum’ and ‘energy’ and other sciencey-sounding gibberish. With the result that people see these charlatans as on equal footing with real science-based medicine.
But as mentioned in the main article, high-strung expectations about science can also be the cause of disappointment and a turn towards SCAM artists.
And for some reason, science is woefully underdeveloped in one respect: effective communication with ordinary people.
There are no doubt several more reasons why people believe that SCAM can really do something for them (apart from alleviating any hyperpecuniosis), but the focus here lies with misinformation.
Desperation? Yes, that’s a concept I can relate to as a longtime sufferer of chronic pain.
Fortunately, I’ve been studying healthcare B.S. for several decades & am well aware of the futility of seeking quack methods of treatment & have been assiduously avoiding them. But I can most certainly understand how unknowledgeable (& gullible) people can be easily convinced that there are viable alternatives.