(no subject)
Oct. 26th, 2006 03:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
They’re talking about how difficult it is to scientifically test homeopathic products.
Lord Turnberg: One way to find out is to refer this whole question to mice so that they can examine it properly. I ask my noble friend if I can persuade him to refer homeopathic remedies to mice.I look up, startled. Has he entirely misunderstood the mouse/scientist relationship? Oh, right, he said NICE. I knew that.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-26 02:55 pm (UTC)The old man paused, and with a sympathetic frown continued.
"They've been experimenting on you I'm afraid."
Arthur thought about this for a second, and then his face cleared.
"Ah no," he said, "I see the source of the misunderstanding now. No, look you see, what happened was that we used to do experiments on them. They were often used in behavioural research, Pavlov and all that sort of stuff. So what happened was hat the mice would be set all sorts of tests, learning to ring bells, run around mazes and things so that the whole nature of the learning process could be examined. From our observations of their behaviour we were able to learn all sorts of things about our own ..."
Arthur's voice tailed off.
"Such subtlety ..." said Slartibartfast, "one has to admire it."
"What?" said Arthur.
"How better to disguise their real natures, and how better to guide your thinking. Suddenly running down a maze the wrong way, eating the wrong bit of cheese, unexpectedly dropping dead of myxomatosis, - if it's finely calculated the cumulative effect is enormous."
no subject
Date: 2006-10-26 03:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-26 03:43 pm (UTC)