"The alternative therapies can't be shoe-horned into the scientific model.
If we want to find out what the scientific evidence is for the efficacy of these therapies, we have to look again at the questions that we ask. You can't, for example, take someone who's meditating for their health, and give them a placebo meditation. We have to be more imaginative, and use science in a way that is broader and more original.
You have to sometimes get a little imaginative, because we're talking body-mind. It may be that an herbalist is going to use a combination of herbs, so you can't isolate the effects of just one part of that. And that may be okay, because it may be that the effects are synergistic. Normally in the scientific method, they try to look at just one factor at a time. But in alternative therapies, frequently a combination of methods are used. When someone uses a combination of diet, acupuncture and imagery, it may not be possible to separate out the various aspects. We're talking about using common sense."
"Forging A Vision" - Marilyn Ferguson
