“If any remedy is tested under controlled scientific conditions and proved to be effective, it will cease to be alternative and will simply become medicine. So-called alternative medicine either hasn't been tested or it has failed its tests.”

—  Richard Dawkins

The Enemies of Reason (August 2007)

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English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author 1941

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Richard Dawkins photo

“So-called alternative medicine either hasn’t been tested or it has failed its tests.”

Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author

The Enemies of Reason (August 2007)
Context: If any remedy is tested under controlled scientific conditions and proved to be effective, it will cease to be alternative and will simply become medicine. So-called alternative medicine either hasn’t been tested or it has failed its tests.

Richard Dawkins photo

“For his purposes (and mine), scientific medicine is defined as the set of practices which submit themselves to the ordeal of being tested. Alternative medicine is defined as that set of practices which cannot be tested, refuse to be tested, or consistently fail tests. If a healing technique is demonstrated to have curative properties in properly controlled double-blind trials, it ceases to be alternative. It simply, as Diamond explains, becomes medicine. Conversely, if a technique devised by the President of the Royal College of Physicians consistently fails in double-blind trials, it will cease to be a part of 'orthodox' medicine. Whether it will then become 'alternative' will depend upon whether it is adopted by a sufficiently ambitious quack”

Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author

there are always sufficiently gullible patients
Foreword to Snake Oil and Other Preoccupations by John Diamond, Vintage, 2001.
Forewords

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“By definition, (I begin),
alternative medicine (I continue)
has either not been proved to work,
or has been proved not to work.
You know what they call alternative medicine that has been proved to work?
Medicine.”

Tim Minchin (1975) Australian comedian, actor, singer, songwriter, music composer and musician (from British descend)

"Storm", 2013 https://books.google.ca/books?id=8u9pBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=%22tim+minchin%22+%22alternative+medicine%22+proved&source=bl&ots=tJIyTK6Fog&sig=i_Iquw3_fYAx-J8AXZd5sT-BfOk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY_4vx-ebYAhVH_IMKHQnXDJAQ6AEIiAEwEA#v=onepage&q=%22tim%20minchin%22%20%22alternative%20medicine%22%20proved&f=false

Derren Brown photo

“If a piece of 'alternative medicine' can be shown to work reliably, it ceases to become alternative. It just becomes medicine.”

Derren Brown (1971) British illusionist

Books, Tricks of the Mind (2006)

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“In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not its taste, but its effect, …”

J. William Fulbright (1905–1995) American politician

p. 25 http://books.google.com/books?id=Td-qAAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+a+democracy+dissent+is+an+act+of+faith+Like+medicine+the+test+of+its+value+is+not+its+taste+but+its+effect%22&pg=PA25#v=onepage
The Arrogance of Power (1966)

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“He discovered or described hundreds of afflictions and cures, and by testing remedies he concluded “Laughter is the best medicine””

Eduardo Galeano (1940–2015) Uruguayan writer

As quoted in Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone (2009), p. 64

Dara Ó Briain photo

“I'm sorry, 'herbal medicine', "Oh, herbal medicine's been around for thousands of years!" Indeed it has, and then we tested it all, and the stuff that worked became 'medicine'. And the rest of it is just a nice bowl of soup and some potpourri, so knock yourselves out.”

Dara Ó Briain (1972) Irish comedian and television presenter

Dara Ó Briain Talks Funny: Live in London (2008)

Adrian Rogers photo

“A faith that hasn't been tested can't be trusted.”

Adrian Rogers (1931–2005) American television evangelist
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“All through my life, I have been tested. My will has been tested, my courage has been tested, my strength has been tested. Now my patience and endurance are being tested.”

Muhammad Ali book The Soul of a Butterfly

The Soul of a Butterfly, 2004
Variant: All through my life I have been tested. My will has been tested, my courage has been tested, my strength has been tested. Now my patience and endurance are being tested.
Source: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey

Stephen Fry photo

“Well, my interpretation is no more valid than anyone else’s, but I would say in terms of medicine, people want to take control of their own lives, and ironically they seem to think that they are taking control of their lives more by using so-called complementary or alternative medicines than by using orthodox medicine. In other words, they think it’s a statement of originality and individuality. To you and me it seems self-evidently ridiculous, this homeopathic medicine. It is so preposterous, and yet some people I know and respect insist on believing it.”

Stephen Fry (1957) English comedian, actor, writer, presenter, and activist

Fry on the reason for the popularity of alternative medicine. "Last Chance to Think" Interview (2010) by Kylie Sturgess in Skeptical Inquirer. Vol 34 (1)
2000s

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