Advantage COVID 19 from placebo and nosebo….

 

If I ever get a chance to meet and speak to God, more than seeking his blessings to my life, would show curiosity to know whom the God would like to admire and thank for his luminous existence in the human world such as devotees, missionaries of God or an atheist or the combination of all.    

The beauty of human intelligence is that it would continue to support what it believes as true and also would continue to generate data and evidences to sustain such belief system. 

God may find it hard to answer if the question was, who among the three groups of people such as devotee or missionary of God or an atheist is sincere to God because all the three groups people are prisoners of own making and hence cannot be true to God more than to own belief system.

If the topic is taken up for a debate at philosophical or spiritual level, certainly the debate would end only in infinity and no worthwhile consensus acceptable to all would ever emerge.   But such debate in scientific context would make better sense especially in the world of COVID 19 where we live today. 

If we really ponder about the secret of the strength of novel coronavirus to reach the global pandemic proportion, quickly we can sum up the entire story to human fear, the effect of placebo and nosebo alone have given clear advantage to the virus and not the disease causing ability of the virus.

Nosebo means the psychological acceptance of a negative consequence over something which really needs not be so. On the contrary, placebo means, the psychological acceptance of something that is perceived to be effective positively even when it lack any shred evidence or science.

The recent statement of the Minister of AYUSH that “Got Covid despite taking best ayurvedic immunity boosters: Ayush minister”, Times of India, 18.10.2020 looks like meant more to cause confusion than the final admission of the possible placebo effect of the products of folklore healing stream. 

When we claim something that would work if served with our cultural heritage would reach the belief system of people quickly and may forbid several innocents from being an experimenter to validate or question such claims.   Validation takes the side step and the belief system does nothing but sustains and promotes only the ignorance to receive the reciprocal support to such believe system.  

In India, how many people due to such conviction that they were taking all such placebo products of folklore healing practices, sorry ‘best immune boosters’ and hence would not contract COVID 19 has acted as super spreader due to such belief system is difficult to answer. 

The blame should go to the ‘innocence’ of the people or those who promote several programmes to make the folks to be virtually ‘innocent’ should be blamed?

An asymptomatic person of novel coronavirus if had taken ‘placebo stuff’ is more likely to believe and credit the placebo than would accept the science of asymptomatic state.  Further the tribute given to the placebo would be higher if the viral positivity was not tested and proven. The belief conjoins with ignorance or lack of knowing.

The risk of crediting the placebo effect would achieve undue score and may make people to believe that they have not contracted the virus (may be asymptomatic carriers) only due to such placebo stuff.   The possibility of such confidence given by the placebo stuff in a reasonable fraction of our population and making them the hidden spreaders of the virus cannot be denied. 

The question however is, is the virus really strong and virulent or our ‘unscientific confidence’ due to placebo stuff is innocently favouring the spread of the virus to some extent, is difficult establish.  Such possibility is quite sure in a country like India. 

The ‘placebo faith’ also may induce a reductionistic approach towards ‘science’ and see science more as nosebo and never opts science in the first place instead relay on ‘placebo’ because it comes with legacy narration. 

The missionaries of the virus and the disease COVID 19 have also generated fear psychosis sufficiently and in excess to sustain the virus if not in the ‘vivid’ sense, but in the ‘virtual sense’.  

More than the virulence or R0 value of the virus, the individualized and or the combination effect of all the three virtues that are promoted by our government such as ‘fear’, ‘placebo and nocebo’ notions only likely to empower the virus and give dignitary status to COVID 19. 

The psychological effect is so strong that if someone believes that they are susceptible to a particular disease, may develop some symptoms of the said disease but surprisingly would have been affected as well. 

When a pandemic like COVID 19 at global proportion threatens humanity, the question is how the government of India can afford to promote placebo stuff to address the pandemic crisis.  Even if the intent were to give some level of confidence to people, can we use ‘incredible science’ and archaic stuff to prevent COVID 19? 

Having passion and patriotism over folklore healing stuff is fine but because of our personal whims and fancy over all such stuff, can we promote and breed ignorance and stupidity which can be wrapped later under nationalism, traditionalism, promotion of cultural heritage etc.

The biggest beneficiary of our systematic and well-articulated mind corruption engagement is the virus and the looser is we the Indians, especially those gullible, suffers from penury and are not educated and finally not even seen any economic sunshine in life.  

When science itself pleads helplessness to battle out the virus, are we not displaying our cruel political agenda by promoting placebo stuff to prevent and manage COVID 19. 

If the placebo had worked means, how come AYUSH Minister got infected by the virus despite as he claimed, was taking BEST Ayurvedic immune boosters? 

Are the phrase ‘best’ is a mere adjective and hence the minister had contracted the virus?  Is it not a paradox, despite using the best immune booster to prevent the disease, still the minister suffered from the disease? 

The ‘Best’ wasn’t best but was a mere hype.  Hope truth triumphs at the end and the innocence is replaced by intelligence and validation.