On page 183 of Wicked,

"What really is the difference between science and sorcery? Science, my dears, is the systematic dissection of nature, to reduce it to working parts that more or less obey universal laws. Sorcery moves in the opposite direction. It doesn't rend, it repairs. It is synthesis rather than analysis. It builds anew rather than revealing the old. It doesn't pose or represent the world. It becomes."

I find this discussion on science v. sorcery rather interesting. Actually, I have heard the two argued before as being one in the same

Hmm...

This reminds me of something I've read about clinical depression.
In the West, you'll see a psychiatrist who will have studied complicated fields based on Freud. He'll make you talk, give you a treatment, and in many cases you'll get better-- after a few years usually.


In Africa, if someone has similar symptoms they will see the local sorcerer.
He will not think the problem comes from the same sources. He'll think you are being possessed by a malignant spirit, or that someone has intentionally cast a spell on you. So the sorcerer will concentrate on undoing the work of the malignant spirit, and the person will be cured. The African sorcerer is of course faster, and cheaper.


You could say that in the case of the sorcerer, or perhaps in both cases, there is a result only because the sick person believes the medicine man can help him.


I imagine that both succeed (when they do) because both are perfectly in tune with the society or civilization that have produced the patient and the ailment. So sending the westerner to the sorcerer or the African tribesman to the psychiatric hospital would usually end up in failure, all that would be left would be the placebo effect.

As for hard science, I don't know.

Ophelia wrote:You could say that in the case of the sorcerer, or perhaps in both cases, there is a result only because the sick person believes the medicine man can help him.

I imagine that both succeed (when they do) because both are perfectly in tune with the society or civilization that have produced the patient and the ailment. So sending the westerner to the sorcerer or the African tribesman to the psychiatric hospital would usually end up in failure, all that would be left would be the placebo effect.

Hmmm... Your reply reminded me of something I watched on TV about a month ago. I was watching The Soup (a TV show that airs selected clips of the previous day's daily talk shows, surrounded by humorous commentary delivered by the host), and Joel McHale (the host) was making fun of the girl contestants on Flavor of Love. It was the episode where the girls dressed themselves up as nurses and had to "cure" Flava Flav from some illness. Anyway, one of the girls said something to the effect of "kicking out the pain" (and kicked really high in that nurse outfit as well...), to which Joel hilariously joked "Too bad you can't kick out the discharge!" (while simultaneously mimicking her high kick So Funny! )

Anyway, my point is that, while I agree the mind has some power "over matter," it can't cure everything. Western medicine works not only because we believe it can, but also because we have proven through studies and science that certain medicines cure various illnesses. The African medicine man's spells and chants may work sometimes (mind over matter), but not as a serious antidote to any serious illness. So, it's not only because a person believes that something will work. (I believe there was a story in the news the other day about two parents "letting" their young child die because they chose prayer over medicine). It also has to be proven effective through trials and testing.

Western medicine works not only because we believe it can, but also because we have proven through studies and science that certain medicines cure various illnesses. The African medicine man's spells and chants may work sometimes (mind over matter), but not as a serious antidote to any serious illness. So, it's not only because a person believes that something will work. (I believe there was a story in the news the other day about two parents "letting" their young child die because they chose prayer over medicine). It also has to be proven effective through trials and testing.

I chose the example of psychiatry because it is not a clear-cut case like other fields of western medicine. It works, but not in the way that western scientists like to test their medicine for example.
As for the African tribesman who is depressed and goes to see the sorcerer, how do we know it doesn't work? I don't think we've got much data about this.