Homeopathy was not invented by hippies of New Age mystics. It was first propounded in 1796 by a German named Samuel Hahnemann. It became popular in the U.S. in the 19th Century, understandably so. As homeopathy does absolutely nothing, it was superior to most medical treatments of the time. There were even homeopathic medical schools. But, in the 20th Century, as scientific understanding of health and disease emerged, homeopathy was discredited by the medical profession and became a fringe practice. Nevertheless it persists.
Among the prominent proponents of homeopathy was His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales, who is now His Majesty King Charles III. If you don't believe me enter Prince Charles and homeopathy into your favorite Internet search engine. He is not a hippie nor a New Ager. Homeopathic remedies are manufactured and sold by capitalists, who only want your money, in the CVS and Walmart, for the same reason.
Such pseudoscience has not historically been the particular province of Left or Right, nor of countercultures. The modern anti-vax movement largely traces to a medical fraudster named Andrew Wakefield, whose politics otherwise he does not discuss, but its champions included the purportedly liberal Robert Kennedy Jr. and various Hollywood celebrities who at least came out of a relatively liberal milieu. However, it has now migrated very decisively to the Right. It just so happens at this historical moment that pseudoscience is largely the preserve of self-styled "conservatives," for no evident reason other than it's promotion by their object of cultish adoration, but that has not always been the case.
So, I'm reading The Skeptics Guide to the Universe by Steve Novella (M.D.), which has me thinking again - as I have always done - about the underlying reasons for human folly. Having described what good scientific evidence for a treatment would look like, I will now turn my attention to the way our brains get the world wrong. Stay tuned..
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