The Placebo Effect has long been a shadowy result in research that cannot be accounted for by the procedures being investigated.  The most dramatic example of this effect is seen in the research results of new drugs being tested for their ability to cure a specific illness. In other words, a person’s condition will improve even though they have not been given the drug under investigation.  Some subjects (the control group) are given sugar pills believing that it is the medication being researched and actually show improvement (belief in the outcome controls the result).  Until recently, researchers have avoided discussing this little quirk in research results because it simply defied the logic of science.  However, the mystery of the placebo effect is essentially a problem of myopic understanding, by western science, of the power of the “mind”. 

The ability of each human to have mental control over illness and disease is not easily demonstrated and therefore has often been regarded as “myth” by western science.  In the modern world of medicine, science easily maps the specific chemical requirements for eradicating a specific disease.  Unfortunately, the human mind is not so easily mapped and therefore the “mental” requirements (unlike chemical requirements) for eradicating a specific disease appear to be immune to discovery.  As an example, giving a specific chemical concoction (such as a antibiotic) to a specific group of people (all with the same illness) is going to have an extremely high rate of consistency (but not 100 percent) in eradicating a particular type of bacteria.  Unlike the specific construction of an antibiotic, a “mental” construct varies greatly across individuals and therefore does not show the same high rate of consistency in dealing with a specific illness.  The variables effecting the mental construct are not well understood but not impossible to demonstrate.

One area of inquiry that does demonstrate the effects of a mental construct is in “biofeedback training”.  The classic example is the increase in hand temperature produced by subjects who “mentally” visualize the result.  Of special interest is that the mental control of increasing hand temperature actually reduces the intensity and duration of Migraine headaches.  The principles of mental control that effect hand temperature are likely responsible for the placebo effect found in many drug studies. 

Can mental constructs also effect external events?  Unlike internal events which can be measure directly by biofeedback equipment, there is no such corollary of measurement for external events.  However, the anecdotal evidence. for the effect of attitude on one’s life space is well known.  Norman V. Peal (Author and Preacher) wrote about these effects in his book “The Power Of Positive Thinking”.  Of course he had many critics and naysayers, but I doubt there is anyone who does not comprehend that a positive attitude is likely to lead to positive outcomes.  It is not consistent and cannot be measured but few would doubt the assertion.

With all of the complications involved in measuring the macro results of mind over matter, there actually is hard cold scientific evidence that “observation” can impact outcome.  The double slit experiment of photons actually demonstrates that the wave action of photons collapses when it is observed (measured).  There is a great little animated video of this result on You tube.  You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the study of “Quantum Mechanics” is a path of inquiry that has great potential for revealing the interaction between mind and matter.  Is this the doorway to understanding the placebo effect?  I suspect it is in fact a doorway to an entirely new dimension of existence itself.  It is the basis of the human equation that effects all outcomes.