Working in Ottawa today --mmmm duck

Good morning folks,

I will be working in Ottawa today.

Early warning..  the next few paragraphs may have a blah blah blah effect, a bit of math, some chemistry and a tiny reference to an element on the periodic table (hanging out between Phosphorus and our friend Chlorine).  But fear not.. If you can hang on a bit I promise to thinly spread a pâté of duck liver across the known universe, and maybe even a few others.

I recently came across the description of a [pseudo] scientific paper titled:  Extreme homeopathic dilutions retain starting materials: A nanoparticulate perspective, after  I finished coughing out the word 'bullshite' I read the synopsis "demonstrated for the first time by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction and chemical analysis by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), the presence of physical entities in these extreme dilutions" at this point my eye rolled completely over.

In effect, the authors were claiming that despite Homeopathic dilutions that exceed the point where NONE of the active ingredient exists, the active ingredient still has an effect.  Essentially stating that if you dissolved a pinch of your special salt in the ocean (and then shook the ocean), that you could detect the effect of your pinch of salt.  And therefore should be able to sell small bottles of the sea water to others so that they too can enjoy the effect of your special salt.  Perhaps others that are painfully unaware of the definition of placebo or its effect but still have a few dollars in their pocket.

Let's examine Homeopathic dilutions.  But first an extremely short description of Homeopathy.  The Latin roughly translates to 'like suffering' and the general premise is to cure a cough, you should treat the patient with something that results in coughing but in very low doses.  Essentially treating the symptom with a symptom producing drug.  Got a large stick in your eye causing pain?  Put a small sliver into it too. Huh?  Yeah, but when you consider that it got its start in the very late 1700s and western medicine was using blood letting and dirty surgical instruments, it doesn't sound that bad.

Now then.. the low doses.  Written on each Homeopathic dilution is a number and either a X or a C.  This describes the dilution into water, alcohol or lactose at a 1:10 ratio and shaken, and then for each C value dilute 1:100 and shake (perhaps to music and disco lights?).  A 30C dilution of Sulphur is a solution that has been diluted 30 times over by this process and results in a dilution of 10^-60.  That is a really extreme dilution to the point that if you gathered up all of the bottles of solution ever made of 30C sulphur, it is unlikely that you would encounter a single atom.  It is extremely convenient that the doses are actually non-doses since many Homeopathic drugs are quite toxic.

I read that the standard dilution of Oscillococcinum which is some extract made from duck liver and duck heart.  It is sold at 200C dilution or 10^-400.  A gentle reminder.  There are a mere 10^80 particles in the universe.  When I first heard of this particular remedy I wondered about the donor duck.  As you would only need one duck liver diluted with all particles of our universe plus several others universes.

And then it all came together in a Eureka moment.  If the Homeopaths are right,  then vibrations of the duck ARE imparted into the solution, they are imparted into everything!  You need not pay good money for the solution but merely close your eyes and allow your self to accept the good vibrations of that magical duck that must by all Homeopathic definitions be everywhere, throughout this universe and those parallel.

have a good day, enjoy the duck.