Week 4 Post 2

 Placebos are defined as a fake medical treatment that may or may not trigger a psychological response in the receiving patient which basically tricks their body into fixing whatever problem it had. When the professional administering or prescribing the placebo tells the patient that "this will work", it is proven to be more effective than if they tell the patient that "this might work". Not a lot is currently known about the deeper scientific processes of the placebo effect, however, a likely theory is that the placebo effect causes the patient's brain to release endorphins which act similarly to opiate pain killers. 

Placebos are a very interesting way of manipulating people. Mainly used in the medical field, they can make people believe something that is completely false and even trigger a positive physical response (or negative) that can hurt or harm the person. Since they trigger a psychological response and are not aided by anything physical except the fake physical treatment administered, placebos are a great illustration for the fallacy of appeal to authority. If a doctor administers a placebo treatment the patient is likely appealing to the authority of a doctor because they are widely accepted to be knowledgeable in their area of work. However, by committing this fallacy they have fueled the placebo effect and allowed it to take full effect.