The Placebo Strategy .

The Placebo Strategy .
Andre Willers
5 Feb 2009 .

For Renschia on her birthday .

Placebo : a placeholder .
Not "Nothing" , but a symbol denoting that it is a placeholder .

The most widely used and effective placebo is zero (0) . Essential to any financial or modern arithmetical system .

The placebo with the most dramatic effect is the zero's at the end of a bank statement , debt , salary cheque , banknote , etc . This can have a pronounced biochemical effect .

As discussed (see http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "Financial Crisis 31 Jan 2009" )
This placebo represents existing , but unknown , future contracts on the goods and services of a group of humans (society) .

The question is whether it has an underlying logical cause . Why in double-blind tests are placebo's still effective ? Why does Monopoly work ? or Confederate money or Roman coins give a thrill?

It ties in with duplication of gene-sequences . These duplicates can be seen as placebos in the biggest crap-game around , namely living systems .

The Logical Model .
See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "New Tools: Orders of Randomness"

Briefly : if a random neutral signal periodically disturbs a system with a bias (like a living system) and it has a feedback-loop (ie memory) , it uses random-walk mechanisms to get better prospects in the direction of the bias . .

As you can see from the above analog , if no feedback (ie future expectation or contract) is involved , all systems involved are Beth(0) (ie ordinary chance) . There is no bias and that is the assumption in normal tests .

If there are feedback-loops involved , these take a finite time and are equivalent to future feedback . Call these Beth(1) systems .

In any living organism the Beth(1) systems have a bias towards continued existence .
Can you see that any periodic disturbance will bias towards continued existence?

Any periodic disturbance of Beth(1) (ie the placebo) will enable a random-walk process towards more continued existence .
Life is biased .
This can be shown rigorously (like throwing loaded dice with every instanciation of the placebo .)

But what is the memory?
In living organisms with many cells over large periods it is continued existence .

Inside cells , it is the PNA , RNA , DNA trinity .
See Scientific American Dec 2008 p38 " A new molecule of life"
Briefly , PeptideNucleicAcid(PNA) predated RNA and DNA , but was superseded because it was too stable . Life in competition requires unstable structures skating on the peripheries of chaotic attractors .

But PNA is still used in memory , immune system , epigenetics , micro-RNA and micro-DNA processes because it is nice and stable . It is also essential for placebo effects . The random-walk effect cannot work if there is no memory shorter than the lifespan of the cell .

Delicious!
PNA processes are , by definition , involved in longevity and immune systems .
It governs the expression of genes .

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS)
See Scientific American Dec 2008 p80 "Turning back the cellular clock."
Only 4 genes are necessary to create them :
Oct3/4 , Sox2 , c-Myc , and Klf4 .
As expected , uncontrolled proliferation(cancer) is a problem . Hence the involvement of PNA.


See http://andreswhy.blogspot.com "UnPacking"
PNA evolved first as the unpacker , then RNA and DNA as the packers using evolutionary processes .
Sharks , crocs ?

If the compound being tested is really active , it's effect can only be measured after deducting the Placebo-effect . This rarely happens .

On the other hand , real effects can be obtained simply by following a frequent , periodic (ie every hour on the hour) of the placebo regimen . It does not matter if the patient believes it or not , but it will help .

Enhancement .
The effect will be enhanced if capsules of easily recognized compounds are used . The best is probably alcohol . A drop of alcohol in a gelatin capsule taken every hour on the hour will trigger an optimal cellular sigma-sequence of the placebo-effect .

Notice prayer regimens with Christians , Muslims , Buddhists , sects , misers , accountants , etc .
Prayer-beads , genuflecting , counting , filling in tax-forms , etc .
Tibetan Buddhists are unique in that they have mechanized the placebo
Prayerwheels , driven by wind or water . Whether this works even as a placebo is very doubtful .

All those vitamin pills , etc .
The delicious irony is that many of these do work , but only as a real placebo effect . The problem is that the really effective ones are not known .

Memory .
Placebo memory is then very deep-rooted , down to intra-cellular level .

Gut Bacteria .
See NewScientist 6 Dec 2008 p 16
The important thing is not the various types of gut bacteria , but the gene-sets they have to handle human digestive processes . The orchestrator of this process is cellular memory in the form of PNA .
The variety matters more than the concentration .

Licking your wounds .
Saliva is rich in proline/glycinel/glutamine phosphoproteins nutrients plus anti-biotics .
These are directly applied to the open cells of the wound .
Effect : half of the affected area gets better in a 24-hour period .
It is species specific , but mammals(especially dogs)have some overlap with humans .
It is essentially a semi-placebo .
But it is of major significance in the mouth .
Any damage to the gums or challenge to the mouth's immune systems should be done at regular intervals , as discussed . This is where the rubber hits the tar and placebos are most necessary . It sets the tone for the rest of the digestive system .


A simple algorithm:
Throw a dice and remember and say aloud the number just before you throw the dice again (preferably at regular periodic intervals .)
Recommended frequency : at start , once every 5 minutes , then tapering off over 12 hours to once an hour , then once a day .
That's it .

General memory should improve , as well as immunity systems(PNA memory)
Digestion and mouth-hygiene should improve .

This is a placebo in it's purest form .

Enhancements:
Clap your hands (fingertip neural activation) and stamp your feet and toes (feet neural activation) to activate timing mechanisms . A small sip of an expensive single malt whisky will add extra significance , as well as a clear physiological marker .
These processes make it easier for the cellular sigma-sequence of the effect .


The real present universe .
There is evidence that mirror-symmetry is not preserved . Ie , the Universe is biased and that periodic applications of placebos will exacerbate this tendency .
This is a process already used in chemical manufacturing under the name of Chaotic Manufacturing .


Summary :
As you can see , this is a simple Beth(1) technology .

A nice speculation is that most politicians are placebos .
They also serve who sit and pontificate .

And so it goes .

Andre .