Do New Physics Theories Offer an Explanation of Homeoapthy?
The central stumbling block in a belief in homeopathy, at least for anyone with a scientific turn of mind, is the completely illogical nature of the idea. It’s not so much that the principle is totally outrageous or only several hundred years old. After all, the idea that “like cures like” has clear roots going back perhaps thousands of years in Thaumaturgy. The “Law of Similarity” was one of the laws of magic long before Samuel Hahnemann invented homeopathy in 1790. Still unanswered so far is the question, “How does homeopathy work.”
Criticisms of Homeopathy
However, where most scientists balk when they try to find a science behind homeopathy is the idea that by diluting something multiple times, each successive dilution will make the medicine stronger. This concept, according to debunkers and some tests, can end up with no molecules of the original substance present at all. A typical 4C (representing the number of dilutions) remedy starts with a tincture of something that in larger amounts can cause a symptom; takes one part of the tincture to 99 parts of alcohol or water; takes one part of the resulting solution to 99 parts of alcohol or water; takes one part of the result to 99 parts of alcohol or water; and finishes by taking one part of the last dilution to 99 parts of alcohol or water. Skeptics liken this to taking a teaspoon of something, throwing it in the ocean, walking five miles down the shore and taking out a teaspoon of ocean water. How, they ask, can this possibly have any effect—other than a salty taste!
Possible Explanations from Physics]
Contemporary ideas in physics may hold the key to explain why empirically, homeopathy does seem to work for some people. Is it possible that after many years of searching for scientific validity, the answer lies in concepts such as string theory, quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle, multiple dimensions and the reversibility of time? Let’s start with the last idea, following on the idea of time reversal.
Homeopathy and the Reversibility of Time
In real life, time and events seem to flow in only one direction, called the “Arrow of Time.” If you break an egg into a pan and fry it, that’s one thing. There is no way to reverse that process, that is, have the egg start fried and work backward to flying up into the shell and closing. However, physicists have held as a sacred principle for a very long time that all physical processes are reversible. This is a result of the time symmetry of the underlying laws of physical operations. That is, there is nothing inherent in any theory that says time only flows in one direction. This has been proven mathematically. This belief was bolstered with the discovery of a subatomic particle that behaved very strangely with respect to time. It took trillions of times longer in decaying than being produced. It was named the “kaon,” and according to one explanation, had the ability to flip briefly into an alternate universe where time was running backwards. More such strange particles, all of which share strange quarks have been discovered. The principles underlying their behavior can be compared to looking in a mirror at a sphere that has been set to spinning. In the mirror, the object looks as if it is spinning backwards. These strange quarks may operate the same way in reality by changing subatomic particles back and forth between positive and anti-matter.
Why Do Dilutions Work?]
Perhaps homeopathic remedies work in the same fashion. By diluting a substance to near non-existence, maybe the strange quarks that remain operate as if they represented the original substance, but without its toxicity.
In similar fashion, one can explore the concepts of uncertainty and quantum mechanics, in which ideas like particles having a connection between here and the other end of the universe are a real possibility. Eminent scientists like Richard Feynman and John Wheeler, basing their work on earlier developments by others like James Maxwell (1831-1879) and Michael Faraday (1791-1867), theorized that radio waves could be received both after and before transmission. The explanation is too detailed for here, but it is related to the concept of time flowing in two directions.
String theory, which attempts to provide a complete explanation for the structure of the universe, says all the fundamental particles of matter that exist are identical, and this identity is represented by an oscillating string. We think of these particles as different because we can’t see the vibration.
Suppose these scientific concepts enable strings that are part of any homeopathic remedy to impart their motion, their fundamental character, or their connection to other particles? Then, no matter how dilute the remedy is, even to the point of not being able to identify a single molecule of the original substance, the original property still has its “essence” present? Could one of these ideas answer the question how does homeopathy work or explain the science behind homeopathy?
References
“Time, Reversal of,” in Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, and Culture, vol. 3. ed. by H. James Birx. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2009, pp. 1314-1316.
Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield, The Arrow of Time, New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1990..