Over the centuries there have been an incredible number of purported medical devices released onto the market, with some having more outrageous claims than others. Released in the 1910s and produced into the 1920s, the Farador electrotherapeutic device claimed to be a thermoelectric device that would cure all disease conditions. In a recent video over at the [Our Own Devices] channel we get an in-depth look at this device and its usage instructions.
On the Smithsonian’s website you can see the version they’ve got. It’s not identical, but the working principle remains the same — after bypassing the whole ‘is this the right treatment’ questionnaire because it’s a cure-all device, you take the main metal device and its connected electrodes out of the box.
Unlike similar devices of the era that applied an actual electrical current using batteries or similar, this Farador purportedly uses thermoelectric power generation, but there’s no clear hot or cold side to what would be the generator. Despite this, about 20-30 mV can be measured across the electrodes, so surely it’s working?
As it turns out, the Farador is just one of many fake medical devices that cloned the original Electropoise. Naturally such devices have been disassembled by many over the past decades, and as it turns out they are all empty inside, or at least devoid of any mechanisms. Much like many of such fake medical devices today, they mostly bank on the placebo effect. This placebo effect can be so strong that it’s even a confounding factor in real medical trials and medicine.
The more involved and complex the purported medical treatment seems, the stronger the effect tends to be. For the Farador the complex instructions, apparently high-tech thermoelectric generator and such all help to create the illusion and could thus be construed to be the main feature of this product.
The Placebo Effect that this machine relies on has actually been increasing significantly over the years.
So much so that a data scientist in pharma told me there are probably numerous drugs on the market that would never clear clinical trials today.
Clearly we are making far more powerful sugar pills.
However, it also means this is likely a much more effective machine than when first invented.
/jk
The placebo effect is mysteriously increasing, or medical standards are mysteriously decreasing? We may never know
Considering who is in charge of DHHS, I think we know…
The placebo effect is also extremely strong in religion. The simple fact of “believing in something” can be a great motivator and thus become a self fulfilling prophecy. And part of that belief is of course to vehemently deny that the belief is not based on any facts, as that would destroy the belief.
Interesting, does this also apply to the following procedure: close your eyes, fold your hands, mumble your wish and the almighty one will alter your destiny (and/or the destiny of others) just to suit you…
Yes the placebo effect does work if you believe it same as voodoo, but connecting this with religion is wrong. I am not intelligent enough to tell anyone their belief system is wrong, I do not want to say something that could destroy their lives! I personally believe in the block universe which has scientific proof but that’s just me.
Fifty years ago, when I was at working there was a bloke with a stubborn wart on his finger. I used my megger — 500 volts. He held the crocodile clip in one hand, and I told him to touch the other probe onto the wart a few times. There were little sparks, you could smell it burning a bit, and he jumped about from the shock — all just a daft joke, I was laughing to myself thinking nothing of it. But a month or two later? That wart had completely vanished. It had actually worked! I was absolutely amazed — far more than he was! He just accepted it, but I couldn’t believe it had actually done the job.
So… Not a hack. Just a scam…
So essentially it’s an rather convoluted thermocouple. Given this is just snake-oil in a metal case, was the small p.d. generated even intended or just an artifact of its construction? It does look the part though; useless but shiny – sounds like something to add to my Steampunk gadget collection :-)
I’d imagine that the small current is just a happy little accident on account of them actually using conductive wiring rather than two pieces of string. Much like modern-day snake oil devices they all seem superficially functional, just that they uselessly blink LEDs or such to convince the gullible and desperate.
Definitely needs to add that ‘cool’ factor too, of course. That’s how you do marketing :)
Up there with the Orgone Accumulator.