Even when we operate in good faith, the methods of verification available to us can be subverted by a skilled attacker.
One of the main types of TCAM use was that of prayer (no cost) and faith healing methods, which on average was lower in cost than herbal remedies.
Most participants in this study indicated that their health care provider was not aware that they were taking herbal therapies (90%) and faith healing methods for HIV (81.6%).
Herbal therapies were the most expensive, with one average 128 Rand (range 0 1000) per month, followed by cannabis (37 Rand per month), faith healing methods (24.4 Rand per month) and micronutrients 7.2 Rand per months (1 US$ = 7.60 Rand).
Herbal therapies were mainly used for pain relief, immune supplementation and stress relief, spiritual practices or prayer for stress relief, to improve overall wellbeing and pain relief, faith healing methods for stress relief, exercise to improve overall wellbeing, and micronutrients (vitamins, etc).
Most participants (90%) indicated that their health care provider was not aware that they were taking herbal therapies for HIV (90%) or faith healing methods for HIV (81.6%), while most health care providers were aware that they were taking micronutrients (85.3%).
Women (42%) in this sample were much more likely to belong to charismatic churches than men (21%) and used faith healing methods (40% for women and 20% for men respectively) and spiritual practices or prayer (15% vs. 7%) more often than men (p <.001) (see Table 3).
Herbal therapies were mainly used for pain relief (87.1%), immune supplementation (52.7%) and stress relief (50.9%); cannabis for stress relief (85.7%); spiritual practices or prayer for stress relief (77.6%), to improve overall wellbeing (74.7%) and pain relief (64.5%); faith healing methods for stress relief (80.4%); exercise to improve overall wellbeing (76.9%); micronutrients (vitamins, etc).
Among the 289 agro-pastoralists, 38 of them had not treated their animals for FMD and 105 had only treated their cattle for FMD with traditional remedies (plant extracts or faith-based methods) or management changes (supportive care).
What made Zhang's movement particularly attractive to the common people was its faith-healing method.
We can discover who has better batting averages, not take it on faith; discover which methods of training promote accuracy, not just track the latest gurus and fads; and discover methods of distilling the wisdom of the crowd.The big surprise has been the support for the unabashedly elitist "super-forecaster" hypothesis.
