I assume you're all familiar with the placebo effect. Well, today I learned about the anti-placebo effect, where if a subject believes something might have negative effects, it will.

Mormonism exploits this phenomenon, warning that all sorts of harmless things have negative effects. Then, when the faithful encounter those things, they feel bad. "Oooo, the prophet was right! I sense a dark spirit about (insert harmless thing here)."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2011 10:53AM by Stray Mutt.

I don't know if you watch The Mentalist on TV, but the re-run last week had a great example of what you are describing.

A guy tries to intimidate him, and he leans into him and whispers that he just put a dead mouse in his suit pocket, and that no matter how many times he washes it, the smell will still be there.

The guy freaks out and whips his jacket off. He then tells him, just kidding, it was just a rolled up napkin, but you still won't be able to wear that suit.

I loved it.

Anything with the word Anti-mormon attached to it does the same thing for TBM's. It was done by design, and it works.