The terms nature and natural products invoke cult-like sentiments in society. They are usually used as opposites for synthetic products, chemicals, toxins, poisons, etc. Let’s look at some common irrationalities associated with ‘nature’.
Argumentum ad populum
Or appeal to the people. In simple language, it means since everybody thinks it’s true, it must be true! There are more reasons why something popular is likely wrong, especially in specialised fields of study, as the population of practitioners in topics such as medicine is negligible in society.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
We have seen it before. It means Y happened after X; therefore, X caused Y. Almost all traditional medicines against what is now known as viral infections are examples of this fallacy. A famous example is Phyllanthus, as a cure for Hepatitis A, a water-borne viral infection (of the liver). The illness, if it’s caused by Hepatitis A or E, will go away in itself. But what happens if a person gets the same symptoms caused by Hepatitis B? Not something pleasant.
Argumentum ad antiquitatem
Appeal to tradition is often related to one’s cultural identity. It was written, so it must be true. A classical case is where people from the East think of modern medicines as Western medicines and take pride in ancient science that treated almost everything.
Absence of data as proof of absence
The presence of side effects is a common criticism directed against evidence-based, modern medicine. They consider the treatment of an ailment using a drug to be a trade-off between the risks and benefits. Naturally, this mandates the inventors to probe deep into the dangers and advantages of the given molecules used for treatment. Historically, similar scrutiny has never occurred in traditional medicines, thereby lacking data on their adverse effects.
