Reply to Jay Yasgur

Yasgur has grasped the wrong end of the stick. He objects to a small part of an article, the third in a series attempting to introduce quantum theoretical notions to homeopaths and into homeopathy. This could (and I emphasise ‘could’—these are very early days) lead to new ways of testing homeopathy that demonstrate unequivocally to conventional biomedical scientists—that it works. And to go beyond the stultifying ideological trench warfare engendered byinconclusive double-blind placebo-controlled trials.

JT Kent was not one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, and I certainly do NOT quote Kent in order to support my thesis. Rather I find it interesting that one could if one wished, interpret what Kent said in quantum theoretical terms, specifically about a remedy being homeopathic when it cures the case. I would refer Yasgur to one of my earlier papers (Homeopathy 2002; 91: 239–248) where I used this remark, as a jumping off point for a definition of a homeopathic remedy in quantum theoretical terms. I am not criticising or judging Kent, nor do I seek confirmation from Kent (or permission from the classical homeopathic community) for adopting a quantum theoretical approach to homeopathy.

At the moment, this is an exercise in ‘pushing the envelope’ and seeing where it leads. Fortunately, I am not alone in this enterprise, for instance the work of Harald Walach and Michael Hyland. It may soon be possible to devise new testing procedures to confirm or refute our hypotheses. I would remind Yasgur, homeopathy proclaims itself as a science (see Vithoulkas) as well an art, and therefore puts itself in the firing line to be judged as such. Frankly, if I am going to be in such a firing line, I’d rather be tooled up with the latest (theoretical) ordnance!

It is my belief that the application of quantum theoretical models (and their experimental confirmation) could ultimately provide the intellectual ‘fire-power’ we need to convince a sceptical bio-medical community of the benefits of homeopathy. If having read and digested the literature on quantum theoretical approaches to homeopathy Yasgur would like to ‘tender more Kentian interpretations’, I would be more than happy to look at them.