“Ritual functioned as an embodied protolanguage that provided an ‘external support system’ to individual cognition — a crucial step on the road to language itself... And because of its close connection to symbolism, rhythm and movement, as well as its role in demarcating the extraordinary from the ordinary, ritual has also been linked to the... See more

Researchers do not have concrete conclusions, but they believe response expectancy plays a large role. It’s precisely because the patient expects it to do so that a placebo works. Expectations elicit a suggested or believed response. However, this is not true outside of a theater (my word) of intervention. That is, if I randomly take a sugar pill... See more