The video was really interesting, though I feel conflicted about the way it's framed / could come across. A natural question that comes up is "So, did these medicines work?" and it seems to me it's easy to misinterpret what you're saying. Personally, I would have appreciated if the disclaimer at the beginning said that you're just talking about the history of medicine, and will refer to treatments as "medicines" without intending to make a statement about whether it was actually effective. Modern usage of the word tends to imply effectiveness, but obviously many historical treatments such as bloodletting were only occasionally helpful, or sometimes quite harmful. I really like how respectful you are to historical cultures and I think it would have been possible to talk about it respectfully even while acknowledging that sometimes it's just down to placebo or did harm. Perhaps that should be obvious to the viewer, but I think it's better to be on the safe side rather than end up creating confusion. I would have loved to hear more info about what likely worked and likely didn't, eg you posed the question whether trepanning worked but the references you offered are just about whether it's survivable, not whether it treated any of the conditions they used it for. That said, the video probably already took a long time to make as is, so it's understandable!
Hi there! Thanks for your thoughtful note. We do have a disclaimer around the 00:47 mark, but I totally hear your point about the connotation of the word medicine, especially as it relates to efficacy. I went ahead and put a more detailed disclaimer in the description. In terms of efficacy, that's a little harder to ascertain so we aim to create dedicated videos on specific diseases and treatments. You're right, this video took a long time to create 😉, and we really appreciate your kind and thoughtful feedback!
i feel like resin would take forever to collect enough of, how effective is it as medicine?? xDD also omg medicinal cannibalism is a wild concept @_@ nd i'm glad short hair isn't considered as unclean anymore LOL
Resin does take time to collect. I guess it's efficacy would depend on the dosage and potency. Short hair is wonderful and hair trends varied depending on place and time. That's something we can explore in a future video for sure :)
The video was really interesting, though I feel conflicted about the way it's framed / could come across. A natural question that comes up is "So, did these medicines work?" and it seems to me it's easy to misinterpret what you're saying. Personally, I would have appreciated if the disclaimer at the beginning said that you're just talking about the history of medicine, and will refer to treatments as "medicines" without intending to make a statement about whether it was actually effective. Modern usage of the word tends to imply effectiveness, but obviously many historical treatments such as bloodletting were only occasionally helpful, or sometimes quite harmful. I really like how respectful you are to historical cultures and I think it would have been possible to talk about it respectfully even while acknowledging that sometimes it's just down to placebo or did harm.
Perhaps that should be obvious to the viewer, but I think it's better to be on the safe side rather than end up creating confusion.
I would have loved to hear more info about what likely worked and likely didn't, eg you posed the question whether trepanning worked but the references you offered are just about whether it's survivable, not whether it treated any of the conditions they used it for. That said, the video probably already took a long time to make as is, so it's understandable!
Hi there! Thanks for your thoughtful note. We do have a disclaimer around the 00:47 mark, but I totally hear your point about the connotation of the word medicine, especially as it relates to efficacy. I went ahead and put a more detailed disclaimer in the description. In terms of efficacy, that's a little harder to ascertain so we aim to create dedicated videos on specific diseases and treatments. You're right, this video took a long time to create 😉, and we really appreciate your kind and thoughtful feedback!
i feel like resin would take forever to collect enough of, how effective is it as medicine?? xDD also omg medicinal cannibalism is a wild concept @_@ nd i'm glad short hair isn't considered as unclean anymore LOL
Resin does take time to collect. I guess it's efficacy would depend on the dosage and potency. Short hair is wonderful and hair trends varied depending on place and time. That's something we can explore in a future video for sure :)
Sources for the mummies ? I'm looking for books
I don't think we came across any books in our research, but let us know if you do. All our sources are linked in the blog post in the description.
Great channel
Thanks for your kind note!