Anecdotes are anecdotes

‘Our brains seem to be hard-wired for anecdotes, and we learn most easily through compelling stories; but I am aghast that so many people, including quite a number of my friends, cannot see the pitfalls in this approach. Science knows that anecdotes and personal experiences can be fatally misleading. It requires results that are testable and repeatable. Medicine, on the other hand, can only take science so far. There is too much human variability to be sure about anything very much when it comes to individual patients, so yes there is often a great deal of room for hunch. But let us be clear about the boundaries, for if we stray over them the essence of science is quickly betrayed: corners get cut and facts and opinions intermingle until we find it hard
to distinguish one from the other.’

Ross N. Foreword. In: Ernst E, ed. Healing, hype, or harm? A critical analysis of complementary or alternative medicine. Exeter: Societas, 2008:vi-vii.

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