First, I just want to define placebo, placebo, placebo, placebo.

Most people think when I say placebo, it's all in someone's head, you know, it's not

a real thing.

But the real reality is, I'm having a biochemical, physiological change occurring, but the difference

is there wasn't active medication given to me.

It was an inert medication, not a nurse medication, but I would change the word from belief

to expectation because it's the expectation of what will follow, whether it's positive

or negative, that changes that physical state of placebo.

Humans are not the strongest, we're not the bravest, we don't have the sharpest teeth.

The thing that we're really good at is what we call plasticity.

Our brains and bodies are enormously adaptable, there's very little evolutionary bias that

you would succeed at a higher rate if you were a better believer.

But what we see is that there's no question that people that belong survived and reproduced

at higher rates than people that were ostracized during the group.

Most religions are based on a lot of what we call costly signals or signs that you're part

of the group.

I wear garments, therefore you can trust me.

A hundred percent of human survival is based on our ability to be taken care of by someone

else.

That process can be manipulated.

The key here is understanding that there's a physiological change happening in the expectation,

the people that belong to the city, people that were ostracized during the group are enormously

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