Blog #1 Chapter 2

This chapter was pretty introductory; what defines an "experiment," common terms and theories behind the practice of experimentation. I was struck most by the idea of a "nocebo" effect. I had heard of placebo before, likely along with the rest of the class, but i was super interested that there was a documented term that describes placebo's opposite effect: expecting harm causes perceived harm. I experience this a lot in daily life; mostly in observing the habits of certain people I would define as pessimistic or nervous. Often they don't have a good time because they didn't expect to--it severely impacts their social interactions.