Wordless
In the wordless world, placebo doesn’t exist for self-evident reason.
Wordy
Among the wordy, everything a placebo can do — it can change your blood pressure, your mood, your heart rate, your focus, or your thoughts, to name a few — a word can do faster. Which might explain words’ uncanny ability to influence us more than an influencer can.
Of course, words can save lives and do a million other things that placebos cannot, however, knowing it is a placebo is identical to knowing it is a word. It isn’t the end of the placebo or of the word, but it is the end only of how you used to respond to it.
Placebos are everywhere — animals, mountains, and toys that talk, promised lands, reality, social media, fake news, artificial intelligence, and life, to name a few — and here to stay. Wishing them away is something only a moron would think about. The best you can do is have fewer of them.
For the ones we’ve fallen for it is too late for they have already worked their magic. Many a word-user’s blood pressure, mood, heart rate, focus, and thoughts have been successfully placebo-ed already.
But what will the word masters come up with next?
Your guess is as good as mine, but when you know it will be words, you are better prepared than most.