[Unedited] Erik Vance with Krista Tippett
b'Science writer and reporter Erik Vance says today\\u2019s brain scientists are like astronomers of old: They\\u2019ve unsettled humanity\\u2019s sense of itself by redrawing our picture of the cosmos within our own heads. Vance has investigated the healing power of stories and the \\u201ctheater of medicine\\u201d (white coats included). It turns out that the things that make us feel better are often more closely connected to what we believe and fear than to the efficacy of some treatments. In fact, most drugs that go to trial can\\u2019t beat what we\\u2019ve dismissively called the \\u201cplacebo effect,\\u201d which is actually nothing less than an unleashing of the brain\\u2019s superpowers.'