Editing 790: Control

{{comic
| number    = 790
| date      = September 8, 2010
| title     = Control
| image     = control.png
| titletext = Which, at one point, led to a study showing that LSD produces no more hallucinations than a placebo.
}}

==Explanation==
This is another comic in the [[:Category:My Hobby|My Hobby series]]. In a product experiment, two groups of people are given a certain pill or lotion. Some people are given the product to be tested, while others (the control group) are given a placebo; nobody is told which group they belong to. The control group acts as a norm for comparison against the others.

Randall has messed with this process by giving LSD ({{w|lysergic acid diethylamide}}) to the control group. LSD is a drug that causes hallucinations and distortions in the perception of time and space. [[Megan]], apparently a control, is experiencing spiders in her hallucinations. Since the control group is supposed to reflect what "normally" happens, this is indeed very confusing to the scientists. While hallucinating in the comic Megan is drawn as if she has six arms indicating that she's waving her arms. Though this also makes her look (together with her lower limbs) as if she has eight 'legs', in the manner of an actual spider.

The scientists are confused. This may mean that, in the light of the unusual adverse events, they have executed the option of unblinding the study. This implies that the trial has (or is being) ended, as not being double-blinded itself impacts the veracity of a continuing study. In a properly double-blinded study, the scientists would not know Cueball or [[Megan]] was the control and would only dutifully record their observations. However, it may be equally confusing even if they don't yet know which cohorts either participant are members of (for all they know, these two are from the same one), as the treatment may or may not be creating hallucinations even as the non-treatment may or may not seem to clear up rashes.

Depending upon how the flailing-limbed individual is interpretted, one or other 'treatment' may even have ''actually'' promoted the growth of additional body parts. Logically, this is more likely to arise from a trial drug intended to affect surface tissues (though still far from the usual expectations of any "anti-rash treatment") than a commonly used hallucinogen whose effects are generally understood to be on brain-chemistry and nervous function. Either outcome should worry ''any'' observer, even those not under the misconception that a placebo (also an unlikely cause, by definition) might be the provocative agent in this instance.

The title text suggests that, in a different study, this substitution was performed when the product being tested was itself LSD. This led to the conclusion that LSD is no more likely to cause hallucinations than the 'placebo', implying that LSD is not a significant hallucinogen.  We can only hope they were able to redo the test, as in layman's terms "Nonsense MUST be wrong". Randall could also have only sneaked placebo in as the 'LSD' element of the study, to get the same comparative effect, though (if checked) the difference between the ''whole'' cohorts, from each modified type of study, would be striking.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the frame:]
:My Hobby:

:[Cueball looks down at his arm calmly, while next to him Megan is violently flailing around in terror. In the foreground a Cueball-like guy stands next to Ponytail who is holding a clipboard. They look on in puzzlement.]
:Cueball: My rash seems to have shrunk by about 20% today.
:Megan: OH GOD SPIDERS
:Cueball-like guy: ? ?
:Ponytail: ?

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Sneaking into experiments and giving LSD to the control group.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]