Ummm... sure? I mean, cool, sounds like an interesting subject.

But... that is not at all what the linked essay is about? There's one paragraph in a 4.5k word essay explaining what a control group is that mentions the concept of a placebo because that's a concept related to control groups that the reader might be familiar with.

Here's the same author treating the subject of placebos more seriously: https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/01/31/powerless-placebos/