"but the actual point of the article is that _there is no data_"

According to the OP whose is (just checked) a tech evangelist at Adobe. Additionally the sum of their research is "Over the weekend I was reading some medical studies involving placebos".

What I'm seeing is that someone wrote something (the OP) and made some statements and additionally pointed to one journal article (which I'm sure only a few HN'ers have even bothered to click through and glance at.)

This is interesting to discuss and that's it (at this point at least).