Actually, I've come around to the idea that homeopathy is a brilliant piece of social engineering. The theory of homeopathy is simple, internally consistent and not obviously false, which makes it a good way to harness the placebo effect without lying to the patient. The whole idea that diluting medecine makes it more effective has a number of benefits as well:

Concentration/dilution is a simple, objective, physical property that can be measured for any medicine. It's much easier to think and talk about than wishy-washy concepts like "effectiveness in clinical trials."

Diluting medicines down to really low concentrations take sophisticated equipment, so it's legitimate to charge more for those medicines. By agreeing to pay more for less, patients can strengthen their belief and actually increase the effectiveness of the placebo.

The preoccupation with dilution also makes homeopathy safer. At the extreme, patients are being prescribed purified water. No side effects!

Dilution also mitigates any other harmful effects that the homeopathic industry might have on the world. A few leaves of St. John's Wart go a loooong way when they're diluted down to 1 part per million. Out-of-control homeopathy won't lead to, say, increased poaching of bears and tigers for their internal organs.

The whole thing is brilliant.

Internally consistent? How do they explain why drinking diluting sewage (say, bottled water) doesn't make me a greek god?

It only makes it safe to people that are not phyiscally sick (by physically I mean something that wouldn't be cured by using a placebo effect).

Really? It's a multibillion dollar industry that can't outperform a sugar pill. That's pretty embarrassing.