Controlled crying - is this really the most effective way to sleep training

I think controlled crying may be one of the most effective ways to get babies to sleep through the night. One must ask themselves why does crying get such a negative response? Babies can't speak, crying is their main form of communication (language). Like almost every other growing pain its not fun, but its not the end of the world. Can you imagine when that baby becomes a toddler and starts trying to walk? He or she is guaranteed to fall and maybe have a bump or two on the head. But should parents then discourage their little ones from trying to walk? Its a natural part of life the growing pains they go through to get from one point to the next.

Now lets get back to controlled crying, in one sense this is self explanatory on the other hand one might say it is a relative term. How much or how little control do parents exert over their baby's crying? From my experience I would say parents would try to control most of the crying because they don't like hearing their babies cry.