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Many would call paleo and mindfulness fads too. A good way to check is if the government has something to say about it. They move so slowly and are so cautious

by Hondor 10y ago

Many would call paleo and mindfulness fads too. A good way to check is if the government has something to say about it. They move so slowly and are so cautious in their advice that it's hard for them to pick up short lived fads. They also do more thorough research than finding a couple of unreproduced papers that support something. Nutrition is very hard. We hardly know anything and I think that's why people like to cling to fads. A bit like we clung to religion when we hardly knew anything about nature and we cling to alternative medicines when we hardly know anything about medicine. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/nutritionists-warn-of-dangers-in-paleo-dieting-20140805-100iup.html http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/nutritionis... https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/03/why-cbt-is-falling-out-of-favour-oliver-burkeman https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/03/why-cbt...

ivm 10y ago
You provided a link to the article about CBT and depression. But meditation is a gym for the brain, not a cure for every serious issue like depression. Fads usually aren't visible on fMRI results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_activity_and_meditation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_activity_and_meditation https://www.newscientist.com/article/2095053-people-who-meditate-are-more-aware-of-their-unconscious-brain/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2095053-people-who-medi...
- Hondor 10y ago
  The author adds an opinion that it could be a fad. ctrl-F for "mindfulness". "gym for the brain"? Like those brain training games that were shown to be ineffective? Analogies aren't science.
  - hsitz 10y ago
    I think mindfulness is a little more than a fad. However, it is in many cases treated as a fad, just like there are lots of fad diets and nutrition-related info. One place to look for less fad-like treatment of mindfulness is the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School, or some of the books by people associated with it, like Jon Kabat-Zinn: http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/ http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/ Also, of course, there are loads of Buddhist-based sources for mindfulness, ancient religion that has always been based on mindfulness, and which can hardly be called a "fad". Some Buddhist-related sources are fad-like. Many are not.
    - ivm 10y ago
      There's an issue with the current rise of popularity of the practice. Many generally non-mindful entities and persons are trying to cash out on the concept and they are adding a lot of new-agy noise.
      - hsitz 10y ago
        I'm not sure popularization of the practice of mindfulness is anything very new. E.g., Alan Watts made a big name for himself doing this back in 1950's and before, and est was a big thing in the 1970's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training ) It's been around as a major cultural thing since then and before. In any case, it seems to me that even more "scientific" subjects, like, say diet or exercise science, have similar levels of "faddiness". It can be hard to separate the legitimate from the merely titillating.
      - eswat 10y ago
        I've discovered helpful practices through some of these new-agey sources. I think as long as the consumers don't get trapped under dogma, hero-worship or financial burdens and do their own due-diligence then I'm fine with these new players. It may not be "right" that they are raking in the money for centuries-old practices but that's the way it is with capitalism.
        ivm 10y ago
        Same here but I spent a lot of time to understand where to look. Thanks to Headspace, it made things much easier. I'm not against earning money for teaching and the world needs more mindful people anyway. The problem for me is that most of these sources are very egocentric and focused on personal well-being when the centuries-old practices are deeply philosophical and also teach compassion and loving kindness.
  - ivm 10y ago
    > Like those brain training games that were shown to be ineffective? Analogies aren't science. Please take some time to read about the processes going during meditation in the consciousness because it's incomparable to "brain training games". There's enough scientific evidence at this point, the wiki link above is a good place to start.

by Hondor 10y ago

ivm 10y ago

You provided a link to the article about CBT and depression. But meditation is a gym for the brain, not a cure for every serious issue like depression. Fads usually aren't visible on fMRI results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_activity_and_meditation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_activity_and_meditation https://www.newscientist.com/article/2095053-people-who-meditate-are-more-aware-of-their-unconscious-brain/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2095053-people-who-medi...

Hondor 10y ago
The author adds an opinion that it could be a fad. ctrl-F for "mindfulness". "gym for the brain"? Like those brain training games that were shown to be ineffective? Analogies aren't science.
- hsitz 10y ago
  I think mindfulness is a little more than a fad. However, it is in many cases treated as a fad, just like there are lots of fad diets and nutrition-related info. One place to look for less fad-like treatment of mindfulness is the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts Medical School, or some of the books by people associated with it, like Jon Kabat-Zinn: http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/ http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/ Also, of course, there are loads of Buddhist-based sources for mindfulness, ancient religion that has always been based on mindfulness, and which can hardly be called a "fad". Some Buddhist-related sources are fad-like. Many are not.
  - ivm 10y ago
    There's an issue with the current rise of popularity of the practice. Many generally non-mindful entities and persons are trying to cash out on the concept and they are adding a lot of new-agy noise.
    - hsitz 10y ago
      I'm not sure popularization of the practice of mindfulness is anything very new. E.g., Alan Watts made a big name for himself doing this back in 1950's and before, and est was a big thing in the 1970's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhard_Seminars_Training ) It's been around as a major cultural thing since then and before. In any case, it seems to me that even more "scientific" subjects, like, say diet or exercise science, have similar levels of "faddiness". It can be hard to separate the legitimate from the merely titillating.
    - eswat 10y ago
      I've discovered helpful practices through some of these new-agey sources. I think as long as the consumers don't get trapped under dogma, hero-worship or financial burdens and do their own due-diligence then I'm fine with these new players. It may not be "right" that they are raking in the money for centuries-old practices but that's the way it is with capitalism.
      - ivm 10y ago
        Same here but I spent a lot of time to understand where to look. Thanks to Headspace, it made things much easier. I'm not against earning money for teaching and the world needs more mindful people anyway. The problem for me is that most of these sources are very egocentric and focused on personal well-being when the centuries-old practices are deeply philosophical and also teach compassion and loving kindness.
- ivm 10y ago
  > Like those brain training games that were shown to be ineffective? Analogies aren't science. Please take some time to read about the processes going during meditation in the consciousness because it's incomparable to "brain training games". There's enough scientific evidence at this point, the wiki link above is a good place to start.