4 ms·

tldr; a virus, Ad-36, may or may not cause obesity in humans. > Though Dhurandhar and Atkinson have conducted several strong studies showing the contribution o

by DeBraid 10y ago

tldr; a virus, Ad-36, may or may not cause obesity in humans. > Though Dhurandhar and Atkinson have conducted several strong studies showing the contribution of Ad-36 to fatness, skepticism remains. Atkinson says, “I remember giving a talk at a conference where I presented 15 different studies in which Ad-36 either caused or was correlated to fatness.

dang 10y ago
> may or may not I like that. We put it in the title above, as well as changing linkbait 'the' to modest 'a'. If anyone can suggest a better (i.e. more accurate and neutral) title, we can change it again.
- overgard 10y ago
  In the spirit of community feedback: I dont really see how the original article was clickbait at all. "The" is appropriate since its talking about a specific virus that has a potentially novel biochemical effect not otherwise seen, and "may or may not" is literally the same thing as "could", ie, they both imply a lack of conclusive proof. The original title never claimed "all obesity" or conclusive evidence. You've mostly just made the title more wordy.
  - dang 10y ago
    Wordy? Ouch! Ok, I took out "may or may not". I disagree about "The", though. Much like "this", it's a clickbait device—somehow it grabs attention whether it deserves it or not. And it's misleading, too, because it implies there's only one of the thing.
    - overgard 10y ago
      No insult intended with wordy, I realize moderating is a difficult and sometimes thankless task and most calls are non-obvious, I'm just a guy with opinions. Fair enough on "the", I see your point.
sgift 10y ago
It's amusing how you quote only the first half of the paragraph and show by that what the second half of that very same paragraph states: People ignore the results, cause they don't fit their world view. For those who do not want to search for it, here's the full paragraph: Though Dhurandhar and Atkinson have conducted several strong studies showing the contribution of Ad-36 to fatness, skepticism remains. Atkinson says, “I remember giving a talk at a conference where I presented 15 different studies in which Ad-36 either caused or was correlated to fatness. At the end of it, a good friend said to me, ‘I just don’t believe it.’ He didn’t give a reason; he just didn’t believe it. People are really stuck on eating and exercise as the only contributors to fatness. But there is more to it.” --- Edit: The next paragraph seems to be also very relevant, so again reprinted for those who do not want to click through: Dhurandhar adds, “There’s a difference between science and faith. What you believe belongs in faith and not in science. In science you have to go by data. I have faced people who are skeptical, but when I ask them why, they can’t pinpoint a specific reason. Science is not about belief, it is about fact. There is a saying—‘In God we trust, all others bring data.’”
- DeBraid 10y ago
  > a good friend said to me Why is a gut feeling relevant? The anecdote you were compelled to add is journalistic flare and is immaterial to the conclusion drawn from actual studies, which I quoted originally. > People ignore the results The tldr was a reference to the studies and their results...

by DeBraid 10y ago

dang 10y ago

> may or may not I like that. We put it in the title above, as well as changing linkbait 'the' to modest 'a'. If anyone can suggest a better (i.e. more accurate and neutral) title, we can change it again.

overgard 10y ago
In the spirit of community feedback: I dont really see how the original article was clickbait at all. "The" is appropriate since its talking about a specific virus that has a potentially novel biochemical effect not otherwise seen, and "may or may not" is literally the same thing as "could", ie, they both imply a lack of conclusive proof. The original title never claimed "all obesity" or conclusive evidence. You've mostly just made the title more wordy.
- dang 10y ago
  Wordy? Ouch! Ok, I took out "may or may not". I disagree about "The", though. Much like "this", it's a clickbait device—somehow it grabs attention whether it deserves it or not. And it's misleading, too, because it implies there's only one of the thing.
  - overgard 10y ago
    No insult intended with wordy, I realize moderating is a difficult and sometimes thankless task and most calls are non-obvious, I'm just a guy with opinions. Fair enough on "the", I see your point.

sgift 10y ago

It's amusing how you quote only the first half of the paragraph and show by that what the second half of that very same paragraph states: People ignore the results, cause they don't fit their world view. For those who do not want to search for it, here's the full paragraph: Though Dhurandhar and Atkinson have conducted several strong studies showing the contribution of Ad-36 to fatness, skepticism remains. Atkinson says, “I remember giving a talk at a conference where I presented 15 different studies in which Ad-36 either caused or was correlated to fatness. At the end of it, a good friend said to me, ‘I just don’t believe it.’ He didn’t give a reason; he just didn’t believe it. People are really stuck on eating and exercise as the only contributors to fatness. But there is more to it.” --- Edit: The next paragraph seems to be also very relevant, so again reprinted for those who do not want to click through: Dhurandhar adds, “There’s a difference between science and faith. What you believe belongs in faith and not in science. In science you have to go by data. I have faced people who are skeptical, but when I ask them why, they can’t pinpoint a specific reason. Science is not about belief, it is about fact. There is a saying—‘In God we trust, all others bring data.’”

DeBraid 10y ago
> a good friend said to me Why is a gut feeling relevant? The anecdote you were compelled to add is journalistic flare and is immaterial to the conclusion drawn from actual studies, which I quoted originally. > People ignore the results The tldr was a reference to the studies and their results...