4 ms·

I mean, who would have thought a distraction would affect grades? Video games, alcohol, parties, weed, whatever - you think any of these benefit your grades? Of

I mean, who would have thought a distraction would affect grades? Video games, alcohol, parties, weed, whatever - you think any of these benefit your grades? Of course not. The results of this study aren't surprising, but the potential for it to be used as political ammo rightfully annoys pro-marijuana advocates. Personally, I'm all for legal weed - but trying to shuffle this study under the deck doesn't benefit anyone, we just need comparative studies on the effects of other activities because chances are it's little to no worse than any of them when it comes to impact on GPA (and if it is, then deal with it).

ntsplnkv2 9y ago
It's a study. It should be released regardless of agendas or politics or if it didn't agree with someone's worldview. If there are any negative effects from weed, I (and everyone) should want to know about it first or as soon as possible. We need more studies on everything to expand our knowledge. But this study compared people who smoked pot and people who didn't. I imagine many of them played video games, partied, or were drinkers. Yes, everything should be studied, but just because something else is bad, doesn't make everything else okay, and this is my main concern with this line of thinking. My main point is that highly politicized issues cloud science and fact. Another example is climate change. It's just frustrating to see both sides of this argument use anecdotes, logical fallacies, etc, just because something somewhat threatens their worldview.
- ouid 9y ago
  It's not their worldview that's being threatened in the case of climate change...
- owebmaster 9y ago
  > It's a study. It should be released regardless of agendas or politics or if it didn't agree with someone's worldview Not if the study is politics itself and a weapon to support someone's agenda. Studies and researchs don't grow wild in nature, you know.
  - beaconstudios 9y ago
    that makes no sense - how can you be sure that any paper isn't somehow political? Any psychology paper could be argued to be political because there is a left-right opinion divide on the human mind. The only reasonable approach in my opinion is to publish everything and let the replication studies and meta-analyses sort the wheat from the chaff.
    - owebmaster 9y ago
      > he only reasonable approach in my opinion is to publish everything and let the replication studies and meta-analyses sort the wheat from the chaff. The only reasonable approach would be to finance research from both sides of spectrum which never happens because most if not all companies and corporations have a "right-wing" mindset.
      - beaconstudios 9y ago
        And most studies from public bodies are influenced by academia's hard left leanings. Universities are very well funded and produce the vast majority of scientific papers.
dingo_bat 9y ago
Does this study tell us anything about the reason for the fall in grades? Can we assume it's due to "distraction" or is it possible that there is a detrimental effect on learning ability? It's a big cause for alarm if the latter is true.
- prostoalex 9y ago
  How would one conduct a double-blind study of long-term learning ability effects? You'd need to find a control group and a test group with prcisely the same learning ability, which already sounds like a stretch.

ntsplnkv2 9y ago

It's a study. It should be released regardless of agendas or politics or if it didn't agree with someone's worldview. If there are any negative effects from weed, I (and everyone) should want to know about it first or as soon as possible. We need more studies on everything to expand our knowledge. But this study compared people who smoked pot and people who didn't. I imagine many of them played video games, partied, or were drinkers. Yes, everything should be studied, but just because something else is bad, doesn't make everything else okay, and this is my main concern with this line of thinking. My main point is that highly politicized issues cloud science and fact. Another example is climate change. It's just frustrating to see both sides of this argument use anecdotes, logical fallacies, etc, just because something somewhat threatens their worldview.

ouid 9y ago
It's not their worldview that's being threatened in the case of climate change...
owebmaster 9y ago
> It's a study. It should be released regardless of agendas or politics or if it didn't agree with someone's worldview Not if the study is politics itself and a weapon to support someone's agenda. Studies and researchs don't grow wild in nature, you know.
- beaconstudios 9y ago
  that makes no sense - how can you be sure that any paper isn't somehow political? Any psychology paper could be argued to be political because there is a left-right opinion divide on the human mind. The only reasonable approach in my opinion is to publish everything and let the replication studies and meta-analyses sort the wheat from the chaff.
  - owebmaster 9y ago
    > he only reasonable approach in my opinion is to publish everything and let the replication studies and meta-analyses sort the wheat from the chaff. The only reasonable approach would be to finance research from both sides of spectrum which never happens because most if not all companies and corporations have a "right-wing" mindset.
    - beaconstudios 9y ago
      And most studies from public bodies are influenced by academia's hard left leanings. Universities are very well funded and produce the vast majority of scientific papers.

dingo_bat 9y ago

Does this study tell us anything about the reason for the fall in grades? Can we assume it's due to "distraction" or is it possible that there is a detrimental effect on learning ability? It's a big cause for alarm if the latter is true.

prostoalex 9y ago
How would one conduct a double-blind study of long-term learning ability effects? You'd need to find a control group and a test group with prcisely the same learning ability, which already sounds like a stretch.