5 ms·
> [blah blah blah], study suggests Nobody outside medical research should pay the slightest attention to to anything a study suggests, especially not if they'r
by nathan_long 9y ago
> [blah blah blah], study suggests
Nobody outside medical research should pay the slightest attention to to anything a study suggests, especially not if they're ignoring what many studies give strong evidence for.
Nothing to see here.
- elboru 9y agoEvery time I read "study suggests" or its more sensationalistic cousin "scientists suggest" this image instantly comes to mind: https://www.sciencealert.com/images/art-apr-15/Medical_studies-05.0.png https://www.sciencealert.com/images/art-apr-15/Medical_studi...
- matt4077 9y agoI'm possibly misreading you here... But: You do know that it's not literally a study walking up to some journalist, speaking the words "I suggest some Aspirin!", right? ...because you seem to put some rather misplaced importance on the exact phrase used to introduce the study.
- nathan_long 9y agoYes, I'm aware that studies do not converse with people. When someone says a study "suggests" something, I understand them to mean that it gives very tentative evidence. Such evidence is frequently contradicted by other studies: see https://www.sciencealert.com/images/art-apr-15/Medical_studies-05.0.png https://www.sciencealert.com/images/art-apr-15/Medical_studi..., which another commenter has linked. If one study suggests that eggplants may prevent heart disease, you can pretty much bet that another will suggest it causes it. That's why I'm saying to ignore this. We would all do well to eat better and exercise more, suggestions that are well-supported by many studies. If we're not doing that, we're certainly wasting our time on uncertainties like this.