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No it isn't. You should default to disbelieving such extraordinary claims.
by tree_of_item 9y ago
No it isn't. You should default to disbelieving such extraordinary claims.
- tw1010 9y agoYou should default to having no strong opinion at all.
- tree_of_item 9y agoTurmeric added to coffee adds twenty years to your lifespan. Are you completely ambivalent to such a ridiculous claim? No, you should disbelieve it unless you get a sufficient amount of evidence.
- taeric 9y agoTo be fair, science thrives on curiosity. I'd prefer we establish something was safe and have at the experiments. So, disbelieve in part by trying to disprove. Win win.
- varjag 9y agoScience is not being advanced by disproving crackpots. It's a waste of precious resource better spent elsewhere.
- taeric 9y agoYou'd be surprised. :)
- varjag 9y agoDon't think I would.
- colordrops 9y agoWhat's your definition of a crackpot? Someone who researches something varjag has a negative emotion towards?
- varjag 9y agoSomeone who maintains something is true while lacking any evidence of that. There's an infinity of possible untrue statements, but only finite amount of research resource. Disproving every crackpot theory doesn't advance actual science one tiny bit.
- chc 9y agoSkepticism due to insufficient evidence and lack of obvious plausibility isn't usually considered a strong opinion.
- colordrops 9y agoThere is evidence though.
- chc 9y agoWhether or not there is evidence of this particular thing is irrelevant, because this subthread is about whether skepticism is just as irrational as blind belief when confronted with unsupported claims.
- dwaltrip 9y agoBetter still, default to having a strong opinion only with good reason, and the capacity to quickly give it up when presented with a more compelling view. And then of course... we shouldn't expect to be able to sum up highly effective heuristics for understanding the world in a single sentence.
- pizza 9y agoIf that were the norm we'd have much shorter lifespans. edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis
- colordrops 9y agoWho is the arbiter of whether something is "extraordinary"? You? Perhaps you should do some cursory investigation on published research before being so quick to judgement.
- tree_of_item 9y agoTo be clear, we're talking about binaural beats. There's no such published research showing any kind of results. I haven't been "quick to judgement", binaural beats have been on the level of homeopathy for over 20 years now.