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Ah ha - but there are so many things that cannot be "proven" to be true, yet are still helpful. Stress relief techniques are a case in point - most of us probab

by psyklic 16y ago

Ah ha - but there are so many things that cannot be "proven" to be true, yet are still helpful. Stress relief techniques are a case in point - most of us probably try lots of techniques and ultimately end up using what works best for us. There are also complications - e.g. meditation might work best for most people, but I personally may not have the time (or the patience) to do it properly. Hence, I am fine with being given a non-scientific list of stress relief techniques - as long as they are not harmful or time-consuming, then I would be willing to try them.

chime 16y ago
> Stress relief techniques are a case in point - most of us probably try lots of techniques and ultimately end up using what works best for us. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could input variables like your personality, lifestyle, and preferences and get a reliable list of stress-relief techniques along with the probability that they'll work for you? Maybe it's impossible with our current standard of knowledge but surely you can imagine an advanced civilization that can do it by simulating "you" inside a virtual machine or just solving trillions of linear equations for every variable that defines you. What isn't provable today may be provable (within bounds) tomorrow. Unfortunately, the problem today is that the moment someone shows that X works for Y in condition Z, everyone starts trying to sell X to everyone else for every problem.
- psyklic 16y ago
  First, no physical science has "provable" results - they are merely correlational. Second, such a study would have a gargantuan cost, merely for results that would have limited practical use. An expert in stress relief can probably come up with a very accurate list of techniques for someone that would help them out. Using your approach only gives a small optimization on this. However, scientists should investigate why stress relief techniques work, and that investigation may overlap a bit.

by psyklic 16y ago

chime 16y ago

> Stress relief techniques are a case in point - most of us probably try lots of techniques and ultimately end up using what works best for us. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could input variables like your personality, lifestyle, and preferences and get a reliable list of stress-relief techniques along with the probability that they'll work for you? Maybe it's impossible with our current standard of knowledge but surely you can imagine an advanced civilization that can do it by simulating "you" inside a virtual machine or just solving trillions of linear equations for every variable that defines you. What isn't provable today may be provable (within bounds) tomorrow. Unfortunately, the problem today is that the moment someone shows that X works for Y in condition Z, everyone starts trying to sell X to everyone else for every problem.

psyklic 16y ago
First, no physical science has "provable" results - they are merely correlational. Second, such a study would have a gargantuan cost, merely for results that would have limited practical use. An expert in stress relief can probably come up with a very accurate list of techniques for someone that would help them out. Using your approach only gives a small optimization on this. However, scientists should investigate why stress relief techniques work, and that investigation may overlap a bit.