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Replying to you since this is the top response but aimed at y'all really. At the risk of stating the obvious. Gut bacteria are bacteria... in the gut. Like if

Replying to you since this is the top response but aimed at y'all really. At the risk of stating the obvious. Gut bacteria are bacteria... in the gut. Like if you tell me they affect the absorption of nutrients - I can see that. Maybe they make something more bioavailable or maybe they break something else down. If you tell me their involved in deficiencies and over/underweight that kinda makes sense. Tell me they affect appetite through manipulating our signals ok. Not as obvious but not implausible either. Tell me they cause highly complex behavioral differences... it just seems implausible. But maybe gaba can indeed explain it.

johnmaguire2013 7y ago
People used to say the same thing about washing hands -- "little organisms on my hand are making me sick? I don't buy it." Nowadays, the gut is sometimes referred to as the "second brain" because of your enteric nervous system which is located inside the gut. It probably has more influence over you than you're aware of, as it operates independently of your CNS.
- YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
  >> People used to say the same thing about washing hands -- "little organisms on my hand are making me sick? I don't buy it." If you're talking about the time before there was strong evidence for pathogenic bacteria- then that would have been the only rational and justified behaviour. Why should anyone believe something that sounds implausible given current knowledge, before strong evidence is presented to support it?
  - johnmaguire2013 7y ago
    I'm talking about when evidence was first being discovered, as is the case in this thread. Humans have a disconfirmation bias - we have a hard time accepting new, conflicting information.
    - YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
      Yes, well, why should we accept new, conflicting information? The reasonable thing to do is to wait before you have a good enough reason to accept a new thing.

johnmaguire2013 7y ago

People used to say the same thing about washing hands -- "little organisms on my hand are making me sick? I don't buy it." Nowadays, the gut is sometimes referred to as the "second brain" because of your enteric nervous system which is located inside the gut. It probably has more influence over you than you're aware of, as it operates independently of your CNS.

YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
>> People used to say the same thing about washing hands -- "little organisms on my hand are making me sick? I don't buy it." If you're talking about the time before there was strong evidence for pathogenic bacteria- then that would have been the only rational and justified behaviour. Why should anyone believe something that sounds implausible given current knowledge, before strong evidence is presented to support it?
- johnmaguire2013 7y ago
  I'm talking about when evidence was first being discovered, as is the case in this thread. Humans have a disconfirmation bias - we have a hard time accepting new, conflicting information.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 7y ago
    Yes, well, why should we accept new, conflicting information? The reasonable thing to do is to wait before you have a good enough reason to accept a new thing.