3 ms·

When I saw this headline I just knew what we would find in the comments. The reaction on hacker news is basically the same as you will get from someone who use

When I saw this headline I just knew what we would find in the comments. The reaction on hacker news is basically the same as you will get from someone who uses homeopathy being confronted with a study that says it doesn't work. If you use something day-to-day it becomes part of your identity. It doesn't matter what some scientist says. It doesn't matter what anyone says. "It helps me so I'm going to keep doing it".

Arch-TK 5y ago
I agree that looking at HN when a study proves/disproves something is a funny case study on confirmation bias but likewise just blindly accepting the conclusions of a study is also wrong. In reality I think for the average person it's most useful to completely ignore all studies they encounter until they are presented with a meta-analysis (at least) and the inputs of at least a few knowledgeable scientists on the interpretation of said meta-analysis. Science is really fuzzy, especially when a topic is under-studied, trusting/distrusting a single study just on the basis of one study, based on some anecdotes or even based on an observation that people are being biased against it is bad in general.
Lammy 5y ago
Is that supposed to be a bad thing? If the relief feels real to a person and they aren’t actively harming themselves with their preferred treatment (possibly also by avoiding a better treatment) then what’s the difference?
altfredd 5y ago
And when I saw that article I immediately recalled all bogus "research", that indicated that ionized radiation is harmless (sure thing, buddy) or that various carcinogens (currently proven to be carcinogenic) are actually good for one's health. Billions of people have been using computers for decades. They are not going blind. There is no epidemic of insomnia. At the same time, there are thousands, who claim, that looking at monitor with adjusted gamma feels more pleasing and helps their sleep. Why are they saying so? Instead of studying the actual phenomena (different monitor gamma acting as signal to sleep) the "researchers" went out of they way to confirm something, their sponsors wanted them to confirm. Circadian rhythms? Nah, never heard about those — let's just check for retina damage and eye strain after brief 2hr period.
OrvalWintermute 5y ago
When I saw that, my first question for myself was "Is this the placebo effect in practice?" I use Flux @3400k at night, which I then set to Himalayan Salt Lamp also, to make me ready for bed, and my perception is that I experience less eye strain, and more feeling ready to go to sleep. I'm going to need to read more studies on this...

Arch-TK 5y ago

I agree that looking at HN when a study proves/disproves something is a funny case study on confirmation bias but likewise just blindly accepting the conclusions of a study is also wrong. In reality I think for the average person it's most useful to completely ignore all studies they encounter until they are presented with a meta-analysis (at least) and the inputs of at least a few knowledgeable scientists on the interpretation of said meta-analysis. Science is really fuzzy, especially when a topic is under-studied, trusting/distrusting a single study just on the basis of one study, based on some anecdotes or even based on an observation that people are being biased against it is bad in general.

Lammy 5y ago

Is that supposed to be a bad thing? If the relief feels real to a person and they aren’t actively harming themselves with their preferred treatment (possibly also by avoiding a better treatment) then what’s the difference?

altfredd 5y ago

And when I saw that article I immediately recalled all bogus "research", that indicated that ionized radiation is harmless (sure thing, buddy) or that various carcinogens (currently proven to be carcinogenic) are actually good for one's health. Billions of people have been using computers for decades. They are not going blind. There is no epidemic of insomnia. At the same time, there are thousands, who claim, that looking at monitor with adjusted gamma feels more pleasing and helps their sleep. Why are they saying so? Instead of studying the actual phenomena (different monitor gamma acting as signal to sleep) the "researchers" went out of they way to confirm something, their sponsors wanted them to confirm. Circadian rhythms? Nah, never heard about those — let's just check for retina damage and eye strain after brief 2hr period.

OrvalWintermute 5y ago

When I saw that, my first question for myself was "Is this the placebo effect in practice?" I use Flux @3400k at night, which I then set to Himalayan Salt Lamp also, to make me ready for bed, and my perception is that I experience less eye strain, and more feeling ready to go to sleep. I'm going to need to read more studies on this...