5 ms·

I guess I trust that they have no particular agenda besides explaining rather non-controversial topics. So I trust them as much as I would trust, say, a high-s

I guess I trust that they have no particular agenda besides explaining rather non-controversial topics. So I trust them as much as I would trust, say, a high-school textbook

wolverine876 5y ago
OT: It's interesting to me why people trust things on the Internet, when everyone knows the Internet is drowning in BS. We know, yet we keep ingesting it. If you think about what goes into a high school textbook, including the expert reviews before one is recommended (IIRC, Richard Feynman served on a review panel for school textbooks), AFAIK there's no comparison. I feel like I live in a bizarro-world sometimes. I seem to be the only one who cares.
- CuriousSkeptic 5y ago
  There is the context of the learner also. You asked about quickly getting up to speed in the basics. To me that means a level of understand where you just recognise the extent of your ignorance but have a decent enough mental model and vernacular to know how to ask the right questions. The model is going to be simplistic anyway, but as long as its recognised as such theres just so much damage particular misinformation can do. Compared to a group of enthusiasts who actually believe their simplistic model to be more or less complete enough. There is no shortage of such models when it comes to nutrition.
  - wolverine876 5y ago
    To be clear, I wasn't criticizing your suggestion; I appreciate it. I was just going off on a tangent. Back on that tangent: > have a decent enough mental model and vernacular to know how to ask the right questions I think people greatly overestimate themselves. A lack of expertise can result in very confused mental models and the wrong questions. IME in domains in which I have expertise, places like Reddit are filled with people with the wrong models, asking the wrong questions, and others answering based on the same wrong models. In their echo chamber, it looks right. Not different, I suspect, from any non-scientific theories, such as those before modern science. My understanding of nutrition isn't much different than many in this thread (though others clearly know more than I do); I just evaluate our understanding as much less accurate than many others do.
    - CuriousSkeptic 5y ago
      With asking questions I meant simple things like just notice that particular statements are a bit too simple. I have consumed my fair share if theory from an array of sources hung up on their particular take. My take away so far is that we understand pretty little. Any particular prescription is more or less just extrapolated from rather naive statistical correlations. The current understanding is good enough to reproduce those correlation when treating particular deficiencies or diagnosing certain metabolic dysfunctions but besides that they mostly say “healthy people tend to eat such and such” I mean desperate measures like bariatric surgery a thing. One of the most effective treatments against obesity to be sure, but not really indicative of field with shit together.

I guess I trust that they have no particular agenda besides explaining rather non-controversial topics. So I trust them as much as I would trust, say, a high-school textbook

wolverine876 5y ago

OT: It's interesting to me why people trust things on the Internet, when everyone knows the Internet is drowning in BS. We know, yet we keep ingesting it. If you think about what goes into a high school textbook, including the expert reviews before one is recommended (IIRC, Richard Feynman served on a review panel for school textbooks), AFAIK there's no comparison. I feel like I live in a bizarro-world sometimes. I seem to be the only one who cares.

CuriousSkeptic 5y ago
There is the context of the learner also. You asked about quickly getting up to speed in the basics. To me that means a level of understand where you just recognise the extent of your ignorance but have a decent enough mental model and vernacular to know how to ask the right questions. The model is going to be simplistic anyway, but as long as its recognised as such theres just so much damage particular misinformation can do. Compared to a group of enthusiasts who actually believe their simplistic model to be more or less complete enough. There is no shortage of such models when it comes to nutrition.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  To be clear, I wasn't criticizing your suggestion; I appreciate it. I was just going off on a tangent. Back on that tangent: > have a decent enough mental model and vernacular to know how to ask the right questions I think people greatly overestimate themselves. A lack of expertise can result in very confused mental models and the wrong questions. IME in domains in which I have expertise, places like Reddit are filled with people with the wrong models, asking the wrong questions, and others answering based on the same wrong models. In their echo chamber, it looks right. Not different, I suspect, from any non-scientific theories, such as those before modern science. My understanding of nutrition isn't much different than many in this thread (though others clearly know more than I do); I just evaluate our understanding as much less accurate than many others do.
  - CuriousSkeptic 5y ago
    With asking questions I meant simple things like just notice that particular statements are a bit too simple. I have consumed my fair share if theory from an array of sources hung up on their particular take. My take away so far is that we understand pretty little. Any particular prescription is more or less just extrapolated from rather naive statistical correlations. The current understanding is good enough to reproduce those correlation when treating particular deficiencies or diagnosing certain metabolic dysfunctions but besides that they mostly say “healthy people tend to eat such and such” I mean desperate measures like bariatric surgery a thing. One of the most effective treatments against obesity to be sure, but not really indicative of field with shit together.