6 ms·

> It's strange that we're using the term microdose, even in scientific contexts - prefixes have meanings - it should be called a decidose. Not really - its fro

> It's strange that we're using the term microdose, even in scientific contexts - prefixes have meanings - it should be called a decidose. Not really - its from the Greek for small, rather than a SI prefix in this context. If the suffix were quantitative then you might have a case, but we talk quite happily about microphones and microscopes. Microdose is useful because it is not conditional on a particular regular dose size, we just know it is much lower than usual.

quickthrower2 4y ago
What is the difference between "Low Dose" and "Microdose" though? I have heard the specific term Low Dose before.
- carrychains 4y ago
  Generally, a microdose is supposed to be below threshold. In other words, imperceptible. A low dose can be above threshold. This study seems to be testing something most microdose adherents would refer to as a low dose.
- eurasiantiger 4y ago
  Microdose = sub-perceptual dose Threshold dose = dose at which effects can barely be perceived Low dose = dose at which effects become definitely perceptible The people in this study were taking something between a threshold dose and a low dose, given some interpersonal variability.
  - carrychains 4y ago
    .5 is definitely a low dose for anyone who has experienced it more than a few times or an actual low dose at least once. Realistically, I'd expect only a first timer could possibly think .5 is imperceptible.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
comonoid 4y ago
Also, 1 microbe is 1/1000000 of be.
- richthegeek 4y ago
  Microbes are actually around 1 micrometer! Whilst I'd generally hate for a 1 meter bee to exist, it might be worth it just for the nerd joke. So purely factually, a microbe is only 1/10000th of a bee
  - bch 4y ago
    > Whilst I'd generally hate for a 1 meter bee to exist Luckily for you a rare sight - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Samsung_SyncMaster_191T_and_BeBox_20081114.jpg/800px-Samsung_SyncMaster_191T_and_BeBox_20081114.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Sa...
adrian_b 4y ago
While "micro" means indeed small, many people have the wrong impression that the similarly sounding "macro" must have an opposite meaning to "micro" so many incorrect terms have been coined, e.g. "macroscopic" vs. "microscopic". In reality, in Ancient Greek the opposite of "micro" was "mega", i.e. "big" (so megameter vs. micrometer was a correct addition to the metric system in 1873, like also the name Micromegas, which was coined by Voltaire in one of his novellas), while "macro" meant "long", not "big". ("macro" is cognate with words from other European languages which mean slim/slender/thin/lean, only in Ancient Greek its meaning has shifted from "slim" to "long", replacing the older word for "long", "dolicho").
- jimmaswell 4y ago
  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macro https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macro
  - adrian_b 4y ago
    That dictionary only records the fact that most English speakers now use the word "macro" incorrectly, which was my point, because they do not know Ancient Greek and they follow some previous English speakers who also did not know Ancient Greek, but that did not stop them to use a Greek word they thought as sounding fancy and whose meaning they attempted to guess, without bothering to look in a dictionary, so they have guessed wrong. This incorrect use of "macro" in English appears to have started in the second half of the 19th century, when the study of the classical languages in school was already in regression.
    - detaro 4y ago
      The dictionary records what word means, today, in the english language.
      - adrian_b 4y ago
        Like everybody else, I also have to use the words with their current meaning, so I use frequently words like "macroinstruction", possibly abbreviated to "macro", or "macroprocessor". That does not mean that one should not be aware that the creation of such words was based on laziness and ignorance and one should not coin any new words of this series.

quickthrower2 4y ago

What is the difference between "Low Dose" and "Microdose" though? I have heard the specific term Low Dose before.

carrychains 4y ago
Generally, a microdose is supposed to be below threshold. In other words, imperceptible. A low dose can be above threshold. This study seems to be testing something most microdose adherents would refer to as a low dose.
eurasiantiger 4y ago
Microdose = sub-perceptual dose Threshold dose = dose at which effects can barely be perceived Low dose = dose at which effects become definitely perceptible The people in this study were taking something between a threshold dose and a low dose, given some interpersonal variability.
- carrychains 4y ago
  .5 is definitely a low dose for anyone who has experienced it more than a few times or an actual low dose at least once. Realistically, I'd expect only a first timer could possibly think .5 is imperceptible.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

comonoid 4y ago

Also, 1 microbe is 1/1000000 of be.

richthegeek 4y ago
Microbes are actually around 1 micrometer! Whilst I'd generally hate for a 1 meter bee to exist, it might be worth it just for the nerd joke. So purely factually, a microbe is only 1/10000th of a bee
- bch 4y ago
  > Whilst I'd generally hate for a 1 meter bee to exist Luckily for you a rare sight - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Samsung_SyncMaster_191T_and_BeBox_20081114.jpg/800px-Samsung_SyncMaster_191T_and_BeBox_20081114.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Sa...

adrian_b 4y ago

While "micro" means indeed small, many people have the wrong impression that the similarly sounding "macro" must have an opposite meaning to "micro" so many incorrect terms have been coined, e.g. "macroscopic" vs. "microscopic". In reality, in Ancient Greek the opposite of "micro" was "mega", i.e. "big" (so megameter vs. micrometer was a correct addition to the metric system in 1873, like also the name Micromegas, which was coined by Voltaire in one of his novellas), while "macro" meant "long", not "big". ("macro" is cognate with words from other European languages which mean slim/slender/thin/lean, only in Ancient Greek its meaning has shifted from "slim" to "long", replacing the older word for "long", "dolicho").

jimmaswell 4y ago
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macro https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macro
- adrian_b 4y ago
  That dictionary only records the fact that most English speakers now use the word "macro" incorrectly, which was my point, because they do not know Ancient Greek and they follow some previous English speakers who also did not know Ancient Greek, but that did not stop them to use a Greek word they thought as sounding fancy and whose meaning they attempted to guess, without bothering to look in a dictionary, so they have guessed wrong. This incorrect use of "macro" in English appears to have started in the second half of the 19th century, when the study of the classical languages in school was already in regression.
  - detaro 4y ago
    The dictionary records what word means, today, in the english language.
    - adrian_b 4y ago
      Like everybody else, I also have to use the words with their current meaning, so I use frequently words like "macroinstruction", possibly abbreviated to "macro", or "macroprocessor". That does not mean that one should not be aware that the creation of such words was based on laziness and ignorance and one should not coin any new words of this series.