3 ms·

It's an interesting premise, but I am not at all convinced by this paper - The author comments "I tried to carry out surveys to collect evidence but they were

It's an interesting premise, but I am not at all convinced by this paper - The author comments "I tried to carry out surveys to collect evidence but they were meaningless, as tribespeople give you the answer they think you want", so this is in no way a scientific or quantified study, just the author's own observations. The only citation in this paper is for the fact that humans are one of 200 kinds of primates; I really wish there were some actual citations for the really fundamental assumption here that the "forest dwellers and nomads" have fewer musculoskeletal health issues compared to "civilised people" (in the authors words). Additionally, the photo selection here is kind of uncomfortable - starts with a Kenyan human compared (similar) to a gorilla, and then is mostly photos of the author himself in only his underwear.

rajnathani 4y ago
FWIW, the author of the study is blind (though not born blind): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18027950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18027950
rajnathani 4y ago
Also, the photos of the author in their underwear is to make it clear to the viewer about the positions being demonstrated. Also, the backstory of the author was that he was in the army (before he got blind), and spent time with people from Kenya then. Thus, there is likely a focus of a person from Kenya in this photo. Also, it is about finding people who are not the ones in developed countries sleeping on modern era invented beds and beddings.
deleted 4y ago
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swatcoder 4y ago
It’s easy to do since we just get handed a headline and a nih.gov link that presents the work no different than a study, but you’re evaluating it on different criteria than it was written or published for. It’s a discursive, exploratory essay published to the BMJ by a working/clinical physiotherapist to share some intuitions they’ve developed from reflecting on personal and clinical experiences. The journal it was published to has many different forms of work that it shares, clearly indicated in format and heading, selected by their assumed value to other professionals in the field. The person writing this probably did not believe they established scientific proof of sleep postures, nor would the editors or readers who encountered the article in its original form have thought such a claim was being made. It just would have been an interesting perspective to think about, maybe, before moving on to another article in the journal. 22 years later, it’s interesting how we’ve gotten used to ignoring context and judging everything by one criteria. Some of that’s probably due to efforts to normalize information as “data” with a predetermined schema so that it fits nicely in a database and only needs one stylesheet. It’s kind of a shame, though, because it makes it a lot harder to appreciate things as they are, because we get so caught up in seeing them as a poor version of something else.
- magneticnorth 4y ago
  This is good context, thank you. I do find the ideas interesting, but ultimately frustrating because of no grounding in anything that I feel like I can trust - e.g. is it actually true that "non civilised" groups have fewer back problems? But in a context where this author is known and trusted, or that is explicitly open to hearing observations based on experience without requiring any kind of citations or scientific studies, then I can see the value - I wish that was communicable here somehow, rather than looking like a regular peer-reviewed journal article.

rajnathani 4y ago

FWIW, the author of the study is blind (though not born blind): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18027950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18027950

rajnathani 4y ago

Also, the photos of the author in their underwear is to make it clear to the viewer about the positions being demonstrated. Also, the backstory of the author was that he was in the army (before he got blind), and spent time with people from Kenya then. Thus, there is likely a focus of a person from Kenya in this photo. Also, it is about finding people who are not the ones in developed countries sleeping on modern era invented beds and beddings.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

swatcoder 4y ago

It’s easy to do since we just get handed a headline and a nih.gov link that presents the work no different than a study, but you’re evaluating it on different criteria than it was written or published for. It’s a discursive, exploratory essay published to the BMJ by a working/clinical physiotherapist to share some intuitions they’ve developed from reflecting on personal and clinical experiences. The journal it was published to has many different forms of work that it shares, clearly indicated in format and heading, selected by their assumed value to other professionals in the field. The person writing this probably did not believe they established scientific proof of sleep postures, nor would the editors or readers who encountered the article in its original form have thought such a claim was being made. It just would have been an interesting perspective to think about, maybe, before moving on to another article in the journal. 22 years later, it’s interesting how we’ve gotten used to ignoring context and judging everything by one criteria. Some of that’s probably due to efforts to normalize information as “data” with a predetermined schema so that it fits nicely in a database and only needs one stylesheet. It’s kind of a shame, though, because it makes it a lot harder to appreciate things as they are, because we get so caught up in seeing them as a poor version of something else.

magneticnorth 4y ago
This is good context, thank you. I do find the ideas interesting, but ultimately frustrating because of no grounding in anything that I feel like I can trust - e.g. is it actually true that "non civilised" groups have fewer back problems? But in a context where this author is known and trusted, or that is explicitly open to hearing observations based on experience without requiring any kind of citations or scientific studies, then I can see the value - I wish that was communicable here somehow, rather than looking like a regular peer-reviewed journal article.