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http://www.reddit.com/r/science http://www.reddit.com/r/science is actually pretty good about calling out unscientific journalism, making it a somewhat-decent s

http://www.reddit.com/r/science http://www.reddit.com/r/science is actually pretty good about calling out unscientific journalism, making it a somewhat-decent source of science news. (As long as you read the comments.)

dntrkv 13y ago
I strongly disagree. r/askscience is great. r/science is not science at all. Take a look at the top-voted story at the moment: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be_good_for_you_hallucinogens_wrongly/ http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be... That's far from science. Half of the comments are just anecdotes.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  Actually, that link proves my point. For example, this comment chain: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be_good_for_you_hallucinogens_wrongly/cc25nxm http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be... That's the #2 comment, and it's a link to work cited in the article. And the top reply to that comment is from a psychiatrist who gives a thorough (and thoroughly skeptical) breakdown of the science behind the cited work. I'd say that's a grade-A analysis.
  - dntrkv 13y ago
    Sure, you can find some great bits of information there, but when it comes to something like a science subreddit, you have to be very strict in moderating comments that might mislead people (r/askscience does this very well). There is NO room for anecdotes or personal assumptions when it comes to discussing scientific articles. It really is all or nothing, if you allow any non scientific-based discussion, you get something like r/space which is (was?) one of the worst subreddits in my opinion. Also, there is a huge political bias over on r/science. I see this as a huge problem with most of reddit actually, but people should forget about political bullshit when it comes to discussing scientific facts. Unfortunately, this is not the case and people begin to discuss the moralities/logistics of drug legalization rather than discuss the science presented in the article. I have gotten into many debates on that subreddit and have, attempted to, correct so much misinformation that I was just forced to unsubscribe a few months ago because of how rage-inducing it was. I'd stick to r/askscience.
- Florin_Andrei 13y ago
  /r/askscience is infested with a bunch of literal-minded and narrow-minded individuals, with groupthinkers, and with group-up-voters and group-down-voters. Heaven forbid you use a metaphor to make an abstract concept easier to understand. It's like preaching to the "Bible is literal truth" crowd.
  - dntrkv 13y ago
    It definitely has its flaws, but I think it is still one of the better places to get a good answer to a random science question on the internet. The community is huge, very active, heavily moderated, and it has some really great answers.
    - Florin_Andrei 13y ago
      It's not as rosy as you make it seem. Right now there's a thread there discussing the lens size and resolution for some camera phones. There was a reply that had 5 up / 0 down votes when I got there - and it was derived from a pretty naive error. Yet it was deemed "best answer" at the time, according to the votes. This situation is not unique, it happens all the time on /r/askscience. Semi-educated loudmouths are a huge fraction of the contributors. Occasionally you get a real expert chiming in, but their stay is typically limited. Many gross errors go unchallenged forever. Voting is dominated by groupthink. Goes on and on. If you think that's "one of the better places to get a good answer to a random science question on the internet", then you have some exploring to do yet. ;)

dntrkv 13y ago

I strongly disagree. r/askscience is great. r/science is not science at all. Take a look at the top-voted story at the moment: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be_good_for_you_hallucinogens_wrongly/ http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be... That's far from science. Half of the comments are just anecdotes.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
Actually, that link proves my point. For example, this comment chain: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be_good_for_you_hallucinogens_wrongly/cc25nxm http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1lruai/lsd_could_be... That's the #2 comment, and it's a link to work cited in the article. And the top reply to that comment is from a psychiatrist who gives a thorough (and thoroughly skeptical) breakdown of the science behind the cited work. I'd say that's a grade-A analysis.
- dntrkv 13y ago
  Sure, you can find some great bits of information there, but when it comes to something like a science subreddit, you have to be very strict in moderating comments that might mislead people (r/askscience does this very well). There is NO room for anecdotes or personal assumptions when it comes to discussing scientific articles. It really is all or nothing, if you allow any non scientific-based discussion, you get something like r/space which is (was?) one of the worst subreddits in my opinion. Also, there is a huge political bias over on r/science. I see this as a huge problem with most of reddit actually, but people should forget about political bullshit when it comes to discussing scientific facts. Unfortunately, this is not the case and people begin to discuss the moralities/logistics of drug legalization rather than discuss the science presented in the article. I have gotten into many debates on that subreddit and have, attempted to, correct so much misinformation that I was just forced to unsubscribe a few months ago because of how rage-inducing it was. I'd stick to r/askscience.
Florin_Andrei 13y ago
/r/askscience is infested with a bunch of literal-minded and narrow-minded individuals, with groupthinkers, and with group-up-voters and group-down-voters. Heaven forbid you use a metaphor to make an abstract concept easier to understand. It's like preaching to the "Bible is literal truth" crowd.
- dntrkv 13y ago
  It definitely has its flaws, but I think it is still one of the better places to get a good answer to a random science question on the internet. The community is huge, very active, heavily moderated, and it has some really great answers.
  - Florin_Andrei 13y ago
    It's not as rosy as you make it seem. Right now there's a thread there discussing the lens size and resolution for some camera phones. There was a reply that had 5 up / 0 down votes when I got there - and it was derived from a pretty naive error. Yet it was deemed "best answer" at the time, according to the votes. This situation is not unique, it happens all the time on /r/askscience. Semi-educated loudmouths are a huge fraction of the contributors. Occasionally you get a real expert chiming in, but their stay is typically limited. Many gross errors go unchallenged forever. Voting is dominated by groupthink. Goes on and on. If you think that's "one of the better places to get a good answer to a random science question on the internet", then you have some exploring to do yet. ;)