3 ms·

> Hence we get ridiculous cargo cults like gluten-free, organic, anti-GMO, everything Dr. Oz pushes As a 20-something in the US, you're certainly very uninform

> Hence we get ridiculous cargo cults like gluten-free, organic, anti-GMO, everything Dr. Oz pushes As a 20-something in the US, you're certainly very uninformed. Gluten free, organic and anti-gmo have nothing to do with cargo cults and food fanatism. Essentially nobody buys gluten-free products because they're gluten free (except who needs it). GF products are a very little minority, because the lack of gluten is a serious limitation in food preparation. Plus, such products are very expesive. Nobody turns "gluten-free" unless he has to. Organic is part of a bigger cultural picture. In some countries, the majority of the people eat [much] organic. Nobody expects to become super fit and super healthy from it. It's just a choice judged to be healthier as a whole. It's actually the opposite of a cargo cult, since people who choose organic, do it for life, not to follow a fad who lasts a short time (which is essential to cargo culting). And finally, it's not smart to bash anti-GMO just because smart people are supposed to be pro-GMO. There are also rational reasons for being anti-GMO and cretinic reasons for being pro-GMO (like assuming that the increased yield of a crop automatically implies economic convenience). If Soylent is optimal and provides enjoyment, well, you better move to another country and try real food. Besides, in the bigger picture, Soylent carries the assumption that human nutrition is nothing else than intake of isolated nutritional elements, which is foolish.

humanrebar 12y ago
> not to follow a fad who lasts a short time (which is essential to cargo culting). Cargo cults are groups who follow rituals they don't understand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult If a group is following a diet without understanding it, I think it's apt (though perhaps needlessly divisive) to call that group a cargo cult. If someone doesn't eat gluten and can't describe what gluten is and why it's bad, he or she is exhibiting the behavior of a member of a cargo cult.
- ambler0 12y ago
  Thanks for bringing this up for the people who aren't familiar with the history of the term. In my opinion, "cargo cult" is overused and overly specific. We have a perfectly good word for these kinds of behaviors, i.e. "superstition"
  - humanrebar 12y ago
    Yeah, superstition works most of the time. Though the things that cargo-culters do usually make sense given the right context. Many superstitions (black cats, ladders, lucky socks, and unlucky numbers) have no rationality in any situation.
SwellJoe 12y ago
"Nobody turns "gluten-free" unless he has to." That's demonstrably untrue. The existence of non-Celiac gluten sensitivity is not demonstrated by science. It is a clear example of the "nocebo" effect. I know lots of people eating gluten free because they believe they have to...but, there's no reason to believe that's true. Specifically, the research team that first posited gluten sensitivity followed up with a more comprehensive study, and found: "On current evidence the existence of the entity of NCGS remains unsubstantiated". And, "Recent randomized controlled re-challenge trials have suggested that gluten may worsen gastrointestinal symptoms, but failed to confirm patients with self-perceived NCGS have specific gluten sensitivity." Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24026574 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24026574 (Though I can't find a full article text online for free, Googling about this study will find pretty good summaries of it, and that's where I found one of the quotes above.)

humanrebar 12y ago

> not to follow a fad who lasts a short time (which is essential to cargo culting). Cargo cults are groups who follow rituals they don't understand: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult If a group is following a diet without understanding it, I think it's apt (though perhaps needlessly divisive) to call that group a cargo cult. If someone doesn't eat gluten and can't describe what gluten is and why it's bad, he or she is exhibiting the behavior of a member of a cargo cult.

ambler0 12y ago
Thanks for bringing this up for the people who aren't familiar with the history of the term. In my opinion, "cargo cult" is overused and overly specific. We have a perfectly good word for these kinds of behaviors, i.e. "superstition"
- humanrebar 12y ago
  Yeah, superstition works most of the time. Though the things that cargo-culters do usually make sense given the right context. Many superstitions (black cats, ladders, lucky socks, and unlucky numbers) have no rationality in any situation.

SwellJoe 12y ago

"Nobody turns "gluten-free" unless he has to." That's demonstrably untrue. The existence of non-Celiac gluten sensitivity is not demonstrated by science. It is a clear example of the "nocebo" effect. I know lots of people eating gluten free because they believe they have to...but, there's no reason to believe that's true. Specifically, the research team that first posited gluten sensitivity followed up with a more comprehensive study, and found: "On current evidence the existence of the entity of NCGS remains unsubstantiated". And, "Recent randomized controlled re-challenge trials have suggested that gluten may worsen gastrointestinal symptoms, but failed to confirm patients with self-perceived NCGS have specific gluten sensitivity." Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24026574 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24026574 (Though I can't find a full article text online for free, Googling about this study will find pretty good summaries of it, and that's where I found one of the quotes above.)