Everything We Know Is Wrong

[Shakespear]

A modified version of OLD News

Every day the newspapers carry stories of new scientific findings. There are 15 million scientists worldwide all trying to get their research published. But a disturbing fact appears if you look closely: as time goes by, many scientific findings seem to become less true than we thought. It's called the "decline effect" - and some findings even dwindle away to zero.A highly influential paper by Dr John Ioannidis at Stanford University called "Why most published research findings are false" argues that fewer than half of scientific papers can be believed, and that the hotter a scientific field (with more scientific teams involved), the less likely the research findings are to be true. He even showed that of the 49 most highly cited medical papers, only 34 had been retested and of them 41 per cent had been convincingly shown to be wrong. And yet they were still being cited.Again and again, researchers are finding the same things, whether it's with observational studies, or even the "gold standard" Randomised Controlled Studies, whether it's medicine or economics. Nobody bothers to try to replicate most studies, and when they do try, the majority of findings don't stack up. The awkward truth is that, taken as a whole, the scientific literature is full of falsehoods.Jolyon Jenkins reports on the factors that lie behind this. How researchers who are obliged for career reasons to produce studies that have "impact"; of small teams who produce headline-grabbing studies that are too statistically underpowered to produce meaningful results; of the way that scientists are under pressure to spin their findings and pretend that things they discovered by chance are what they were looking for in the first place. It's not exactly fraud, but it's not completely honest either. And he reports on new initiatives to go through the literature systematically trying to reproduce published findings, and of the bitter and personalised battles that can occur as a result.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f9r4k

[touchring]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

A modified version of OLD News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f9r4k

Modern science still has a long way to go. Take for example, one of the most basic rule for TCM is not to eat or drink anything that's cold, e.g. ice cream, iced coke. I never believed in that until I tried it.

http://universaltcm.wordpress.com/ed...alth-problems/
http://universaltcm.wordpress.com/co...ms-in-english/

OTOH, http://www.livestrong.com/article/48...r-with-a-meal/

[vinoveri]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

A modified version of OLD News



http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04f9r4k

Thanks for the post.

Well ... DUH!

we live in the age where "science" has become a cult and a new religion, and no longer serves truth, but ambition. the vast majority of people are not scientifically trained (not to mention philosophically trained) and are thereby both easily intimidated as well as duped by all the pseudo science and scientism that pervades western culture

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

..we live in the age where "science" has become a cult and a new religion, and no longer serves truth, but ambition....

I see your point, vinoveri, but you might be overly harsh.
All human beings suffer from ambition and other failings, and it shows in our work products.

Still, the scientific method is valid. One should expect a healthy scientific community to change accepted understandings from time to time.
The linked article is a healthy example of scientific self-criticism.
The scientists I know (and I know a few) do seek truth.

[vinoveri]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

I see your point, vinoveri, but you might be overly harsh.
All human beings suffer from ambition and other failings, and it shows in our work products.

Still, the scientific method is valid. One should expect a healthy scientific community to change accepted understandings from time to time.
The linked article is a healthy example of scientific self-criticism.
The scientists I know (and I know a few) do seek truth.

Yes, Thrifty, the scientific method is valid and I'm one of its biggest fans; your point re ambition is well taken but I'd point it has an appropriate place in the context of ambition towards truth or actual knowledge, and not as the article implies personal ambition and career advancement. Yes, we all need to make a living, but "publish or perish" and working in a field where peers routinely approve their colleagues work and expect similar treatment to advance themselves is contrary (or at least heavily conflicted) to the pursuit of truth.

The danger I see is that b/c of all the pseudo science shown to be false, average folks begin to distrust real science.

[ProdigyofZen]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

http://universaltcm.wordpress.com/ed...alth-problems/
http://universaltcm.wordpress.com/co...ms-in-english/

I have been drinking room temperature drinks (with no ice) since I was a child.

I would say that the majority of the world does not drink any beverage "with ice." The fastest way for the waiter at a restaurant in most countries to figure out you are American is to ask for ice with your drink.

[lektrode]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

this is fascinating stuff touchring:

http://universaltcm.wordpress.com/ed...alth-problems/
http://universaltcm.wordpress.com/co...ms-in-english/

.... would say that the majority of the world does not drink any beverage "with ice." The fastest way for the waiter at a restaurant in most countries to figure out you are American is to ask for ice with your drink.

esp in the parts of the world that like their beer warm....

but theres a REASON for that...

[don]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

Suspected for some time that the ad mania about near-frozen beer was more about ease-of-shipping than flavor.

The beverage equivalent of baseball tomatoes.

(on a hot day a cold brew is terrific but generally cold in foods blocks flavor, not enhances it. have the sheeple been sold a load of goods? they look so happy in the commercials when the beer comes off the Matterhorn )

[lektrode]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

Suspected for some time that the ad mania about near-frozen beer was more about ease-of-shipping than flavor.

The beverage equivalent of baseball tomatoes.

huh... never thot about that angle?

always assumed it was about the product actually making it to the shelf and still be 'attractive' if not edible?

(on a hot day a cold brew is terrific but generally cold in foods blocks flavor, not enhances it. have the sheeple been sold a load of goods? they look so happy in the commercials when the beer comes off the Matterhorn )

dunno about that, i'm a V&T guy mesself (or cran, depending on whether its before 'post time' or not ;) - but they taste even better after coming off say mammoth or jackson hole - to each his own, i guess...

[touchring]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

Suspected for some time that the ad mania about near-frozen beer was more about ease-of-shipping than flavor.

The beverage equivalent of baseball tomatoes.

(on a hot day a cold brew is terrific but generally cold in foods blocks flavor, not enhances it. have the sheeple been sold a load of goods? they look so happy in the commercials when the beer comes off the Matterhorn )

The other reason is product differentiation. Chilled beverages are generally sold at a considerable premium (in pubs and 9-11) compared to beverages that you can buy off-the-shelf in the supermarket.

[don]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

huh... never thot about that angle?

always assumed it was about the product actually making it to the shelf and still be 'attractive' if not edible?



dunno about that, i'm a V&T guy mesself (or cran, depending on whether its before 'post time' or not ;) - but they taste even better after coming off say mammoth or jackson hole - to each his own, i guess...

I've been stuck on Malbec for a while now, with the occasional mixed drink - scratch margarita's are popular here. I make them with cointreau, 100% agave and lime, served on the rocks with course salt.

[lektrode]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

I've been stuck on Malbec for a while now, with the occasional mixed drink - scratch margarita's are popular here. I make them with cointreau, 100% agave and lime, served on the rocks with course salt.

i like em when its mango season, with the frozen mangorita, no salt, my absolute fave...
my tastes in wine kinda go toward zinfindel and rose tho - and the occ merlot - most of which typically goes into the pot with LOTS of onion and leftover beef roasts - CHEAP ones - that didnt end up being all that tender, so i stew em til they are and 'drown em' in merlot.... = mmmm, mmmm, good!

[shiny!]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

Suspected for some time that the ad mania about near-frozen beer was more about ease-of-shipping than flavor.

The beverage equivalent of baseball tomatoes.

(on a hot day a cold brew is terrific but generally cold in foods blocks flavor, not enhances it. have the sheeple been sold a load of goods? they look so happy in the commercials when the beer comes off the Matterhorn )

Overchilling disguises the flavor of food, while overroasting -aka- French Roast disguises the flavor of low quality coffee. With coffee beans, different flavors emerge at different roast levels. Quality coffee beans have an amazing array of flavors at City, City+ to Full City roast. Some varieties can go as far as a light Vienna roast to bring out the chocolate notes, but beyond that you lose the origin flavors and all you really taste is the roast.

French Roast disguises the flavor of cheap, inferior beans. Most coffee companies buy the cheapest beans they can get, overroast them to hide the flavor and natural color irregularities, put them into fancy bags and sell it as Gourmet French Roast Coffee. People who have never tasted really good coffee love it.

For the curious, check out the roasting notes at Sweet Marias.

[Chomsky]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

Overchilling disguises the flavor of food, while overroasting -aka- French Roast disguises the flavor of low quality coffee. With coffee beans, different flavors emerge at different roast levels. Quality coffee beans have an amazing array of flavors at City, City+ to Full City roast. Some varieties can go as far as a light Vienna roast to bring out the chocolate notes, but beyond that you lose the origin flavors and all you really taste is the roast.

French Roast disguises the flavor of cheap, inferior beans. Most coffee companies buy the cheapest beans they can get, overroast them to hide the flavor and natural color irregularities, put them into fancy bags and sell it as Gourmet French Roast Coffee. People who have never tasted really good coffee love it.

For the curious, check out the roasting notes at Sweet Marias.

Great site, I've bought from them for years and roasted my own, happily.

[shiny!]

Re: Everything We Know Is Wrong

Great site, I've bought from them for years and roasted my own, happily.

Isn't it wonderful? The best coffee I've ever had was some some Indian Pearl Mountain Estate back in 2001 that I roasted just past Full City to a light Vienna. They just recently had it in stock again but I blinked and missed it.