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Show HN: A Platform For Self-Experimentation

doubleblinded.com

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Re: Show HN: A Platform For Self-Experimentation

#41

Post by gwern »

dangrossman wrote: post #7

It's hard to do a test like this when there's a significant chance you're buying nothing but powdered rice regardless of what the bottle says. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/sidebar-whats-in-th... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/herbal-supplements... Want to do a double-blind study on whether St. John's Wort improves your mood? None of the bottles tested from Walmart, Target, GNC or Walgreens actu…

The first link is bogus; it turned out to be a failure of testing and they had to abandon all the accusations and settled for nothing: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nootropics/comments/3ice6t/on_suppl...

Re: Show HN: A Platform For Self-Experimentation

#42

Post by maverickmath »

alexbock wrote: post #5

This makes me wonder if there is a simple procedure for doing a pseudo-double-blind study on oneself (without a third party). That is, trying something that can be prepared in pill form in such a way that you don't know during any given day/week/month if it was a placebo, but that you can still determine that later to collate the data. I know a lot of people that swear by particular unregulated supplements or dietary…

As far as I can tell, gwern.net does exactly that (and it's well documented in his website - under the nootropics category).

Re: Show HN: A Platform For Self-Experimentation

#43

Post by chrisrxth »

Mz wrote: post #39

I have done a lot of alternative med stuff. I know good protocols for how to test the waters, introduce new supplements, figure out what they are doing, etc. I would not use the service you are offering. It sounds to me like you are asking me to be a guinea pig. To make this useful, I think you need to do the following things: 1) Educate people on good practices generally. Your current site looks to me to be an invit…

Hey, thanks for the feedback. I totally agree about educating people on good practices. This is a big part of what I want to do over the next few years - I think educating people on the scientific method, especially in regards to self experimentation is important. We want to work to create best practices and protocols in the self-experimentation/quantified self world. We are planning on putting together some content (videos and such) on the topic and incorporating that educational aspect in our platform.

As far as the supplements go, I agree with that as well. We're planning on adding more once the L-Theanine trial is sorted out. This is just our practice round to get the protocol right. What other supplements would you be curious to see?

Re: Show HN: A Platform For Self-Experimentation

#44

Post by greggman »

chrisrxth wrote: post #37
greggman wrote: post #28

Is there motivation to cheat? If I want to sell this stuff what's to stop me from signing up a bunch of people, having the pills tested, then reporting what I want you to find so I that you'll tell the public my product is effective?

This won't be an issue because we are supplying the supplements which are going to come from an established and reputable supplier. This is not a platform where anyone can sell their own supplements.

I think you missed my point. I sign 100-1000 people up for your study. You send the supplements to them. I quickly test the supplements to find out which is which. I then send you a report that makes the days my people took the supplements look positive for efficacy. You then report the supplements are effective. I can now point to your report to sell my supplements. It doesn't matter they are not your supplier. I still benefit from people thinking a supplement is effective.
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