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Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

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Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#52
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So hilarious! Got to build up the tolerance so as to enjoy spicy food more and spend less in the bathroom :)

Jokes aside, it seems to me that anything to which a healthy adult needs to develop a tolerance is not one that is intrinsically healthful.

Such as physical exercise?

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No no. That's only a 'possible' explanation. In articles such as these you'll find plenty of 'may'-s, 'might'-s, 'can'-s and 'further research'-s. The vagueness and intellectual cowardice are exasperating. Don't be afraid to call it out when correlations are two-a-penny and funding is at stake. There are problems crying out for research.

Welcome to the world of journalism. If you want something stated with absolute certainty when the facts don't support that maybe you want to read propaganda.

I think halspero was trying to make the opposite point, just somewhat poorly expressed.

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No no. That's only a 'possible' explanation. In articles such as these you'll find plenty of 'may'-s, 'might'-s, 'can'-s and 'further research'-s. The vagueness and intellectual cowardice are exasperating. Don't be afraid to call it out when correlations are two-a-penny and funding is at stake. There are problems crying out for research.

Welcome to the world of journalism. If you want something stated with absolute certainty when the facts don't support that maybe you want to read propaganda.

Well, certainty isn't available whatever the facts! So it's not relevant here.

There's no contradiction between fallibilism and asserting that some scientific explanation is true. This study doesn't assert anything apart from an 'association'. Yet progress is made by addressing theoretical problems, not by looking for assocations, which are everywhere.

As for 'propaganda' I think you've got it the wrong way around. It's the people who applaud this kind of non-result who are seeking a kind of uncritical 'Yay Science' experience.

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#55
post #5

I'll posit an additional theory—that people with gastrointestinal problems don't eat spicy food because it causes discomfort. But the other part that the article mentions—eating more vegetables and meats—well, most of the spicy foods I can think of are basically vegetables + meat in a spicy sauce.

> eating more vegetables and meats What is everyone living on? Just bread?

And doughnuts, coffee, ramen, and soda.

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#56

I am not a trained statistician, so can someone help me understand why this is even publishable? I read the abstract and found they quote their key statistic at P = 0.01. The "NHANES III" study that their data comes from has over 1000 variables. Can't you just cherry-pick a handful of "significant" variables at the P = 0.01 level, when there are 1000 variables to choose from?

The entire idea of using a default null hypothesis and calculating a p-value in order to learn something is fatally flawed to begin with. If p-values are to be of any use, the hypothesis you are trying to reject needs to be predicted by your theory/model, so set that as the null hypothesis. You know... how science works. To start you off:

http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/GG_Mindless_2004.pdf

http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/me...

http://andrewgelman.com/2016/09/30/why-the-garden-of-forking...

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#57
I wonder if this is an example of hormesis? http://gettingstronger.org/hormesis/

I'll use this opportunity to recommend all of Dr. Rhonda Patrick's appearances on the Joe Rogan podcast. She discusses the science behind many nutrition and health topics, including hormesis: https://www.google.com/search?q=rhonda+patrick+jre

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#60

Why do people look for correlations any more? Aren't scientists painfully aware of confirmation bias[1] and spurious correlation[2] yet? [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias [2] http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

correlations are leads to spark further inquiry, they aren't explanatory in themselves. there is room for, and great need of, some imagination and speculation when trying to look for the truth.
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