111–120 of 421 posts
Another field where science is on a collision course with online (and offline) activists is genetics. As we decode and understand more of the genome, it is possible that our genes affect more of our behavior than what the partisans of tabula rasa hold for truth. And unless the political climate evolves, in a power struggle between activists and science, I wouldn't bet on the scientists.
Over the next 20 or so years, expect a lot of syndromes/conditions to be reclassified, as Michael Sharpe puts in the article, as "biological condition[s] that can be perpetuated by social and psychological factors.". I struggled with RSI for a couple of years until I read John Sarno's "The Mind-Body Connection" on the recommendation of someone from HN. Sarno's thesis is that many chronic pain conditions (those withou…
> those without a clear physical mechanism, such as RSI or chronic back pain But RSI has a clear physical mechanism. I don't know as much about chronic back pain, but considering how much physical stuff there is in our back, I'd assume it's similar. Or does "physical mechanism" mean something other than it seems to mean?
The abstract to the study itself is here (the full study is behind Elsevier paywall):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3065633/?report...
David Tuller's blog critiquing the study is at:
Searching for "PACE trial" will bring up plenty of articles on either side of the debate.
My own thought as to why this particular study stirred so much controversy is that it has been seized on by some in the medical-political establishment in the UK as defining a solution for all CFS sufferers, and negating the need for further study into the condition (although recent hearings in UK Parliament have begun to reverse this approach), when really the effect demonstrated by the study is quite small. Fortunately, the US establishment has not taken this tack:
http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2015/ME-CFS.aspx
https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/index.html
CFS remains a poorly-understood disease with a grossly underfunded research program when the number of people affected and the severity of the condition are taken into effect. Those who rally against PACE in particular seem to be mainly asking that it not be the end (or even the main direction) of the road in terms of CFS treatment and research in the UK.
In my opinion, global social media systems are toxic on nearly every topic, not just this one.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"behavioural genetics" and something else I will not even talk about for fear of being hunted and bullied by an angry mob on the internet. These topics are so sensitive because of the current political climate that they are literally career suicide for any western scientist. It has become way too easy to bully people into submission with tools such as Twitter, but not only, too easy to create harassment brigades agai…
Do you have evidence of your claim that "These topics are so sensitive because of the current political climate that they are literally career suicide for any western scientist."? For example, an investigative piece similar to the one here, except about behavioral genetics?
This is sad. Unfortunately we have some people who put their beliefs and politics above science and will actively act against investigation only because a line of inquiry could result in evidence against their view. It comes from both the left and right depending on the topic. It’s not simply dissent it also is about pressuring institutions to not fund certain areas of investigation which is a very detrimental conseq…
You are blindly falling into a trap, just like this whole article. The article is using the so-called "online activists" to dismiss political opinion (not some , really the abstract idea of having social ideals) and once again depict science as an intrinsically unbiased source of knowledge (which is usually even extend to unbiased source of social order, cf the recurring mathematical "justification" of the liberal ec…
I'm not seeing anybody else suggest what seems to me to be the obvious solution: opt out of twitter (which seems like a self-abuse platform) and filter your email. Part of why communication works is because we can't hear everybody's opinion on everything. People earn the right to our ear through networking and earning our company. Twitter undoing this is not progress.
The very same thing happened with a friend of mine.
It's not an attempt to win any scientific argument with anecdotes here, instead I am just adding my data points.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the pain is real, it's just caused by processes in your brain, I don't find this particular statement very revolutionary. We have known for a long time that physical pain is manufactured by the brain as an evolutionary tactic to help us prevent further harm to ourselves. If we didn't "feel pain" when we were on fire, we would burn to death.
I completely agree with you, but our society has such a stigma around mental illness that if you tell someone their back pain is caused by repressed emotions, you get what happens in the article.
But...you would (or could?, or should?) never tell someone that, because how would you know? Maybe there is some link but to conclude that it could be the case is pretty silly.
So it's not like that's a stigma, it's just a statement not based in fact that evokes a strong reaction because you're telling someone why they're feeling a certain way when in reality you have no idea at all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have evidence of your claim that "These topics are so sensitive because of the current political climate that they are literally career suicide for any western scientist."? For example, an investigative piece similar to the one here, except about behavioral genetics?
See anyone who has touched "differences of iq between races".
So there's basically three things going on here which need to be clarified. 1) People advocating alternative therapies stirring up trouble > "The campaigner and doctor behind MAIMES, Sarah Myhill, has posted YouTube videos setting out her views: “I liken it to child abuse,” she says in one that has been viewed more than 8,000 times. “This amounts to a form of abuse, because these people” – CFS/ME patients – “do not h…
I didn't think a disease being mental ('all in your head') was relevant to disability? At least in the US I know people on disability because of mental illnesses.