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Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

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Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#41

Post by jacquesm »

w1ntermute wrote: post #34
jacquesm wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the next couple of years, we're probably going to see companies like Nootrobox, Stemcentrx, and Theranos go belly up, after which investor interest in the healthcare industry will dry up, just as it did in the energy industry after the late 2000s. More likely, what will happen is the the BS artists that smell money will go away (and their financiers) leaving the field again to those that were active there before…

Good point - I edited that sentence to say 'SV investor' instead. There were, are, and always will be people outside of the technobubble innovating in fields like healthcare and energy, they just won't get plastered on magazine covers and fêted by the Twitterati.

> they just won't get plastered on magazine covers and fêted by the Twitterati.

Most science and real innovation are not sexy, if you start seeing a CEO prior to achievement on a magazine cover that's a red flag imho.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#43

Post by thaumasiotes »

kazinator wrote: post #40
w1ntermute wrote: post #7

Great article on this trend of investors/entrepreneurs with no scientific background thinking they can get into the space and "shake things up": Silicon Valley is confusing pseudo-science with innovation [0] > I don’t think all the VC firms that are moving into the space know what they’re doing — so I think you only need a couple of nasty failures to get them to pull back. Take Pathway Genomics, for instance, which w…

If pseudo-science sells, it feels like innovation! There is like all this new money discovered in new places where it wasn't before. Innovation, right in my pockets!

Hmm... on the one hand, I've always thought lumosity was obviously woo.

On the other hand, you could make exactly the same claims ("1) improve performance on everyday tasks, in school, at work, and in athletics; 2) delay age-related cognitive decline and protect against mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease; and 3) reduce cognitive impairment associated with health conditions, including stroke, traumatic brain injury, PTSD, ADHD, the side effects of chemotherapy, and Turner syndrome, and that scientific studies proved these benefits") about an "herbal supplement" and you'd be legally in the clear. Why is Lumosity's suite of product offerings more similar to prescription medicine (heavily regulated) than to dodgy supplements that might or might not contain mostly meth (basically unregulated)?

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#44

Post by rfrank »

bjshepard wrote: post #38
rfrank wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

anyone who says lsd makes you smarter is already stupid.

To understand the experience of LSD, I recommend "The New Alchemy" by Alan Watts. http://www.psychedelic-library.org/alchemy.htm

I've done it several times (as well as basically all popular hallucinogens). I know all about the drug, its impacts on the brain, what it's actually like being on it, etc. I've also lived around many drippy hippie types in Santa Cruz, and the new wave of "microdosing is the key to creative coding" types, and their insights are equally bullshit to me.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#45

Post by untilHellbanned »

w1ntermute wrote: post #7

Great article on this trend of investors/entrepreneurs with no scientific background thinking they can get into the space and "shake things up": Silicon Valley is confusing pseudo-science with innovation [0] > I don’t think all the VC firms that are moving into the space know what they’re doing — so I think you only need a couple of nasty failures to get them to pull back. Take Pathway Genomics, for instance, which w…

I'm impressed your comment hasn't gotten downvoted to oblivion. Every time I express this same point I get my ass kicked (Soon to be professor with Ph.D in molecular biology and 2 years of medical training all at top 5 institutions).

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#46

Post by marcuniq »

Improvement of fluid intelligence by training with dual-n-back was studied in Jaeggi et al.[0], but could not be successfully replicated [1]. More in the following article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-training-doe...

[0]: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/04/25/0801268105.full...

[1]: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#47

Post by kazinator »

The way I see it, they tapped into a widely held belief, rather than fears. It is a popular belief that doing mental work staves off cognitive decline (including age-related). I bet you that everyone at Lumosity actually believes it because their mother told them that when they were kids.

My wife (Japanese) always says "good for older people" about any sort of puzzle. She didn't get this from being deceived by Lumosity.

The FTC is being very heavy-handed here.

It's like someone sold carrots claiming they improve vision, and got thrown in jail.

Testimonials being paid for shills? Like, say it ain't so. Every damed commercial you've ever seen in your life has fake people presenting fake testimonials. It's assumed.

(Claiming that doing puzzles can stave off Alzheimer's is going somewhat far, though. That disease has specific physiological causes which can't be reversed through brain activity.)

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#48

Post by cableshaft »

georgemcbay wrote: post #29

I have something of a litmus test for companies where I just assume any company that advertises a lot via "live reads" on radio/podcasts is not to be trusted. Lumosity, LifeLock, etc. There are outliers for which I wouldn't quite say "not to be trusted" like Dollar Shave Club and Blue Apron, but even in those cases you are, IMO, overpaying for a vanishingly small amount of convenience. I think it holds up pretty well…

So I take it you don't aren't munching on your Naturebox and mailing the government (using your Stamps.com scale) your application to start a business (that you created on LegalZoom) making websites via Squarespace, all while listening to an audiobook you got from Audible, before dozing off on your Casper mattress wearing nothing but your "Me Undies"?

...I listen to too many podcasts.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#49

Post by intrasight »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #43
kazinator wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If pseudo-science sells, it feels like innovation! There is like all this new money discovered in new places where it wasn't before. Innovation, right in my pockets!

Hmm... on the one hand, I've always thought lumosity was obviously woo. On the other hand, you could make exactly the same claims ("1) improve performance on everyday tasks, in school, at work, and in athletics; 2) delay age-related cognitive decline and protect against mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease; and 3) reduce cognitive impairment associated with health conditions, including stroke,…

Supplements industry lobbied congress to pass a law exempting them from FDA regulation.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#50

Post by sevensor »

cordite wrote: post #21

NPR plays ads on the radio about Lumosity and brain training, nearly every day for the last year here. It seemed ED to be more of a "We will give you a chance to raise an arbitrary number over time if you pay us" and heavy marketing ploy. Seems like if cow clicker got viral and took peoples money.

They play those ads on NPR here too. They always make me think about what my dad (a psychologist) told me about IQ tests: all IQ actually measures is how well you do on IQ tests. It's entirely possible to study for the test and improve your IQ. Of course, doing this doesn't make you any better at anything useful, but it might make you eligible for Mensa. (My dad is very skeptical when it comes to psychometrics.)
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