Comment · Tue, March 22, 2016 · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
The dark side of internet forums
Original post in this thread
rrtrda · 161 points
While these and other health forums contain a wealth of incredibly helpful information and inspiration, I believe their darker sides are often ignored. As people here generally tend to be keen to debate, I think certain issues should be addressed. Let’s see which ones you’ve encountered yourself:
Prejudice: Many people just don’t come here to find neutral information about a certain nootropic/drug. They want to get their preset opinion confirmed. And if nobody tells them what they want to hear, they google further, or dispute what others are saying. The longer you google, the more likely you will stumble across the correlation you were looking for. But how relevant is it?
Misinformation: Yes, there are some people out here that deserve respect. With their profound knowledge they enrich discussions and create value for the community. But they not only check sample size and Pearson’s r. Those people spot methodological flaws and inaccuracies in studies. And can assess their meaningfulness. But let’s be honest about it: those people are rare and most people don’t have the skill nor the time to do that. I myself would love to be one of those able to truly judge. Unfortunatel…
What they were answering
Hashes1234 · 2 points
The biggest problem is that people most often look for personal experiences rather than scientific evidences because, well, we are humans and are made to believe and trust what others say.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
I totally agree with that. Also, many compounds don't currently have a lot of human data. So the only thing to turn to is anecdotes. People just need to put them into perspective, and balance that out with the scientific data that we do have. That takes time and effort, though. So most people don't; often times myself included.