[Discussion] Professionals' opinion on Examine.com

There really isn't another site like Examine out there. Most are affiliate marketing sites masquerading as educational sites. Examine took a different approach to things, and I respect them for it. As you would do with somewhere like Wikipedia, use it as a starting place to make your further research easier. Frankly, nobody should be using a single site to make determinations on the efficacy or scientific validity of nootropics. Use the tools at your disposal to help you dig into the primary sources themselves. Jump on Wikipedia and Examine to find sources or mechanisms you find interesting, then use that to go on Google Scholar to find the actual studies themselves. Then use Scihub or Unpaywall to get the full studies. If you are always relying on other's interpretation of scientific research, you might be missing out on crucial variables or other information that could help clarify it for you.

I've always said that I respected Examine for what they did. Unless you are in this industry, you probably don't realize how much of the internet is bullshit marketing these days. Objective research and discussion takes a back seat to search engine rankings and affiliate commissions. Everywhere online is trying to make money off you. It's just that many hide how they are doing it. If the information you are reading is framed in a certain way because they are making money off you clicking on their links, that information like likely not objective. Examine does not make money off you clicking on links to buy things, though. Sure, they sell books and guides. However, at least the incentive for striving to put forth objective information is not at odds with their revenue strategy. I cannot say that about many other sites, to be honest. Is the information perfect? No, and I don't think anyone can expect it to be. However, at least their business model does not incentivize tailoring the data to fit into the narrative they want it to.