Non-fandom post on reading scientific articles

[dear_tiger]

There is this thing that has been on my mind, and I think tonight is the time to put in my 2 cents. One of you lovely ladies made a post a while back about the new fad of not vaccinating kids, and then someone on my FB (notably, one of the very few non-medical people I follow there) made a "public awareness" post with a link to a sad blog by a

Comments

[cassiopeia7]

That was me with the LJ post on the "fad," I think I got my point across with how I feel about parents who don't vaccinate, and yeah, I agree with everything you said. People are sadly quick to believe things without backup data. (My Mom said it was because they were "too stupid to understand the science," so glommed on to the simplified statement given by friends or media. Then again, my Mom could be verrrry cynical sometimes.)

You would not believe the number of times a non-scientific friend has relayed some suspiciously-simplified "scientific" bit of information, then got upset when I didn't take them at their word, but did a bit of research on my own. "What, don't you trust me?"

Any statement that is not supported by data has as much weight as a figure of speech.

Jeez-Louise, how do people NOT GET THAT? I despair of human intelligence, I really do.

an infamous study that claimed marijuana use lead to progressive degeneration of brain cells, and it was later revealed that the researcher used very high doses of

[killabeez]

Jeez-Louise, how do people NOT GET THAT? I despair of human intelligence, I really do.

First Principle of Propaganda: Say something three times, it becomes true.

[dear_tiger]

My teacher used to say that "This is a true story" is a classic feature of horror stories :D She meant the kind in literature, but it's totally true about "scientifically proven" stories people tell to each other.

[dear_tiger]

Yeah, I remember it was you :D I also remember that someone argued with you on that post, in the "I know for a fact because it happened to me personally" style, so I decided not to drag your name into the post, just in case someone wants to come over and get upset with me for making fun of them. Which I wasn't. It took a lot of training to learn how to read scientific articles critically, and some people just don't know how.

I find it remarkable that all these doom and gloom blog posts don't link any real studies but supply a lot of "this happened to a cousin" and "I am autistic, therefore, it must be the vaccines".

No such thing as trust in science :D And your mom, I must say again, sounds like she was a fantastic woman.

The dude was intentionally manipulating the data, then blamed it on his supplier. I forget who sponsored the study, but it was some organization with an anti-MJ agenda. And the funny part is, the brain scan images from that study are still referenced by laymen, like look, scientists proved! That study is famous

[killabeez]

Awesome post is awesome. I would love to share this with... so many people in my life who aren't on LJ. Mind if I save it and print it out and subtly begin reading it at family gatherings?

[dear_tiger]

I'd be flattered, and more importantly, my two cents would be worth more if it gave someone the knowledge to do their own research. Absolutely take it, and feel free to delete the expletives, ahem.

[maraceles]

Oh my god, WORD.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's only a matter of understanding and/or knowledge. There is definately some psycholgical aspect as well. I've rotated with scientists-turned-med-students and doctors (who are specifically trained to review health data, as you know)--whose training goes right out the window as soon as the data effects them or someone they know personally. Imagine my horror at seeing a PCP (with an autistic son, granted) tell his patients that vaccines cause autism...

[dear_tiger]

...Wow, yeah, I can imagine that horror very well O.o But if I can teach one person somewhere (without an autistic kid) to do their own research before they follow this idiocy, my job is done.

(Also, I'm going to friend you again. I had a really crappy stretch last semester with the school and the island and took some people off the f-list that I didn't want to see that. Sorry about that.)

[maraceles]

(Hey, totally understandable. I keep my school-people completely separate from the rest of my life, because in a sense, I feel like we're always judging each other, i.e. is that med student as good as me? Or do I suck in comparison? It's all complete bullshit, but I don't try to show any weakness whatsoever to another med student even if we're "pals" and friendly. There is collaboration, and then there is showing your soft underbelly--and other med students can be cruel and competitive. With you and I, it can sometimes get awkward because we know each other through fandom first, and that carries with it a whole different set of rules for social obligation/interaction/whatever. So if you need to defriend me whenever, that's totally cool. I understand the need for distance.)

[dear_tiger]

Thank you, that's actually very insightful, about showing weakness to other medical students. I do hope to never hit another rough patch like that again. And same goes to you, of course - feel free to defriend me or block posts if you need to, but hopefully, you won't need to. How are the clinicals going anyway?

[deceptivemirror]

Thank you for summing up every argument I have with so called "popular" science. I really dislike when someone references an article to support their point in a discussion, then I look it up and think "this has absolutely nothing to do with what you're talking about." It's a pet peeve as a science major!!!

[dear_tiger]

Ugh. I get why people are drawn to the easier (and completely misinterpreted, and often false) version on some popular media, but what the hell, people, immunization for your kid is serious business. No, it's not okay to get the info off some stay-at-home mommy blog.

[deceptivemirror]

Not to mention actor endorsements are really not giving science a good name. Like that nonsense that vaccines cause autism!! I would seriously love to kick the ass of whoever says that, because there's not even a damn correlation, let alone a connection, between the two!!!

[dear_tiger]

Yup, the autism bullshit is why I wrote the post in the first place. One moron somewhere makes up his data, then a whole bunch of ultra hippies and ultra conservatives follow, then the people who need something to blame for their kid's autism, then the regular joes who put way too much trust in what some celebrity says on Twitter and some suffering mom posts on her blog. It baffles me how much faith people put in their TV and in social media.

(My dad's gf reposted one of those idiotic "public awareness" statements on FB. At least I know Dad would be very cynical about it, but oh god, I'm so mad. She is a smart, good, kind woman. Stop propagating dangerous bullshit if you don't understand it!)