Recent comments in /f/science

lynx_and_nutmeg t1_jawao5d wrote

What is it with Redditors on this sub constantly refusing to believe that maintaining basic biological functions is crucial to your health just so they can drop the bUt wHaT If iTs aCtUallY jUst a CorrElAtIoN?? and get to feel clever without having any education or understanding in scientific research?

Sleep is very important to health. Your body needs it, it literally can't survive without it for more than a few days. Sleep repairs cellular damage, regenerates your cells and regulates your hormone and neurotransmitter levels, and consolidates your memories. Not getting enough sleep wreak havoc on your whole body in myriad of ways. This isn't even a contested topic anymore, it's not up for a debate, it's a fact. Just because sick people tend to get less sleep doesn't mean it's only a correlation and not getting enough sleep doesn't also ruin your health on its own.

1

TheWoodConsultant t1_jaw8v9z wrote

I used to run the Data Science team at meta that measured bad content on the site and I am skeptical of this study for several reasons:

-left vs right is a highly subjective measure and many misinformation topics hit both sides of the spectrum . Anti-vaccine for example is both hippies and right wing. the fact that journalists called Boogaloo and “right wing” organization illustrates

-if they really used journalists as the debunker source this is going to mean more “right” content will be debunked since there is a bit of a bias there right now.

-all misinformation is not created equal. the last time I sample tested Meta’s political misinformation image violators before the 2020 election it was more than 2/3rds memes saying to remind your democrat friends to vote on the wrong day.

-their measurement and sample methodology would be very important since it’s views that matter and not the number of images. Most images on FB receive zero views beyond the poster so they really don’t matter.

−3

Duende555 t1_jaw4wnx wrote

Unfortunately, this trend closely tracks the decline of print media and journalism in general. As subscriptions decline, more and more companies are looking towards easy click-bait tactics and misleading images or headlines to generate engagement. This has been apparent for a number of years with low-quality click-bait websites, but is now increasingly seen at the level of "quality" newspapers and news sources like the New York Times.

People want easy answers to simplify a complicated world and misinfo usually targets that.

40