I’ve been slow with posts over the past few months, because things have been busy - and also because I felt like I got my point across that MP is absolutely unreliable at best and dangerous at worst.
I once very much enjoyed Michael Hobbes. The title of his series "You're Wrong About" demonstrates why. He made me feel enlightened, not about things _I'd_ been wrong about - ho, ho, no - but about things _everyone else_ was wrong about!
The wide-ranging topics of that series invited Gell-Mann Amnesia. Now he's working on a prolonged series about one topic, and it's been startling to discover experts in the field taking his work apart in detail.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Charlotte! I actually have not heard of Gell-Mann Amnesia before but this phenomenon is very applicable to the Michael Hobbes universe! Thank you for teaching me something new. :)
I really appreciate these fact checks, as a person who used to listen to the MP podcast as a valid informational source. I think your nitpicks are useful as well - sure, they are about small things, but I think it is often one's attention to even the small things that bespeaks one's professional standards, and commonly getting little things wrong suggests that one is overall sloppy.
Thanks for reading and for the comment! I am so glad you find these helpful. And I agree about the nitpicks - the sheer number of little errors is indicative of a larger issue. In an email to someone else, Michael said that my fact checks are all just nitpicky things, which is kind of wild to me.
Unfortunately I'm not surprised... The type of person who would confidently publicize their sloppy research, would also dismiss criticism by the easiest possible path (if there was one nitpick, it was all nitpicks!)... and then also never ask themselves, why is there so much to nitpick in my work?
I really appreciate all your entries! I like to think of myself as a critical thinker, so I was disillusioned when I learned my new favorite podcast was so inaccurate. You've inspired me to be more dilligent about factchecking subjects I don't understand.
Thank you for reading, Jennifer! I have some more in the pipeline, but things have been really busy at work. "Disillusioned" perfectly captures the feeling that so many of us have experienced with this same thing - especially now that there are so many sources of information and it can be hard to know who to trust.
Appreciate the article but I don’t think you could be more wrong about keto diets working via caloric deficit. I would point you to the work of Gary Taubes for more information.
Hi, thanks for reading! Gary Taubes is a journalist, not a scientist, unfortunately. I'm just going based on the current scientific evidence which is not conclusive. :)
Indeed, if you read Taubes he’ll point just how inconclusive all of health and nutritional science is and continues to be, all while maintaining a reasoned, cautious and dispassionate tone. But after over 20 years reporting on these topics he makes a hell of a case and many scientists are increasingly on his wavelength. It doesn’t have to be magic once you understand the role insulin plays in fat storage and weight gain. My informed 2 cents.
Thanks for weighing in! I don't think anything I said was in opposition to what you are saying here. I said I don't think keto has any magical weight loss properties, which is the same as recognizing that there isn't any conclusive evidence that it is better for weight loss than other diets. The word "magic" was tongue-in-cheek. :)
Your point about MP has definitely been proven; however, I beg you never stop ripping it to shreds
Haha this comment gave me a good chuckle. I will keep going as long as there is content to rip apart!
I once very much enjoyed Michael Hobbes. The title of his series "You're Wrong About" demonstrates why. He made me feel enlightened, not about things _I'd_ been wrong about - ho, ho, no - but about things _everyone else_ was wrong about!
The wide-ranging topics of that series invited Gell-Mann Amnesia. Now he's working on a prolonged series about one topic, and it's been startling to discover experts in the field taking his work apart in detail.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Charlotte! I actually have not heard of Gell-Mann Amnesia before but this phenomenon is very applicable to the Michael Hobbes universe! Thank you for teaching me something new. :)
I really appreciate these fact checks, as a person who used to listen to the MP podcast as a valid informational source. I think your nitpicks are useful as well - sure, they are about small things, but I think it is often one's attention to even the small things that bespeaks one's professional standards, and commonly getting little things wrong suggests that one is overall sloppy.
Thanks for reading and for the comment! I am so glad you find these helpful. And I agree about the nitpicks - the sheer number of little errors is indicative of a larger issue. In an email to someone else, Michael said that my fact checks are all just nitpicky things, which is kind of wild to me.
Unfortunately I'm not surprised... The type of person who would confidently publicize their sloppy research, would also dismiss criticism by the easiest possible path (if there was one nitpick, it was all nitpicks!)... and then also never ask themselves, why is there so much to nitpick in my work?
100%! I guess I was too optimistic he might be open to engaging thoughtfully about all of this hah.
I really appreciate all your entries! I like to think of myself as a critical thinker, so I was disillusioned when I learned my new favorite podcast was so inaccurate. You've inspired me to be more dilligent about factchecking subjects I don't understand.
Thank you for reading, Jennifer! I have some more in the pipeline, but things have been really busy at work. "Disillusioned" perfectly captures the feeling that so many of us have experienced with this same thing - especially now that there are so many sources of information and it can be hard to know who to trust.
Appreciate the article but I don’t think you could be more wrong about keto diets working via caloric deficit. I would point you to the work of Gary Taubes for more information.
Hi, thanks for reading! Gary Taubes is a journalist, not a scientist, unfortunately. I'm just going based on the current scientific evidence which is not conclusive. :)
Indeed, if you read Taubes he’ll point just how inconclusive all of health and nutritional science is and continues to be, all while maintaining a reasoned, cautious and dispassionate tone. But after over 20 years reporting on these topics he makes a hell of a case and many scientists are increasingly on his wavelength. It doesn’t have to be magic once you understand the role insulin plays in fat storage and weight gain. My informed 2 cents.
Thanks for weighing in! I don't think anything I said was in opposition to what you are saying here. I said I don't think keto has any magical weight loss properties, which is the same as recognizing that there isn't any conclusive evidence that it is better for weight loss than other diets. The word "magic" was tongue-in-cheek. :)
The insulin stuff is really interesting, this is probably one of the best studies that looked at results of low carb vs low fat diets https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2673150/
This is also an interesting read https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522045440