3/11 Myth Busting Monday - How to Think Critically About Things you See on the Internet...3/10/2024 ...Or, How Correlation is not CausationIt's Myth Busting Monday and I'm revisiting some blogs I've written previously about how to wade through mis-information and silly bullshit so that you can critically explore the memes and "headlines" you see on Facebook. All across the interwebs the amount of mis-information, silly bullshit, and outright lies is breathtaking. It's important to stop, breathe, and take a step back from the latest meme or headline so you can think critically about what you're reading. There are two very important science concepts, correlation is not causation and confirmation bias, that I want to explore today. Understanding these concepts can help us see through the pseudoscience that often accompanies the latest alarmist meme. Correlation is not causation means that just because two things have a relationship it does not mean one thing causes the other. An example might be, every time you have a PR your Coach is wearing black pants. Therefore, your coach's black pants are the reason you PR. Or, after you washed your car, it rained. Therefore washing your car causes rain. Or, people who have died from COVID-19 used the 5G network, therefore being on 5G increases your risk of dying from COVID-19. Sounds crazy right? What about when someone shows you the data?!? Here's one of my favorite examples of correlation is not causation. This graph shows a relationship between the U.S. per capita consumption of cheese and the number of people who died by becoming tangled in their sheets. Based on the data you could erroneously conclude that eating cheese increases your risk of death by becoming entangled in your sheets. But, you won't conclude that because there is no causal relationship.
What if that graph was people who use 5G and COVID-19 deaths? You might be more inclined to believe that using 5G will increase your risk of dying from COVID-19 because the data "show" that people who die from COVID-19 used 5G. But there is NOT a causal relationship. Believing that 5G will increase your risk of COVID-19 death is an example of your confirmation bias. If you want to believe, you will, no matter what the data show. We are more likely to believe a relationship is causative if it reinforces our beliefs. So the next time someone tries to tell or SELL you something, and they show you a graph that correlates their amazing claim with an amazing outcome, remember, correlative data points on a graph do not show cause and effect AND if you want to believe that this thing is true you're more likely to believe it even if there's no science to support it. Critical thinking skills are fundamental to being able to successfully navigate life and not fall prey to charlatans, quacks and snake-oil salespeople. Want me to explore a myth? Suggest one in the comments.
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Myth: Creatine is only for bodybuilders and will make you gain weightCreatine is naturally occurring biochemical compound, meaning it's a chemical compound that we make in our bodies from amino acids we eat in our food, that drives a whole suite of vital metabolic processes. In addition to building muscle, it is a key component in brain function and managing cellular hydration. Creatine monohydrate, the supplemental form of creatine, is the world's most tested sports supplement, and has over 50 years of scientific studies. It is the most tested and studied ergogenic aid (a supplement intended to enhance physical performance, stamina or recovery.) Despite all those years of study and all the years of positive health and performance impact, it still carries the stigma of being useful only for bodybuilding and using it will cause weight gain. This is silly bullshit. Creatine monohydrate is one of the most important supplements you can take for body and brain health. It is also the primary driver of one of the anaerobic metabolic pathways that we use EVERYDAY in CrossFit: the phosphocreatine pathway. In addition to making us stronger, more powerful and having increased stamina, creatine has been shown to improve:
Did you notice the second to last bullet point? It has been specifically tested on women and aging athletes! The results from these studies are overwhelmingly positive. If you're an aging athlete, a woman, or an aging woman athlete, you need to start supplementing with creatine monohydrate TODAY! To make sure you start supplementing correctly, listen to this fantastic Feisty Women's Performance podcast from Feisty Menopause on why you need creatine for performance, recovery and longevity. Click on the image below to listen to the podcast on your favorite player. On a personal note, I started supplementing with creatine monohydrate when I was a competitive rower in college in 1997. I continue to supplement with it. I have never noticed any weight gain or bloating. I have only noticed increased power, speed, and general badassery:)
You Are What You Eat, Part 2Friday, I shared an insightful and short podcast from The Consistency Project about the Netflix docuseries You Are What You Eat. What to eat, how much to eat, when to eat and why we overeat have been explored since the very first diet book was published in 1863. That book, Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public by William Banting encouraged people to eat meat, greens, and fruit. He avoided root vegetables, potatoes, butter, milk, pork, salmon, sugar, and beer. He lost 35 pounds and decided that his anecdotal personal experience counted as evidence and thus the psuedoscience of diet and nutrition culture was born. According to this article from Micheal Easter, About 55 million Americans are on a diet plan, and 50% are trying to lose weight. Diet and weight loss books generated $580 million in sales in 2019. WOW! That is a lot of folks who are wanting to make a change and a LOT of people and companies who are willing to sell them something, even if its silly bullshit, to help them lose weight. What's even more interesting is that we are drawn to a particular diet, or eating plan, based on our confirmation bias. Easter summarizes it this way: We often choose a diet based on our underlying beliefs about society. For example: Your personal values, your beliefs, your family food culture, and your general life view will influence what you choose to put in your mouth, and this is the most important factor that will determine if your diet and nutrition choice will actually work. What works is what you can do for the long game. If you can't stay on your "X, Y, Z" elimination diet forever, it's not going to work. Check out the entire article from Micheal Easter, "Wild Findings from an Analysis of 400 Diet Books" by clicking on the link below or reading it on Scribd. You can read the entire article below. The bottom line is that “diets are all equally terrible for long-term weight loss,” Layne explained. But when the scientists stratified the participants by how closely they followed the diet’s instructions, they found that the most adherent people lost more fat. Regardless of the diet—every diet worked when the study participants followed it long-term. The Myth of ModerationEverything in moderation," is something I hear everyday and it makes me crazy. This ridiculous and illogical saying has gained traction in our culture of, "I deserve it," and today I'm calling bullshit on the myth of moderation.
The problem with "everything in moderation," is that it's a moving target. There is no objective, one size fits all, definitive Moderation. What we consider moderate today, while we're 15 days into our 75 (Not so) Hard, taking names, just crushed our workout, and doing our 75 push-ups a day, Thank-You-Very-Much is VASTLY different than what we consider moderate, just a few weeks ago, in that last week of December between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Right? Think about that for a moment. If there wasn't a huge cavernous span in our decision between what's moderate now versus January 30th, we wouldn't need to be doing, yet another, cleanse, or fast, or diet. "Everything in moderation," is a LIE that we tell ourselves to justify a decision we know is not moving us toward our goal. It is the justification we use to allow ourselves to eat the thing, drink the drink, take the days off from the gym, and do whatever we want to do right now, "'Cause YOLO." This simple lie enables us to dodge discipline, avoid accountability, and trick ourselves out of temperance. It is also used by other people to pressure us into a behavior that makes THEM feel better. Far too any times have I been pressured by friends, co-workers, and family to eat the cookies, cakes, pies, candy, etc., because it makes them feel better to see me do it. Why? Because my discipline makes people uncomfortable. Our actions and decisions often are a mirror for the people around us. So many times have I seen people wrestle with the consequences of their decisions once they see me stand-firm with mine. Our culture resolutely accepts that moderation does not work for an alcoholic. Rarely do you see people pressuring sober folks into having "just one, because everything in moderation, yo." Why do we not afford this same consideration to people who don't want to eat sugar? Or grains? Or meat? Or anything else about which they have personally decided that abstinence is their moderation? Everything in moderation is a myth because some things, even in moderation, will kill you. Everything in moderation is a myth because some things we need in more than moderate amounts, like 78% nitrogen and some in less than moderate amounts, like 21% oxygen. Everything in moderation is a myth because some things we want to achieve, i.e. our goals, require discipline. Everything in moderation is a myth that keeps us bound to the hell of our own status quo. |
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