When I was younger, it felt like half the ppl I knew survived by being in medical studies as their source of income.

As a result, I sometimes have difficulty taking study outcomes seriously! Because let me tell you, ~nobody getting paid to be in studies is telling the truth.

And sure, studies are designed to filter for that, but it’s much more difficult to control for coordinated deception. It used to be that people doing studies were a cohesive community & would help each other. One person would figure out the right answers or behaviors and then spread the word.

I saw addiction studies with no addicts, smoking studies with no smokers, sleep studies with groups of people alternating responsibility for wearing the monitor each night, etc etc

Now whenever I see the results of some study I kind of squint and try to imagine what the results mean if the participants are a preformed active coordinated group attempting to maximize the income for themselves and their friends.

https://x.com/moxie/status/1773376847918621042?t=UrKVgDHAPE9AMr3Rkaxrag&s=19