potsnpans

Thank you for this!

I have to say though, it's really interesting to see the reactions here, given the paper's findings. Because in the study, while people got better at spotting fake news after the game/test, they got worse at identifying real news, and overall more distrustful of news in general. I feel like that's on display here - with people (somewhat correctly) mistrusting the misleading article, but also (somewhat incorrectly) mistrusting the research behind it.

Hooo boy. This article is wildly misrepresenting both the study and it's findings.

1. The study did not set out to test ability to judge real/fake news across demographic differences. The study itself was primarily looking to determine the validity of their test.
2. Because of this, their validation sample is wildly different from the sample observed in the online "game" version. As in, the original sample vetted participants, and also removed any who failed an "attention check", neither of which were present in the second test.
3. Demographics on the portion actually looking at age differences are... let's say biased. There are far more young participants, with only ~10% over 50. The vast majority (almost 90%!) were college educated. And the sample trended liberal to a significant degree.
4. All the above suggests that the demographic most typically considered "bad" at spotting fake news (conservative boomers who didn't go to college) was massively underrepresented in the study. Which makes sense given that participation in that portion relies on largely unvetted volunteers to sign up to test their ability to spot fake news.

Most critically, the study itself does not claim that differences between these demographics are representative. That portion is looking at differences in the sample pool before/after the test, to examine its potential for "training" people to spot fake news (this had mixed results, which they acknowledge). This article, ironically, is spreading misinformation about the study itself, and doing the researchers and its readers a great disservice.

Largely, yeah, we just don't know. In research terms, it's still quite early, so anything definitive is likely years away. However, research is starting to indicate it may be neurological - a product of damage to the brain and nervous system, as this article discusses.

That's fair, though personally I'm kindof glad they did. "Signal is a secure messaging app" is a lot easier to explain to non-tech-savvy people than "Signal is a secure messaging app, as long as you are messaging someone who is using Signal too. It can also send regular texts but they can't be encrypted." Leaving that nuance out would have left people texting with a false assumption of security, but I lost several people explaining it because it "sounds complicated".

Yea, I question that shit on the daily. More fun than way!

Most people question themselves more than once, that's healthy. But you don't have to be absolutely certain of a label to use it, and you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Use what feels most right in the moment, and focus on the feelings over the labels themselves. If you think bi doesn't feel right, you can use something similar that feels more comfortable, or an umbrella term, or no label at all. And if you find something totally different that feels right instead, you can switch to that too. As many times as you want, as often as you want. There's no limits to exploring your identity.

The main thing is not to let yourself get too caught up in trying to perfectly define something that is, ultimately, unique to you. Labels are only useful as far as they help you understand yourself and communicate to others. If "bi" is doing that for you, don't stress it. If it isn't, it's time for some self reflection and exploration.

Yup. Everyone here giving their own reasons for disliking her seems to be missing that the amount of vitriolic hatred spewed at her is wildly disproportionate to anything she's actually done or failed to do.

(speaking as someone who doesn't like her either, in that I don't "like" 99% of politicians)

I haven't seen a lot of data looking specifically at the impact on people who already had some sort of dysautonomia - everything's super new still so most studies are pretty broad. But given that the research seems to suggest COVID attacks the nervous system and that damage causes new cases, I would guess the damage could also just as easily worsen existing cases.

If an entity is not subject to the legal restrictions of an individual, it should not benefit from the legal rights of an individual.

What - and I cannot emphasize this next part enough - the fuck

This exactly. Only I am quite certain it's already being used this way, on a much wider scale than we have any way to measure.

signal ftw ✊

This could be such a huge boon to accessibility, especially in rural areas and for those with limited means. Getting a child a diagnosis or support when the closest qualified clinician is hours away, has terrible reviews, and charges out the nose is nearly impossible, and far too common.