You will be shocked to learn that another Wellness trend has jumped the research gun
Plus FIVE PHRASES that demonstrate you might not understand science, Encores on Roblox & Google Search, the latest TRUpreneuer article and FTW on Bootcamp & Masterclass
Remembrance Day edition
There is lot to remember about wars of the past that define our todays. We should also be attuned to the devastation that current wars of all types are doing for our tomorrows.
FIRST COURSE: Wellness Alert: Get on board the new exosome gravy train!
Research findings across all studies come down definitively as UNCERTAIN. On everything.
Exosomes are the absolute latest in beauty cures, a true fountain of youth. The health industry marketing of these mysterious vesicles - “This is a scientific way of saying they are basically little packages that bud off from cells” - is red hot, despite research that is “meh” at best. Skeptically we really don’t know what they do, hypothesizing that they may have a role in cellular communication. I read a couple of articles to get a flavour and despite the upbeat writing of the author quoting a variety of researchers the operative word is Might. They might be useful to dispense new drugs at the cellular level. They might help people recover from heart attacks. They might give us insight on how cancer cells communicate and disrupt normal cellular activity. At the mention of cancer I’m running for the doors of whatever wellness centre is peddling this nonsense. Are we sure they aren’t using cancer cell exosomes in their beauty treatments? Platelet dust, as they used to be called, possibly telling my cells to kill me, not give me eternal life, should be a hard sell. But evidently not. As one wellness recipient of the new treatment said “I feel like it’s a little bit of health marketing bullshit.” A little bit indeed.
SECONDI: FIVE PHRASES that demonstrate you might not understand science.
In the last 20 years or more we have seen a drop in the average person’s understanding of basic mathematics and sciences. Illiteracy be damned, this is more serious. European research suggests that between 70 and 80% of people don’t understand the fundamentals of these disciplines, when they examined the issue of chemophobia.
But people realize that scientific research is often important to win points for their pet policies. So we have had a birth of pseudoscience and sciency sounding terms to give credibility without really knowing what you are talking about. Here are some phrases making what you are saying sound scientifically truthful, which almost always you aren’t.
Different Ways of Knowing
The Science is Settled
Anecdotes can be illustrative of Truth
Evidence-based or Research-backed
Contemporary Scientific Consensus
This was a phrase from a repealed California bill on misinformation. Brilliantly ironic as it is basically misinformation about how to tell misinformation. Great article about this bill
Bonus insiders only point: I get all my knowledge from Laura Helmuth and Scientific American
One week nearly in the books on our fall vacation to Mexico. We have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and have decided to return next year for a longer duration. So far I have been able to keep up with my writing and researching helped by a special and symbolic Mexican friend:
ENCORE: A better SEARCH experience
In an earlier Tonic I discussed wanting better Google search and how it just hasn’t worked to my benefit for a few years now. It prompted me to begin work on a series critiquing the most commonly used digital tools, modestly called The Digital Tools of Death (I understand how social media works; you need extreme language!). I mentioned my use of Perplexity and now I use it almost exclusively. My searches are quicker, more accurate, I’m easily able to track the source of the conclusion, and the suggested searches lead me to relevant ideas and not Google sales paths. But I’m still not paying for the premium. Not sure of my reluctance as I still mostly pay for music. Ha you scoff everybody does. We plunk out $10 per month to Spotify (exact amount varies by country). No, I MEAN really pay for music so that the musical artists can actually make a living even if they aren’t globally famous.
One of the focuses of my writing is about becoming and being an entrepreneur, especially in the consulting and creative services areas. At one time I had a larger vision, but, as mentioned previously, my musculoskeletal framework didn’t allow it. So my ambitions will have to be satisfied with writing what I hope will be insightful and helpful articles. This is my second offering.
So WHY do we want to Embark on an Entrepreneur’s Adventure?
You don’t have to. Becoming an entrepreneur should be an informed and crafted choice
“Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!”
Earl Nightengale
This particular adventure is not for everyone, a theme I will return to again and again. I will also continually emphasize ensuring that people make a mindful choice and execute correctly to get what they really want. I should make clear that I have a particular definition of what an entrepreneur is, which I will discuss more extensively in a future article. Simply, I mean creating and growing a business that involves more than just one person.
I emphasize these critical points as nearly everything else you will read will be unbridled exhortations to “just do it” as the aging Nike adage says. There is a surfeit of engaging encouragement for people to become entrepeneurs, and many imply literally everyone should do it. I read variations of the echoism “Hardly any jobs are secure any more so you might as well work for yourself” everywhere. Here an example of this type of entreaty from one of my favorite observers of modern work life, Scott Galloway (2019).
To read the full article on TRUpreneur click here
I love all the different voices on Substack. This time I’m recommending - for those that are interested - an ENCORE follow-up to one of my early hot takes on Roblox. People I know with children or grandchildren treat it with benign caution. I don’t. I think it is potentially harmful to all children who mostly have unsupervised access to it. This article should chill you to your bones:
FTW: Bootcamp & Master class
Certain spheres of life have a lot of trendy words that almost everyone over-uses. Here are two that really bother me, from the field of learning and training.
The use of the word “bootcamps” is a complete and utter mystery to me. Is there any cultural depiction, take say the movies, of a positive and warmly supportive experience of a military bootcamp? They are normally thought of as gruelling and belittling, led by fierce, nearly sadistic sergeants. An event to be survived, where grudgingly, on some occasions, modest personal growth is achieved. I get that they are meant to represent covering all of the necessary basics, but a harsh military reference to a humiliating process led by unsympathic people isn’t how I would want to characterize my training programs. The failure of imagination is profound, with mindless clip and paste-ism being the force behind its ubiquity.
On the other hand the use of the word “masterclass” induces a fit of giggles. It usage is mostly meant to bless someone’s training offering with reverent authority and expertise (exception below), when they usually don’t have it at all. These are primarily people who are five minutes ahead of you on the learning curve, hawking their wares as if they have been and done it all. LinkedIn currently is replete with masterclass babble on AI, for instance.
The exception is for true experts who others have induced (masterclass.com for instance) to give the innocent the benefit of their deep knowledge and experience. Too often though these people are - there is no other expression for it - truly awful at teaching. Margaret Atwood withering on about words, as an example. Sometimes they are entertaining, usually because they are entertainers, but that isn’t good either. Laughing isn’t learning. It all reminds me of the time when I bought from the late Chapters bookstore a large packaged set of poets reading their own poetry. Like these masterclass experts, they were mostly all appalling at reading their works, which diminished the impact of some of my favourite poems forever.
HEADLINE HEAD SCRATCHERS
A follow from two weeks ago. Not sure about you but before I fly on a new plane - especially considering some of Boeing’s recent mishaps - I want something more than a “concept.”
How is this be right? Surely the conclusion is not limited to fungi if I include much of what passes for posts on most social media channels.
See you next week!
It appears my bonus points POINT is over Laura is out at Sciency American. https://x.com/evolutionistrue/status/1857149544410296660?s=46