Conversation

"We found a correlation and then we made up a reason for it." - Every study like this ever.

Quote Tweet

Sep 17, 2018

"Upper-body strength shapes the political views of human males such that stronger males are more opposed to collectively enforced egalitarian distributions of resources." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111

Cinder

@Triquetrea

If you performed a metaanalysis of studies on associations between political views and personal characteristics, the list of correlations would be longer than I am tall. But no, upper-body strength in particular is causative. Sure.

10:16 PM · Sep 17, 2018Twitter Web Client

Replying to

There are plenty of scientists tweeting out really cool studies and ideas. Most of those studies and ideas will turn out to be horseshit, though. Even if they're cool.

Cinder

@Triquetrea

Sep 17, 2018

It's not that the effect isn't necessarily related to anything of real consequence (although sometimes that's the case). It's that you touch a strand in a web. Then the mind declares "I have here a rope that will take me to the source."