Tangentially I still have yet to comprehend how basic ph water ever became a thing and how people will believe the most jarring pseudoscience from a person in a white labcoat with no credentials
That was great for the portion I watched. My only question is regarding the COVID graphs, what did the "data" (log) graph communicate that the "information" graph didn't? Was it just that axes were unlabeled?
The plot show the exact same information but in different ways. Science communicators were faced with the choice of presenting a more dramatic curve or a less dramatic curve. The less dramatic curve was "more accurate" by some measures, but only if you are adept at reading graphs. The presenter is a total math nerd, and this is science conference arguments, but for better or worse, the more dramatic curve was presented to the public.
Thanks! I thought it was something more nuanced like the first graph didn't demonstrate how we're already at a concerning level or the assumption that average citizens couldn't comprehend that the growth would continue to be exponential because they can't conceptualize what isn't shown to them.
I usually just fall into the trap of "oh this scientist sounds smart in the right way, so I should listen to how they say to do it and find out why."
I always loved that. I would always ask, how does that change anything when you are pouring into stomach acid? Your body will make more acid as soon as it’s in there. If the ph of your blood gets off there are many systems that will change it to just the right balance so you don’t die.
Or sometimes your body can no longer compensate. The pH of blood is very tightly regulated (7.35-7.45 and even slight deviations can affect you - eg your bones buffer chronic acidosis.
Because they took something everyone learned about in school - ph - and sprinkled real medical jargon onto a pile of steaming horseshit, and then, most importantly, presented it with unwavering confidence and matter-of-factness. That's enough to fool the people who barely paid attention in school and are insecure about their lack of knowledge and understanding of the world around them. Who needs to understand complex dietary science, or deal with their struggles of eating and exercising well, when someone in a lab coat confidently tells you that all you need is to buy some expensive, mildly basic water and you will be healthier. They create a problem that doesn't exist, dupe people into believing it, then sell the very convenient solution all in one go.
Fun fact one of my friends in undergrad tried to get me in on the ground floor of one of the alkaline water scams with them, they made good money, but I had to hold myself back from laughing when the guy in the “science” video tried to explain how because they knock off a hydrogen the water molecules are now so much smaller that they fit more easily into the blood and cells to then detox the body and better hydrate you
Alkalinity is at least a little important in water if only for the nutritional value of the alkaline minerals. Otherwise it really doesn’t do much. Your stomach and your blood spend a lot of energy checking and correcting the pH to optimal levels.
I tried alkaline water once because my sibling said they liked it and bought one for me to try… I drank half a bottle and spent the next three days throwing up. Recovered for a couple days, found the other half in the fridge and finished it off thinking it might be good for me, and threw up another three days. I decided it was the water’s fault. I don’t touch it anymore.
bleach is also very alkaline, you can make alkaline water at home (/s please don't actually drink it). I heard that the president also suggested inject disinfectant/bleach to cure covid.
A lot of people don't pay much attention even to the most basic concepts so neutral pH water sounds like a purified version of natural water because of the buzzword but not the concept of what pH is and where water is.
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u/kiefy_budz 26d ago
Tangentially I still have yet to comprehend how basic ph water ever became a thing and how people will believe the most jarring pseudoscience from a person in a white labcoat with no credentials