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Originally Posted by Markoni
You're contradicting yourself. You're asking me to back up my claims with research, yet research has no claims to back it up. Scientists take stuff and spin it. One scientist says Eskimos are healthy, the other says they're the unhealthiest people in all of North America. Which one is right? (I'm using an actual example here).
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I am not contradicting myself. Research findings are self supporting. When X is observed multiple times under controlled conditions, X is taken as true. Simply making a statement is not self supporting.
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Originally Posted by markoni
You also haven't answered my question. Who bankrolls scientists and why? I'm not gullible enough to believe whatever a scientist says just because he's a scientist. What is he trying to prove? Why is he trying to prove it? And who is paying him to prove it? Those are questions you have to answer for yourself before you just believe whatever he says.
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Thats funny. You seem to have selective memory when it comes to evading questions.
As for funding. It comes from a variety of sources, and of course not all research is reliable, but its not hard for some to determine which studies have been properly conducted, controlled and evaluated, and which ones havent. If a single study funded by a tobacco company or sources known to have ties to that company publishes findings contradictory to most other studies, then that study probably isnt very reliable, and wont be given any weight in the labcoat community.
On the other hand, if multiple, well-conducted, unrelated, studies on something such as, oh lets say the safety of ephedrine hcl for example, are in agreement, you can generally conclude that those findings are accurate and you could use those reference sources.
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Originally Posted by markoni
You're also saying that I'm making baseless claims. What better base could I possibly have than PERSONAL EXPERIENCE? I know it because I've tried it. Isn't that what a scientist does? Takes a claim and tries it? So what differentiates me from a scientist? Is it that I'm not getting paid while he/she is? Or is it just that I don't wear a white lab coat?
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You cannot on the other hand, cite as a reference source the anecdotal evidence of a single person. Your own real world 'experiment' is not conducted and repeated in a controlled environment, and any number of factors other than those under consideration could be responsible for your results. This is even more true when your 'results' are in contradiction to established research. What you basically would be saying is that, 'im special and unique and science doesnt apply to me.'