“Making sense out of the torrent of information is a real challenge, certainly in terms of reading and processing time, but often compounded by a lack of technical knowledge. In many ways, laypeople have been wandering through a foreign and labyrinthine cityscape where the street signs, marquees and signposts, are scribed in a foreign language. Guides and interpreters-for-hire stand on every street corner, some teaching, some hawking, some cajoling and even shouting. The literature is simultaneously being pushed, marketed, sold, censored, and interpreted for you.
The corruption of the literature is real.
The corruption of the publication process and houses is real.
In reality, it’s been happening for decades, but it’s on blast now.
What’s a layperson to do?
How should laypeople approach scientific studies?
Summarizing Dr. Risch’s sage advice :
- Don’t accept the conclusion of anyone, even that of an ‘expert’, uncritically
- Read papers for yourself, even if you don’t have full technical knowledge
- Never blindly believe the Author(s) Conclusions in a paper or in the Abstract
- Read the Methods and Results sections and draw your own conclusions
- Then compare your own conclusions with those of the paper (and others)
This isn’t easy, no doubt about it. But learning is its own reward.
Build your skill set for reading and understanding a variety of material—consider it building street-smarts. Without a semblance of street-smarts, it’s all too easy to be taken in by sleight-of-hand and the machinations of others.
IPAK-EDU is a terrific place to get those street smarts.“