Does organic food cause autism? Could Nicolas Cage movies make you more likely to drown? Six ways to misuse statistics
Back in the 1940s before the polio vaccine was invented, the disease caused a lot of anxiety among parents of small children. How could you reduce your child’s risk of contracting this nasty illness? Some misguided public health experts apparently recommended avoiding ice cream, thanks to a study that showed a correlation between ice cream consumption and polio outbreaks. This study fortunately was BS. Yes, there was a correlation between ice cream consumption and polio outbreaks, but that was because both were common in the summer months. The authors of the study had mistaken correlation (ice cream consumption and polio are more common at the same time) with causation (ice cream increases your risk of disease).
Medical researchers often trawl through data sets to try and figure out what environmental factors cause chronic disease. Unfortunately, these kinds of studies sometimes make the same kinds of mistakes as the ice…
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It’s an unfinished piece
of an accomplished artist
Missing the final touch
A touch that won’t be found-
and doesn’t want to be found
Complete from afar
A fucking disaster in each stroke
An exhaustive battle between perfection and utter madness
A beautiful melody with meaningless words sang out of tune
Everyone likes to think that they’ve got an understanding on what is going on in their heads, but here’s a secret- they don’t. For those who struggle with happiness or even contentment, this seems like a never ending process. We want to know exactly what is wrong. Ultimately, I wish to detect exactly what needs fixed and fix it. This is not how it works. Happiness, to me, is something that must completely envelop me. For much of my life I have had to constantly convince myself that there is an honest reason for me to continue living. I was constantly searching for some specific reason proving that I should stick around. I’m currently in the slow, gut-wrenching process of erasing this mindset. I don’t need to be looking for a definitive answer- I need to fucking breathe and realize that I’m god damn lucky to be alive in the first place.
Whatever- last year
Ever since I was little, I’ve wanted to know about everything. I’ve wanted to understand everything. Now, here I am and it’s not turning out how I imagined. I saw myself as I grew older getting smarter and wiser and acquiring more and more knowledge. What do I have to show for it now? I’m not nearly as wise as I thought I should be. I’m not nearly as confident as I had hoped to be. I had such high hopes for my character and I am completely failing myself. I see myself as a machine lately that recieves information, let’s it wind around for awhile in my head, then pushes it out to learn new. My mind is constantly racing and rushing with thoughts that shouldn’t be there- worries that shouldn’t even exist. For once, I just want to be able to clear my mind and absorb all of the information being thrown at it.
I feel like I am missing something.
On A Bus- last year
It is a great power to realize that you are in complete control of how people perceive you. You dress yourself, talk for yourself, move how you want to; it’s your complete and conscious decision to decide what to laugh at and when to do it. You decide how to look and how you carry yourself. A confident smile- a small, bashful smirk. You are able to decide when to talk, who to talk to. The power of how you are perceived is no less than a series of decisions from your own mind.
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This, in fact, is what scares me most. Who I want to be is up to me and I have no idea who that is. The simplicity of it all is what is driving me mad. Here I am, on a bus, at a university. I am nothing but grateful for my luck and opportunity. I am here with so many options but I can’t make even one decision.
March 2 2015 Monday
My name is Blake Edward Jarvis. I am a 20 year old student at Ohio State University. I’ve always found comfort in writing out my feelings. I do not claim to be a poet or even a writer. I find enjoyment in expressing myself through writing and I am hoping that others may also enjoy what I have to say. I don’t know what my expectations are with this, but oh well. Smile more today.
Scatter Brain 