Mr. Cleetus wrote:o74 wrote:When it comes to research I think it would be wise to ask what we don't know instead of just forming decisions on what might be just 5% of the on the whole subject.
I assume you mean in our (here on this forum) interpretation of the research and our ability to get full comprehension on topics that are out of most of our areas of expertise. It is very easy to misinterpret when lacking the appropriate background knowledge, and knowledge of the literature. Not that we shouldn't try!

No, that is actually not what I meant.
I meant knowledge in general. If the only thing you know about how to get to China is that you need a car it doesn't mean that sitting your ass down in one will get you there, however our brains will form decisions from the information we have regardless of the quality and quantity of the information. It's neofrontal cortex, homo sapiens thing.
They've compared rats to humans in a test where you randomize putting a candy in one of two "hallways", however it will be randomized that 70% of the time the candy will be placed in one and 30% in the other. Humans got beat by a landslide. The rats realized that the odds were better in one direction so they more or less got it right 70% of the time. Homo sapiens were trying to find a pattern (that wasn't there) so they got a lot less.
Another interesting thing is that our brain can only handle so much information when we make decisions. In a test where the subject selected cars the scientist gave them 5 criteria on which to form the decision on which car to choose (there was one that was apparently better than the others) the subjects did well and chose the right car in like 70% of the time (can't remember the exact number). When they had 12 criteria they sucked immensely. I can see the confusion relating to this after hanging at meathead boards or reading BB magazines.
(Much of this I read about in
this book.
@will_220: How is it that it is the amino acid balance that gives you the results? It's ridiculous to state that the only thing needed to build cells are amino acids. As important are probably peer support, stress, antioxidant levels, sexual habits, sleeping habits, peptides in various proteins, immune function, bacterial flora in the gut, the weather, the mood of your coworkers, etc, etc. However, the thing you emphasize is amino acid balance. Why? Because that's the one thing we think we know about. I bet you that much of the research done in the "amino acid completeness and human fitness" is never going to hit you because it's no point for anyone to promote those results. In the current market economy, anything pointing to you needing more of anything is just perfect for everybody.