Anyone with a hunch that one plus one is less than three can understand the following. It’s easy.
Every day now, in the news are gigantic statistical-medical studies that falsely claim to prove some new idea or theory. Shockingly, some of the studies are even peer-review and some are even published in the world’s most respected journals. What’s the layperson to do? Just read the below and you’ll be able to judge for yourself and not let them fool you.
The two prime ways that statistical studies can draw wrong conclusions are that the finding is just coincidental or that the setup was faulty.
Statisticians try to minimalize the chance that a finding is coincidental by enlarging the study. Now accessible, from the UK to the US to China and where not, are medical data about millions. The enormous medical fact piles the world over are their dream come true. But, we see an enormous uptick in studies abusing these large data resulting in total nonsense.
That is because the second source of statistical blundering is often not scrutinized. Luckily, anyone with common sense can do this. In fact, you are better at judging the validity of such studies the more common sense you have and the least you are detached from being down-to-earth.
Just watch how easy this is, outside an ivory tower.
The basics of a statistical study go like this. You take one group of subjects. You divide the people randomly into two groups. You let the two sets do different things. (It is called double-blind if it is hidden to them who does what (took pill or placebo) and also to the researchers until the results come in.) Then you compare the results of the different actions.
(If you’re very hopeful about the medicine curing a vastly deadly disease, it is unethical to divide the groups 50-50. Give 10% a placebo. My idea.)
The most common error is to look at two groups that act differently and then look at how they come out differently. This is a mistake because the two groups were different, to begin with. A couple of recent examples.
People who drink filtered coffee are healthier than those drinking instant. Think about it. Who drinks what? The wealthy drink it filtered. The poorer have no time, no patience, and no money to drink filtered. Of course, the people with more money get better health care (unfortunately). Nothing to do with how they (or if they) drink the burned-beans drab.
Be extra suspicious when addictive recreational drugs are promoted.
Intermittent fasting gives a better COVID-19 survival. Studied are people who did and didn’t fast for days on end. Now, think about it. Those less hurt by the virus are better able to fast. Nothing to do with helping to heal.
Prolonged sitting is almost as dangerous as smoking. (Never mind that it says also that if you move around between sitting sessions you undo the bad effects of oversitting.) They compared people who sat for workdays of 12 hours or longer (in the paradise of the State of China) with people who didn’t. Think for 10 seconds. Those forced to accept such workdays of course have the worst health status. No need to study the numbers.
Soil pollution may damage cardiovascular health. Yet, think for 3 seconds, and you know that people who live on soiled ground are poorer, work unhealthier, eat unhealthier, smoke more, drink more alcohol, etc.
One egg per day reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Turns out that those eating an egg daily are healthier compared to people who can’t afford it. Dud. Against shows the health effect of wealth, not of food.
Be extra suspicious when addictive non-vegan non-foods are promoted.
So, the bottom question is, are the groups of people that are compared randomly separate from each other? If not, what proof is there that the two groups are compatible? Better: How are the two groups incompatible?
Now, when we use our brains, we can also easily spot other nonsense.
They gave attention boosting drugs to people with Alzheimer (symptoms) and found they boosted their alertness. What a surprise! You’d give them cigarettes, high-sugar foods, or caffeine, and you’ll find the same. But we know that every booster only works a few hours, and then we collapse. Of course, they did not measure that. No cure here.
Be extra suspicious when addictive lucrative medical drugs are promoted.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
