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How to Credibility-Check Health News Like a Data Scientist?
A first-of-its-kind 2-step litmus test for answering the crucial question: “Will that study actually work for me?”
What is New?
Most study results apply to far fewer people, including the study’s participants, than medical science admits. The phenomenon of non-ergodicity is its unacknowledged blind spot.
This post introduces a simple 2-step Plausibility & Translatability Check. It allows you to vet a study’s claims like a data scientist and to uncover what works for you.
Why It Matters
Blindly following advice based on “average” results wastes your time and frustrates you when interventions don’t work. This framework helps you make smarter bets on what will actually improve your personal health.
Your Takeaways
An eye-opening understanding of the natural phenomenon of non-ergodicity and how it shakes the foundations of biomedical research. Plus a downloadable Excel tool to kick the tires of any medical/health study:
- Plausibility Check: Are a study’s foundational data believable?
- Translatability Check: Will you be able to reproduce the…

