SforSingularity comments on Experiential Pica - Less Wrong

80 Post author: Alicorn 16 August 2009 09:23PM

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Comment author: SforSingularity 18 August 2009 11:34:25AM *  3 points [-]

I suspect that people here have more of a problem with willpower/motivation than average, so they press "upvote!" on anything that promises, however vaguely, to solve their problem.

EDIT:

Wikipedia states that there is "scant research" "which suggests that the disorder is caused by mineral deficiency in many cases", and also lists other possible causes such as OCD. So Pica may, or may not, be mostly related to deficiencies. We also know that the rate of incidence of Pica is low in general, i.e. < 5% of people probably have it, so conclusions drawn about people who have Pica may not generalize well.

Comment author: conchis 18 August 2009 12:13:10PM *  2 points [-]

this post infers possible causation based upon a sample size of 1

Eh? Pica is a known disorder. The sample size for the causation claim is clearly more than 1.

[ETA: In case anyone's wondering why this comment no longer makes any sense, it's because most of the original parent was removed after I made it, and replaced with the current second para.]

Comment author: SforSingularity 18 August 2009 12:56:14PM *  1 point [-]

EDIT: The claim that Pica is a known disorder is distinct from claims about what causes it. The only evidence given in the post is one personal experience. However, the wikipedia article does state that

scant research that has been done on the causes of pica suggests that the disorder is caused by mineral deficiency in many cases, typically iron deficiency

referencing a study which states that:

Pica is probably a behavior pattern driven by multiple factors. Some recent evidence supports including pica with the obsessive-compulsive spectrum of disorders. Many different treatment regimens have been described, with variable responses. It is important to be aware of this common, but commonly missed, condition.

Comment author: [deleted] 22 August 2009 05:08:56PM 1 point [-]

I suspect that people here have more of a problem with willpower/motivation than average, so they press "upvote!" on anything that promises, however vaguely, to solve their problem.

It has always seemed to me that the Less Wrong community treats akrasia like a problem that needs to be solved rather than simply a flaw that needs to be avoided; this, and the fact that krasia is a sort of rationality, seem to explain why we discuss it so much.

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