LauraABJ comments on Case study: Melatonin - Less Wrong

21 Post author: gwern 07 January 2010 06:24PM

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Comment author: LauraABJ 09 January 2010 04:17:36PM 8 points [-]

Do you have a study that confirms your 'melatonin subtracts an hour' theory you could link to? My husband uses melatonin and can still easily spend 12 hours in bed. I've avoided using it, since I don't have difficulty actually falling asleep and I didn't want to sleep longer as a result of using it. You should probably argue that everyone should try using melatonin for a week or so, since the potential gains are large, not that everyone who doesn't use it is being foolish. The whole argument falls apart if your base assertion is wrong, and you provide no evidence that the effect melatonin has on you generalizes to everyone. That being said, I am glad you shared this information.

Comment author: gwern 08 June 2012 08:56:07PM *  1 point [-]

Do you have a study that confirms your 'melatonin subtracts an hour' theory you could link to?

Not really, unfortunately, but I do have more than a subjective impression; see http://lesswrong.com/lw/1lt/case_study_melatonin/5w76

You should probably argue that everyone should try using melatonin for a week or so, since the potential gains are large, not that everyone who doesn't use it is being foolish.

Yes, this probably can be expressed nicely as a "value of information" problem. I've done that.