jacob_cannell comments on Rationality Case Study - Ad-36 - Less Wrong

22 Post author: Perplexed 22 September 2010 06:32PM

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Comment author: jacob_cannell 22 September 2010 08:55:18PM 1 point [-]

infection of nonhuman primates, rodents, and chickens with AD36 increased total body fat independent of energy intake

(causality in animal models, although i would hope for exposure rather than infection as the trigger - perhaps p(infection|exposure) is high enough that it doesn't matter)

This wasn't clear to me - isn't infection more specific than exposure? I mean presumably only infection would hae metabolic effects, and exposure doesn't always result in infection

Comment author: Jonathan_Graehl 22 September 2010 11:06:02PM 3 points [-]

The causal intervention is really an act of exposure.

If you expose once, or expose until infected, or expose but exclude those not infected, then the difference between infected and not-infected populations is obscured; the reason some individuals were infected (or not) from a single exposure needs to be explained. If it isn't, then I can say that part of any difference between the infected and not-infected populations is due to whatever factor made some of them fall prey to the infection on one exposure.

Comment author: jacob_cannell 22 September 2010 11:08:06PM 0 points [-]

Ah right, I see.

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