Desrtopa comments on Outside the Laboratory - Less Wrong

63 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 21 January 2007 03:46AM

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Comment author: Desrtopa 16 December 2013 09:54:13PM 1 point [-]

Let me ask you this: If you gave lab rats a choice between pizza and oatmeal, which do you think they would choose?

I don't know the answer to this, but I'd caution against using lab rats, which, keep in mind, have quite different dietary needs, as an indicator of human dietary preferences.

Comment author: brazil84 17 December 2013 04:29:35AM 0 points [-]

I don't know the answer to this, but I'd caution against using lab rats, which, keep in mind, have quite different dietary needs, as an indicator of human dietary preferences.

Well you are capable of estimating some probabilities, no? I agree that caution is in order, but I feel pretty confident, perhaps 90% probability, that lab rats will choose pizza over oatmeal.

Here's a study which might affect your probability assessments:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0060407

Exposure to a palatable diet had long-term effects on feeding patterns. Rats became overweight because they initially ate more frequently and ultimately ate more of foods with higher energy density.

Comment author: [deleted] 21 December 2013 08:11:41AM 0 points [-]

Well you are capable of estimating some probabilities, no? I agree that caution is in order, but I feel pretty confident, perhaps 90% probability, that lab rats will choose pizza over oatmeal.

I'd take the other side of the bet. Anybody willing to test this?