Downvote the original away! My perfectionism and desire to avoid looking silly in front of smart people overrode my desire to jump at (perceived) low-hanging fruit with a short entry.
On a related note, I predict with 80% probability that there will be greater than five and fewer than ten entries. If there are fewer than five, I'm going to look awfully silly having not submitted anything.
Here's to future contests! :)
I wonder if the general thing that kept Less Wrongers away here is not just perfectionism but perfectionism mixed with Bayesianism and unwillingness to try frequentism when forced to by frequentist studies. There's no way to do nutrition with a Bayesian approach unless you have a lot of funding and a willingness to expose large groups of people to harmful controls or nutrient deficiency or overdose studies. There is probably a fair amount of low hanging fruit in large cohort groups for those willing to try new things with the data.
My paper was basically a ...
(Original Post: Announcing the Quantified Health Prize)
I've recently been hired by Personalized Medicine, a new research company trying to bring Less Wrongian rationality to the medical world. We're giving away a $5000 prize for well-researched, well-reasoned presentations that answer the following question: What are the best recommendations for what quantities adults (ages 20-60) should take the important dietary minerals in, and what are the costs and benefits of various amounts?
Entries are now due by January 15th, 2012. This is an update from the original date of December 31st, 2011. However, we will not change this deadline again, and it will be strictly enforced. If you submit your entry on January 16 at 12:01 AM Pacific time, we will not read it.
Why enter the contest? If you have an excellent entry, even if you don’t win the grand prize, you can still win one of four additional cash prizes, you’ll be under consideration for a job as a researcher with our company Personalized Medicine, and you’ll get a leg up in the larger contest we plan to run after this one. You also get to help people get better nutrition and stay healthier.
More info about the contest, and instructions for submitting entries, can be found at the contest website at http://www.medicineispersonal.com/contest/home. Good luck!