Rants, Raves, Reviews & Reflections

A 2022 Meta-Analysis: Published in various forms (including systematic reviews such as those in Molecular Neurodegeneration and Environmental Health), this research aggregated data from dozens of cohort and case-control studies. It established the baseline general risk increase of 1.34- to 1.56-fold for individuals with regular pesticide exposure compared to the general population.

The Agricultural Health Study (AHS): A major, long-term study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the EPA, following over 80,000 farmers and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. This is the source of the data linking Paraquat and Rotenone to a 2.5 times higher risk of PD.

Duration of agricultural pesticide exposure application and Parkinson’s disease in California’s central valley

Two pesticides -- rotenone and paraquat -- linked to Parkinson's disease, study suggests

Investigating Parkinson’s disease risk across farming activities using data mining and large-scale administrative health data

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Fraser Spiral Illusion

The Fraser spiral illusion is an optical illusion that was first described by the British psychologist Sir James Fraser (1863–1936) in 1908

The illusion is also known as the false spiral, or by its original name, the twisted cord illusion. The overlapping black arc segments appear to form a spiral; however, the arcs are a series of concentric circles.

The visual distortion is produced by combining a regular line pattern (the circles) with misaligned parts (the differently colored strands). The Zöllner illusion and the café wall illusion are based on a similar principle, like many other visual effects, in which a sequence of tilted elements causes the eye to perceive phantom twists and deviations.

A variation I found here

Chromostereopsis Illusions

Source: Bigjobby

Chromostereopsis is a visual illusion whereby the impression of depth is conveyed in two-dimensional color images, usually of red–blue or red–green colors, but can also be perceived with red–grey or blue–grey images. Such illusions have been reported for over a century and have generally been attributed to some form of chromatic aberration.

Source

Friday, December 26, 2025

Argument from Incredulity

Argument from incredulity, also known as argument from personal incredulity, appeal to common sense, or the divine fallacy,[1] is a fallacy in informal logic. It asserts that a proposition must be false because it contradicts one's personal expectations or beliefs, or is difficult to imagine.

Arguments from incredulity can take the form:I cannot imagine how P could be true; therefore P must be false.
I cannot imagine how P could be false; therefore P must be true.

Arguments from incredulity can sometimes arise from inappropriate emotional involvement, the conflation of fantasy and reality, a lack of understanding, or an instinctive 'gut' reaction, especially where time is scarce.[2] They are also frequently used to argue that something must be supernatural in origin.[3] This form of reasoning is fallacious because one's inability to imagine how a statement can be true or false gives no information about whether the statement is true or false in reality.[

Wikipedia: Argument from incredulity

Monday, November 17, 2025

SSRI Teen Sexual Side Effects

"By now, the psychiatric profession generally recognizes high rates of sexual side effects in adults. And all six of the psychiatrists I talked with for this article noted the importance, when prescribing, of informing adolescent patients about the possibility. They also mentioned the necessity, depending on varying state laws about consent, of informing parents. But Dr. Awais Aftab, who works with adolescents and adults and is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, thinks that most prescribers are not having that conversation. 'I know of very few psychiatrists who discuss it as a potential side effect,' he said, judging by patients who come to him after having seen other practitioners, by his educational work with practicing trainees and by conversations with colleagues. He added that genuine informed consent throughout the practice of medicine is all too rare. Doctors 'might ask you to look at a pamphlet,' he said. 'That’s the culture that has developed. It’s: Here’s the medication I’m recommending.'

Peggy J. Kleinplatz, a professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa, told me about a moment that shed light on how family physicians and other primary-care providers — who write the majority of S.S.R.I. prescriptions in the United States and Canada — might be thinking about informed consent with patients. In 2019, Kleinplatz gave a presentation to family physicians at a Canadian medical conference. She asked her audience of some 50 doctors how many of them were aware of the sexual side effects of S.S.R.I.s. 'Eighty percent raised their hands,' she estimated. She asked how many informed their patients about these effects when they prescribed. 'Just one hand went up.' Then she asked why they didn’t. 'They said it’s a matter of patient compliance.' To inform about potential sexual side effects, they worried, was to risk the patient not taking the drug that the doctor thought necessary."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/magazine/antidepressants-ssris-teen-sexual-side-effects.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&fbclid=IwY2xjawOIL9pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFheG13VFBGNWdTUXhPU0d6c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MghjYWxsc2l0ZQIzMAABHqxAkZE8Dt6mB_1MmORvtOnqibQvBeQBbg-rSf41yKZOePKbRGE-UlahHSD8_aem_gklphRdPRKVlj1bpv1mS6Q