Disposable vapes to be banned from June



The disposable vapes ban has amped up negative coverage of vaping, and conflated *environmental* with *health* concerns

That's unhelpful, as coverage of vaping was already badly skewed

Consider the following

/1bbc.co.uk/news/articles/… Daily Mail, 02/02/23
"Number of kids hospitalised by vaping QUADRUPLES in a year - as top expert fears crisis will only get worse"

That's obviously bad. If kids being hospitalised by something *quadruples* within a year, something must be done

But, wait a sec...

/2

US states sue TikTok, claiming its addictive features harm youth mental health



On closer inspection, this case misuses neuroscience so severely that it seems like it could potentially make it illegal in the US for young people to have fun.

Seriously

/1theguardian.com/technology/202… There are so many neuropsychological flaws in this case

E.g. filings state TikTok is designed to be "intentionally addictive". The conclusion here is that TikTok, a software construct, causes addiction.

Many would agree that this is valid. But you know who doesn't?...

/2

Why are there so many awful stories about wellness bros?



Bizarrely, I cover this in my new kids book

*cough*

Basically: almost everyone benefits from a *community*, but many people really shouldn't have an *audience*

/1 theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
amzn.eu/d/0u5THhR
At the fundamental, basic level, the ultrasocial human brain usually calibrates what it learns, figures out how the world works, based on feedback from other humans

Do a thing -> People get angry at you = Thing is bad
Do another ting -> People praise you = Thing is good

/2

Yesterday was the SEVEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of...

#Pickle coming to live with us.

So, to celebrate the seven years of cat-based chaos our lives were immediately consumed by, here are seven of Pickle's greatest moments, in no particular order.

/1 That time when Pickle 'convinced' me that he was stuck on the roof, which led to much mockery and swearing.



/2

https://x.com/garwboy/status/1187284559261511681

I'm increasingly wary of such advice/guidelines/rules regarding phones for kids, as it all depends on two assumptions

- All parents know better about phones etc.
- All parents can be trusted to prioritise their child's wellbeing

But... neither of these are true

/1 Firstly, adults/parents being inherently (and illogically) suspicious of new tech and how it affects 'the children' is a phenomenon as old as civilisation.

And all this advice/guidelines seem both aimed at and shaped by such parents. This is not an evidence-based approach

/2

This popped up in my feed. I've not encountered it before. So, here's my professional analysis

WHAT IN THE NAME OF GIDDY FU*K IS THIS BULLSH*T??

Apparently parents of autistic kids are being targeted by such things, so here's everything wrong with it I can find

#Autism #ND
/1 The line "Considering stem cell therapy for #autism ?"

I've no idea whether or not anyone is considering that, as I've never heard of the concept before. But nobody *should* be considering that. Because it's not a thing. For so many reasons.

/2

"If you're under 25 your brain isn't fully developed, so you can't be trusted to make informed decisions"

I'm seeing this a LOT lately, especially today. And it's utter guff, based on hearsay, misunderstandings of neuroscience, or wilful ignorance.

Why? I'll tell you why

/1 Firstly, the whole 'your brain stops developing at age 25' thing is spurious anyway. The original studies that came up with this figure, they just didn't include any subjects over 25. So that's when the data... stopped.

But that doesn't really mean anything.

/2

I was on @LBC earlier, discussing Brianna Ghey's petition for Social Media apps to be banned for Under-16s, and similar new restrictions



Only had 5 mins, so here's a more thorough take

TL:DR - understand her thinking, but this really isn't workable

/1bbc.co.uk/news/uk-681931… @LBC A few things up front

TW, obviously, as this is a very dark subject in many ways

Also, I am in no way maligning or undermining the valid concerns of a grieving, angry mother.

But there's a strong risk of doing more harm than good here

/2

Many click-friendly posts for #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, saying 'seek help', 'open up' etc.

Well, here's something to be 'aware' of

Recent research by @Rethink_ suggests 3 in 5 people with mental health problems don't seek help... due to stigma

rethink.org/news-and-stori…

/1 @Rethink_ It's a drum I've banged often, but it's still pertinent

Mental health 'awareness' is an important first step, but it's not an end point. And for too many, being aware of/acknowledging mental health issues is taken to mean the problem's dealt with

theguardian.com/science/brain-…

/2

Judging from the reaction to this... a lot of people care about ADHD diagnosis being represented fairly and accurately

It's almost like it's an issue you really shouldn't casually exploit and misrepresent for clicks, or something. Who knew?

https://twitter.com/garwboy/status/1658113052691124226

For the record, I don't (as far as I or anyone else knows) have ADHD

But I have many individuals, who I value greatly and/or who are very close to me, who have recently been diagnosed ADHD, and you'd better believe I'll go to the bat for them in any context

/2

OK then, you want to play? Let's do this

Here's a thread of every red flag I can identify in this article, and why they're misleading/dangerous/just generally bad

Strap in, because there are lot of them.

/1

https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1658001519956951041

So, even the article summary is dubious

How did you get access to a 'Leading NHS consultant', mate? The vast majority of people dealing with (potential ADHD) have to wait years for such a thing. Surely you didn't just jump the queue by flashing your BBC credentials?

/1

Was recently asked which scientific 'myth' I'd like to see banished forever

Obviously, given my field and output, I had to choose 'we only use 10% of our brains'

A common moan, sure. But it's not just a silly thing that leads to shoddy movie plots. It's worse than that

/1 For one thing, the origins of the 'we only use 10% of our brain' notion are unclear. But analysis suggests it came about *at least* a century ago. Believe it or not, our understanding of the brain has improved by orders of magnitude since then

/2

This is so wrong that it actually violates the laws of spacetime, loops back on itself, and ends up being 100% wrong, repeatedly, in multiple ways, all at the same time

https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1647505793976074240

This Goodwin berk getting SO MUCH AIRTIME is a legitimate disgrace by the UK media

Imagine if the big papers handed all their premier league coverage over to a part time Grimsby town goalkeeper, still bitter about his failed trial at QPR

This is the academic equivalent of that

Thursday: "The Johnson family suffered during lockdown, broke the rules they enforced on the rest of us, and we should all feel sorry for them"

Monday: Boris Johnson nominates father Stanley for Knighthood, for services to domestic abuse, or something

It's. So. Enraging! Reminder:
Literal millions of us lost loved ones during the pandemic. Many may have been spared if PM Johnson had made better decisions

We all obeyed the rules (with harsh penalties) Johnson imposed, painful as they were. Because it was the law, and others could have died

/2

There's actually a lot of weird neuroscience/psychology that leads to this persistent phenomenon of 'aggressively defending the wealthy and powerful', including

- The Just World Hypothesis
- Parasocial relationships
- Social identification

So here's another explainer thread

/1

https://twitter.com/jonrog1/status/1626234833042305025

Firstly, what's the 'Just World' hypothesis? It's the cognitive bias where we tend to assume the world is fair and 'just'. That good actions are rewarded, and bad actions are punished. Perceived (un)fairness is something humans are 'wired' to react to

nature.com/articles/srep0…

/2

Interesting questions from @CollinsMandy

Why do our persistent anxieties tend to emerge just before we go to sleep? My kids have the same thing

I can think of two explanations for this; one learned, one neurological.

/1

https://twitter.com/CollinsMandy/status/1621979632252715009

One simple reason why our anxieties pop up before we sleep is that the 'going to sleep' period is where we're most alone with our thoughts. There's no distractions of things to preoccupy us, so the things our brains are concerned about have more chance to claim our attention

/2

Happy New Year all

If you 'celebrated' last night, and are 30 or over, you've probably spent today grappling with a phenomenon @elisjames flagged up recently

The 'psychological' hangover. The intense anxiety/unease that lays you low all day, or longer. What's that about?

/1 @elisjames It's a bit of a cliché, in the UK at least; when you start drinking at 18 (*cough*) you can cane it all night, wake up and feel crap for a couple of hours, but then bounce back and do it all again, guilt free and right as rain

But as you get older, that gets... harder

/2

One regular stress of the Christmas period is the 'office party', or whatever you call it

Ostensibly meant to be 'fun', most people I've encountered dread it, rather than look forward to it

One explanation is that, thanks to how our brains work, 'enforced' fun... isn't

/1 Everyone's experienced 'enforced' fun at some point

The 'whacky' games a party host compels you to play, the belligerent interactive entertainment often favoured by holiday reps etc.

Personally, I really don't enjoy such things. And I know I'm nowhere near alone in this

/2

Surprisingly, a lot of people have enjoyed this summary of Eyes Wide Shut

So, here is a thread of my summaries of some of the other films I've delved into with @ItsDanThomas and @SMERSHPOD for the Tuesday Night Movie Club

/1

https://twitter.com/garwboy/status/1605339233358692353

Moonfall

Shouldn't be possible ,but I don't think anyone involved in this has ever seen the moon or knows what it is. A pointless mess that lost vast sums of money and even more dignity

Although a main character is an Elon Musk fanboy, so that adds up

patreon.com/posts/tuesday-…

It's #WorldMentalHealthDay

While good, it means countless well-meant posts/platitudes encouraging people to reach out, open up, practice self care, etc.

Such things *can* help with mental health, sure. But you know what would really improve mental health all round?

Money

/1 Whether it's #WorldMentalHealth or any of the other many related occasions, one common theme is that the messaging pretty much always focuses on the 'stuff that doesn't actually cost anything to anyone with any power'. And that's... not great, really.

/2

The recent talk of the Govt again being brutal towards benefits and those who needs them reminded me of something that shows just how batsh*t the benefits system is in this country

Some years ago, a close family member had to claim jobseekers allowance for a few months

/1 It happens. Not exactly an economically privileged area, where I'm from.

Luckily they found another job in a few months. So, obviously, went to cancel their JSA. What with not being a 'scrounger', like 99.999999999% of those who need benefits

/2