the error bar

OPEN SCIENCE & ITS ENEMIES, PART III: The Progressives in this episode i conclude my critique of - some parts of - the open science movement by focusing on the positive reforms that might actually work. keywords: open science reform critique commentary. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=41] https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FZ84B

in this episode i continue discussing some problems in the open science movement. i focus on populist podcasters and the promotion of simplistic heuristics that some scientists argue will improve science. i argue that none of the heuristics will make much difference on their own, & often miss their target. i say 'fucking' about five times. the audio, especially the first 20 minutes, is a bit 'noisy', sorry (ironic, eh?). keywords: openscience reform critique commentary. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=40]

There's no brain news this month, but i take this unique opportunity to provide the first of my three part critique of - some parts of - the Open Science movement. This episode focusses on p-circling & reverse p-hacking. These two pejorative terms describe situations where scientists who *don't like* a particular reported effect, then decide to search for things in the paper which can 'un-explain' it. The reverse p-hacker turns a significant effect into a non-significant, or un-interesting one. These reverse p-hackers selectively adjust their version of data analysis (or interpretation) to *remove* significant p-values. it's the same thing as p-hacking. but backwards. & equally wrong.

in this episode we find out how motivational talk makes you run faster & i ponder on the history of science & the death of ideas long, long after their time. keywords: progress idea Kuhn death revolution. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=38]. image credit: Kaan Durmuş, https://www.pexels.com/photo/military-jet-flying-against-morning-sky-leaving-smoke-trail-19191704/, image re-sized to fit

my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar: a podcast about brain science & statistics that's nothing like any other podcast about brain science & statistics. this month's episode reveals the final truth about why men's and women's brains are so very similar or different, and I alog (it's like a blog, but its auditory) about why the problem of sample size in a research study is never really actually a problem at all. at least on its own. it's contextual. right?

my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar, where no drinks are served, which has only one song on the jukebox & one programme on the telly: the news. this episode covers mortality rates associated with obsessive compulsive disorder and two newspaper stories about love - just in time for valentine's day. i also waffle on about the pros and cons of looking back over 'the literature' - should we study the literature in the library, or study nature in the lab? keywords: history research meta analysis review. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=36]. image credit: Sergey Yeliseev, https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3300/3300705817_81944d9608.jpg, image re-sized to fit

my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar, a podcast by a middle age man who likes statistics, FOR middle aged men who like statistics. keywords: podcast return season three brains stats. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=35]

how learning to play the piano improves perception, why the brain needs a break, image manipulation & the wonder of winter walking. keywords: bias perception break stress fraud walk. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=34]. image credit: Wallpapers Box, http://wallsbox.blogspot.com/2009/12/winter-wonderland-hd-desktop-wallpapers.html, image re-sized to fit

how different people see the world of colour differently, the study of love that triggered a studied hate & the annual review of the error bar's existence.. keywords: colour love hate difference ReasonsToBe. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=33]. image credit: Gabriel Meono, https://www.deviantart.com/gabrielmeono/art/Free-Eye-close-up-wallpaper-261096307, image re-sized to fit

how the largest part of the brain gets emotional, why older adults don't get emotion, how goldfish can swim 70cm for food & FREE ENERGY forever! keywords: cerebellum emotion goldfish food pong. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=32] image credit: wisc-online.com, https://www.wisc-online.com/assetrepository/viewasset?id=31, image re-sized to fit

how the mouse eye tells the mouse brain that a mouse is scratching itself, how dogs are everywhere & the two scientific cultures of simplifiers & complificators. keywords: mouse itch dogs Occam parsimony SCN. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=31]. image: https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.b57ASewfj-ezQ7pKV0SDbQHaD-&pid=Api, image re-sized to fit

how to massively improve your memory in old age after just a few hours, why scientists won't change their mind, & how the brain is not made of light bulbs... keywords: memory stimulation electromagnetic light. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=30]

bringing you the brain science news before it happens. or sometimes a long, long time afterwards. & sometimes it's not really news at all. more opinion really... keywords: job news revamp advert. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=29]. image credit: www.americanflyers.net, https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/14111/what-are-the-meanings-of-these-terms-related-to-instrument-flight, image re-sized to fit

the biggest brain scanning study ever, how the error bar was wrong, how magnetically stimulating the head is distracting & some vaguely-interesting news stories. keywords: big data brain scan correction language. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=28]

how the visual brain controls blind people's feet, & how every single brain scanning study ever done needed thousands more participants to be reliable. keywords: movement blind scanning size matters. contains some swearing. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=27]

how to find the clitoris, how COVID shrinks some very important parts of the brain & the Canadian brain disease that isn't. still. keywords: clitoris mapping COVID brain shrink. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=26]. image adapted from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clitoris_3D_(v2).jpg

how your brain is just as good at age 60 as age 30, the neural correlates of near death experience & the most interesting questions in the whole of science. keywords: mental speed reaction time. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=25]. image credit: Dr. Marco Cardinale, http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hbZ_aIisSu8/SSLwsD9eR6I/AAAAAAAAARM/NDFPb262YUk/w1200-h630-p-nu/Squat%20Jump%20Bosco_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg, image edited & re-sized

how your brain lives in the past, the virus causing multiple sclerosis, consciousness explained three times, the scanner that talks scots & a news dump. keywords: illusion face MS consciousness MRI dump. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=24]

how rocket scientists & brain surgeons are just as clever as you, how to publish anything in medical journals, how music affects the brain & 2021 has ended. keywords: rocket brain bogus music year 2021 error. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=23]

how smelling bodily odour stops men from killing & makes women warriors, how alcoholic binges shrink your brain & the wind farms that make you sick. keywords: poo vomit wind baby booze error. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=22]. image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Twemoji_1f4a9.svg/352px-Twemoji_1f4a9.svg.png, image re-sized to fit