PyschologyToday.com published an article yesterday titled "Why Changing Somebody's Mind, or Yours, is Hard to Do."  I maintain that understanding human behavior is under-appreciated when trying to relay nutritional messages to others, so periodically i'll update with articles like this.  Knowing why people resist new information can be used to take a new approach, and hopefully become more self-aware of bias tendencies as well. The article is worth the quick read; it discusses theories of self-affirmation Read more [...]

Bora at A Blog Around the Clock posted a well written piece about expertise in journalism yesterday.  He describes a division of experts and generalists; obviously the experts are those who have spent years studying a specific topic and understand it inside and out, and these are the people who should be communicating on their topics.  Unfortunately, they may have the greatest difficulty relaying their knowledge to a journalist, and especially directly to the general public. In nutrition, though Read more [...]

Human tendencies are anything but objective.  Most people form opinions on topics without a thorough understanding of the scientific literature, which then influence subsequent interpretations.  In the nutritional science realm, ignorance is a large contributor to the current state of confusion, but even if people hear messages from accurate sources, they will most will likely discount it if it contradicts their established beliefs.  This sort of "biased assimilation" is not limited to lay people; Read more [...]