Why our new overlord Elon Musk is wrong about drugs
How does a guy who wants to implant our brains with computer chips have such facile takes on drugs?
On Friday, the new owner of that bird site that makes everyone stupid and insane decided to offer up some medical advice.
“Wellbutrin is way worse than Adderall imo,” wrote Elon Musk on Twitter. “It should be taken off the market. Every time that drug has come up in conversation, someone at the table has a suicide or near suicide story.” Imo, Musk, who wants to implant chips in our brains, should not dispense medical advice.
There are several fallacies in Musk’s thinking. And they are widespread among The Commentariat (people who feel confident sounding off on issues they haven’t studied academically or reported on).
First, anecdotal evidence is the opposite of sound science. Did Musk’s near suicidal friends feel near-suicidal because they had a bad stint on antidepressants or because they’re Amber Heard? In an otherwise well-reported story in The Nation—”Breaking Off My Chemical Romance”—the author highlights several alarming stories of people who suffered unbearable symptoms after tapering off antidepressants. While the story includes a few studies, a lot of the evidenced harnessed against antidepressants come from individual’s stories, as well as online forums.
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