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Snake oil, fraud, confirmation bias

It is becoming increasingly apparent that many threads about legitimate topics devolve into one or more of the contributors here making claims of snake oil, fraud, or confirmation bias thereby derailing the conversation beyond the valid and relevant thread topic and this is getting ridiculous. For anyone here who honestly holds the position that there is snake oil and fraud in the world of Music Reproduction Systems I challenge them to prove their claims in court it should be an easy task based on the claims they make here in Audiogon  AND they will make a fortune because in the US once proven they can file a class action suit and profit enormously from the efforts of others to deceive. These people regularly claim that "there is no evidence" that things such as cables or fuses make a difference when in actual fact Audiogon is filled with evidence that these things make very real differences in Music Reproduction Systems of course those who claim fraud reject that evidence as "confirmation bias" but in absence of any documentation from them they are only repeating the claim they have made so many times that has been refuted many times here by those who have demonstrated to there satisfaction that they make a difference.   I think in actual truth the real fraudsters here are those that repeatedly make these claims of snake oil and fraud and often they have no experience to back up there claims they simply say the claims are impossible!
clearthink
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
It is great to see folks challenging wild claims and marketing hype. This is very healthy. This should be encouraged. Those who hear something different in instances when they really shouldn't, have an awful lot to learn.

Here is an article about menus and how they affect people’s perception

.http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20171120-the-secret-tricks-hidden-inside-restaurant-menus

People who deny that this clever expectation setting marketing hype (even when not true at all) has any affect on them are just fooling themselves.


geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Actually the clocks work even when the person doesn't know the clocks are there. Or if a friend comes over. Assuming you have friends. The clocks can be hidden in a drawer or whatever. So it cannot be expectation bias or imagination or placebo effect. Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a schizophrenic and so am I. 🤡
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,849 posts
 
I just don’t like the liars who tell some nube they hear the direction of their fuse.

@kosst_amojanWhen I encountered the idea of fuse directionality, I thought it was pretty funny. I still do, but I also figured out what it is they are hearing and measured it. You can do it too- with a simple DVM.

The funny thing is, the snake oil guys didn’t want to hear about how I could measure what was going on (and for the record, its the voltage drop across the fuse, which can be different when you reverse it because the contacts of the fuse sit differently in the holder; you can get the same effect by spinning the fuse in the holder without reversing it. When the voltage drop is minimized it sounds better). You would think that having some objective confirmation would have been helpful but no. My theory is they don’t want the mystery to go away.

More importantly though, its not worth the time arguing about it!
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
If it’s not worth the time arguing about it why are you still arguing about it? 😛

Also, if I am a liar how come my pants aren’t on fire? 🔥

Your "theory" of the fuse holders is all wet. And I’ll tell you why. It’s all wet because directionality based on how the fuse contacts the fuse holder is *unpredictable.* The way the fuse contacts the fuse when you rotate it is random. Therefore you cannot predict which direction the fuse will sound best. By contrast, the directionality of the fuse is completely *non-random*. The fuse always sounds best in the direction of least resistance. It is not (rpt not) random. And because fuse direction is predictable it means the fuse holder has nothing to do with it. Follow? So, your "theory" of the fuse holder makes about as much sense as the theory that the directionality of cables and interconnects is determined by how the RCA connectors on both ends make contact.

"If it doesn't make sense it's not true." - Judge Judy
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
they don’t want the mystery to go away

- Bingo!!
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