Comment by Kushana on What would happen if we abolished the FDA tomorrow? · 2022-09-14T17:56:28.417Z · LW · GW

The US nutritional supplements market is worth about $50B/yr (source: North America Dietary Supplements Market Report, 2021-2028 (grandviewresearch.com)). No website is even suggesting they perform evidence-based efficacy analyses. At what market size do you expect to see that?

Correction: originally gave global market size

Comment by Kushana on What would happen if we abolished the FDA tomorrow? · 2022-09-14T17:29:11.491Z · LW · GW

We also have the supplement market to judge how such a market would work. They're not subject to FDA approval, and are subject to false advertising laws. Websites can catalog and evaluate efficacy. So do they?

No. The market is a wild west of unsubstantiated claims, impure product, and (at the margin) unrestrained fraudsters.

Comment by Kushana on What would happen if we abolished the FDA tomorrow? · 2022-09-14T15:51:23.955Z · LW · GW

If you want a preview of what this ratings-website environment will look like, Google "best cat food" and then try and figure out which advice is best.

Comment by Kushana on Movie review: Don't Look Up · 2022-01-04T20:53:36.683Z · LW · GW

DLU is a hard movie to enjoy if you’re actually worried about existential risk.

Every movie based in reality is hard to enjoy for the experts in that field. I work in intelligence, and can't take spy movies seriously. My wife is (among other things) a chemist, and can't watch forensics scenes.