[xypage]

I don't think it's joke research, I think they chose an effect that might have positive correlation and proved that, then showed at least one environmental factor that could explain it and how you could find correlation there too. They say themselves at the end that they aren't trying to say it's conclusive evidence in any direction, I believe they're just trying to generally indicate that there does seem to be some sort of environmental factor, and that it's likely possible to discover (or at least get set on the path towards) the true cause via this sort of analysis

[dragonwriter]

> I don't think it's joke research

Perhaps not consciously, but I take NBER research on causes of autism as seriously as NIH research on causes of recessions.

[metamuas]

Well the stock market succeeding depends on people having irrational faith in the stocks like Tesla, despite making most of their money from Bitcoin than selling cars[0], so that isn't really a valid counterfactual point, since market opinions are based on psychological beliefs.

[0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20210427112905/https://www.wsj.c...

[taneq]

Maybe I'm missing something here but how does the article you linked support "making most of their money from Bitcoin than selling cars"? It says:

- Revenue of $10.4 billion

- Net income reached $438 million

- sold some of the $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin that it purchased in February, contributing $101 million to the bottom line

- sales of regulatory credits to other auto makers to help them meet emissions mandates, which carry a 100% profit margin, reached $518 million

All this tells us is that they sold some of the bitcoin they bought earlier (a tiny fraction of their total income), they're selling a shedload of cars, and that they're spending a ton of money. Which you'd expect given they're building multiple giant-ass factories at the same time.

I'm no crazy Tesla fan (love some of their tech, hate their 'we own your car' attitude) but you can't argue that they don't usually deliver (let's not talk about FSD :P ).

[kstenerud]

In other words: Hand waving.

This is the kind of "research" that leads to CNN headlines like "TV is turning your child autistic!", and other such scare stories for frightened and confused parents that lead to more bullshit salves and treatments that only harm autistics even more (as if we're not getting shit on enough already).

And if it's not intended as a joke, that's even worse.