[haswell]

I think the need for an explanation/citation scales relative to how common a given anecdotal experience is.

I’ve spent plenty of time walking barefoot outside but apparently have not experienced what people here are claiming. Not saying no one can/does, but at the very least the experience doesn’t seem to be universal.

[mapcars]

Definitely there are studies about that, for example: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11211751/

>but apparently have not experienced what people here are claiming

Or you did have experience it just did not notice. The problem with experiential comparisons is that different people have different levels of sensitivity and attention. So just because you didn't feel it consciously doesn't mean you did not benefit from it.

[haswell]

> Or you did have experience it just did not notice.

Exactly my point, and this is why personal anecdotes are just not sufficient for something like this.

Life is full of people telling us to do <thing>, because they’re convinced that their personal experience with that thing indicates some universal truth.

In the circles I grew up in, that meant growing up unvaccinated among many other highly questionable things.

The point is that the burden of proof must be higher than “it feels good to me” or what amounts to the naturalistic fallacy.

I have no actual opinion about the efficacy of walking barefoot other than to note that I didn’t knowingly experience what other people passionately describe. I also know there are many things that make me feel good that have no effect on many people.