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by patrickg_zill 4622 days ago
It benefited the wheat farmers and "Big Ag" so there was possibly political pressure to focus on this.
1 comments
yetanotherphd 4622 days ago
What about "Big Dairy" or "Big Meat", they got the short end of the stick from the push to high carb low fat diets.

Industry lobbying as a theory lacks predictive power.

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mistermann 4622 days ago
Perhaps their lobbyists aren't as convincing.

This is the second time I've encountered the phrase "lacks predictive power on HN tonight" by the way. Is a theory without predictive power now considered wrong?

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voidlogic 4622 days ago
IMHO if it doesn't have predictive power it cannot be a theory:

the·o·ry noun \ˈthē-ə-rē, ˈthir-ē\ : an idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain facts or events

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swombat 4622 days ago
Explanation and prediction are two different things.

Your definition doesn't even require explanation - it just requires intent to explain.

So for example, "the moon is made of cheese" is a theory according to the definition you just quoted. It's an idea that is intended to explain the composition of the moon.

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