I think this is a good list of 'theories'/results many social psych researches truly believed that are bogus. As for unconscious decision-making, plenty of people still believe that line of work—like the idea 'unconscious choices' are better than deliberative ones. Many still buy ego depletion too

You see the same thing with 'nudge' effect. Yes, nudges don't work all the time, but claiming nudges don't work at all seems insane, yet plenty of people share that one paper and are willing to dismiss an entire field in a single post. I suppose I was trying to vaguely subtweet that sort of mindset

I didn't really take your thread as being hostile to the theory, but I have seen a number of other people the last two days willing to entirely dismiss cog. dissonance based on the paper you shared...

The editors saw this as acceptable, but the moderators wouldn’t approve my similarly probing question in the comments: “are balding white men ruining podcasts?” What gives!

Regardless, it's clear tech advancements are the only hope of testing metabolic theories. If a metabolic cost is found, we can seek to answer why the 'cost' is apparently specific to cognitive control/effortful attention, sparing leisurely yet still mentally engaging tasks (like TV and podcasts)

I think both would be informative. I don't know enough about pyruvate sensitive MRI (I essentially know nothing!) to make a statement there, but for the clamp it seems feasible. Although the effort field has slightly moved away from glucose as the primary resource candidate.

It would be wrong to say I'm against the idea of cognitive fatigue having an entirely metabolic basis (it's a simpler explanation!), but there are empirical and theoretical hurdles these theories must address before they're (re)adopted as working hypotheses. We don't need a sequel to ego-depletion

that metabolites accumulate (or deplete) alongside the exertion of cognitive control. Moreover, we wonder why these hypothesised metabolic costs are apparently specific to cognitive control, sparing truly metabolically costly processes (such as vision).

Nor denying that physical changes in the brain, such as those caused by disease, lead to cognitive fatigue. We do however place the burden of proof on proponents of metabolite based models of fatigue. We already know motivation plays a role, but we currently have very little evidence...

No way! Once the sun has set after the race it’s time to take off the medal

Yeah, but have you considered the bluesky position of just ignoring everyone with abhorrent views in the hope they'll simply disappear? It's never worked before, and the last tie we tried Trump was reelected, but maybe this time ignorance will truly be bliss!

I yearn to be Odysseus returning home 19 years early

I need this but faculty position openings.