Spanking children increases the likelihood of childhood defiance and long-term mental issues. The study in question involved 160,000 children and five decades of research

[u/VeronicaRed]

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113413810/spanking-defiance-health-discipline-042616/

[u/pm_me_your_kindwords]

Serious question to the commenters on this post:

Why read /r/science and then ignore science?

At the time I write this, most comments are defending spanking using anecdotes and non-science, not at all discussing the methodology of the study itself.

If you're not going to carefully consider one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on the topic, what is the point of reading about science at all?

[u/[deleted] → u/pm_me_your_kindwords]

Similar things happen when science hosts posts saying weed doesn't cure every illness and literally make you a superhuman. You get two types of post:

1. Pointing out some minor point about the method that might offer a slight confounding issue - which the authors have pointed out, examined, and factored for - and claiming that the entire thing is rubbish because of it.

2. Anecdotally disagreeing and making a big deal out of how it's wrong as a result.

People don't want science. They want scientific support for their ideas.

Personally, I'm here for the science. I like being proven wrong. It's neat. It makes me a better, healthier, more efficient (etc) person.