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Comment by surfsvammel | Hacker News Reader

I don’t get it. What did the control group do? Did they go on a retreat of some kind? Or did they just go on with their normal stressful lives of picking up at daycare, commuting through traffic jams and passive aggressiveness of laundry rooms?

I would like to see the effect of the meditation itself.

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> The control group was asked not to participate in any retreat (even as short as a 1-day retreat) during the 1-month study period. Their usual daily meditation practice was maintained (40–50 min/session).

Oh, so this isn't even meditation vs. non-meditation... it's being in your day-to-day life vs. being away from it.

I'd like to see the long-term effects of a month-long meditation retreat vs. a month-long Carribean getaway, or something similar. I'm saying this as someone who appreciates meditation.

I know this is scientifically hard, but in spirit I would want to know the following:

Meditation vs do whatever makes you feel the happiest, as you see fit

It would be difficult to allow people to actually do what makes them happiest vs doing what the can do to make themselves happy within the limitations of their life situations.

I wasn't able to find any reference to wealth or income, either. People who have the ability to do a one-month retreat end up with better mental health - is this surprising?

Still the study is useful if your budget doesn't allow for an expensive holiday.

So big fucking surprise. Getting away from your life for a month is good for your mental health.

Why the fuck are people kicking in open doors being funded and published in what appears to be a decently respectable psychology journal?

Also all these studies focus only on Buddhist meditation which is just one form of meditation. There are earlier, more diverse and more intense forms of meditation (e.g. Hindu meditation) that many researchers unscientifically ignore due to their theological roots.

Almost all of these studies need better ablation experiments, similar alternatives, better controls and baselines.

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