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Comment by kranner | Hacker News Reader

They weren't expecting to see changes in the control group. Control groups represent the baseline, untreated state.

Also, meditation and relaxation are not the same thing.

A valuable result would be: what benefits does meditation impart over other similar activities? For example something like 30 minutes of walking every day.

A result over a non-treatment group in this case is scientifically noble, but practically useless. All it tells us is that doing something has an effect over doing nothing.

Can I get the same effects from 15 minutes of walking a day? 30 minutes? We don't know, because that wasn't compared. It should have been.

You're right, meditation is relaxation with a sprinkle of woo.

You think meditation is relaxation, you do not realise how much effort it takes. I'd suggest finding a tutorial and trying even 5 minutes.

As for the "sprinkle of woo", some meditation practices comes with buckets of foo, while some are entirely woo free.

I've done this for an hour or so on occasion. I don't find it a particular strain. I may be doing something different than what you are doing, though.

The point is not that it's a particular strain. The point is that most people can't just sit back and let their mind go - to maintain focus requires concentration, and concentration is not "free" - it takes energy. It may feel energising - especially after you're done -, the same way exercise does, but people who think that meditation is "just relaxation" usually have no idea what is involved.

Meditation is more concentration than relaxation.

Meditation is really difficult! Like a marathon, it gets less difficult with practice.

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