Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post
"Chocolate Makes You Smart!" [Hake (2012)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Christopher Green (2012) at <http://bit.ly/QgYYgr> of the
TIPS list pointed to "Chocolate consumption and Nobel Prizes: A
bizarre juxtaposition if there ever was one" by Ashutosh Jogalekar
(2012) at <http://bit.ly/TRyrSL>. Jogalekar berated a paper published
in the "New England Journal of Medicine" by Franz H. Messerli (2012)
at <http://bit.ly/WHLfCh> titled "Chocolate Consumption, Cognitive
Function, and Nobel Laureates."
Messerli plotted "Nobel Laureates per capita" vs "Chocolate
Consumption in (kg/yr) per capita)" and found a positive correlation
r = 0.791 with p < 0.0001. Does that correlation imply causation?
While awaiting Randomized Control Trials (RCT's) in which the
inhabitants of randomly selected countries are provided with placebos
in place of chocolate, the BBC's Charlotte Pritchard (2012) at
<http://bbc.in/QfBtUZ> sought anecdotal information and found it in
testimonials by Nobel Laureates Christopher Pissarides
<http://bit.ly/WKpmlK>, Robert Grubbs <http://bit.ly/SkF6ag>, and
Eric Cornell <http://bit.ly/zF7BZh>, all of whom attributed their
awards to their addiction to chocolate.
So that seems to clinch it! CHOCOLATE MAKES YOU SMART ! ; - )
despite "The Internet Blowhard's Favorite Phrase" [Engber (2012)] at
<http://slate.me/TVkUtm> "correlation does not imply causation"- see
also the comic <http://xkcd.com/552/>.
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REFERENCES [URL shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 24 Nov 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. "Chocolate Makes You Smart!" online on the OPEN!
AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/QheB7E>. Post of 24 Nov 2012
10:34:31-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the
complete post are being transmitted to several discussion lists and
are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/10Nkcoa> with a
provision for comments.