sashachapin.substack.com/p/a-non-definitive-non-guide-to-non?utm_source=substack...
1 correction found
Only about 10% of those who took the course learned it successfully!
The cited study did not find that 10% of everyone who ‘took the course’ learned nondual mindfulness. It used a self-selected sample of motivated users who had at least started the course, and the authors explicitly warn that the true rate among all Waking Up users would be lower.
Full reasoning
The linked Clearer Thinking study does not support the broad claim that "about 10% of those who took the course" learned it successfully.
What the study actually says:
- Participants were recruited from Facebook and Reddit groups focused on nonduality and meditation, not randomly sampled from all Waking Up users.
- The main inclusion criterion was only that they had completed at least Day One of the Introductory Course.
- This was a highly engaged sample: the mean course completion was 87%, the median was 100%, and 77% had completed the entire course.
- The authors explicitly caution readers not to interpret the result as meaning that around 10% of all Waking Up users learn nondual mindfulness, adding that the true number would be lower with a broader sample.
So the article overstates the result by turning a preliminary finding about a self-selected, unusually motivated subgroup into a claim about everyone who "took the course."
1 source
- Evaluating the effectiveness of Sam Harris’ Waking Up app in teaching nondual mindfulness
We recruited from Facebook and Reddit groups focused on nonduality and meditation... The main inclusion criterion was that participants needed to have at least completed Day One... The mean amount of the course that the 347 participants had completed was 87% and the median was 100%... It is likely that the success rate in our study would be much lower if we used a broader selection criteria... Therefore, we don’t want people to walk away from this study thinking that around 10% of people who use Waking Up will learn nondual mindfulness - the true number would be lower.