For a German magazine, I’ve been answering some questions about self-experimentation. Here are the first seven questions and my answers:
1. When and why did you came up with the idea of performing a self-experiment for the first time Mr. Roberts?
I started self-experimentation as a graduate student. My field of study was experimental psychology so it was important to learn how to do experiments. “The best way to learn is to do,” I had read. So the more experiments I did the more I would learn. Self-experiments were easy and fast. So I started doing them to increase how quickly I learned about experimentation.
2.Now, self-experimentation must be considered as an inherent part of your scientific work – or is it rather a bauble?
Self-experimentation has been the most influential work of mine by far. Lots of surprises and practical applications.
3. Your self-experiments always deal with very personal concerns like sleep disorders, depressions, procrastination or weight control. Has self-experimentation changed your life?
Yes. Sleep, weight, mood, general health, brain – all better. And it is very satisfying to help people. Thousands of people have used my ideas (described in The Shangri-La Diet) to lose weight.
4. What is the role of coincidence in your self-experimentation?
Most of my self-experimentation has started with an unexpected change. I changed my breakfast; my sleep got worse. I started taking flaxseed oil capsules; my balance improved. I started to stand a lot and my sleep got better. I started walking outside in the morning; my sleep improved. I watched TV in the morning; my mood improved the next day. I drank unfamiliar soft drinks; I lost my appetite. Each of these surprises led to lots of self-experimentation.
5. By coincidence for example you found a relation between watching TV in the morning and your mood the following day. What made you looking at this?
I was hoping to improve my sleep. When we sleep is affected by when we have contact with other people. If you have contact with other people late at night, you will be awake later the following night. I knew about research that suggested that watching TV has the same effect on sleep as human contact. I wondered if my sleep was bad because I didn’t have contact with other people in the morning. Maybe TV could substitute for that, I thought. So I watched TV early one morning.
6. When experimenting on yourself, aren’t you taking a big risk for your health? Have there been self-experiments you would now describe as risky?
Doctors have done risky self-experiments. I haven’t. I have studied the effects of very common things – watching TV, not eating breakfast, standing a lot. Millions of people have done these things without harm. They’re not dangerous.
7. Which of your experiments did you enjoy most?
Seeing faces in the morning. The effects are wonderful: I feel happy, serene, and energetic the next day. I’ve done several experiments about sleep. It feels great to wake up feeling very rested.