[jascii]

I'm curious why that comparison is more interesting to you? I can see great value in having both data points when trying to formulate a hypothesis about what causes the decline in gut-microbes in us city folks, but I find it hard to think of a use-case for solely a urban/rural comparison without other context.

(Update: I was thinking about this from a scientific perspective, ignoring the idea that people might be interested in what it means for them personally (facepalm) )

[runjake]

Because a bunch of us don't live in the city or urban environments and we're curious.

[jascii]

So the interest stems from a curiosity about your own gut-microbes? That seems fair enough, I may have been overthinking this...

[goatcode]

I shouldn't say more overall, but the difference among people who have a similar diet and circumstances, but differ by housing culture, would be interesting to observe. I'd like to see apples to apples, if indeed the theorized reason of where gut differences come from is strictly (or mostly) urban vs. rural. Is it that country people are around more dirt, or that city people have different stressors, or maybe both are included? It'd be easier to tell if other differences are eliminated, imo. I've long preferred country life, having spent roughly half of my life in cities and the other half in the country, so maybe some personal interest is there too, to be honest. I do feel a lot healthier living in the countryside, perhaps my gut has something to do with that.

[jstanley]

Even from a scientific perspective, it would be more interesting to see the effect of each variable independently (cities vs rural, US vs somewhere else) rather than bundling them together.

[CodeBeater]

Personal interest does not necessarily equal marginal utility.