I have been involved in epidemiology for decades. Lot of numbers and many interpretations.
Lot of problems with gathering correct long term data. Lot of factors involved. Difficult to make intelligent guess based on the stats. - Björn Helgason gsm:6985532 skype:gosiminn On 31.3.2014 07:17, "Raul Miller" <rauldmil...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'd like to make just a few observations here: > > (1) Exposure to high levels of mercury results in a set of symptoms which > are similar to those of autism. > > (2) Some medical treatments (for example where "number to treat" is 100 and > the cost of treatment is sufficiently high) should probably be considered > fraudulent. > > (3) Many diseases result in pretty much identical symptoms (if you know to > look for them). > > (4) Collecting good statistics about cause/effect issues is incredibly > difficult and subject to considerable observer and reporting bias. > > I could go on, but that's probably enough. > > Basically: everyone has to make their own choices. And, personally, I'm > inclined to accept whatever choices people make for themselves (though not > always). > > Still, it's interesting to see how other people reason about social > agreement issues. > > Thanks, > > -- > Raul > > > On Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 3:01 AM, robert therriault <bobtherria...@mac.com > >wrote: > > > Thanks for the link Raul, it does get me to thinking. > > > > I disagree with the authors interviewed on NPR [1] that parents of > > children with autism are less likely to vaccinate their second child > > because of a threat to (the parents') self esteem. It seems more likely > to > > me that although the medical community can make a good case for vaccines > > not being the cause, they have also been unable to identify what does > cause > > autism. A few days ago, the CDC released the rates of autism spectrum > > disorder (ASD) as 1 in 42 for boys and 1 in 189 for girls for an average > in > > 1 in 68 [2]; and I think that this prevalence along with the vacuum of > > knowledge of the true cause, makes parents distrustful, even when they > may > > accept the evidence that vaccines do not play a role. > > > > I believe this same reasoning is flawed when it comes to teaching with > > alternative tools as described in the Computing Education Blog [3]. The > > author seems to think that the students rebel because their self esteem > is > > threatened by learning programming languages that are unaccepted by the > > mainstream (in this case Squeak). I think it is more likely that the > > students are faced with the same sort of vacuum that the parents of > > children with autism face. The students may not be seeing examples of > how > > the alternative can actually outperform the status quo, but may instead > be > > reacting to a balance of power in the classroom with the professor > telling > > them what they should be learning. If the students can be given proof > that > > the new tools work effectively and be given access to these tools, I > think > > that resistance would soon evaporate. In fact, I think it unlikely that > new > > generations would prefer old tools over new ones, once trust in the new > > tools is established. > > > > I consider both these stories as examples of good critical thinking, with > > students and parents taking the 'show me' approach in the face of > > uncertainty, and not just accepting what they are being told. > > > > For the students, let's show them some tools of thought and then see how > > long much longer they would like to work with traditional languages. > > > > As for the parents, anything that can be done to find out what is causing > > the rates of autism to rise would be welcome, but that solution is beyond > > the scope of this forum. > > > > Cheers, bob > > > > [1] > > > http://www.npr.org/2014/03/04/285580969/when-it-comes-to-vaccines-science-can-run-into-a-brick-wall > > [2] http://www.autismspeaks.org/news/news-item/prevalence-autism-rises > > [3] > > > http://computinged.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/facts-that-conflict-with-identity-can-lead-to-rejection-trying-to-teach-with-different-tools/ > > > > > > On Mar 30, 2014, at 10:27 PM, Raul Miller <rauldmil...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > Food for thought: > > > > > > > > > http://computinged.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/facts-that-conflict-with-identity-can-lead-to-rejection-trying-to-teach-with-different-tools/ > > > > > > -- > > > Raul > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
