... and this is why probability and statistics should be a compulsory class for *everyone* who goes through our education system :-)
-- R On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 5:38 AM, Pamela McCorduck <[email protected]> wrote: > The NYer can be obtuse about scientific topics, but this article intrigued > me. Is the decline effect real? > > It's certainly the case that many medical practitioners follow outdated > advice. And the use of statistics in medicine (to be sure, a special subset > of science) can be awkward. I keep asking people: if I've lowered my chances > by twenty percent of contracting a certain cancer by doing thus-and-so, and > I find four other thus-and-so's to also do, does that mean I'll never get > that cancer? No one can answer. > > > On Dec 12, 2010, at 5:58 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > On 12 Dec 2010 at 0:46, Nicholas Thompson wrote: > > At least until recently, when the NY-er writes about science, they try very > > hard not to write anything stupid. > > > What??? Have you forgotten the whole disgraceful > Paul Brodeur episode? Refresh your memory by reading > <http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN10/wn121010.html>. > Worse than stupid, verging on criminal, given the > amount of money it's caused to be thrown away and > the amount of anxiety it's generated or caused to > be misplaced. > > I haven't yet read the "decline effect" article, and > am not commenting on it, just on your quoted sentence > above. > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > > > "If you're away from Broadway, you're only camping out." > > > Thomas E. Dewey > > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
