Hi, Mike, and Members of the List, Thank you for your remarks about how we do outgrow insistence on double-blind, controlled experiments on random samples of populations.
Important inferences from small samples have been critically important to scientific progress on a multitude of occasions. One example would be the discoveries about human digestion by Sir William Beaumont in the 1830s in backwoods Canada, based on a observation and experimentation on one lone individual, Alexis St Martin. Alexis survived a musket wound to the stomach that left a permanent open gastric fistula that allowed Sir William to observe directly the process of digestion. Another example would be the discovery of Neanderthal Man. When the first Neanderthal skeleton was found, experts concluded it was the remains of deformed, modern Homo Sapiens. By the time the third Neanderthal skeleton was found, the same experts changed their conclusion and inferred it as representing a separate, ancient species. As Bishop Butler once wrote, Probability is the guide of life. All of us make important decisions every day based on inferences drawn from small samples. Best regards, Matthew
