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I'm not appealing to authority at all. The article reproduces verbatim a table from the DOJ, then does multiplication. I reproduced the multiplication myself,

• logfromblammo 11y ago
  But the multiplication does not support the assertion. I am sure that many people biased by skin color can perform multiplication with the help of a calculator. The accuracy of the calculation is not at issue. The issue is that the multiplication is not valid according to Bayesian probability analysis. It doesn't matter how valid the original numbers are if you interpret them incorrectly. The implicit appeal to authority is that a group known for social policy commentary is somehow expected to have greater credibility in the area of statistical analysis. In reality, they are just as bad at it as everyone else. So in exposing the appeal to authority, we see more clearly that the burden is on them to show that their analysis is mathematically correct. So tell me. Why does the multiplication support their claims?
  • yummyfajitas 11y ago
    Scroll up. I'm not claiming white people should be afraid of blacks. I'm claiming that they have a vague proximal reason to be afraid, analogous to maaku's "possibility of being assaulted without recourse or lynched...a few generations back". My opinion on all of these vague feelings of fear: "completely irrational and entirely his [the person feeling it] problem."