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I like how your argument flows from anti-intellectualism to conspiracies, only to end up at fatalism. Luckily, there are people motivated by such questions. An

I like how your argument flows from anti-intellectualism to conspiracies, only to end up at fatalism. Luckily, there are people motivated by such questions. And even it may not make a difference to me except for it's entertainment value here, the impact statistics have had on our quality of life is undeniable. There was so much invention in statistics and operations research in WW2 that you can make a credible case that it was the ally's decisive advantage. Since then, medical research comes to mind as field where it has been useful to have people who don't answer "dunno – why don't you wait a month and see" but "I think this may be possible."

losteverything 10y ago
Some things you can change the outcome by making decisions partially based on statistics. Like who to choose for a hip replacement. Do you go to a hospital that does only orthopedics or a general one? I recall the event as a young marketer / techie because I always thought I wanted a PhD. But when I saw how far they were away from business decisions being only support I knew a PhD at this company was not for me. There are people who earn a living with polls. This is a not-so-bad way to spend ones time. There are worse.