The letters quoted in the article are frustrating to read. It doesn't really matter that she was right, people shouldn't have sent those letters even if she was

The letters quoted in the article are frustrating to read. It doesn't really matter that she was right, people shouldn't have sent those letters even if she was wrong. Especially in probability and statistics, but also in pretty much every area of knowledge, it is common for human beings to hold strong beliefs that are completely wrong or seriously misguided, and we all need to recognize that weakness in ourselves. I think the world would be a much better place if we all dropped our egos and approached these sorts of disagreements with kindness and benefit of the doubt. Even if we're confident that we know better than the other person, we should approach it as a genuine attempt to understand and clear up the misconception as a way of improving the other person (and be willing to admit that the "misconception" may end up being true after all, as in a case like this). As far as I can think of, condescension is just some obnoxious human habit and doesn't actually provide any value.