4 ms·

> Just say things like "right yes" or "wrong no" and I'll understand. Those have the same problem, don't they? I think you think you're replacing the positive/

by jolmg 8y ago

> Just say things like "right yes" or "wrong no" and I'll understand. Those have the same problem, don't they? I think you think you're replacing the positive/negative with right/wrong, but you're actually replacing the true/false. So, if you get a "wrong yes" result, is that "yes" supposed to be a good or bad thing? It's still ambiguous. Maybe "true good" or "false bad" are better... Then again, if both results are neither good or bad, then which is which? Maybe true/false positive/negative is indeed the less ambiguous. You just need to be clear on the question that's being answered. "Is there cancer?" "positive" means yes, "negative" means no.

abecedarius 8y ago
We'd have to poll people to really know which terms are more easily remembered. But here's how I'm thinking of it: a test says yes or no: is the thing present or not? And right/wrong is the correctness of the test. I can't see people easily getting confused and thinking "wrong yes" means that a test correctly said that the thing is not there. Anyone would think it means that the test incorrectly said the thing is there (among all the four possible meanings we're concerned about). OTOH false and negative could each more easily mean either wrong or absent. But I may be wrong! This is only my best proposal.