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Huh. Positive and negative are sort of notorious in medical tests for creating a confusion: positive is often bad! There are actually three dichotomies here: w
by abecedarius 8y ago
Huh. Positive and negative are sort of notorious in medical tests for creating a confusion: positive is often bad!
There are actually three dichotomies here: was the test mistaken, what was its boolean value, and which boolean value means which thing in the world. Saying yes/no still requires a decision about the latter; though it seems clearer to me about this (both the need for interpretation and on suggesting a default), but it is subjective. And of course, any of these are better than Type I/II.
I do kind of insist that right/wrong or correct/mistaken clearly means the first question, where true/false is more ambiguous. To really resolve things maybe a better idea is like wrong/present and right/absent.
- no_identd 8y agoI've found that the pronunciation of English tends to dissociate the words "positive" and "negative" from their proper meaning, which has led to all sorts of misuse of the words. The following pronunciation isn't 'correct' English pronunciation, but try 'mispronouncing' it that way a few times (out loud) and see if that flips a switch in your head: Po‑si–t—ive & Ne‑ga–t—ive. po‑si–t—ing & ne‑ga–t—ing. Po‑si–t—ed & Ne‑ga–t—ed. Po‑si–t—ive‑ly & Ne‑ga–t—ive‑ly. Gives a whole new meaning to the idea of 'positive' and 'negative' numbers, doesn't it?