Andrew Gelman has a great essay reviewing a paper that discusses this in the context of Covid: >Greenhalgh’s message is not that we need theory without evidenc

Andrew Gelman has a great essay reviewing a paper that discusses this in the context of Covid: >Greenhalgh’s message is not that we need theory without evidence, or evidence without theory. Her message, informed by what seems to me is a very reasonable reading of the history and philosophy of science, is that theories (“mental models”) are in most cases necessary, and we should recognize them as such. We should use evidence where it is available, without acting as if our evidence, positive or negative, is stronger than it is. https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2021/10/22/how-did-the-international-public-health-establishment-fail-us-on-covid-by-explicitly-privileging-the-bricks-of-rct-evidence-over-the-odd-shaped-dry-stones-of-mechanistic-evidence/ https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2021/10/22/how-did-th...