4 ms·

I’d suggest reading up on the experimental method. There’s also a really good book: Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments. You are trying to apply science

I’d suggest reading up on the experimental method. There’s also a really good book: Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments. You are trying to apply science to commercial applications. It works, but you cannot twist it to your will or it stops working and serves no purpose other than a voodoo dance. > Flipping a coin has the same probability of heads during a new moon as during a full moon. I’m going to jump ahead and expect that you agree with that statement. As absurd as it sounds, it’s a valid experiment and I actually couldn’t guess if the extra light from a full moon would have a measurable affect on a coin flip. Theoretically it would, as light does impart a force… but whether or not we could realistically measure it would be interesting. Yes, I’m playing devils advocate, but “if the button is blue, more people will convert” is just as absurd a hypothesis, yet it produced results.

travisjungroth 3y ago
Late response: I’ve read that book. I also work as a software engineer on the Experimentation Platform - Analysis team at Netflix. I’m not saying that makes me right, but I think it supports that my opinion isn’t from a lack of exposure. > You are trying to apply science to commercial applications. It works, but you cannot twist it to your will or it stops working and serves no purpose other than a voodoo dance. With this paragraph, you’ve actually built most of the bridge between my viewpoint and yours. I think the common scientific method works in software sometimes. When it does, there are simple changes to make it so that it will give better results. But most of the time, people are in the will-twisting voodoo dance. People also bend their problems so hard to fit science that it’s just shocking to me. In no other context do I experience a rational, analytical adult arguing that they’re unsure if a full moon will measurably affect a count flip. If someone in a crystal shop said such a thing, they’d call it woo.

travisjungroth 3y ago

Late response: I’ve read that book. I also work as a software engineer on the Experimentation Platform - Analysis team at Netflix. I’m not saying that makes me right, but I think it supports that my opinion isn’t from a lack of exposure. > You are trying to apply science to commercial applications. It works, but you cannot twist it to your will or it stops working and serves no purpose other than a voodoo dance. With this paragraph, you’ve actually built most of the bridge between my viewpoint and yours. I think the common scientific method works in software sometimes. When it does, there are simple changes to make it so that it will give better results. But most of the time, people are in the will-twisting voodoo dance. People also bend their problems so hard to fit science that it’s just shocking to me. In no other context do I experience a rational, analytical adult arguing that they’re unsure if a full moon will measurably affect a count flip. If someone in a crystal shop said such a thing, they’d call it woo.