4 ms·
Finding correlation in data is how we find out about the real world though. There are extra steps needed there but let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwat
by meheleventyone 3y ago
Finding correlation in data is how we find out about the real world though. There are extra steps needed there but let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Otherwise we should just jack in science which AFAIK has been a spectacularly successful project. And it’s actually this study of collected data that will defeat cargo cults when their hypothesis doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. It’s only reliance on presumed experts and anecdotal evidence that shores them up. From the original cargo cults to conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones to software orthodoxy like TDD, SOLID and Scrum.
Likewise anecdotal success of an individual is also just correlation but with only a single data point.
I’d also agree that expert opinions are great but they’re also not infallible or necessarily generalisable. Nor is it necessarily easy to tell who is an expert and who is a charlatan. Which is why we should use them as the basis for investigating the larger picture.
Similarly both expert opinion and singular anecdotes can lead to cargo culting.
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago> let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. hmmmmmmmmmmm. > Likewise anecdotal success of an individual is also just correlation but with only a single data point. oh yeah, someone should tell Linus Torvalds that his expertise is just correlation. Same with Elon Musk, Bill Gates, et al.
- meheleventyone 3y agoCare to have another go without intentionally being misleading about what I actually wrote. Otherwise I don’t think there’s much point in engaging with you.
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y agoI quoted you, if you didn't mean it, don't say it.
- meheleventyone 3y agoSnipping out parts of sentences and replying to them out of context to the whole is misrepresentation. In particular your replies don’t make any sense in relation to the rest that you conveniently left out. I dunno what you think that achieves but enjoy arguing with yourself I guess!
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y agonone of what you're calling context clarified the stance that expertise is just correlation with a single data point. "oh but I think expert opinions are great!" doesn't actually change that stance, whether you think they're great or not is irrelevant to the claim. Your problem is putting everything into data terms. stop doing that and suddenly your problems with my responses go away because I stop calling it out as ridiculous.