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Don't Let Math Pull the Wool Over Your Eyes
- johnbender 14y agoThis article starts out rather poorly. "Other research has shown that even those who should be especially clear-sighted about numbers—scientific researchers ... are often uncomfortable with, and credulous about, mathematical material." Followed less than a paragraph later by discussing the results of adding a spurious mathematical model to an abstract: "Those with degrees in math, science or technology rated the abstract with the tacked-on [math] as slightly lower-quality than the other." I worry that this is just another example of science being poorly interpreted by media outlets. More importantly I'm not clear why I should be surprised that busy professors who don't have a close relationship with mathematics should be expected to evaluate an abstract (NOT a whole paper) less favorably because it includes a model. We live in a world where the scientific method is more frequently under assault from parties who's interest lie in viewing it as mere opinion. This doesn't help.