Re: What you can and can't prove by testing

Posted by SRMcGee (A) on October 12, 2003 at 05:52:47

In Reply to: What you can and can't prove by testing posted by David Aiken on October 11, 2003 at 12:26:37:

David:

As with Mr. Risch, I think that your argument is woefully overblown.

I sit at a table and am served two bowls of stew. I taste each and can't discern a significant difference. I am told that one bowl is made of ordinary ingredients and cost $1; the other bowl, I am told, is made of exotic ingredients, was prepared by a master chef, and cost $100. I taste both again and cannot tell the difference.

I don't need to try this test 50 times to know that I will be content with the $1 bowl of stew, whichever it is.

Educate me to the point where I can tell the difference between the two bowls of stew and I will retake the test. I may be able to discern the difference following the education, and I may not. If I am very wealthy, I may elect to eat the $100 bowl of stew simply because I think it is prestigious to do so. I may also eat it because I like it more. But there is no doubt in my mind that the decision as to which bowl I select will be influenced if you tell me which one was worth $1 and which was worth $100. Hide that information from me, and you'll get a less biased response.

Argue all you want, but I'm not interested in drawing world-affecting conclusions here. I want to know whether, in the real world I live in, one stew or wire or drug or whatever is more effective than another. Hiding the identity of the variables from me is an effective way of doing so. Arguing that the nuances of wire that I may not be able to discern are akin to a prehistoric fish located so far beneath the surface of the sea in so remote a place that no one has seen it for centuries is silly. It's silly because all of the criteria I need to evaluate that wire or that stew isn't hidden -- it's right in front of me. I don't need to draw definitive conclusions -- I only need to know whether the difference between the two wires or stews is so magnificent that I need to start saving right now. If it ain't, then I'm not going to waste my money. Regardless of how wealthy I am, I know you'll get a less biased response out of me every time I take the test, no matter how elaborate the test is or how well educated I am, if you hide the identity of the two items.

And if you disagree, then so be it.

Regards,
Scott

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - puzzled thru powercord continued ...what is placebo effect ?? - kalido 11:10:41 10/10/03 (15)

Re: puzzled thru powercord continued ...what is placebo effect ?? - _canuck 11:31:00 10/10/03 (14)

I think the placebo effect is misapplied to audio experiments - Norm 12:22:55 10/11/03 (0)

I think the placebo effect is misapplied to audio experiments - Norm 12:21:23 10/11/03 (0)

Placebo - SRMcGee 13:17:56 10/10/03 (11)

Not to pick on you in particular.... - Jon Risch 14:36:20 10/10/03 (10)

Re: Not to pick on you in particular.... - SRMcGee 08:59:12 10/11/03 (9)

Drugs testing - Owen 22:41:16 10/12/03 (0)

What you can and can't prove by testing - David Aiken 12:26:37 10/11/03 (5)

Re: What you can and can't prove by testing - SRMcGee 05:52:47 10/12/03 (4)

Re: What you can and can't prove by testing - David Aiken 13:07:16 10/12/03 (3)

To remuddy the water - Owen 22:25:38 10/12/03 (2)

And to add more mud... :-) - David Aiken 02:05:36 10/13/03 (1)

Re: And to add more mud... :-) - Owen 04:45:02 10/13/03 (0)

Re: Not to pick on you in particular.... - Jon Risch 11:27:56 10/11/03 (1)

Re: Not to pick on you in particular.... - SRMcGee 05:28:35 10/12/03 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: What you can and can't prove by testing - SRMcGee 05:52:47 10/12/03 (4)

Re: What you can and can't prove by testing - David Aiken 13:07:16 10/12/03 (3)

To remuddy the water - Owen 22:25:38 10/12/03 (2)

And to add more mud... :-) - David Aiken 02:05:36 10/13/03 (1)

Re: And to add more mud... :-) - Owen 04:45:02 10/13/03 (0)

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