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From: beth@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Beth Christy)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Making the model fit the data?
Message-ID: <1088@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Sep-85 16:12:51 EDT
Article-I.D.: sphinx.1088
Posted: Tue Sep  3 16:12:51 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 5-Sep-85 00:42:32 EDT
References: <717@mit-vax.UUCP>
Organization: U. Chicago - Computation Center
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From: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe), Message-ID: <717@mit-vax.UUCP>:
>It's
>funny, when a model doesn't work, science tends to look at the model and
>fix it. That way, accurate models are maintained.

I don't know how religiously (:-) you believe this statement, but I sort
of feel called to point out that science, like religion, is carried on by
people, and people aren't always that willing to toss out their beliefs
(and especially not their preconceptions) just because they don't match
the available data.  Even scientists occasionally ignore or fudge data
that doesn't fit (although it may often be entirely unintentional).  If
you consider psychology and research into child development to be at all
scientific, read Carol Gilligan's _In_A_Different_Voice_ for *truly
shocking* examples of "scientific" researchers FLAT OUT IGNORING over 50%
of the available data, even during the formative stages of their theories.
(Even if you don't consider psychology scientific, I highly recommend the
book.)

It's true that during working hours scientists are much more open to
alternate models than most folks, and to the degree that they're able to
maintain that, accuracy is more likely in science than in other areas.
But I just wanted to remind folks that they're not perfect at it.

-- 

--JB       (Beth Christy, U. of Chicago, ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!beth)

		"Oh yeah, P.S.,
		 I...I feel...feel like...I am
		 in a burning building
		 And I gotta go."            (Laurie Anderson)