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I read a couple of good books recently, and wanted to share them and do some writing to collect my thoughts on a subject that is currently of news-worthy relevance and of particular interest to "Soylentils". Enjoy, and I look forward to the discussion!
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Book(s) Review: "Technopoly" and "You Are Not a Gadget"
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You will be misunderstood by everyone.
(Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Monday May 08 2017, @08:03PM (3 children)
I'm aware of "scientism", and thanks for pointing it out... I really should have included that term/concept in the piece.
Your point about "digital humanities" and statistics-based "science" is actually very close to one of the criticisms that led me down my current thought path. I was unaware until recently that there was this whole branch of scientific inquiry based around statistical inference, and my original criticisms of social science research were based on ideological principles. I guess there's a soylent commenter who consistently complains about 'null hypothesis statistical significance testing' (whose comments led me to look it up), and when I found out what it entailed, my principled skepticism seemed justified by the approach's reliance on way too many assumptions and simplifications.
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday May 09 2017, @08:37AM (2 children)
I was unaware until recently that there was this whole branch of scientific inquiry based around statistical inference, and my original criticisms of social science research were based on ideological principles.
Stats do not have ideology, unless they are fake stats, but then, those are not that hard to come by. .
I guess there's a soylent commenter who consistently complains about 'null hypothesis statistical significance testing' (whose comments led me to look it up), and when I found out what it entailed, my principled skepticism seemed justified by the approach's reliance on way too many assumptions and simplifications.
You should be equally skeptical of the "null hypothesis" skeptic, this seems to be a meme that is floating around these days, I hear it from people who listen to right-wing radio, and otherwise have no interest in science. Not saying the criticism is unfounded, but it is unfounded until it is understood.
But nice reviews, Pink Narwal!!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday May 09 2017, @02:07PM
Stats do not have ideology
Counterexample: finding the statistics that cast the issue in the best light for your ideology. For example, if you want to present the US's economy in a good light, speak of the US household average income of $52k per year. If you want to present it in a bad light, speak of the 38% of wealth owned by the 1%. Statistics even when valid is merely a viewpoint. And it is easy to choose advantageous viewpoints.
(Score: 1) by pnkwarhall on Wednesday May 10 2017, @11:04PM
>Pink Narwal
Thanks, I'll have to remember that one [i.redd.it].
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven