Herman Rubin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Teaching people to use something without any understanding
> can only be ritual; this is what most uses of statistics
> are these days.
> If one does not use numbers, it is opinion. I hope that the
> pediatricians you have in your classes do not misuse data in
> the manner you seem to be suggesting.
If one *does* use numbers it still is "opinion". Anchoring
numbers and mathematical models to claims about the way in
which the world behaves (as opposed to claims about the way
in which *numbers* behave) cannot but involve strong and
deep assertions; which themselves *cannot* be theorems
of mathematics. The specific nature of the tasks to which we
put "numbers" to work reflects corresponding "opinions" we
have about the relevance of specific mathematical models,
and the underlying assumptions corresonding to each, in
those specific instances.
The use of Mathematics does not vanquish proto-mathematical hypotheses
from the empirical questions upon which it is brought to bear.
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