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Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 15:41:39 -1000 (HST)
From: Richard Pyle <deepreef@bi*.bi*.Ha*.Or*>
To: Carl Heinzl <cgh@ma*.ai*.mi*.ed*>
Cc: cherf@ci*.co*, B.Pickering@le*.ac*.uk*, techdiver@terra.net
Subject: Re: Aspirin for Stupidity

> In general, you're better off assuming you know nothing because quite
> often anecdotal evidence misses *critical* pieces of information.
> Even if you take it with a handful of salt, it may be pointing you in
> *completely* the wrong direction - better to make NO conclusion than
> the WRONG conclusion.

I think a better way to say this is that better not dive at all if 
untested factors are at play, which means better not dive at all period. 
In many cases, I agree with you. In others, I trust the anecdote (and my 
personal experience) a lot more than the published studies.  The problem 
with the studies is that they often target a very specific thing, but 
then get misinterpreted and cited as demonstrating something altogether 
different.

Rich

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