Comments on: How should unproven findings be publicized? http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/how-should-unpr.html Overcoming Bias is economist Robin Hanson’s blog, on honesty, signaling, disagreement, forecasting, and the far future. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:23:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Andrew http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/how-should-unpr.html#comment-418140 Andrew Wed, 11 Jul 2007 01:02:43 +0000 http://prod.ob.trike.com.au/2007/07/how-should-unproven-findings-be-publicized.html#comment-418140 Robin, Thanks for the link. I'd just assumed that the facial symmetry thing had been proved--it seemed so naturally true! Robin,

Thanks for the link. I’d just assumed that the facial symmetry thing had been proved–it seemed so naturally true!

]]> By: joe http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/how-should-unpr.html#comment-418139 joe Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:30:31 +0000 http://prod.ob.trike.com.au/2007/07/how-should-unproven-findings-be-publicized.html#comment-418139 Hopefully Anonymous, Thanks for the link.... I cannot believe this article is going to be published. Hopefully Anonymous,
Thanks for the link…. I cannot believe this article is going to be published.

]]> By: Robin Hanson http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/how-should-unpr.html#comment-418138 Robin Hanson Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:11:24 +0000 http://prod.ob.trike.com.au/2007/07/how-should-unproven-findings-be-publicized.html#comment-418138 I <a href="http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/01/symmetry_is_not.html" rel="nofollow">posted</a> in January on a similar example, where people were too quick to believe that facial symmetry indicates beauty. I posted in January on a similar example, where people were too quick to believe that facial symmetry indicates beauty.

]]> By: Hopefully Anonymous http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/how-should-unpr.html#comment-418137 Hopefully Anonymous Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:28:57 +0000 http://prod.ob.trike.com.au/2007/07/how-should-unproven-findings-be-publicized.html#comment-418137 This article is awful. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070622-000002.xml This article is awful.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20070622-000002.xml

]]> By: Hopefully Anonymous http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/07/how-should-unpr.html#comment-418136 Hopefully Anonymous Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:25:15 +0000 http://prod.ob.trike.com.au/2007/07/how-should-unproven-findings-be-publicized.html#comment-418136 Andrew, Great post and fascinating story. It seems to me this may be an example of empiricism running up against cultural myth wish fulfillment. It may make people feel there's something more just and feel-good about a world where engineers are more likely to have sons and beautiful people and nurses are more likely to have daughters (for example, an engineering family could be perceived as more value-added for a son, a nursing family could be perceived as less value-added for a son, and a beautiful family could be perceived as more value-added for a daughter). I don't necessarily have the answers for what you should do, except to say that I think this is a rather common problem, particularly in fields that have been called the "softer sciences". I think I lot of popular claims in the social sciences in particular deserve rigorous scrutiny by statisticians, experimental psychologists, and others. Andrew,
Great post and fascinating story. It seems to me this may be an example of empiricism running up against cultural myth wish fulfillment. It may make people feel there’s something more just and feel-good about a world where engineers are more likely to have sons and beautiful people and nurses are more likely to have daughters (for example, an engineering family could be perceived as more value-added for a son, a nursing family could be perceived as less value-added for a son, and a beautiful family could be perceived as more value-added for a daughter). I don’t necessarily have the answers for what you should do, except to say that I think this is a rather common problem, particularly in fields that have been called the “softer sciences”. I think I lot of popular claims in the social sciences in particular deserve rigorous scrutiny by statisticians, experimental psychologists, and others.

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