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RE: Right. Now explain that to your buddy Dennis!(nt)

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In Reply to: RE: Right. Now explain that to your buddy Dennis!(nt) posted by Tre' on July 21, 2012 at 15:32:11

Hi Tre,

"How's that for experimentation, empirical learning, iterative methods, questioning, taking a different approach and actually listening to the results?"

To answer your question in brief: unconvincing. I will qualify that by stating that I used to develop medical / clinical research protocols for a living, so feel free to consider my judgement of your approach harsh if you wish.

TBH, *all* experimentation is flawed. As is our so-called Scientific Method, which even the most general health research text states. Although it is not my area of expertise or even interest these days, I think most experimentation discussed on audio forums is naive at best. Despite this, we still seem to be learning... So, let's do what is practicably possible; let’s experiment, even if our methods are imperfect. But by the same token, let us also not attribute more to the 'results' that we should. The results of our experiments are not absolute truths.

I'm not going to crap on about general experimentation any longer; books have been written about it. But I will mention placebo effects before I sign off. I find it interesting that when expectation effects are discussed, people are almost implicitly discussing the positive expectation effects. Very rarely discussed are the negative expectation effects that might be prevalent among cynics and sceptics. For example, the expectation that some factor will *not* have a causal effect. Expectation effects cut both ways. This serves as background to the point that just because you don't hear something does not mean it does not exist or that others cannot hear it.

Of course, this makes it increasingly difficult to refute fallacious claims.

Cheers.

“As long as we have any intention to be right… we should be wary. So long as words have the slightest ego attachment, they are dishonest.” Charlotte Joko Beck

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