"Michael Tobis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > "The plural of anecdote is not data." > > It's a pithy quote, but it isn't QOTW in my book, simply because it > isn't true in general. Talk to some paleoclimatologists. > > There is no way to get uniform measures of ancient climate. What > should we do then? Should we ignore the information we have? Are the > fortuitously preserved fossils of the very deep past to be ignored > just because we can't get an unbiased sample?
Those samples can be independently verified by any skilled observer at another time. This is what distinguishes them from anecdotes, and breaks your analogy. -- \ "I know you believe you understood what you think I said, but I | `\ am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I | _o__) meant." -- Robert J. McCloskey | Ben Finney -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
