Science practice

Tables of numbers that change over time transmit information about the topics of measurement. The numbers can be generated by various means, like counting, or calculating or taking ratios. The objective of performance monitoring is to see if numbers can be generated that take on statistical significance - such that future performance can be based on past history. The key requirement in collecting data is that the protocol is followed, in order to eliminate the inherent bias about how the data is collated. I can make the numbers say anything that i wish them to say by jobbing the collection, so by following a set protocol, i have eliminated a distinct set of differences, potential bias in the numbers.

Rules of collecting data are like the rules in a sports game. If you violate the rules, you pay a penalty. In science, the penalty is that your data is tossed out. It is not any good, because the fine points of duplication of method are inviolate. You cannot project the result from thrown out data, no matter how much you believe it. You must run the entire test again, under proper protocols and demonstrate that the results are still the same. Sampling technique is a wash if you always do the same thing in the same way.

In the current political game, this is not how things work. Pons and Fleischman did their homework and couldn't get through the old boys system - they went to the conventional press and got zapped. It now turns out that they were correct about cold fusion and the information was suppressed because it was counter to the paradigm. Which has fallen apart. The earth does not rotate around the sun, either. And Ryan Braun is not guilty because a breach of chain of command is a breach of protocol and the test is not valid. Good for the Brew Crew - a good lesson about what is really wrong.

Life is 'off' because what we are is not what we are. Open your eyes to the features of the day and compare to the facts that you know for sure. Now bring in the facts that you think you believe (were told by educators), but are not quite sure about because - some things happen that don't follow those base facts. Fishing for information brings in some real whoppers - which some folks obviously believe or it wouldn't have been put out. The old gatekeepers are defecating bricks, because the burden of proof on published data is down to zero. However, going back in time should give us good information - if we get to the books before they get changed. It used to be they upgraded information in the next revision of the textbook - now they use the memory hole to change some concepts altogether.

Trust your judgment, not your eyes. Know what you know through comprehension of the topic, not just the ability to speak the language. The latter changes over time. But time is out of time and the end game reveals some of the tricks - as we move right into the next game, and the next game, and the next game. Makes you wish you understood the game theory better than the puppeteer.