Klarinet Archive - Posting 000653.txt from 2000/05

From: Don Longacre <nw2v@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Re: Finger length, now Flapdoodle
Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 10:26:46 -0400

Ms Loban articulates:

<While finger size and shape clearly has a lot to do with whether or not
playing particular instruments is comfortable (or possible), I'll just bet
this whole business of relating finger length to masculinity will turn out to
be a lot of flapdoodle cooked up by some eggspurt bent on justifying a
research grant. Later some other eggspurt will justify another research
grant by writing that the first eggspurt is as dumb as a doorknob, or
highfalutin' words to that effect.>

You got that right. Some of these alleged prestigious *Journals* are apparently comprimising
their principals in order to produce text in the hope that principals of science will be
overlooked. If there was peer review of this paper before publication, which I doubt, I
can imagine one peer saying to another, "Where's this guys statistical support?" The other
peer says, "There ain't any cuz the writer had so few data samples no statistical treatment
would fit it much less show significance." 1st peer, "Then why are we considering it for
publication?" 2nd peer, "Cuz he's my brother-in-law and the poor guy's been trying for
10 years to get a PhD" 1st peer, "If we publish this people are going to say we are a
bunch of eggspurts,dumb as doorknobs and creating a pseudo-scientific flapdoodle." 2nd:
"Yeah, well, at least the Nobel Committee will get a big laugh out of it."

Don Longacre
At the top of the food chain on the Beagle Planet.

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