Ben Recht • 1/8/2026

Hermeneutics of crapshoots

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The article critiques the foundations of statistical inference, using Ronald Fisher's tea-tasting experiment as a case study. It argues that an over-reliance on p-values, combinatorics, and null hypothesis testing fails to prove causality or account for individual context, especially in human-facing sciences. The author advocates for moving beyond purely statistical evidence to understand actual mechanisms and stories behind the data.

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#Statistical Inference #P Value #Experimental Design
Hermeneutics of crapshoots

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