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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
 Posted - 03/16/2010 : 07:54:24
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I rarely venture into the rank stupidity of uncommondescent anymore. The brain cell apoptosis that inevitably follows gives me a headache. Let me give an example. Denyse O'Leary, chief tardette, talks about how important natural selection is to speciation (March 13th, 2010. No link provided. I'm afraid that the SFN server might collapse). She quotes an article in New Scientist that states:
| “When it works, it works remarkably well,” he says. “But it only works in about 6 per cent of cases. It doesn’t seem to be a general way that groups of species fill out their niches.” |
All very well. It doesn't seem that natural selection does it most of the time. How does Denyse respond to this:
| Then Darwin’s theory just barely makes it to statistical significance, conventionally given as 4 per cent. |
A few points:
1. Statistical significance is usually set at 5 percent. Denyse fails.
2. Something is usually deemed statistically significant if it's p-value is less than 5 percent. Denyse fails.
3. The 6 percent value from the article she links to is not a test of statistical significance. Her comparison is meaningless. Denyse fails.
4. In the comments, when called on point 3 above, she claims that the 4 percent had to do with opinon polls.............. Denyse fails.
5. 4 percent is not conventionally used in the margin of error for opinon polls.
 
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METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 03/16/2010 : 08:37:34 [Permalink]
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It's people like Denyse who make the rest of us hack writers look bad. 
It's been a spell since I've visited UD. It's boring. It all seems to run together; no variation at all. And I've been banned from the forum anyway, so it scarcly seems worth the keystrokes to get there.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2010 : 14:17:37 [Permalink]
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What a thorough takedown, Hawks.
It has just struck me that, for people who claim all knowledge springs full-blown and perfect from ancient scriptures, Creationists certainly are avid to make up their own facts.
Denyse of all people should not attempt this, as she's simply way, way too ignorant and stupid to pull off the kind of fiction writing which will allow the reader to suspend disbelief even for a moment.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Hawks
SFN Regular
Canada
1383 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2010 : 15:57:12 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
I lost 5 IQ points when I read this on AtBC. I lost another 5 for just opening this thread.
Dammit.
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I lost my lunch when I saw the picture that HalfMooner posted. |
METHINKS IT IS LIKE A WEASEL
It's a small, off-duty czechoslovakian traffic warden! |
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Denyse, Denyse...
