benignuman: If all my chickens died five minutes after I cut off their heads, and someone did a carefully controlled, randomly selected scientific study of chickens and found out that 77% of chickens last a week without their heads, then I’d conclude that all of my chickens are part of the 23%. Then I’d have to figure out- why MY chickens and not the chickens they chose? Am I taking care of them differently? Are mine the wrong breed?
The point is that once a statistical study emerges, the anecdotal evidence doesn’t necessarily cut it anymore.
What you’re talking about now (which is NOT what you said before) is that if you DON’T HAVE STATISTICS, anecdotal evidence works. Perhaps, but with ONLY anecdotal evidence you can’t be sure you’re reading your information correctly. You see the evidence of your own eyes, true, but you don’t know what’s the cause and what’s the effect- and that’s what I think is the problem with NASI, not so much that they’re necessarily WRONG (they may well be right for all I know) but that they think theirs is the ONLY right answer, which locks out so many other possibilities.