In case anyone thought that I had given into existential despair or had a major infarct or something, the answer is yes, I did, on both counts. Or, in other words, I moved house. It took five days, and I still don't have broadband back. And now I have something like a month's backlog, after the trip to the States and the move, so posting will continue to be light. Sorry.
In the meantime, I want to ask you all - what is evidence in biology? I am going to a conference in January, and I'm keen to see what you think counts for or against a biological hypothesis, particularly historical ones. It would help to have opinions to spout there...
Stumble It!
Comments
> I am going to a conference in January
Oh, good!
Jason
Posted by: Jason | November 30, 2006 10:06 AM
John Wilkins wrote:
Please accept my deepest sympathy.
Posted by: Ian H Spedding FCD | November 30, 2006 10:19 AM
I was going to drop you a note, Jason...
Thanks Ian. Now I have several months free to unpack and throw out all the family crap that I accumulated over 20 years.
Posted by: John Wilkins | November 30, 2006 10:32 AM
What is evidence in biology? p
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | November 30, 2006 12:19 PM
Now I have several months free to unpack and throw out all the family crap that I accumulated over 20 years.
"Several months" - with Christmas just around the corner and a conference in January?
Good luck; presumably you're still in Brisvegas?
Posted by: Robin Levett | November 30, 2006 1:02 PM
Try again...
What is evidence in biology? p is less than 0.05.
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | November 30, 2006 1:12 PM
Hi John,
I'm going to ask for a little clarification here--evidence of what? Are we talking any hypothesis in biology, or hypotheses in a specific area. Evidence for, say, speciation will potentially be very different from evidence for, say, the adaptive significance of a particular behaviour.
Or maybe I'm missing the point--if so, please tell me.
Posted by: ChrisB | November 30, 2006 2:04 PM
I left it open for a reason - I just want to see what people immediately (or thoughtfully) say. Free associate - your favourite notion of evidence,,,
Posted by: John Wilkins | November 30, 2006 8:19 PM
Why the specific evidence in biology? Do you think there is something conceptually different about biological evidence than for chemistry or physics or history or literature?
Posted by: PZ Myers | December 2, 2006 12:37 PM
Do you think there is something conceptually different about biological evidence than for chemistry or physics or history or literature?
That remains to be seen. Personally I think biologists tend to handle evidence a little differently, with conventions that differ from, say, medicine or physics. Whether that matters is something I am unsure about. I know, fo rexample, that although the rest of the scientific world has given up using "null hypotheses", more or less, psychology still does that in a solid manner, which means that evidence can be chosen relative to the NH. And so on.
Posted by: John Wilkins | December 4, 2006 1:59 AM