Re: virus: The One or the Many? (was: META)

Tim Rhodes (proftim@speakeasy.org)
Sat, 18 Oct 1997 09:50:04 -0700 (PDT)


On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Marie Foster wrote:

> I HATE JUNK SCIENCE. I see too many people try to study complex things
> without controls or elimination of variables. It just seemed to me that
> how this fad developed and persists in our culture might be
> interesting. I think that the answer to me to Tim's question is to keep
> the number of individuals in the group small and homogeneous as
> possible. At the same time the thing to be studied must move and change
> in some way(s) and have enough significance that its growth and
> development gets documented independent of the person doing the study.

This seems like one good approach. I wonder, what do we use as varibles?
How would you go about quantifying, say, degree of infection? Or would it
be best for now to stick to digital behavoirs (she either streaks or she
doesn't)?

-Prof. Tim