More at the top, this morning.

Ideally I’m looking for something abstract enough to satisify the mathematician in me, but with real case studies applications to make motivation easier. I’d like to understand epidemiology papers, for example, (say the Lancet Iraqi deaths study) and be able to read the bits of Cosma’s PhD thesis that went over my head when I looked at it…

We just had a very interesting conversation about whether you can truly ever teach probability and come away with definate understanding, because that would indicate that probability doesn’t change over time. Which he says, probability is the same in any given instant. But I say, it can’t be. Otherwise, wouldn’t a book on probability be as modern today as it was 20 years ago? You’d only ever need one.

And you wouldn’t believe the sentence I just backspaced over. It started something like, “The probability of probability never changing is probably…” Gah!

Anyway, I came back because of Barbara’s question; I guess it is a simple case of staking a claim. If you can give Statistics lectures in your own department, it means you can (sort of) justify one more teaching position. There was a lot of that going on at my university. At least I think there was; my suspicions were never acknowledged of course. (Me being a lazy newsman did not help either when it came to digging up the truth.)

Not like Kids These Days. In our day, you Learned Statistics, by gum, or onto the ice floes you went. And they beat us with sticks, too. Both ways uphill.