Did That Treatment Actually Help You?

Image by Anna Shvets on Unsplash
A mistake we all make sometimes is attributing an improvement to whatever we've tried recently. For instance, we may get medicine from a doctor (or go to an acupuncturist) and feel better, so we conclude it worked. But did it actually work, or was it just chance? Here's a trick to help you decide: What matters (evidence-wise) is how likely that level of improvement would have been in that time period if the treatment works relative to how likely that improvement would have been if the treatm...
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Is Learning From Just One Data Point Possible?

From a scientific or statistical standpoint, it seems ridiculous to think one data point can teach us much. Even a study with ten data points is laughably small. It's also really common to see people over-react to a single experience they've had (e.g., "I know I don't like Taiwanese food because I tried it once") or to an anecdote (e.g., "I'm convinced this supplement will work because my friend took it and says it worked"). And yet, in some contexts, one data point can teach us a LOT. He...
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