• NEW! LOWEST RATES EVER -- SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE VERY BEST PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! Welcome to The Paracast+, eight years young! For a low subscription fee, you can download the ad-free version of The Paracast and the exclusive, member-only, After The Paracast bonus podcast, featuring color commentary, exclusive interviews, the continuation of interviews that began on the main episode of The Paracast. We also offer lifetime memberships! Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! You can sign up right here!

    Subscribe to The Paracast Newsletter!

Reporting Chains Swallow Extraordinary Evidence

Stagger

Herbal Consequentialist
The following is not directly related to UFO's and the paranormal.

Just wanted to share the link to this paper by Robin Hanson:

When Do Extraordinary Claims Give Extraordinary Evidence?
Link: http://hanson.gmu.edu/extraord.pdf
Plus this related post on the Overcoming Bias (*1) blog: http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/03/reporting_chain.html

It makes an interesting read and made me think how this human "anti pattern" of noise/distortion can affect the evaluation and processing of reports describing extraordinary phenomena (be it by military personnel, scientists or even within commercial organizations).

LG

[size=small]*1: a really interesting blog BTW, I recommend having a look around if you are in the mood.
[/size]
 
Back
Top