Science-savvy people know that coincidences are part of life. Yet even the most rational among us sometimes see meaning in odd occurrences. If lightning strikes the steeple and stops the church clock just as your old Aunt Betty dies, wouldn’t you be tempted to link the two events? Indeed, as an ex-hippie friend likes to say, “There are no coincidences!”
OK, but this morning just as he brushed his teeth, some tree in Maine got blown over by a wind gust. Does he really see a connection between his toothpaste and that particular pine? Statistical methodology helps researchers deal realistically with such simultaneous events.
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