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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText>Glen, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I think your "spam" is very meaty and I hope you will keep it coming.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>But these words, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=quotation>pornographic evocation of our love for *metaphor* will only mislead us.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>… now them’s, fightin’ words! <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>You old troll, you, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Nick <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Nicholas Thompson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Clark University<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ThompNickSon2@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>-----Original Message-----<br>From: Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> On Behalf Of u?l? ?<br>Sent: Friday, May 8, 2020 9:11 AM<br>To: FriAM <friam@redfish.com><br>Subject: Re: [FRIAM] What Is the Real Coronavirus Toll in Each State? - The New York Times</p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I disagree, of course. >8^D I think dividing out population and area are a misguiding distraction. The simple slopes are better. As we've discussed ad nauseum, these "normalizers" are *also* models. And all models are always wrong. So, for every derivation, you're stacking wrongness upon wrongness. If you're super careful, the stacks of wrongness *might* help you see some aspect of the situation better. But by "super careful", I mean *professional* modeling ... something that costs a lot of time, money, attention, and skill.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Our fondness for blinky lights, bells and whistles, pornographic evocation of our love for *metaphor* will only mislead us. Data first, metaphor second (or better yet, never).<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>On 5/8/20 8:03 AM, Steven A Smith wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> Very interesting view on these three counties... numbers normalized to population count and population density are a "good start"!<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>--<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><span style='font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif'>☣</span> uǝlƃ<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>.-. .- -. -.. --- -- -..-. -.. --- - ... -..-. .- -. -.. -..-. -.. .- ... .... . ...<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam unsubscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>archives: <a href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</span></a> <o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>