I have long quipped that, “humans are so good at seeing patterns that we find them where none exist.” But it wasn’t until sometime in graduate school that I learned the technical term for it: “apophenia.” (A visual apophenia is a pareidolia.) I still share this one with my students at some appropriate juncture almost…
Continue ReadingMaybe the most difficult issue faced by social scientists is the perception that, somehow, what we do is not “science.” Although, in fairness, it doesn’t seem as widespread or blatant now as when I first got into the game; it is almost unthinkable now that a business, agency, or organization would implement a new policy…
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