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Vagueness

Uncertainty Made Measurable

Rob Selzer sizes up a human confidence interval.

You, like most people, would probably prefer a doctor who’s competent. Perhaps one, I would imagine, who’s even good. One who has the skills to take a blood pressure measurement, diagnose a tumour, smile reassuringly when your self-diagnosed angina turns out to be simple indigestion. And like most people, you instantly know a good doctor when you see one. Measuring those doctoring skills, however, is harder than you think.

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