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The prevalence of insignificance makes postdocs perish like fruit flies | blogjou

Daniel S. Milo

Good Enough - The Tolerance for Mediocrity in Nature and Society

p. 133
04 Nov 2023

The prevalence of insignificance makes postdocs perish like fruit flies


Significance arises only where a relationship is not due to chance. In these cases, the null hypothesis is refuted and an alternative hypothesis vindicated. Impotantly, the null hypothesis does not need to be proved; it is only refuted trough expriments demonstrating significant results. […] The fact that the overwhelming majority of results are insignificant proves the wisdom of the presumption of chance. The prevalence of insignificance also explains why postdocs end up perishing like fruit flies rather than publishing.