Comment Re:Conundrum (Score 1) 241
Right on, dada21.
IBM's files dont *prove* anything, they just show a correlation. Not causation. If a plethora of statistics classes have taught me anything, its that statistics frequently lie. To say that IBM workers are getting cancer younger and more frequently than the general population is misleading... do they mean the general population in that area, or the general population of the nation?
Hypothetical example: nuclear power plant in the area of an IBM manufacturing plant is polluting the area, say, the water source in particular. Everyone who drinks the local water ends up with cancer at younger ages and more frequently than the national average. Yet the IBM mortality file just shows people at their plant showing these deviant statistics. Now, I'm not saying IBM isnt to blame... all those chemicals are probably having some effect on the body, somehow. All I'm saying is that more research is needed before people can start pointing the finger, especially in court.
Hypothetical example: nuclear power plant in the area of an IBM manufacturing plant is polluting the area, say, the water source in particular. Everyone who drinks the local water ends up with cancer at younger ages and more frequently than the national average. Yet the IBM mortality file just shows people at their plant showing these deviant statistics. Now, I'm not saying IBM isnt to blame... all those chemicals are probably having some effect on the body, somehow. All I'm saying is that more research is needed before people can start pointing the finger, especially in court.
