[PRL] The latest from Joel

[Matthias Felleisen]

On Jan 2, 2006, at 9:05 PM, William D Clinger wrote:

> It is a demographic fact that we would almost double the size of
> our applicant pool if women were as interested in CS as men are.

The fact that otherwise rational scientists fall for this numeric
argument is just one more proof that scientists are as fallible as
the next person when it comes to anything outside of their narrow
band of expertise.

How is this for a numeric argument: "it is a demographic fact that
we would almost double the size of our applicant pool, if twice as
many men were interested in CS as are now."

Or, "it is a demographic fact that we would almost double the size
of our faculty applicant pool if Republicans [men or women] were as
interested in academic positions as Democrats are."

They are all equally true and silly. -- Matthias