<p>@Jamaica, I think you’re mistakenly looking at modestmelody and the others’ posts and assuming they are all fact-less emotional outbursts, just because they’re blocks of text and no numbers. However, if you actually sit and read their posts, you’ll see that their whole POINT is that numbers aren’t everything. The comments about the suicide and car accident rates? Examples to demonstrate that you can’t just take a number and draw conclusions from it. See the definition of data:</p>
<p>Data (n.) – individual facts, statistics, or items of information.</p>
<p>If you look at their posts carefully, you’ll see plenty of data; modestmelody specifically said that he has compared notes with Cornell friends’ experiences in the science department. This is experience, or “empirical evidence” … note the word “evidence,” implying that it’s data! You make the mistake of limiting the term “data” to only one of its definitions: statistics. Yes, numbers can be powerful. But the whole goal of modestmelody and co. on this thread has been to show you that they are not omnipotent. In fact, when those numbers do not have strong sources or are applied out of context, they lose all power whatsoever. From a purely data-based perspective, I would say that modestmelody and the others actually have the upper hand on this thread. Sure, they haven’t presented numbers, but they’ve presented other types of data, while yours is arguably faulty. THAT’s their point. Oh, and by the way, I’m just trying to help you understand what their point is; please don’t perceive me as yet another person arguing against you. :)</p>
<p>Also, please don’t take so much offense here. No one is yelling at you, and no one is calling you names. There’s nothing wrong with sharing a second opinion and pointing out the flaws in the first; that’s how friendly debates work, and that’s how we can learn where we’re wrong and adjust our views accordingly. Which is great! because we are thus able to develop more accurate and better honed convictions.</p>
<p>And @ the OP, I hope you’ve found that this thread answers your question … in a roundabout way, anyway. :)</p>